Category: Cambridge

Cambridge Chop House 10th birthday

The Cambridge Chop House celebrated its 10th birthday by a special purchase of Syrah sold at £16 per bottle instead of £26. I’ve been going there since it opened on King’s Parade in Cambridge, and have had many excellent meals over the years. This time I began with salted...

The Salt Pig – Cambridge

Madsen and I recently dined twice at The Salt Pig in Cambridge’s Green Street. Before our first visit i was extremely excited as there had been some hype about this restaurant opening. We arrived and were given a table in the window. We started off with a bottle of...

Goose for Christmas

I bought a fresh 5 kg goose from Waitrose (about 11 lb). I pricked the skin, rubbed oil over it and rubbed in sea-salt. It took about 3 hours to cook in a 170 fan oven, lightly covered in foil, and basted occasionally. No stuffing. I par-boiled the potatoes...

Lamb and onion pie with English vegetables

It could be diced lamb, but this time I chose minced lamb. I pre-cooked it on the hob until it was brown, then spooned off the fatty liquid. I fried the chopped red onions in a separate pan, then added them to the mince with a little water, powdered...

Thai Tapas at the Thaikhun in Cambridge

I often eat lightly at the Thaikhun in Cambridge, preferring a selection of starter dishes. In this case I ordered the spring rolls, pork & prawn dumplings and chicken skewers with satay sauce. Sometimes I have the deep fried prawns, and sometimes the Thai fishcakes. It’s quite enough to...

Duck at the Varsity in Cambridge

The Varsity restaurant is the Cambridge twin of Trinity restaurant, and it came first. I began with chicken liver paté with walnut bread and shallot jam, and went on to pan-fried duck breast with pommes croquettes, parsnip and roasted red chicory. The duck serving was huge, thick and nicely...

Vintage Cava is better than a cheap Champagne

Many of us like fizzy wines, especially Champagne. I rather think the best value is vintage cava from Spain. It must be vintage cava, and a good one is superior to most Proseccos and to budget-price Champagnes. Perfect with seafood due to its biscuity notes , or with a...

Oh dear, d’Arry’s – Cambridge

I went to d’Arry’s in Cambridge in October to celebrate the 20th anniversary of my Cambridge MPhil. Its a restaurant that we used to frequent regularly, until the service got so slow we had to leave one evening without evening (the gap between the starter and main courses was...

Fish, Chips and Pies at the revamped Architect in Cambridge

The Architect pub in Cambridge has been taken over by the owners of the award-winning Blue Lion of Hardwick and given a complete make-over. It’s now a gastro pub specializing in fresh fish and homemade pies. Everything is fresh every day. I started with a sharing board featuring popcorn...