Forget everything you think you know about university town dining. While Oxford might claim the literary lunch, Cambridge has quietly transformed itself into East Anglia’s most compelling food city.
Here, Michelin-starred kitchens share streets with dumpling houses that would make a Shanghai chef homesick, and third-generation fishmongers turn their catch into the kind of seafood that makes London critics book train tickets. Hmmm, almost sounds like we’re rapping here…
Between the centuries-old college walls and along the backstreets where Newton once pondered gravity, you’ll find everything from wine bars pouring up something natty to pastry chefs who learned their craft in Paris before bringing it to Parker’s Piece. The result is a dining scene that’s both relaxed and forward-thinking – where you might start your evening with hand-pleated xiao long bao on Mill Road and end it with a twelve-course tasting menu overlooking Midsummer Common. Better have a friend willing to pitch up with a Haemmerlin to wheel you home…
…Anyway, you’re here to read, not get a case of Couvade syndrome as we reel from a food baby. Let’s not mess about any longer; here’s our guide to the places making Cambridge as much a destination for food lovers as it is for scholars. These are the best restaurants in Cambridge.
Noodles Plus, Mill Road
Ideal for xiao long bao that rival Shanghai’s finest…
In a bright green, no-frills space on Mill Road, Dong Huang and Hui Yan Li have created a place that draws homesick Chinese students and dumpling aficionados alike in their droves. Since opening in 2015, this modest spot has earned its reputation through consistent excellence rather than fancy furnishings. In all honesty, it’s our favourite place to eat in all of Cambridge.
The star attraction costs just £9 for six pieces: xiao long bao (soup dumplings) that require a certain technique to eat properly. Place one on your spoon, make a tiny hole to release the steaming broth, sip the rich soup, then dip the dumpling in sauce and devour. If you don’t heed this advice, your oral mucosa is getting burned clean off. And we promise that’s the last time we write ‘oral mucosa’ today…
Anyway, these little parcels of lava-filled joy are made fresh throughout service, each one perfectly pleated and filled with a deeply savoury pork and broth mixture that speaks of some serious skill and commendable attention to seasoning. It’s all in the judicious use of naturally occuring gelatine, you see…
Beyond the signature soup dumplings, the menu spans everything from pork and green bean dumplings to heartier options like their noodles with king prawn in spicy sauce. The spare rib noodle soup draws repeat-eaters (rep-eaters?) week after week for an all-encompassing and wholly satisfying lunch, while the mixed seafood noodle soup shows they know their way around the flavours of the sea, too. Each table comes with its own DIY sauce station – black vinegar, soy sauce, and minced garlic let you create the perfect accompaniment. No dish we mentioned breaks the tenner ceiling.
The setup at Noodles Plus is as casual as you want it to be – think canteen-style seating and counter service that’s all part of the charm. There’s usually a queue (especially at lunch), but it moves quickly, and you can watch the dumpling masters at work while you wait. Stacks of bamboo steamers line the counter, releasing puffs of steam that promise good things to come. Is there a better sight when you’re hungry and tucked in towards the front of the queue?
It’s cash only here, but with most dishes under £10, you won’t need much of it. The vaguely billed ‘Chinese herbal drink’ (a can of wong ko lat, it turns out) at £2.50 makes the perfect companion to a table full of dumplings and a welcome sense of humble luxury.
Open: Wednesday-Sunday 12-9:30pm
Price: Dumplings £7-9, noodle soups £8-9.50
Drinks: Tea and soft drinks £2-2.50
Book ahead: No reservations – be prepared to queue, especially at lunch
Address: 24A Mill Rd, Petersfield, Cambridge CB1 2AD
Midsummer House, Midsummer Common
Ideal for special occasions that demand something extraordinary…
There’s something rather magical about Midsummer House’s current incarnation, now in its 26th year. In a Victorian villa overlooking the handsome grazing cows of Midsummer Common, chef and owner Daniel Clifford has created the sort of restaurant that makes you understand why Michelin stars still matter – his two have been twinkling here since 2005, making it the only double-starred establishment in East Anglia, and a destination for culinary pilgrims from all over the country.
The elegant conservatory dining room benefits from floods of natural light, lightening the mood in the process, with a window into the kitchen that lets you watch the culinary theatrics unfold. Here, classical techniques meet modern British innovation in dishes that celebrate both simplicity and surprise – expect to start with delicate morsels like aged parmesan sablé with autumn truffle and a complimentary glass of Billecart-Salmon Brut Sous Bois before moving onto more substantial delights.
The full tasting menu experience comes in at £270, a serious investment that delivers equally serious rewards. Current highlights include a playful take on a Bloody Mary featuring celery sorbet and lime, and Loch Duart salmon elevated – genuinely – with white chocolate and caviar. The coconut parfait dessert, served with Nyangbo chocolate and a hint of green chilli, shows exactly why this kitchen team has maintained their stars for so long – it’s an intriguing, intoxicating balance of flavours that read like jargon on the page but make total sense on the palate. Petit fours are a particular highlight – dainty af and closing the meal in some style.
For the more budget-conscious, weekday lunch offers the same precision cooking at £95, while still including treats like their signature warm French bottereaux with Midsummer apples. The wine pairings are so well judged here that a flight feels almost essential, ranging from the Classic at £135 to the truly special Luxurious selection at £540. Their ‘juicelier’ has created an equally impressive alcohol-free pairing for £70 that proves non-alcoholic drinks can be just as exciting.
If weather permits, you can finish your evening with a Cuban cigar on their terrace overlooking the river. Just don’t expect to be thinking about dinner anywhere else for quite some time.
Open: Wednesday-Saturday 12-1:30pm, 6:30-8:30pm
Price: Weekday Lunch £95, Lunch Tasting Menu £160, Dinner Tasting Menu £270
Wine: Pairings from £58-£540, extensive bottle list available
Book ahead: Essential – aim for at least two months in advance
Website: midsummerhouse.co.uk
Address: Midsummer Common, Cambridge CB4 1HA
Restaurant Twenty-Two, Chesterton Road
Ideal for intimate fine dining with personality…
Located at number 22 Chesterton Road (hence the name), in a Victorian townhouse with stained glass windows dating back to 1892, Sam Carter and Alex Olivier earnt its Michelin star just a year ago, but that didn’t stop the hard work with a satisfied dusting off of the hands. Instead, they’ve continued to push creative boundaries while keeping the atmosphere agreeably breezy – a fine balancing act for a restaurant with clear, myopic ambition.
The intimate dining room backs onto Jesus Green, making it perfect for a pre- or post-dinner stroll (or punt, if you’re feeling brave). The vibe within – all flickering candlelight, stretched shadows and intimate corners – creates the kind of ambience that makes every meal feel like a special occasion, without ever tipping into formality.
The full tasting menu at £145 shows remarkable creativity and deep respect for seasonal produce. Current highlights include smoked Chalk Stream trout with lovage and ikura (red caviar), and Isle of Skye venison paired with Alsace bacon and black trompettes. The blood pudding with mustard and toasted barley has become a signature dish, showing how comfortable they are elevating humble ingredients to new heights.
For lunch, you’ve got options – 22’s short tasting menu offers the same precision in a more time (and wallet) friendly format at £110, while Thursday lunchtimes see a set menu for £60 that remains one of Cambridge’s best value meals. The Cornish cod with brassicas and preserved lemon appears across all menus, suggesting they know when they’re onto a good thing.
The wine program deserves special mention – their sommeliers have carefully curated a list that ranges from accessible to exceptional – the AA recently recognised it as a Notable Wine List, which is actually a more esteemed accolade than the prosaic billing suggests.
The drinks pairings take you on different journeys: the Discovery flight at £79.50 features lesser-known regions and exciting styles, while the Signature flight for £149 showcases fine wines from around the world. Their non-alcoholic pairing at £49.50 receives the same careful attention as its wine counterparts.
Anyway, back to the beginning; start your evening with one of their house cocktails – the Twenty-Two Espresso Martini with muscovado and chocolate bitters puts a clever spin on the classic, while their Cambridgeshire Negroni uses locally-distilled spirits including their own Restaurant 22 gin, created in collaboration with Cambridge Distillery. You could, of course, finish with one, too. Suddenly, that punting feels like a fine idea. Anyone got a life jacket?
Open: Wednesday 6-8:30pm, Thursday-Saturday 12-1:30pm, 6-8:30pm
Price: Set Lunch £60, Short Tasting Menu £110, Full Tasting Menu £145
Wine: By the glass from £5.50, pairings from £59.50-£149
Book ahead: Essential – aim for at least two months in advance
Website: restaurant22.co.uk
Address: 22 Chesterton Rd, Cambridge CB4 3AX
Vanderlyle, Mill Road
Ideal for seeing vegetables in an entirely new light…
In an understated space on laid back Mill Road, with an open kitchen framed by white metro tiles and brass pendant lights, chef Alex Rushmer and his team have created something truly singular. Since opening in 2019, Vanderlyle has evolved from an exciting newcomer into one of Cambridge’s most innovative restaurants – and they’ve done it without ever serving a piece of meat or fish.
The minimalist dining room, with its teal-blue bar and mid-century modern furniture, sets the scene for what’s to come: thoughtful, stripped-back cooking that lets ingredients speak for themselves. Music plays an important role here too (the restaurant takes its name from a song by The National), with carefully curated playlists adding to the relaxed yet focused atmosphere.
At £85, their tasting menu changes with what their local farmers and producers deliver each morning. Expect clever combinations that might make you forget you’re eating purely plant-based food – recent highlights include a smoked carrot tartare with horseradish and fermented white asparagus, and an oyster mushroom milk bun that could convert the most committed carnivore. Their mushroom and ricotta tortellino with bordelaise sauce demonstrates that depth and richness don’t require animal products. It really is a lip-smacking sauce, and we’d encourage Rushmer to start selling the stuff in pint form.
Their signature dishes have become the stuff of local legend – the ‘Vanderlasagne’ layers house-made pasta with 12-hour vegetable ragù and truffled bechamel foam, while their carrot rigatoni cleverly mimics smoked salmon using just carrots, seaweed caviar and dill. Perhaps most impressive is their smoked carrot tartare, a plant-based homage to Thomas Keller’s famous salmon cornet that proves vegetables can be just as luxurious as any protein.
Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword at Vanderlye – it’s built into everything from their four-service week (allowing staff proper rest) to their pre-payment system that helps minimise food waste. They work directly with regenerative farmers and local producers, creating dishes that celebrate what’s growing right now in Cambridgeshire’s soil.
The drinks program matches this thoughtful approach – their wine list starts from £30 a bottle, with drinks pairings that might include anything from South African Chardonnay to house-made cola herb soda. The non-alcoholic pairing at £35 stands equal to its alcoholic counterpart at £50, with some intriguing, invigorating kombuchas making up the bulk of the offering. Even their petits fours feel considered, providing a perfect full stop to an evening of discovery. Eat your cake, indeed.
Open: Tuesday-Friday 6-11pm
Price: Tasting Menu £85
Wine: Bottles from £30, drink pairings £35-£50, corkage £30
Book ahead: Essential – bookings released first Tuesday of each month at noon for the following month
Website: vanderlyle-restaurant.com
Address: 38 Mill Rd, Petersfield, Cambridge CB1 2AD
Fin Boys, Mill Road
Ideal for seafood that swam this morning…
It feels rather perverse to leave Vanderlyle and immediately duck into a restaurant for some fish, but the proximity here is rather poetic, so we’re running with it…
Ask any Cambridge chef where they eat on their day off, and this unassuming Mill Road spot inevitably makes the list: Jay Scrimshaw and Richard Stokes’s Fin Boys – a restaurant that’s part fishmonger, part dining room, and entirely dedicated to celebrating the best of British seafood. There’s some serious pedigree in the kitchen here: Scrimshaw has previous at Parker’s Tavern and London’s Bibendum and Chez Bruce, whilst Stokes has done time at Alice Waters’ legendary Chez Panisse. It all comes together with a menu of precise simplicity. When fish is being served, there really is no better duo of adjectives.
Working directly with day boats and independent fishermen, the kitchen champions lesser-known sustainable catches alongside the classics – expect to see coley, ling and pollock rubbing shoulders with cod and crab… You know the drill. The menu changes daily depending on what’s been landed, but the cooking is consistently clever without being showy – this is a place that knows when to let exceptional ingredients speak for themselves.
Their a la carte menu, served Tuesday-Thursday evenings and Wednesday-Saturday lunches, might feature anything from cured sea trout in green garlic broth with kombu oil for £12 to Cornish monkfish with boiled courgette, basil and mint at £32. Yep, they love a little verdancy in this part of town…
All that said, it’s perhaps the most humble dishes where the kitchen (and their sourcing) truly shines. The house-made crumpet with Portland crab in a luxurious cacio e pepe emulsion has become their signature dish, and their treatment of Maldon oysters (six for £18 or twelve for £36) proves they know when to let pristine ingredients shine. When we say ‘treatment’, we mean simply shucking them properly and serving them over ice – which is all these guys need when they’re this damn fresh.
That said, weekend evenings at Fin Boys see a more elaborate six-course set menu at £85 that really lets the kitchen flex its creative muscles. Recent highlights include Portland crab with velvet crab and plum vinegar sauce, paired with a 2013 Pinot Gris from Moorooduc Estate in Victoria, both all richness and refinement.
Grab a seat at the pass if you can – the chefs are happy to chat about where your dinner was swimming that morning, and you might pick up some tips for cooking the fish you can buy from their attached fishmonger.
Of note, their commitment to exceptional, accessible seafood extends beyond Mill Road – catch them at The Gog Farm Shop at the weekend (11am-3pm) for alfresco hits like tuna laap and lobster rolls. The farm shop outpost also gives you a chance to grab fresh fish for home cooking, along with their signature oysters in bucolic surroundings.
Website: fin-boys.com
Address: 2 Mill Rd, Petersfield, Cambridge CB1 2AD
Open: Tuesday 6:30-8:30pm; Wednesday-Saturday 12-2:30pm, 6:30-8:30pm
Price: A la carte starters £5-15, mains £27-35; Set menu £85 (wine flight £50)
Wine: Monthly wine events, extensive pairing options including special wine dinners first Wednesday of each month
Book ahead: Essential for weekend set menu, recommended all other times
Read: The best restaurants in Dartmouth
Fancett’s, Mill Road
Ideal for French bistro classics with modern flair…
Holly and Dan Fancett’s slice of Parisian charm is just such a charmer; a cosy space with sage green banquettes and bentwood chairs beneath decorative wisteria, it happens to serve some of the best French bistro cooking in the country.
Since opening in 2021, this intimate bistro has earned its place in both the Good Food and Michelin Guides with cooking that respects French classics while embracing modern British sensibilities. Though it’s a well-trodden path in recent years in that there London, Fancett’s could quite rightfully stand up to Zedel, Racine, Francois et al in a duel, and come out with their head held high.
The prix fixe menus change regularly, showcasing seasonal ingredients with finesse. Lunch brings excellent value with two courses for £30.50 or three for £36. You might find a velvety cream of chestnut mushroom soup with truffle chantilly, followed by confit Guinea fowl leg with braised puy lentils and smoked bacon. Their bouillabaisse of John Dory with mussels, squid, and nduja shows they’re not afraid to put their own spin on the classics, the spicy Calabrian sausage bringing not only spice but a welcome blast of piquancy, too.
Dinner sees three courses of similar confidence, but priced at £58. A recent dish of Cornish crab and scallop mousse lasagne with beurre blanc was a real technical piece of work, and a showstopper quite frankly. Eyes widened on first bite, let’s just say that…
Vegetarians aren’t an afterthought – the double-baked cave-aged cheddar soufflé with soft leeks and English autumn truffle proves that with a dish of utter decadence. If I could eat this every night, I’d happily go veggie, too. I’d also die young, but it’d be worth it…
The wine list deserves exploration, with thoughtfully chosen bottles from across France and beyond. Begin with a Bellini or their house Negroni, before blowing the budget on the suave Thomas Labille chablis at £78; it makes an excellent companion to seafood courses. For something even more special, their fine wine list, curated with Cambridge’s Thorne Wines, offers exceptional bottles at surprisingly reasonable prices.
The intimate atmosphere and professional, warm service make this feel like your neighborhood bistro, even if you’re only visiting for the day – that’s if your neighborhood bistro happened to be in the Marais, of course.
Open: Wednesday-Saturday 12-4pm, 6-11pm
Price: Lunch 2/3 courses £30.50/£36, Dinner 2/3 courses £44.50/£58
Wine: By the glass from £9, extensive French-focused list
Book ahead: Essential, especially for dinner and weekends
Website: fin-boys.com
Address: 2 Mill Rd, Petersfield, Cambridge CB1 2AD
Jack’s Gelato, Bene’t Street
Ideal for transforming “I’ll just have one scoop” into an afternoon’s adventure…
In a sleek storefront on Bene’t Street, Jack van Praag’s gelato shop is something of an ice cream obsessive’s paradise. His culinary background (he’s ex-Midsummer House, don’t you know?) shows in the inventive flavours and meticulous attention to ingredients – think Estate Dairy milk, Pump Street chocolate, and honey from local Cambridge hives.
The menu changes daily, but expect anything from classic iterations done perfectly (their white chocolate and vanilla brown sugar are masterclasses in simplicity) to more adventurous combinations that somehow just work – fig, Manuka honey and gorgonzola might sound odd until you try it. One bite (lick?) and you’ll be a convert. The vegan dark chocolate and sea salt number proves that dairy-free doesn’t mean compromising on richness and mouthfeel.
A single scoop will set you back £2.90, with doubles at £4.90 and triples at £6.90. The attention to detail extends beyond the gelato – their thickshakes at £6 (available with Estate Dairy or house oat milk) are properly thick. For the curious, ‘tiny’ scoops at £1.80 let you sample more flavours without quite so much commitment.
A sign of how good Jack’s gelato is, even in winter there’s often a line down Bene’t Street. Fear not, it moves fast, and gives you time to ponder important questions like whether salted Oreo gelato counts as dinner (it does).
Indeed, we’re not putting our neck on the line (except in the minds of the pedants) when we say that Jack’s Gelato is one of Cambridge’s best restaurants.
Open: Daily 10am-11pm (Friday-Saturday until midnight)
Price: Single scoop £2.90, Double £4.90, Triple £6.90, Tiny scoop £1.80
Extras: GF cone +80p, Chocolate-dipped cone +£1.40, Thickshakes £6
Book ahead: No reservations – just join the queue
Website: jacksgelato.com
Address: 6 Bene’t St, Cambridge CB2 3QN
Bedouin, Mill Road
Ideal for North African flavours that transport you straight to the Sahara…
Step through the doors of this Mill Road favourite and you’ll find yourself transported to North Africa, with a real Bedouin tent, authentic wall rugs from the Sahara, and an atmosphere that makes you forget you’re in Cambridge altogether. Indeed, Bedouin’s 2022 win for Best Restaurant in Cambridge at the British Restaurant Awards merely confirmed what locals already knew.
The menu roams across the Maghreb, with tagines taking centre stage. The tagine beldi features slow-cooked lamb shank in a rich sauce with tomato, paprika, and chickpeas that falls off the bone, while the tagine berkook brings slow-cooked beef in a warming sauce with ginger, cinnamon, prunes and apricots to the table. Both generous affairs give you change from a twenty. The best of the lot, though, is perhaps the tagine boustaan (£15.90), which proves they take vegetable dishes just as seriously, combining seven vegetables in a tomato and apricot sauce fragrant with ras el hanout.
It’s not only about the tagine here. Begin with the kemiette for £9.90 – a chef’s selection of dips and salads served with hot pitta bread. The borek jubna features brik pastry rolls stuffed with spinach, potato, and feta, while the chekchouka – a dish of peppers, onions and tomatoes with egg and harissa – makes a perfect lunch.
They may not serve alcohol, but Bedouin’s bespoke range of non-ABV cocktails, developed with London Cocktail Club, offers creative alternatives. The Ottoman at £6.50 presents a clever play on tzatziki with apple and cinnamon, while L’Etranger at £7 takes a spiced approach to a Virgin Mary with harissa and cumin. Of course, you could just go with the traditional North African mint tea, which starts at just £1.50.
For groups of six or more, a special menu offers two courses for £20.50 or three for £25. Early birds can enjoy similar pricing Monday to Friday between 12-3pm and 5-6:30pm. The 60-seat dining room fills up quickly, but the warm hospitality and aromatic dishes make any wait worthwhile.
Open: Monday, Wednesday-Sunday 12-3pm, 5-10:30pm (Closed Tuesdays)
Price: Starters £6.50-7.90, Mains £14.50-19.90, Early bird 2/3 courses £20.90/£25.90
Drinks: Non-ABV cocktails £6-7, Fresh juices £4, Mint tea from £1.50
Book ahead: Essential for 60-seat dining room, especially weekends
Website: bedouin-cambridge.com
Address: 98-100 Mill Rd, Cambridge CB1 2BD
Mercado Central, Green Street
Ideal for Spanish small plates that transport you to San Sebastián…
Mercado Central brings the spirit of Spain’s historic markets to Cambridge. In a handsome townhouse just steps from Trinity College, the ground floor’s open kitchen, backed by striking turquoise tiles and fronted by a marble counter with leather bar stools, adds drama and authenticity to proceedings – grab a seat here to watch the chefs at work with the day’s market produce.
The focus firmly falls on exceptional Spanish produce, whether that’s wild Cornish seafood or aged Rubia Gallega beef from the lush pastures of Galicia. Start with admittedly ubiquitous aperitivos that still mange to set the tone – Marcona almonds and spicy gordal olives at £5 each, alongside sourdough with arbequina olive oil for £5.50. Mercado Central’s selection of Ibérico charcuterie shines, with a plate of acorn-fed chorizo, salchichón and lomo at £13.50 showing why Spanish curing is both an art form and the only way to truly start a meal.
The menu changes with the market and seasons, but current highlights include wild Cornish squid with confit onion, and a black rice with monkfish, cuttlefish, mussels and prawns that’s a moody, brooding affair. Their grass-fed beef options vary daily (check the blackboard), but all are dry-aged in a Himalayan salt chamber for at least 28 days before meeting the charcoal grill.
Finish with their Basque cheesecake, which lands on just the right side of bitter, perhaps paired with one of Mercado Central’s dessert wines – the Dulce Enro ice wine at £12 per 75ml from Spain’s highest altitude winery is particularly special.
The wine list travels through Spain’s regions, with some exceptional finds from Galicia’s Rías Baixas. Try the Attis Lias Finas Albariño at £58, aged on the lees for extra complexity, or for something truly special, their Attis Mar at £140 – aged underwater in the Atlantic Rias for six months, complete with barnacles on the bottle. As with any self-respecting tapas joint, the sherries deserve attention too, from Fino Inocente at £10 per 100ml to rare Palo Cortado at £13 per 75ml.
At lunch, their menu del día offers exceptional value at £30 for two courses or £33 for three, with dishes like wild mushroom rice with goat’s curd or sustainable St Austell Bay mussels a la marinera.
Open: Tuesday-Thursday 12-2:30pm, 6-9:30pm; Friday-Saturday 12-2:30pm, 5:30-9:30pm; Sunday 12-2:30pm
Price: Starters £9.90-18.50, Mains £26.50-36.50, Lunch menu 2/3 courses £30/£33
Wine: By the glass from £10, extensive Spanish list including rare finds
Book ahead: Essential for dinner, recommended for lunch
Website: mercadocentral.co.uk
Address: 24 Green St, Cambridge CB2 3JX
Zhonghua Traditional Snacks, Norfolk Street
Ideal for another taste of Cambridge’s ace dumpling scene…
In a modest blue-fronted shop on Norfolk Street, this no-frills dumpling house has been quietly serving some of Cambridge’s most faithfully rendered Chinese snacks for over a decade now. With picture menus in the windows and a functional interior, it’s the kind of place that lets the food do all the talking.
The extensive menu covers everything from dim sum classics to hearty noodle soups, but the hand-made dumplings take centre stage. Available with a vast array of fillings, each dumpling (twelve pieces for £8.90) is expertly pleated to order.
Beyond dumplings, their side dishes demand attention – the cold dressed seaweed and five-spice pig ears make perfect starters, while their noodle soups starting at £8.50 offer warming comfort on chilly Cambridge days. The barbecued pork steamed buns showcase their skill with different dough textures (these are satisfyingly smooth, bouncy numbers), and the green tea cakes provide a perfect sweet finish.
The menu helpfully notes which dishes are spicy (and they mean it), but they’re happy to adjust the heat levels to your preference. Make any a dumpling soup for just £1 more. In this economy and for this quality, it’s no wonder this place is so enduringly popular.
Open: Daily 12-9pm
Price: Dumplings £8.90/12pcs, Noodle soups from £8.50
Drinks: Chinese teas £2.85, soft drinks £2.50
Book ahead: No reservations – be prepared to wait at peak times
Address: 13 Norfolk St, Cambridge CB1 2LD
Stem & Glory, Station Road
Ideal for plant-based food that makes you forget you’re eating plants…
A pioneer in the UK’s plant-based movement, Stem & Glory proves that vegan cuisine can be both innovative and indulgent. This carbon-neutral restaurant serves up creative dishes that spans global influences, all anchored in a celebration of vegetables.
Their ‘nibbles’ section sets the tone – harissa-spiced nuts at £4.50 or nori popcorn at £4 hint at the kitchen’s gently creative approach. Small plates continue that inventive, globetrotting spirit: BBQ cauliflower ‘wings’ with ranch dip are assertively spiced (and vinegar’d) and all the better for it. The kimchi-stuffed onigiri is equally bold in its flavour profile.
Main courses continue to impress. The signature Redefined fillet mignon with mushrooms and sauté potatoes shows just how far vegan alternatives have come, while the Szechuan aubergine is the pick of the bunch; served over a slippery tangle of noodles, the aubergine has been cooked down until silky, and glazed with miso to introduce the ol’ umami in droves.
There’s good, vegan booze here, too, from craft beers (including Cloudwater ‘Fuzzy’ Hazy & Juicy Pale Ale at £7) to imaginative cocktails like their Stem & Spritz with prosecco, elderflower and lime.
Their set lunch menu (Mon-Fri 11:30-4pm) offers excellent value at £16.95 for two courses or £23.90 for three. Word on the street is that they do a wicked Sunday roast too.
Open: Daily 11:30am-10pm (Friday-Saturday until 11pm)
Price: Small plates £8-11, Mains £16-22.50, Set lunch 2/3 courses £16.95/£23.90
Drinks: Cocktails from £8, Wine by glass from £7.70, Craft beers from £5.60
Book ahead: Recommended for evenings and Sunday roast
Website: stemandglory.uk
Address: 50-60 Station Rd, Cambridge CB1 2JH
The Pint Shop, Peas Hill
Ideal for when you want your craft beer with seriously good food to match…
We end in a handsome Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse where E.M. Forster once lived. Here, the Pint Shop has managed that rare feat of being both a serious beer destination and a proper restaurant. The 2013 opening marked Cambridge’s first new pub in over a decade, setting a standard that others have followed. The building, spread across three floors with multiple rooms, balances historic charm with contemporary edge – think parquet floors and industrial-chic décor, with a rear terraced garden for summer escapes.
The beer selection impresses with its breadth and rotation – four cask ales are joined by 17 keg lines offering both UK and European craft options. For gin enthusiasts, their collection (over 100 at last count) ranks among Cambridge’s finest, and the bar staff know their spirits as well as they know their beers.
But it’s the food that elevates this from an excellent pub to a dining destination. The kitchen takes pub classics and gives them a creative twist – their Scotch egg comes with apple and mustard ketchup and pickled mustard seeds, while the chorizo croquettes for are given lift off with chilli and honey-cured egg yolk. Single portion pies are something of a signature, and for good reason; they’re carefully crimped and beautifully burnished numbers, their quenelles of mash and dedicated gravy boats making such a satisfying plateful.
Unsurprisingly, the roast dinners are top drawer here, but even better are the midweek ‘local’ lunches. A recently dish of charred gammon steak (topped with a fried egg, naturally) and pineapple relish was gloriously retro, and for £16 including a pint of house ale, gloriously retro in its pricing, too.
Perhaps the biggest draw here, though, is the burger. A towering number featuring a double patty, house sauce that’s a fine imitation of Big Mac sauce, and Ogleshield cheese, it has a devoted following across the city (you can tell by all the slack-jawed folk walking about). All three of those highlights cost around £20 – not bad value in one of the UK’s most well-to-do cities.
Open: Monday-Thursday 12-11pm, Friday-Saturday 12pm-12am, Sunday 12-11pm
Price: Small plates £4.50-10, Mains £18-27
Beer: Ever-changing selection of cask and keg, plus over 100 gins
Book ahead: Recommended for dinner, essential for Sunday lunch
Website:pintshop.co.uk
Address: 10 Peas Hill, Cambridge CB2 3PN
All prices are correct as of November 2024. Opening times, prices and booking requirements vary – check restaurant websites for the latest details.