North China Dumpling, Cambridge

The Mr is my Cambridge spy, as he works in the city, and he mentioned on Friday 'that dumpling place has opened on Regent Street' - feeling like we needed something to shake the damp feeling this weather is giving us, we went along for dumplings on Saturday.

It's where the Otto Cafe used to be, a small place with about 8 tables and a tiny kitchen. They serve up steamed dumplings with pork, beef, lamb, chicken, fish or vegetable/tofu fillings. There are a few extras too like hot and sour cucumber salad, char sui pork with rice and pickled vegetables. It's a very simple menu and extremely good value too - 12 dumplings are £6 and sides about £3/4. They also do sweet steamed buns, with black sesame or peanut fillings.

I went for the pork dumplings with kimchi served in a hot and sour soup, Mr opted for the tofu and chive dumplings. The service is a little slow and confused here, but they have only been open a week or so, but the staff are really friendly, I'm sure this will improve with experience.

The food however is great, it's fresh and packed with flavour. The vegetarian dumplings were filled with crispy tofu and stuffed with lots of chives, and the surrounding pastry was light. The pork dumplings were similarly good, tender on the inside with lots of ginger and kimchi, and the hot and sour broth had a really good chilli kick.

We spent £19 on 2 servings of dumplings, soup (an extra £1.50) and two cokes. The cheapest lunch I've had in Cambridge for a long time! We'll definitely be back, we had no room for pudding but I will on my next visit.

North China Dumpling,
57 Regent Street
Cambridge

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Pint Shop Preview Party, Cambridge

A very exciting addition to the Cambridge restaurant opens today - Pint Shop. Their slogan is 'Meat, Bread, Beer' and if that doesn't make you happy then you can stop reading now. Although don't actually, because even if you're a vegetarian or don't like beer, there is something here for you. A magnificent vegetarian pie is on the menu, and 40 different kinds of gin!

I was lucky enough to be invited to their preview party last week to sample what their bar had to offer along with the kitchen. I was greeted by the lovely manager, Clare, who told me simply, there are gin and tonics inside - sold! I was there to see this fabulous new restaurant open but also to celebrating landing a brand new job (yay!).

Pint Shop is a three story former bank, inside which is a bar area and a dining room plus further rooms upstairs. It's nice that the rooms are split this way so you don't feel lost in a huge open plan restaurant. I believe in the bar area you can just grab a drink and a bar snack or a full meal, and the dining area for meals only.

I'm not a beer drinker but I have recently developed a liking for gin (my age maybe?) so I was glad to see they have 40 gins on the menu, plus a regular house gin specially picked out. On the preview night it was Adnams Copper House gin so I gladly ordered a G&T which was expertly and quickly made up. I've mostly had bad experiences with G&T but this was really nice, not too bitter and just the thing after a long day.

Beer wise they are chalked up on a huge blackboard daily, with plenty of variation to suit all tastes. There is a good looking selection of wine but disappointingly no cider  - maybe this is something they will have in the future? Hopefully, there is some great cider being made locally and it would be a shame to miss out.

As we settled down food started to come around, so much of it too! There were chilli 'beer sticks' made from cured pork and spices, a nice hit of spice and perfect with your drink.

Then we were treated to rabbit and potato mini pasties with pickle, fish pie scotch eggs with saffron aioli, potted pork with plum on lovely Jigsaw Bakery sourdough, rolled shoulder of lamb with welsh onion cake and cabbage and finally beetroot with a herby nutty pesto on more of that lovely sourdough. Everything we tasted was really novel, comforting homely food with a nice twist - I can't wait to dine there again.

Potted Pork and Plum 

Rolled Shoulder of Lamb, Potato Cake, Red Cabbage

As part of the festivities there were also talks from their suppliers  - we got to learn all about the Cambridge Gin Distillery and their yummy 'P' Gin made from, you've guessed it, peas, in honour of the Peas Hill address of Pint Shop. We first got to taste a pea spirit which amazingly captured that freshly picked pea taste but in booze! Amazing. Their unique vaccuum distillation process means that they can capture delicate flavours in a spirit. The actual P Gin is made from Juniper (as required by gin, to be called Gin), fresh peas, mint and spices. It was very interesting indeed, the peas are less strong but you get a lovely fresh, mint, herby taste backed up with the obligatory juniper. Novel stuff.

Pint Shop opens tonight, and I believe it is already proving to be a big hit. Get there as soon as you can, it will be great. Find out more here. 

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Sunday Lunch at The Hole in the Wall Cambridge

I have known for some time that the Hole in the Wall does a brilliant Sunday Lunch, it is one of,  our favourite restaurants, possibly even our most favourite, and never disappoints. It has even been voted the best Sunday Lunch in East Anglia by the Observer Food Monthly Awards.

Anticipating a large roast dinner we skipped the starters (pudding is compulsory) and went straight to mains. I ordered the roast pork with (deep breath) crackling, duck fat roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese, carrot, green vegetables and apple sauce. It was everything a Sunday roast should be - homely and generous but with the finesse you expect from the Hole in the Wall. The potatoes were amazingly crispy, I love the chargrilled top on the cauliflower cheese and the crackling was perfect. I also love the carrot, odd as that sounds, I think it was a confit carrot, or else slow cooked in someway - lovely. The whole thing was topped off with a cider and mustard sauce, a nice change from gravy.

Mr had the mushroom and leek rarebit with potato rosti and a fried egg. It was a lot smaller than the roast I had, which felt a little odd, but around the same size as their usual main courses. The cheesy leek topping on the mushroom was excellent with the crispy rosti and runny yolk. Another great veggie dish from these guys, they always come up with something a bit different.

Before our mains arrived we were given some bread - beetroot & treacle bread and sourdough. Both excellent, I need to figure out how to make that beetroot bread.

We both went for the, now legendary, doughnuts for pudding - and they've made them bigger! Three airy sugary doughnuts with a rich chocolate dipping sauce and a scoop of ice cream. The pudding menu was very impressive - 5 choices including black pepper & strawberry panna cotta, sticky toffee pudding and salted caramel pot plus more. I could have had a small portion of all of them really, but I understand that isn't something they offer (!)

So, if you're stuck for somewhere to go for Sunday Lunch in Cambridge, and are bored with the usual overcooked pub offerings, head to the Hole in the Wall. It is a little pricier than the usual but you will not be disappointed. We spent £55 for 2 courses each plus a couple of soft drinks each.

The Hole in the Wall
Little Wilbraham, Cambs
holeinthewallcambridge.com

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Hotel du Vin Cambridge, Afternoon Tea

A few months ago I tried the Hotel du Vin afternoon tea during Miss Sue Flay's afternoon tea etiquette workshop, it was on the whole very good indeed with the exception of some very lurid pink cupcakes which were very strange, given the rest of the selection. They invited me back to try their tea, after making some improvements, I went along a couple of weeks ago with two friends and unfortunately things haven't improved.

I am all for being fair when I blog, and sometimes I think I can be overly positive - so as not nice as it is to write a bad review, we all have to do it. A blogger's duty ;)

Between three of us we had a large tier - with sandwiches, scones, pastries and cake. There was a great selection of loose leaf tea, which was served in pretty blue and white floral teapots. They even provide a pot of hot water, something lots of tea rooms do not do - it is essential to prevent you drinking stewed cold tea.

The sandwiches were the same as before, and very good. Good quality smoked salmon and cream cheese, ham and cucumber. One of my tea companions was vegetarian, which she mentioned beforehand, so they included a separate plate of veggie sandwiches - a nice thought, I can't remember what they all were but I know it wasn't all cheese!

Next up were the scones, which were quite disappointing. Last time I had afternoon tea there we were treated to tall fluffy scones, just as they should be. This time around they were very flat indeed, chewy and obviously overcooked. Such a shame, the scones are the centrepiece of an afternoon tea, and it should always be the element that is perfect.

We moved on to the mille feuille - the pastry was nice but not too sweet, and the cream was just cream, not sweetened. There was a little jam/coulis but not enough to taste. Next to that were some fresh fruit tarts with cream pattiserie - the tarts had obviously been filled a little while ago - and the cream had made them soft. Soft soggy pastry, which was also undercooked (they also seemed liked they were bought in, and they are often paler than homecooked) so it was all a bit disappointing. The blueberries were fresh though!

The last offering was a sort of chocolatey nut cake, it wasn't very rich in chocolate and each was cut at very strange and slightly jagged angles, a little shabby for an elegant afternoon tea. The cake itself wasn't dry but the flavour was a little miscellaneous.

I really liked the afternoon tea last time around, so I am really not sure what happened this time. I'm quite disappointed. The library, where tea is served, is gorgeous, very cosy in the Winter, and it is a great central location. They have an excellent opportunity here and it will be sad if their afternoon tea offering becomes the same as the rest of those offered in central Cambridge - badly thought out and only appealing to the tourist crowd. Maybe I'll just pop in for a cuppa next time.

Hotel Du Vin
Trumpington Street
Cambridge

Do any of my readers have any great central Cambridge recommendations for afternoon tea? I'd love to hear them, between conversations with other bloggers we have slightly drawn a blank.

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Sweeteasy - Cakes and Cocktails

Last Friday we spent a very civilised and yummy evening at Afternoontease's Sweeteasy event. You may have heard me mention Afternoontease before - who does have a name, her name is Jo and she is a local Cambridge baker supplying her delicious layer cakes to lots of cafes locally, and she is also one half of the Platelickers supperclub duo. Jo also hosts Sweeteasy, which is a simple but excellent concept - cocktails paired with cakes.

Everything is homemade, with the exception of the spirits of course - Jo makes the cakes, brownies and other sweet treats and also concocts purees and infusions from to go into the cocktails.

We started off with a Gooseberry & Elderflower Fool Martini. It was made with gooseberry puree from Jo's parents garden which was perfumed with locally picked Elderflower, then mixed with gin and served in wide cocktail glasses. Gin is one of my least favourite things but this cocktail was great, the gin was perfumed but in a good way, and the sweet fruit puree worked so well. This was matched with Bramble Friands - light sponge cakes made with ground almonds and whisked eggs whites, they were finished with a blackberry and gin glaze.

Next up was Honey Bourbon Milk Punch - my favourite of the evening - Honey bourbon mixed with a little nutmeg and then milk, served in cute little mini milk bottles. We had these with chunky stout brownies, made with Hot Numbers Coffee Stout, brewed by Moonshine Brewery. These were proper brownies, no messing around, dense and tall with a great crispy top.

After this we had Limoncello Tiramisu, something I clocked immediately when the menu was presented to us, and it didn't disappointed. It was served as a lemon mascarpone zabaglione in a little teacup with two homemade sponge fingers on the side, dusted with icing sugar. A shot of limoncello served in a cute little wax seal bottle was served with it.

Finally, to round things off, was a warming Fruitcake Infused Rum Daquiri. Jo explained to us that this was a proper daquiri, none of the terrible crushed ice and overly sweet fake fruit. Instead it was made with proper rum (infused with dried fruits and spices), lemon juice and a cube of ice.  This was the Mr's favourite of the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sweeteasy, I'm just getting into cocktail making and Jo's evening gave me a really good idea of the kind of flavours that work well. None of the cocktails were too overpowering - in sweetness or alcohol and Jo has some amazing ideas for combinations. And I definitely think that cakes should be paired with cocktails more often, why do we always have savoury nibbles when we can have cake?

You can find out more about Jo's cakes and events on her site here.

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The Linton Kitchen

Linton has been crying out for some interesting food options for ages! It's a pretty village south of Cambridge with lots of chocolate box cottages winding down their high street, and now the street is peppered with some interesting places to eat and shop. First there was Jigsaw Bakery, now there is Linton Kitchen, and soon there will be a new butcher's shop opening.

I worked very close by about 3 years ago and the only things of note nearby were the greasy spoon around the corner and the fact that the nearest BP garage had an M&S food. You can imagine. 

Linton Kitchen is a coffee shop and local produce shop run by Gemma, which opened in April. It's a small shop packed with local goodies - Kandula tea, Hot Numbers coffee beans, jams, chutneys, oils, eggs, Saffron Ice Cream Co. ice cream and lots more. She even sells local crafts - tea cosies, little fabric clocks and mugs. 

I'd stopped by soon after opening for a coffee and custard tart, but I was keen to go back with the Mr again and to have brunch. 

There are lots of options - centering around traditional breakfast foods - eggs, mushrooms, sausages and of course bacon - the menu changes daily. There are also a selection of sandwiches for lunch and of course there are sweet treats to be had.

We both had the mushrooms on (Jigsaw Bakery sourdough) toast with creme fraiche, and added bacon for me, washed down with an excellent flat white. The quality of everything really shows in Gemma's food - the mushrooms taste of something, there is a good whack of garlic and the bacon is excellent. You can tell the produce is fresh and well chosen. 

Cakes are baked by Gemma or provided by the lovely Afternoon Tease. There are also housebaked brownies or flapjacks and muffins. You can also find Norfolk St Bakery's custard tarts for sale, which is rather nice for a Shire dweller like me who finds it difficult to get into the city. She even made my recipe for Banana Oat Cake and had it for sale last week, and it is very popular (beaming). 

The Linton Kitchen has only been open for just over 6 weeks but Gemma has already done so much, there is always something new available (which she tweets about each day) whether it is a new cake or some fresh produce that has just come in. There are local strawberries in this week, the first batch of the summer.

If you're a little bit further afield it is definitely worth making the trip out to Linton - there is Jigsaw Bakery, Linton Kitchen and then you can go and visit the Zoo as well! And if that isn't enough you can make lots of Alan Partridge jokes whilst you are there (sadly there isn't a travel tavern). 

I'm looking forward to being a regular customer, it's a lovely spot to chill with a coffee and it's nice to have a proper breakfast / brunch option in the area.

Linton Kitchen

30 High Street 

Linton

Cambridgeshire

CB21 4HS

Open Tues - Saturday (8-6) and Sunday (10-3)

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Cambridge Coffee - My 5 Favourite Cafes

I thought up this blog post the other day after pondering just how often I go out for coffee - whether it is a passing caffeine fix on the way to work, a catch up with a friend or a weekend treat for me and the Mr. I think the cafe culture has finally come to the UK, and in a big way, yes a lot of it is Starbucks and Costa (which I do visit, I'm not going to lie) but thankfully there are also lots and lots of great independent cafes doing their thing. I've got lots of spots in Cambridge that I love, and these are my five favourites, and regular stops.

1. Gog Magog Hills Cafe

I think this is the place we frequent the most, usually at the weekend. Their (Monmouth) coffee is excellent, tea is served in lovely sunny yellow teapots, they have a vast and amazing array of cakes. The thing to really mention here are their towering scones, specifically the cheese scones. They are maybe more cheese than scone and this is a most excellent thing. The shop and deli on site are also my favourite places to go for food shopping - whether it be a chunk of cheese, something from the butchers (the merguez lamb sausages), fruit, veg or a little treat from the bakery section. They are also brilliant on Twitter, follow them!

2. Teacake at Shepreth

I dedicated a whole blog post to Teacake recently! They are just around the corner from my office so I regularly visit them. They too serve Monmouth coffee, expertly made by Maurice along with loose leaf tea and lcoal fruit juice from Cam Valley Orchards. Christine bakes all their cakes and sweet treats - everything from a traditional Victoria sponge, brownies, flapjacks to something different like chocolate beetroot cake or sticky date cake. They also do sandwiches, soups and salads - they sometimes even smoke their own salmon or ham which is such a change from the usual sad lunch you get when you work 9-5. Their crayfish and mayo sandwich is my favourite lunch choice, and if my to do list is particularly long that day I have a slice of sticky date cake for afters.

3. Hot Numbers

A lovely chilled out place to meet with a friend or work if you fancy a change of scenery. They roast their own coffee beans in their 'Roastery' and have lots of different options for your coffee - from the traditional espresso machine to their impressive siphon. They also serve tea from my favourite local tea company, Kandula Tea. Cakes are provided by the fantastic Afternoon Tease and there are lots of sweet treats from Fitzbillies, including their legendary Chelsea buns. A truly local cafe! They've recently expanded by combining the neighbouring Williams Art gallery with the cafe, so you can sip your coffee amongst some lovely artwork.

4. Waterstones Cafe

So you're thinking what is Waterstones doing in here amongst the independents? Well, their 2nd view cafe is the perfect super central Cambridge spot for a break from shopping. It's huge so there is always space and the coffee is great, the WiFi fast and the staff are lovely. It's so hard to find a good place to go for a decent coffee slap bang in the middle of the shopping area so I'm pleased Waterstones are doing a good job here. Their cakes and sandwiches are ok, nothing to write home about, but the coffee is good so that is the main thing!

5. Greens Coffee, Cambourne

A little hop out of town this unassuming cafe is quite lovely. They are a cafe during the day and then a cocktail bar at night, perfect! Their cinnamon cappuccino is one of my favourite things ever and they do a lovely spiced apple drink during the Winter months. And of course the cocktails, gorgeous, especially the espresso martini.

So there you have it, I'd love to know of other spots that I can try, I'm always on the lookout. I should also give some honourable mentions to Savino's (shabby but fab), Le Gros Franck (for mornings), Shelford Deli and Cafe CouCou in Saffron Walden.

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Jigsaw Bakery - Linton, Cambridgeshire

Real bread has come to Cambridge! Since my first visit to the Jigsaw Bakery in Linton a month or so ago I've been going along pretty much every weekend for my fix of Matthew's wonderful bread. The kind of brilliant bread that makes you want to run home as fast as you can and tell your husband about it because it is so good (yes I do always have a nibble of it as I am leaving the shop, naturally). I visited the bakery first during CamShopLocal so here is my promised post, dedicated to it!

Matthew Whitby opened the bakery back in November, and I spotted the bakery Facebook page go up just before and watched the progress of the shop being fitted out. He's part of the Real Bread Campaign - campaigning to bring back proper bread to the UK - handmade without additives or improvers. I've heard lots of people compare our bread to the continent and we are lagging behind, has the popularity of the soft white slice made us forget what proper bread is?

Matthew sells a huge variety of bread from his tiny bakery - sourdough, flavoured sourdough, fruit breads, pain de campagne, ryes, wholemeal, breadsticks and even more - plus cakes, puddings and meringues. He also stocks and makes coffee, olive oil, bread flours, chutney and aprons from the lovely Cooking Gorgeous.

We've so far tasted the sourdough, pain de campagne, tomato and cheese focaccia, currant malthouse and wild garlic focaccia. The focaccias are mega, and don't last more than 24 hours in our house. The currant bread and the sourdough keep so well in an airtight container and see us through breakfasts and alongside meals during the week. We've yet to try the sweets but I'm sure we will do soon.

Linton is about 10 -15 minutes drive from Central Cambridge, a lovely little village which has some exciting things going on. The Linton Kitchen has recently opened - a beautiful cafe which also sells local produce, and there is a butchers opening soon too. The Crown Inn is a great pub (good pies!) and they even have a little zoo!

If you're hoping to get some of Matthew's bread do arrive around opening time (11am) because he does sell out quick. Also, if you drop him a note on Facebook he is happy to reserve a loaf for you, great service!

Jigsaw Bakery
113 High Street
Linton
CB21 4JT
Open Tuesday 11-6, Thursday - Friday 11-6 and Saturday 11 - 4

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#CamShopLocal - One Week, Independent Shopping in Cambridgeshire

I've been chatting on Twitter, and this always leads to some kind of plan taking place - usually visiting a new cafe or trying a new recipe, but this time the challenge is much greater. Fresh from the EAT Cambridge food festival, the foodies in the area are buzzing with enthusiasm about what our local Cambridge producers and suppliers can offer us. So with that, a group of us are challenging ourselves to shop locally and with independents for 1 week, from the 2nd April - 7th April.

No supermarkets or chains for 1 week. Supporting the little guy or girl, whether that be visiting the local butcher, baker, farm shop, clothing shop, restaurant or cafe. I am not going to lie, it is going to be hard and it will be interesting to see how my opinions change.

At the moment, I love independents and the unique things they can offer but I see supermarkets and chains as very much a part of my life. I am busy. I work 9am-5.30pm 5 days a week, making jewellery is my 2nd job, I blog, I bake and I do occasionally like to sleep. So being able to pop to the local Tesco (of which there are SO many in Cambridgeshire), Waitrose, Sainsburys or M&S is very much what I need to be able to get on with it.

To be fair to them, I think supermarkets have been getting it right recently too, current horse related mishaps aside, they are stocking more interesting produce, they have local sections and (particularly useful for me) world food sections along with stocking interesting cheeses, meats, niche brands and seasonal products.

But I think basic produce in supermarkets isn't good quality- fruit and veg, bread and meat either don't taste of anything or don't last long enough. But I make do, I buy them anyway and I expect what I can out of them. I add more spices, more salt, more herbs to make them taste better. Unfortunately they aren't even that cheap anymore either.

And I do visit Starbucks and Costa. I need time for a restorative coffee and cake during the week! I prefer Costa but it is not a patch on my favourite tearoom, Teacake, who I also visit equally as much. Cambridge is teaming with independent cafes, a lot of which have opened up recently.

This is also not just about food. What about household items- washing up liquid, bleach, loo roll, cat food? A lot of these are dominated by big brands, but I am not ruling out shopping for brands because seriously is there an artisan toilet roll producer in Cambridgeshire? But I will buy them from an independent rather than a supermarket. It may well cost me more, we'll see how that goes. I have to admit we do have most of these things in the house already so I may not need to buy.

I'm afraid I'm drawing the line at petrol. Judge me if you like but petrol is already bankrupting me as it is. And the two independent petrol stations (which, let's face it, still get their oil from big multinationals) are about 15 miles from my house, and about 12p a litre dearer.

So, petrol aside, I'm going to challenge myself to be less of a lazy giraffe consumer - to plan my shopping better and to really think about how to be smarter even if I am busy. Over the Easter weekend I've used the extra time to get some supplies from a local baker and Gog Magog Farm Shop along with a veg box from the Cambridge Organic Food Co.

There was something that came up during the Eat Cambridge food debate that there wasn't as much of a food scene outside of the city, which I very very much disagree with! I live and work outside of Cambridge centre and there is plenty going on, and I am very good at finding it, my list below will show you :)

I've got a list of places in my head that I will be shopping at - close to work and/or home. In no particular order:

Leech & Sons in Melbourn (meats, cheese, bread, fish, cakes, bread, eggs and 5mins from my office)
Bury Lane Farm Shop, near Royston (although I don't rate them much, it is a bit like a theme park farm shop. Might be good if I need something quickly)
Teacake Tearoom in Shepreth - my favourite tearoom. They also sell 'household staples' like loo roll, milk, bread, eggs, baked beans...
The Country Store, Sawston (cat food and litter, and I think logs for the fire, because it is definitely still going to be freezing in April)
The Ickleton Lion  - my local pub!
The egg lady, Ickleton (I hope her ducks start laying again soon)
Cafe Cou Cou, Saffron Walden (amazing shortbread and fruit bread)
Gog Magog Farm Shop & Cafe (all manner of things! Their fruit and veg, meat, cheese, food cupboard bits, bread, tea, coffee. It is one of my regular haunts and I've seen them grow into a fantastic local business who really care about what they do).
Several butchers in Saffron Walden
Saturday Market in Saffron Walden (fruit, veg, fish and seafood, brilliant bread, olives, tapenade, houmous, plants)
Walden Local Food - veg stall in Saffron Walden on Sunday
Jigsaw Bakery in Linton, blog post coming up about this soon - brilliant new bakery run by one man in a tiny little shop/kitchen


Wish me luck! I'll be tweeting using the #camshoplocal this week and blogging my progress/frustrations/achievements :)

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The Cambridge Brewhouse, King Street, Cambridge

Twitter is a great place, it is where I nearly always hear about new restaurant openings and where I heard about The Cambridge Brewhouse. I'd heard whisperings a few weeks before, and then Cambridge News picked up on it and by opening night on Wednesday Twitter was awash with pictures of their delicious food.

The Cambridge Brewhouse is on 1 King Street, which is a pub that has suffered from being not that great. It was The Bun Shop for a long time, a shabby looking place which never really held any appeal for me, then just over a year ago it was refurbished and turned into The Jolly Scholar - I blogged about it back then - the food was okay and the service was really quite terrible. I heard many more bad reviews about it after that, and it closed last year.

So now is the turn of The Cambridge Brewhouse, and things are definitely looking up. They brew their own beer as well as having a selection of ales from independent brewers, they smoke their own cheese and meat and make their own sausages. The food is pub style with a twist and they do a selection of 'British Tapas' - little light bites to go with your beer or as a starter.

I started off with some Shepherd's Pie Croquettes which aren't the most photogenic things, but they were tasty. Very crispy on the outside with soft centre made up of mash and traditional lamb shepherd's pie filling. I would have liked the mash to be around the outside and a meat filling in the centre but the Mr did point out the logistics of this might have been pretty hard to achieve. So I'm just fussy.

There are a few vegetarian options on the menu, from either the tapas section or the mains, and you can have sandwiches in the day time too. Mr had a butternut squash pearl barley risotto served with a little pot of the house smoked cheddar. Again, it wasn't too photogenic (hence no picture) but it was delicious, nice and generous on the cheese and lots of herbs to go with the squash and pearl barley.

I had the pie of the day which was lamb and rosemary - served with either mash or chips and red cabbage, and importantly - extra gravy! The pastry was crispy and flaky and the filling slow cooked and tender, perfect. The chips were unfortunately a little bit soggy, only a few of them were crispy.

Feeling full we almost didn't have pudding, but all the food was 50% off for the soft launch, so it would have been rude not to. I had my favourite - Sticky Toffee Pudding which was sickly, sweet, sticky and perfect. It didn't look as drenched in sauce as others do, so I was worried it would be dry, but the sponge was perfectly soft and there was plenty of sauce to go with it.

Mr had the 'Winter Berry Eton Mess' - as far as we could tell it came with raspberries, which aren't particularly wintry, and in fact there are no berries around in the winter anyway. Maybe a winter Eton mess would be better if it was served with stewed or preserved fruit of some kind. Despite the fruit, the meringue was chewy and crispy, it had a generous amount of cream and the out of season raspberries were at least sweet.

With 50% off a beer and a glass of wine it came to £23, so at normal prices it is about average for a meal in Cambridge (I know, it is expensive here!). We'll definitely go back again, the food is interesting and I like that they have their own microbrewery and smokery.

You can find the menu on their website and also follow them on Twitter for updates.

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Thalis from Pri's Kitchen

Last Thursday evening a lovely lady called Priyanka delivered a hot, freshly cooked thali directly to my door - my door which is attached to a cottage in a very small village tucked away in Cambridgeshire. Things like this don't happen often around here, if you don't fancy cooking our options are a questionable pizza delivery or trekking out in the car to a supermarket or to the dreaded golden arches.

Really you shouldn't require a knife and fork...

Pri's Kitchen is based in Priyanka's home in Saffron Walden - every Thursday, Friday and Saturday she cooks up orders of thalis for residents in Saffron Walden and the neighbouring villages. She'll make you a meat thali or a vegetarian thali and deliver it to you in the proper metal tray and bowls piping hot and smelling delicious.

To explain, a thali (Hindi for 'plate') consists of various different Indian dishes, which vary from region to region, consisting of several different curries, rice, dahl, raita, rotli or puri, sometimes a chutney or pickle and a sweet too.

Meat Thali

We ordered a vegetarian and a meat thali. Both had dahl, aloo jeera (cumin potatoes), chole (chickpeas), gobi (cauliflower), raita, rice, roti and a chocolate burfi as the sweet. My meat thali had a lovely lamb curry and a spinach and chicken curry. The veggie thali had a paneer curry and bhindi - okra.

Spinach & Chicken Curry, Lamb Curry

                                     

Aloo Jeera

My god everything was delicious! Everything was perfectly spiced, not too heavy on the chilli which good Indian food should be, perfectly cooked and each dish so different from the next - which is the best thing about a thali. It might sound odd but it was nice to eat it from a proper plate, it was obviously the authentic way to do it but it also just made it more like homecooking, which it is, very much so.

Gobi

If you're local, or fancy coming around my house for a thali, you can order directly from Priyanka's website. She will then contact you to arrange a delivery time and day. And then a week or so later she'll come and collect your empty plates and bowls - and if you are smart you can arrange it for when your next Thali is arriving!

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Margarita Cake & Clandestine Cake Club

Another day, another cake club! My favourite cocktail is a margarita, and I didn't have to think hard when asked to make a cocktail inspired cake for the next Clandestine Cake Club. Apart from anything else, I already had triple sec and tequila in my kitchen, all I needed was limes (oh and butter, sugar, flour...) and a spare evening.

I was also particularly excited because last night's cake club was my first as official co host. It was held at the lovely Greens Coffee in Cambourne, and a dozen cakes and guests settled around a long table filled with all kinds of cakes. We were also joined by the lovely Leanne from Cambridge News, more on that in a couple of weeks....

This cake gets all the flavour after baking - the sponge is a simple vanilla with lots of lime zest stirred in. After it comes out the oven a tequila sugar syrup is poured over the cake to soak in whilst it cools. Then it is topped with even more booze - in the form of a tequila, triple sec, lime and cream cheese icing.

Margarita Cake
makes 1 loaf cake

For the cake:
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 2 limes
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 / 160 c fan / 180 c conventional. Cream together the butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Then add in the eggs one by one til well combined. Add vanilla and lime zest. Add in all the flour and baking powder and gently fold in til just combined. Bake in a lined loaf tin for 25-30 minutes.

Margarita Syrup
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
1 capful of Tequila
1 capful of Triple Sec
juice of 1 lime

Mix all the ingredients together til the sugar is dissolved.
When the cake is cooked, leave in the tin for about 5-10 minutes, then remove and put on a plate. Poke small holes in the cake with a skewer and then evenly pour the syrup over the cake. Leave to cool.

Cream cheese icing
100g cream cheese
25g of butter, softened
1 tablespoon of Tequila
1 tablespoon of Triple Sec
juice of 1 lime
150g - 200g icing sugar

Cream together the butter and the cream cheese, then add in 100g of icing sugar and the spirits and lime. Add in more icing sugar as you combine til you have a thick icing, slightly thicker than custard - you want nice pourable icing. Refrigerate whilst the cake cools.

This cake is best iced just before you serve it - which I didn't think through very well because it meant I had to arrive at cake club with a tub full of it and a spoon ready to ice at the table. Just pour tablespoon fulls of it over the cake in a 'rustic' fashion! If you have some left it will freeze well and you can use it for another cake.

Our next Cambridge Clandestine Cake Club is the 24th November, sign up on the website.

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