Image: Daisy Dickinson
A round-up of the best spots for a lazy late-morning feast
Novi
With its super-stylish decor, gorgeous little roof terrace and incredible botanic cocktails, Novi has become a must-visit on the Cambridge brunch trail. Food-wise, you can expect a blend of healthy and indulgent dishes such as chia pudding, sweet potato rosti with poached eggs and a chickpea and vegetable cassoulet, scrambled eggs on griddled cornbread, homemade croissants and a great range of brunch cocktails.
Espresso Library
They take their breakfasts seriously at Espresso Library (“It’s the most important meal of the day!”, as their website reminds us), offering some lovely choices and catering nicely for veggie and vegan diners. Get powered up with a bowl of ‘Power Granola’ – topped with nuts, coconut flakes, berry compote and yoghurt – feast on fluffy American-style pancakes drenched in maple syrup, get your chops around bacon sarnies on wedges of sourdough bread, or opt for the obligatory smashed avocado toast with all sorts of optional extras, from pan-fried smoky chickpeas to salmon.
Coffee boffs will enjoy the ever-changing array of offerings from different roasteries to try, whilst cyclists (we hear there’re a few of you in Cambridge…), will enjoy the cafe’s bike theme and being able to hang their beloved steed on the wall while they eat.
Cambridge Cookery & Bistro 
Tucked away just off Hills Road, this Scandi-inspired eatery and cookery school is an in-the-know gem. The food is packed with local, organic and seasonal ingredients from small local producers, and as well as a bright, minimalist cafe, there’s a heated terrace overlooking the neighbourhood park, and it’s dog-friendly throughout, too, if you’ve got a pooch in tow.
Indulge in buttery homemade croissants and sugary cinnamon buns, pristinely poached eggs drizzled in garlic oil (demanding to be mopped up with hunks of excellent sourdough bread), fluffy pancakes with fruit compote and lots more.
cambridgecookery.com Image: Nicola Foley
Black Cat
Black Cat sometimes gets overlooked now that the brunch scene in Cambridge has exploded, more’s the pity because it’s still reliably great. The Black Cat Big Breakfast, their take on the full English, is a top-notch fry up – with lovely plump sausages, crispy bacon, pan-fried mushrooms, homemade barbecue beans, sourdough and perfectly poached eggs. There are all the other usual brekkie suspects on offer, too, and do check out the specials board, which has been known to feature heavenly breakfast taquitos, huevos rancheros, and vanilla French toast laden with fresh berries. Pull up a chair outside and people-watch on Mill Road for a bit of breakfast entertainment…
Six
For brunch with a view, it has to be the stylish Six, which you’ll find on the sixth floor of the Varsity Hotel. The ‘full Aussie’ is our top pick – with its pillow of scrambled egg, cumin roast tomato, miso mushroom, avocado, wild boar sausage, bacon rashers and sourdough toast, but there are also dreamy pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, plus flavour-packed baked eggs.
Old Bicycle Shop
One of the few local brunch spots so popular you’ll need to book a table to guarantee being able to eat, the Old Bicycle Shop on Regent Street has well and truly won the hearts of Cambridge folk. For the ultimate hearty, hangover-beating brunch, make yours the shakshuka, which arrives bubbling away in its own pan with soft, slow-cooked eggs, rich tomato sauce and tangy feta.
They’ve also got the full egg gamut of benedict, Florentine, and royale, plus a ‘Darwin’, featuring njuda salami, beef tomato and oyster mushrooms. Wash it down with a Bloody Transfusion, OBS’s excellent, rather grisly-named take on a bloody Mary.
CAU
Bring a little Argentinian flavour to your weekend feast with a trip to buzzy CAU in the city centre, which is ideally placed for a spot of pre-shopping fuel.
Chow down on calorific delights such as melt-in-the-mouth tapa de cuadril steak with fried eggs, or CAU’s egg benedict, which switches out the usual ham for juicy yerba smoked beef, slathered in creamy blue cheese hollandaise sauce.
There’s also sweet potato pancakes, plus, if you’re feeling virtuous, a Supercharged Salad that’s loaded with avocado, beetroot, edamame beans, mixed nuts and a mustard dressing.
Image: Nicola Foley
Stir
CB4’s friendly cafe is a brunching hotspot, and ideal whether you fancy a porridge and coffee or a more substantial egg and carb-based affair. Our fave is the sizeable ‘Big Brunch Board’, which is served on a plank of wood and features streaky bacon, poached eggs, half an avocado, field mushroom, grilled beef tomato, a chunk of halloumi, a mini jar of relish and a buttery wodge of Stir Bakery’s homemade sourdough. Heaven. There’s also a variety of bagels, souped-up cereals and vegan eats such as the ‘Namaste Stack’ which comprises beetroot hummus, carrot, red cabbage, spinach and tomato, served on sourdough.
SmokeWorks
BBQ joint par excellence SmokeWorks doesn’t just serve up slow-cooked meaty deliciousness: they’ve also got a brunch menu so kick-ass you’ll be sprinting to Station Road to get your fix.
The crowning glory is the pancake feast, a stack of twenty pancakes slathered in bourbon maple syrup, buttermilk sauce, peanut butter, caramelised bananas and (best loosen your belt) pulled pork and strips of crispy bacon. It’s not cheap, at £34, but it is designed to be shared by four people.
There’s also The Big Smoke, SmokeWorks’ take on the full English – with its rich and meaty barbecue beans, chunky sausage, bacon, potato tots, eggs, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms – plus hashes, brekkie burritos and more.
If your mouth is watering listen up because here’s where it gets really interesting: SmokeWorks offer a bottomless brunch where you can feast to your heart’s content while boozing on unlimited bloody Marys, Earl Grey Tom Collins cocktails and fizz on tap. It’s priced at £35 per person.
Shelford Deli
It should come as no surprise that the much-loved ‘Sheli Deli’ serves up a mind-blowingly tasty brunch – their reputation as a foodie hub has reached far and wide across Cambridgeshire. Cosy up in this lovely cafe and enjoy bread from the fabulous local Dovecote Bakery, a cup of Monmouth coffee, buttery and goey almond pastries, Shelford Sausage sandwiches, ‘Mill Road Mega Muesli’, crumpets slathered in homemade marmalade and plenty more…
Fitzbillies 
It might be most famous for its legendary syrupy buns, but Fitzbillies also serves up a mean brunch, complete with mimosas and bloody Marys. Served at the Trumpington Street branch every day until 4pm, the menu covers all bases, whether you’re after something at the healthy eating end of the spectrum (try the crushed avo on sourdough toast with chilli oil and seeds or the granola with fruit compote) or fancy something a little more indulgent.
Our fave is the Full Fitzbillies – an exemplary fried breakfast with juicy sausages, thick rashers of bacon, perfectly cooked eggs, freshly baked, buttery sourdough toast and chunky hash browns. The pancakes drenched in honey and crème fraiche, topped with juicy figs are another delight. 
Hot Numbers
Pitch up with the papers and a mug of Hot Numbers fantastic, own-roasted coffee and let the brekkie feasting commence at this much-adored Gwydir Street cafe. Keep it traditional with a couple of rashers of thick bacon sandwiched between beautiful local sourdough bread, or dive into the new brunch menu. Stand-outs include the artfully presented kimchi and feta eggs and the bacon and kimchi benedict, but if you have a sweet tooth to sate it has to be the toasted cornbread with peaches and whipped ricotta: pretty as a picture, it more than delivers on taste, too.
Nana Mexico
Mexicans ace the first meal of the day, and Nanna Mexico, our friendly neighbourhood Mexican eatery, is very much flying the flag for that delicious tradition here in Cambridge. In need of a brekkie-to-go? Snap up a breakfast edition of the famed Big Ass Burrito, or sit in and enjoy the huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs in a pico de gallo salsa). Our must-try, though, is Nanna Mexico’s take on the Mexican breakfast of kings, huevos rancheros: a delicious wake-up call by way of a pair of perfectly fried eggs, zingy salsa, creamy guacamole, corn tortillas and lime.
Flock Cafe
Nestled in Burwash Manor, gorgeous little Flock Cafe might not be on your radar yet – but trust us, it’s well worth the trip out to Barton for. If the sun is out, take a seat outside and enjoy the beautiful surrounding countryside, or cosy up inside to enjoy simple dishes made with beautiful ingredients, including scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on sourdough toast, croque madame, and bacon and eggs. 
Co Fifteen
Cherry Hinton’s forward-thinking eatery adopts a sustainable, wholesome approach to food, focusing on feel-good eats and plant-based treats.
The space – delightfully calm, bright and plant-filled – is a peaceful haven in which to enjoy dishes such as banana French toast, avocado tacos and the hash stack: a towering vegan dream with sautéed chestnut mushrooms, avocado, thyme-roasted vine tomatoes and vegan hollandaise sauce.
There are also comforting bowls of steaming four-grain porridge, made with coconut milk and laden with poached fruit and poppy seeds.
cofifteen.co.uk Image: David Gable Photography
The Petersfield
While we still miss the brunches on offer at this place’s predecessor, Backstreet Bistro (RIP), we’re happy that The Petersfield is continuing the tradition of bringing slap-up brunches to the Mill Road area. Pitch up outside in the cute garden terrace if the weather’s up to it, or pull up a pew inside the cosy pub and get stuck into crumpets, sardines on toast, pancake stacks and full-blown fry ups – all washed down with one of the Petersfield’s excellent bloody Marys.
Relevant Records
Mill Road vinyl emporium and cafe Relevant has recently expanded its brunch offerings to include treats such as a Rubin’s Rosti brunch (poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, homemade sweet potato rosti), or Eggs Relevant, with streaky bacon and sriracha. Plus, you can always guarantee great tunes with your brunch here.
MillWorks 
Sip on a Hot Numbers coffee or order yourself a Sweeney Todd’s Bloody Mary (an homage to an old incarnation of this historic building), then get stuck into a fabulously indulgent full English with juicy, smoky barbecue beans, streaky bacon, sausage, fried eggs, grilled mushroom, tomato and plenty of sourdough bread.
There are also lighter options such as pancakes with maple syrup and blueberries, smashed avocado on toast, and bacon and egg in brioche rolls, plus a rather decadent pulled pork shoulder with béarnaise sauce on toast (which we’re salivating at the mere thought of).
Chop House
Just like everything at the Chop House, the brunch menu is impeccable, well thought out and charmingly British. The full English is gigantic (three sausages!), and the kippers on toast comforting and traditional, but it’s the Chop House Bacon Chop which is the star.
I guarantee you’ll be back for more once you’ve tried this brekkie triumph, with its juicy slab of bacon, velvety hollandaise, perfectly poached egg and scrumptious sweet potato and red onion hash. A total winner.
The Gog
Ensconced in the bosom of the Gog Magog Hills, this farm shop, cafe and deli is ideally placed for incorporating an amble around the Cambridgeshire countryside into your brunching sesh, as well as being a charming spot for whiling away a few leisurely hours while savouring some truly excellent grub. Their full English breakfast – a relatively recent addition to the cafe’s offering – does what The Gog does so very well: uses top quality, locally sourced produce to create unfussy, delicious fare which leaves a smile on your face.
It features plump sausages, thick bacon and black pudding from the on-site butchery, free-range eggs from the deli, seasoned mushrooms and tomatoes. It’s all grilled, too, so we can pretend it’s healthy and add one of Gog’s Great Taste Award-winning cheese scones to our morning feast without a shred of guilt. And perhaps a cake to go…
