Last modified: 22nd June 1998
This is a guide to good eating places in/near Cambridge (UK), plus good
food shops in/near Cambridge. There are also a few places from elsewhere, and recommendations from friends (that I haven't got round to trying)
just because they're good.
The items are listed alphabetically, but there are indices at the top by
category. Please send me your comments.
Category Index
- Restaurants / cafes / pubs serving food
- Bella Pasta, Eraina Taverna, The Grad. Pad., Hobbs Pavilion, Old Orleans, Pizza Express, Railway Tavern, Rainbow Bistro, Tatties, White Pheasant, Woolworths Cafe
- Cake shops / tea rooms
- Cornucopia, Fitzbillies, Nadia's, Pret-a-manger, Sticks and Scones
- Food shops
- Aldi, Daily Bread Co-op, Fair Trade Shops, Health Food Shops, The Market, Nasreen Dar
- Takeaway / fast food
- Gardenia's, Baked potato stall on the market, Mobile Chip Van, Romano's
Alphabetical Index
A B C D
E F G H
I J K L M
N O P
Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Aldi.
Histon Rd, behind the Esso garage.
Part of the German supermarket chain. Warning: it is cash only; no cards or cheques. The prices are really silly (cheap) because they sell own brands rather than flashy brands. Also they don't use barcodes, so the staff have to remember all the prices. They do this well, and are much quicker than in conventional supermarkets because of not having to scan everything. The own brands are good quality, and they occasionally have special offers for a limited time, e.g. Levi 501's, mountain bikes, picnic tables, or Olivetti bubble jet printers!
Bella Pasta.
Sheeps Green, by the mill pond.
A fairly normal Bella Pasta, but built in an old mill. Used to be Sweeney Todds. If you sit in the
right place, the tables are glass topped, and you can look down at the
mill race flowing beneath you. The chocolate fondue is very nice.
Cornucopia.
4 Bene't Street
A traditional cake shop, which means you can get things like Swiss buns.
(This was once useful for a 21-bun salute.) The people who run it are a
couple of friendly Greeks.
Daily Bread.
Unit 3 Kilmaine Close (off King's Hedges Rd.)
An amazing health food shop/warehouse. They can sell you up to 1
tonne of rice! Lots of organic and/or locally grown dry goods, fruit
and vegetables. Also things like Ecover cleaning products (with a
refill service), compost bins, toiletries, books and a fair trade cafe. The baskets
are proper wicker ones, and they re-use carrier bags from other shops.
Run by a co-operative of Christians, who provide a supportive working environment for people recovering from mental illness. There is a cafe part that serves fairly traded drinks, plus home made cakes.
Eraina Taverna.
2 Free School Lane (near King's College). Tel: 368786
An amazing restaurant, popular with students because it's cheap. It's also
a good definition of the word "eclectic": it's nominally Greek, but also
does pasta, pizzas, curry ...
The original cake shop, and still has a lovely shop front. Their chelsea
buns are unlike any other (and wonderful), their chocolate doughnuts are
splendid, and Chocolate Violet Cake is arguably the best chocolate cake
in the world. You can get things like chelsea buns by mail order, and they
make excellent presents. (If you were thinking of trying this out, I'd
be willing to give you my address...) They have a restaurant upstairs.
Fair Trade Shops.
All over the place
In Cambridge, you can get fair trade stuff from Oxfam shops (opposite the
Sainsbury's on Sidney Street, near the Catholic Church on Hills Road, etc.)
from the Daily Bread co-operative in King's Hedges (where they also have
a little cafe) and from an occasional shop in Emmanuel U.R.C. church on
Trumpington Street.
Oxfam shops: 34-35 Bridge St. (near Magdalene College), 110 Regent St.,
28 Sidney St. (near Sidney Sussex College), 20 Burleigh St.
Gardenia's.
2 Rose Crescent (near the market)
Just down Rose Crescent from MacDonald's, the home of probably the best
veggie burger in Cambridge. The place to get food if you're hungry at 1
a.m.
The Grad. Pad. Granta
Place Mill Lane
Otherwise known as the University Centre, this is a very civilised place
to have Sunday lunch. Must be finished off by having tea (or coffee) with
a Sunday paper in the coffee lounge, as this overlooks Sheeps Green and
the river (huge windows).
Health
Food Shops. All over the place
There are 2 Holland and Barratt's: one in Bradwells Court (near the bus
station) and one in the Grafton Centre, and an independent one called Honeysuckle
Healthfoods between Halfords and the Round Church who also do takeaway
food, and another called Arjuna on Mill Road, who stock fruit and veg on a Saturday. There's also a stall on the
market, and Daily Bread in Kings Hedges.
Arjuna: 12 Mill Rd
Holland and Barratt: 58 Eden Hall (Grafton Centre), 4-6 Bradwells Court
Honeysuckle Healthfoods / Cambridge Health Food: 5 Bridge St
Hobb's Pavilion.
Parker's Piece (the old cricket pavilion). Tel: 367480
A pancake restaurant set in the old cricket pavilion on Parker's Piece,
so there are lots of cricketting things up on the walls. The proprietors
are cycle enthusiasts, and so there's also cycle stuff. The main reason
why you go to Hobb's is for their desserts, e.g. a mars bar in a pancake,
or dark belgian chocolate drops plus cream in a pancake. Utterly lovely.
Closed Sundays and Mondays.
The Market.
The Marketplace!
A good market that has, among other things: a tea and coffee stall, lots
of fruit and veg stalls, a health food stall, a vintage clothes stall, a sweet stall and a baked potato stall.
Mobile Chip Van. Moves
around a bit!
A good, cheap, clean chip van that is in Great Shelford (near the recreation
ground) on Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes, Trumpington on Thursday lunchtimes,
Newnham and elsewhere at other times. The veggie grill is good, but don't
be surprised when you order a burger and get exactly that i.e. no bun!
Nadia's Patisserie.
All over the place
This is a bit of an Evil Empire, in that it buys up competitors and spreads
all over the place. This means that there is one in the Grafton Centre,
one by Queens' College on Silver Street, one by King's College on King's
Parade, one by St. John's College and one in Vision Park, Histon. Their hummus and
falafel rolls are good, and generally can supply all the necessary supplies
for a picnic by the river or a punt trip. Not the cheapest.
Nadia's: 16 Silver St., 9 Burleigh St., 11 St. Johns St.
Nasreen Dar. 20 Histon
Rd. (near the Texaco garage)
The best Indian corner shop I've seen. They do all the usual stuff,
plus ready made curries etc., and ingredients for them e.g. v. large sacks
of cumin, unusual pickles, drill bits and bike spares. (Don't put these last two in your curries, kids.)
Old Orleans.
10-11 Mill Lane (in Millers Yard)
Part of a chain. Their best fare is by far either Hot Chocolate Fudge Brownies
or Hot Toffee Fudge Blondies. Has to be tried to be believed.
Pizza
Express. 7a Jesus Lane
Imagine a pizza restaurant set in a gentleman's club and you won't be far
wrong because this is what it is! From the outside it looks a bit like
a Greek temple. Inside there are two dining rooms: the front one is sophisticated
and white, the back one has plush carpet, wood panelling and bookcases.
The only Pizza Express I've been to that's nicer is the one in Oxford.
Pret-a-Manger. Petty
Cury
Superior cakes, sandwiches and drinks to eat in or take away.
Railway
Tavern. Station Road, Great Shelford,
Cambridgeshire
A bit of a dive, but they do EXCELLENT Thai food.
Rainbow Bistro.
9a King's Parade (go down a passage next to the National Trust shop). Tel
321551
A splendid veggie restaurant. Many of the dishes are also vegan and/or
gluten-free. They do organic wines, cider and beer, plus a large range
of herbal / farily traded teas. Everything is scrumptious and so filling
that you'll probably only manage 2 courses. The menu is changed from time
to time, but you can rely on their carrot cake being on it - totally excellent.
Romano's. 44 Station
Rd., Histon.
An Indian / pizza restaurant that does take-aways and delivery. Their
Phal met the approval of my father-in-law (who likes his curry HOT) and
one of our cats (who doesn't have much brain).
Sticks
and Scones. 26
Woollards Lane (Opposite the recreation ground), Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire
A traditional cake shop, who do an amazing Caramel Apple Crumble. It doesn't
look impressive, but tastes wonderful.
Tatties. 26
Hobson Street, opposite the music shop
The second site for this excellent eaterie - the first one is now Sticky Fingers on St. Andrew Street. Tatties, as the name suggests, sell baked potatoes. These are huge and come with an equally huge range of tasty toppings. Non-baked-potato main courses cater for the potato-phobic, and there's also a big range of cakes. The current site was previously (working backwards in time): Treats in Town (a cafe), a set for the BBC drama Eskimo Day (starring Maureen Lipman), and a music shop.
White Pheasant
Country Restaurant and Free House. Ely<->Newmarket Rd, Fordham
To the North of Newmarket, this is a pub as restaurant. Therefore the food prices are more restaurant than pub, and there is little drinking area around the bar. Nevertheless, it serves excellent food, in generous amounts. It has a refined but unfussy atmosphere: classical music as background, on the Sunday we went all the quality Sunday papers were on the bar, and the bookshelves have the complete works of Dickens, etc.
There was only one veggie option when we went, but that was excellent, and the puddings were lovely!
Woolworths
Cafe. 13-15 Sidney Street
An excellent place to get Wallace and Gromit kiddies meals. For the grown-ups,
it supplies standard stuff, but mostly a dry and warm place to have a break
from shopping on a Saturday and listen to the buskers outside.
- The Duke of Wellington, Bourn
- The Anchor, Sutton Gault (between Earith and Ely)
- Recommendation from Sally Keyworth of Cambridge Online City:"you have to book, if you want to
spend a little more but have something a bit special in a quaint old pub with pine stuff but easygoing and friendly, great puds."
Anwar's. Somewhere
off Tottenham Court Road, London
I stumbled across this by accident. It's an Egyptian Greasy Spoon Caff:
a good meal for two with Lassi cost £10! (in London in 1996).
Duke's 92. Manchester
A pub on the Duke of Bridgwater Canal, that serves lunches consisting of
mounds of cheese and mountains of bread. It's by lock number 92, which
should, according to the normal numbering scheme for canals, be number
1. However, the canal builder was a Yorkshireman and couldn't stand the
idea of lock number 1 on a Lancashire-Yorkshire canal being in Lancashire,
so he reversed the order!
Rubicon. York
I don't know where this is, as I was led there by my mate Paul.
An amazing veggie restaurant - very stylish.
Shere Khan. South Manchester (Rusholme?)
A big, lively Indian restaurant that does good food.
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