Restore deleted contacts from iCloud without iCloud backup
iCloud automatically archives the contacts ( there is a max of 10 archives  ). The contacts can be restored via the web browser, even if no iCloud backups is switched on on the device.

In the webbrowser, click on settings and then contacts and then restore archived contacts.

Before the contacts are restored, iCloud makes another archive of the current contacts. Therefore, after retrieving a lost contact, write down the contact details and then one can go back to and restore the latest archive.