St Ives Restaurant Guide

“Wine’s the thing but the food is very reliable” at this ivy-clad 18th-century riverside venue with a “lovely atmosphere”. Long-term admirers are relieved to report “very little change under the new owners” since East Anglia’s Chestnut Group took over from Master of Wine John Hoskins and his wife Julia in summer 2023.

“Our go-to for breakfast on a Saturday in Cambridge” – with its “beautiful art deco-ish dining room”, this branch of the glossy national chain has a cohort of fans who reckon it’s “always a pleasure” to visit. Worth considering, in this still underserved university city.

“Everything that a lavish foodie experience should be – just wonderful”. Daniel Clifford’s Victorian villa remains one of the most accoladed restaurants in the country, and under chef Mark Abbott continues to plough a very steady course thanks to his “extraordinarily accomplished and delicious cooking”. It helps that it’s a pretty house in a gorgeous location: set on lush Midsummer Common, next to the Cam and with the backdrop of the university’s many boathouses on the opposite bank. There’s only one fly in the ointment here, and it’s the fact that at £270 per person for the evening (15-course) tasting menu, the price tag is a very large one and even some who say the food is “very good” can still find it “overpriced”. But for most, it’s “unfaultable”, “with a lot of fantasy and love for detail and really worth the journey”.

The “British classics (whitebait, Barnsley chop etc)” are “all fine” – and “given its prime tourist location, much better than you might expect” – at this “pleasant” spot opposite King’s College Chapel. But do try to grab a street-level table, rather than heading “downstairs to the dark and pokey basement”.

“LOVE this chain and would happily eat there any day!” – These “always buzzy” Nordic operations (originating in Copenhagen 30 years ago) provide a “tasty mix of sushi and grilled yakitori kebabs” in Scandi-minimalist dining spaces. One or two reporters hesitate at the prices for these luscious morsels – “not sure you can justify the cost of leaving full up” – but the overall satisfaction-level is high. They added a branch in Richmond’s former House of Fraser in May 2024 followed by another on Islington Green in September.

“A fantastic selection of beers (and gins)” makes the popular former home of E. M. Forster “a very useful and welcome gastro-choice in central Cambridge, where other options are not great”. The food is “reliable” and “decently done but nothing earth-shattering”. Top Tip – “stay downstairs: the upstairs dining room can have a chilly ambience”.

2023 Review: “Focused on simple dishes, with excellent ingredients, all elevated by sharp cooking” – the year-old grill at this new Graduate Hotel (named for the previous hotel on this site) wins positive feedback in our annual diners’ poll (but too limited for a rating).

2021 Review: This “meaty joint” occupies an attractive converted mill, complete with working water wheel. It “continues to please students and locals in its airy space overlooking river and millpond (I saw a kingfisher!)”.

2022 Review: Ambitious and “exciting” Indian cuisine is on the menu at this Cambridge operation, which crossed the road into new premises in late 2021 (rendering obsolete complaints of “peeling wallpaper”). Reporters recommend choosing one of the tasting menus, which offer seven courses of standard, vegetarian or vegan dishes – “it meant that I tried dishes I wouldn’t normally choose and really opened up new flavours to me”.

A “beautiful setting” in the University Arms hotel, which relaunched alongside this tavern in 2018 after an £80 million transformation, adds considerably to the charms of a visit to this brasserie overlooking Parker’s Piece green. Local chef Tristan Welch, who honed his talents alongside a triptych of star chefs – Roux Jr, Ramsay and Rhodes – is a keen promoter of East Anglian produce, which informs the menu; the latter is usually deemed sound.

2021 Review: Look out for the bright yellow Citroën van, if you want to try veteran restaurateur Regis Crépy’s latest venture, selling Alsatian pizza-type Flammekueche in a Cambridge food court. For a tasty, cheap ’n’ cheerful snack that’s a little out of the ordinary, these “light”, “fresh-tasting” and “reasonably priced” wafers of bread dough complete with toppings are just the job.

2022 Review: “Consistently excellent burgers from a small fleet of vintage Citroën vans” – painted bright yellow and red – ensure this small local brand has high visibility around Cambridge. You can also sample the burgers from a more conventional bricks and mortar site in Wheeler Street.

In a “lovely setting” in the village made famous by the poet of its name, this pub was taken over after our survey by Pascky Benedetto and his wife Laura, who moved in from the nearby Plough at Coton with a new offer including £6 house negronis and a signature carbonara with guanciale – although the menu is by no means all-Italian. We have removed the rating for this year – but reports please!

This Grade II-listed city-centre staple (once a coaching inn welcoming travellers on the road to the Big Smoke) has long been a magnet for locals owing to “always reliable” and sometimes “very good” bistro dishes and “excellent service” to boot; visit in summer months to profit from the lovely walled garden.

“Incredibly inventive vegetarian cooking and lovely staff!” continue to inspire nothing but high praise from the very dedicated fan club of Alex Rushmer’s small, ethically driven and sustainably sourced venue. “It really does not get any better than this place. Who cares that it’s meat-free... it’s just fabulous, tasty food”.

2023 Review: Limited but positive feedback on this successful vegan, which shifted to this new location in a new development near the station in 2021. Worth remembering if you are catching a train and a place of pilgrimage for those who eat meat-free. It’s a rare Cambridge eatery that has spawned openings in the capital (see also).

“An excellent addition to the rather sparse Cambridge city-centre scene”, this upscale Spanish restaurant in a beautiful townhouse is handy for parents treating their spawn to a meal post-graduation (perhaps from nearby Gonville & Caius). The menu, which tips its hat to Galicia and the Basque Country, is “limited” and can be pricey (especially fish) but in exchange you are “made to feel truly special”. For the best experience, some prefer the elegant upstairs dining room – the ground floor can seem somewhat dominated by the open kitchen.

“Fresh clean flavours, beautifully prepared and presented” are the distinguishing feature of the modern British menu at this two-year-old project in the former premises of long-serving Italian restaurant Don Pasquale. Founders Bill Brogan and his partner Jinzhao Li last year re-launched the basement wine bar as a pan-Asian restaurant.

This “buzzy” trio (with live jazz at its Gwydir Street branch) has grown over a dozen years since founder Simon Fraser returned to his hometown from Melbourne, bringing a taste for Antipodean coffee culture. “All three branches including their roastery in Shepreth offer excellent coffee and light food, but their bread is the main event – it’s world standard!”