ICOME6

Local Restaurants and Pubs

As Recommended by some of the Office Staff of the English Faculty
(Vicky, Sam, Anna and Jennifer)

Food and Drink within 5-10 minutes brisk walk of the Faculty:

• Inexpensive
  • The Sidgwick Buttery
    The Buttery is on the same site as the English Faculty and is from 8.30am to 5pm. They mainly do sandwiches and salads, but they have a few items of hot food, as well: baked potatoes (very nice! -Jennifer), filled pastries, sometimes pizza.
  • The Granta Bar at the University Centre on Mill Lane (map)
    The Granta Bar has inexpensive drinks and you can get the curry of the day (either veggie or meaty and including rice, poppadum and naan) for about a fiver. The curries are really tasty and served quickly, as you order.
  • The Main Dining Hall at the University Centre
    The dining hall is a good place to get a cheap and cheerful meal. It's also air-conditioned, which can be a bonus in the summer heat! There's no wait for your food, since it's all right there.
  • The University Sports and Social Club on Mill Lane (map)
    The USSC is a great place for your normal pub food, but if Dave is the chef on duty, do not miss out on his out of this world home made burger and chips! The food and drinks are inexpensive, tasty and filling. Highly recommended. The food does take a little while to arrive (especially the burgers, but as Dave said to me once: you can't rush a good burger!), but it's all made up when you order it.
  • Dojo Noodle Bar on Mill Lane (map)
    Dojo is always jam-packed at lunch time, but the food is lovely and inexpensive and the service is quick. Dojo also has outdoor seating for those warm days.
• More expensive
  • The Rice Boat on Newnham Road (map)
    The Rice Boat is a Southern Indian restaurant specialising in food from the Kerala region. The prices are reasonable and the food is really good, but it is true that the service can be slow. However, they prepare things when you ask for it, they're not sitting and waiting under a heat lamp for hours on end. We can particularly recommend the Kerala Beef (eat it with the Neyychor rice, not the plain rice) and the Kerala Red Fish Curry (with boiled rice).
  • Fitzbillies Restaurant on Trumpington Street (map)
    Fitzbillies Service is a bit slow and you will definitely need to book ahead, but the food is good and the desserts are heavenly! Fitzbillies also has a bakery right next door that does very nice sandwiches for lunch and tasty, tasty cakes - open until 5pm.
  • Bella Italia on Newnham Road (map)
    Now, we haven't yet been to this particular Bella Italia, but there are 3 in Cambridge and we've been to the others. Good food at reasonable prices, and this one is so close you might be able to have a quick lunch there with no trouble.
• Pubs that do Food
  • The Granta Pub on Newnham Road (map)
  • The Anchor on Mill Lane (map)

Food and Drink within 10-20 minutes brisk walk of the Faculty:

• Inexpensive
  • Manna Mexico on Regent Street (map)
    The best, most inexpensive Mexican food in Cambridge. Hands down.
  • Jinling Noodle Bar on Peas Hill (map)
  • Rainbow Café (Vegetarian) on King's Parade (map)
  • Pret a Manger in Lion Yard (map)
• More expensive
  • Loch Fyne Fish Restaurant and Oyster Bar on Trumpington Street (map)
    Recommended by everyone who likes good fish! Loch Fyne is fairly expensive, but people say it's worth it (I'm not a fish-person, so I can't say from experience! -Jennifer). Laura went years ago when it opened and then when she could afford it (ie not very often!) and it is very good, serving fish from Scotland.  And she is a fish-person - mind you she mainly runs to tinned sardines.
  • Browns on Trumpington Street, across from the Fitzwilliam Museum (map)
    Browns is a bit iffy - sometimes you get really fast service and sometimes not, so it's probably better to go for an evening meal here. The food is good, though, and they have a well-rounded selection of wines.
  • Prezzo on Northampton Street (map)
  • Zizzi on Regent Street (near Manna Mexico) (map)
• Pubs that do Food
  • The Eagle on Ben'et Street (map)

Other dining in Cambridge: (i.e. places that might be nice for an evening meal as they are too far away for lunch)

• Inexpensive
  • Panahar on Norfolk Street (map)
  • Chiquito Bar & Grill on the Cambridge Leisure Park
    Very nice Tex-Mex food; we eat there often!
• More Expensive
  • Peking on Burleigh Street (map)
    Hands down the best Szechuan food in Cambridge. Quite possibly even the best restaurant in Cambridge! If you call ahead to make sure that Michael is doing the cooking, you're guaranteed incredible food (He's the owner, along with his wife, who is often taking orders.). We like it so much we even had our Christmas meal there this year! (NB the food contains no MSG as Mrs Kerr is allergic to it!) The food seems a bit pricey, but most of the mains are meant to be shared between at least 2 people.
  • Charlie Chan on Regent Street (map)
    Another nice Chinese restaurant; it isn't anything like as homey as Peking, but the jazzy 30's atmosphere in the upstairs is quite nice. The food is a bit pricey, but again, you're given a good quantity.
  • Graffiti at the Hotel Felix just off Huntingdon Road (map)
• Pubs that do food
  • The Bun Shop on King Street (map)

For more information about eating and drinking in Cambridge, see the Visit Cambridge web site.

This site copyright 2007 by the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge, CB3 9DP