Nicola Foley’s top three things you need to eat in Cambridge right now
1. Grain & Hop Store Mac ‘n’ Cheese
You might be of the mind that mac ’n’ cheese is a winter dish, unsuited to the warmer weather and lighter eating habits of the summer months. Bunkum, we say – life’s too short to limit your enjoyment of this soul-warming consummate comfort food to when there’s a chill in the air. As documented in Edition’s Mac ’n’ Cheese Crawl of Cambridge last year, our city’s eateries are offering near infinite variations on this dish, from a lobster version at the River Bar Steakhouse to a mac embellished with truffle oil at CAU.
The winning mac (the mac daddy, if you will), was the Grain & Hop Store’s offering, which our two reviewers scored an impressive 18 out of 20 overall.
They praised its excellent consistency, extremely cheesy sauce made with vintage cheddar and the texture added by its crispy onion topping, as well as its leafy, sweet pepper salad accompaniment. This bubbling dish of melty goodness can be yours for a modest £7.
www.grainandhopstore-cambridge.co.uk
2. Jack’s Gelato
Hunting down Jack and his fabled gelato has become something of a weekend sport for me. Traditionally, this search has often been in vain, and I’ve had to make do with some lesser rival. But as his business grows, and more stockists around the city pop up scooping his peerless iced treats, my hit rate is improving. One such stockist is the Cambridge Wine Merchants’ King’s Parade branch, where a small hatch is now dispensing the good stuff to the hordes of tourists which swarm the area (and the locals who can brave wading through said swarms). My current favourite, and I’d posit, one of the finest gelatos in all Cambridge, is burnt sugar and salt flavour.
Silkily creamy in texture and marrying a rich, buttery, toffee-like sweetness together with addictively bitter notes from the sea salt, it’s prone to making the eater purr with pleasure. You’ve been warned.
My advice? Keep an eye on his twitter @jacks_gelato to get the low-down on his scooping plans…
3. Fitzbillies Chelsea Buns
Not exactly a groundbreaking discovery, but we couldn’t not mention Fitzbillies famous Chelsea buns in a feature dedicated to Cambridge’s hero foodstuffs. Made to a closely guarded recipe, these syrupy swirls of perfection have been sating the sweet tooth of Cambridge folk for decades.
Chelsea buns are something of an English institution; an indulgent confection first conceived of as a treat for Georgian nobility, they’ve become one of the nation’s most beloved baked goods. Inferior offerings can fall short on many levels (too dry, too hard, lacking in squidge, etc.), but not so Fitzbillies’ buns. With a satisfying outer crunch which gives way to a gloriously gooey, lusciously sticky interior – it’s easy to see why they’ve become such a cult Cambridge food.
And the good news for any Fitzbillies fans is that they’ve recently opened their second branch (on Bridge Street), meaning you’re within ten minutes’ walk from a grade A Chelsea bun no matter which side of the city centre you’re on.
