Image: Nicola Foley
Three things you need to eat in Cambridge right now
1. Afternoon Tease crumpets
For reasons unfathomable to me, crumpets seem to have fallen somewhat out of fashion over the last couple of decades. But if you have a penchant for these stodgy little delights (and won’t settle for vastly inferior shop-bought versions), then I suggest you hotfoot it to King Street’s Afternoon Tease.
Perfectly toasted and fluffy inside, these beauties are created by Dovecote Bakery and have been a stalwart on the menu at Afternoon Tease since day one. Dripping in butter and with a dollop of home-made jam (made by owner Jo’s mum), you’ll struggle to find a better comfort food in the whole city. You may also, on occasion, be treated to the Stack o’ Crumpets: a near-mythical menu addition in which two stacked crumpets are married with oozing cheddar, a fried egg and – brace yourselves (and your arteries) – a couple of thick rashers of bacon. A nice bit of crumpet indeed.
2. Steak & Honour mac ‘n’ cheese
Cambridge street food legends Steak & Honour opened up their first bricks-and-mortar premises, which you’ll find on Wheeler Street, back in January. The response was rapturous, and rightly so – few burgers can hold a candle to Steak & Honour’s consistently perfect patties – but it’s one of the sides that’s got us hot under the collar this month.
Steak & Honour’s mac ’n’ cheese is yet another reminder of how talented and meticulous the chefs running the place are: breezily elevating a straightforward dish into a showstopper which demands your taste buds’ attention. The macaroni (tender but perfectly firm) is smothered in a creamy, rich sauce created with Emmental, American cheese, Cheddar and a good bit of mustard, which is then dolloped onto the grill and sizzled to create a gorgeous, crisp coating. The crowning glory is a zigzag of sour cream – an unexpected but brilliant addition which cuts through the creaminess with scrummy results. You can thank us later.
Image: Daisy Dickinson
3. Buffalo Joe’s wings & blue cheese dip
More American than apple pie, Super Bowl snack staple buffalo wings have officially won the hearts and bellies of us Brits now. And while there’s an ever-growing number of places you can get your wing fix here in Cambridge, as far as we’re concerned street food truck Buffalo Joe’s rules the roost. Their Korean-inspired goch-ya wings are a much-hyped and delicious twist on a favourite, but our heart belongs to the original buffalo wings, served with blue cheese dip.
The chicken wings are faultless: tender, crisp, buttery and spicy in exactly the right measure – a match made in heaven for the cooling, salty sauce. They’re fried until crisp and then slathered in Buffalo Joe’s lip-smackingly good coating, which consists of Frank’s hot sauce (a superstar in the world of wings), teamed with Tabasco and butter. It’s a winner each and every time.
