Bibimbap House, Cambridge

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Pork Bulgogi Bibimbap (£9.50)

When I wrote about going to Little Seoul a while back, I had incorrectly thought that it was the only Korean restaurant in Cambridge. In fact, there's another restaurant on Mill Rd with an interesting approach to Korean food...

N and I decided to pay Bibimbap house a visit for lunch recently, and were pleasantly surprised to find only one kind of item on the menu - Bibimbap! (not surprisingly) In some way, I almost prefer a restaurant that does not offer many options because it means they have confidence in whatever it is they specialise in serving.

Bibimbap House only do 7 different kinds of bibimbap, from your standard bulgogi bibimbap to japchae bibimbap and even the infamous ham (read: spam) and kimchi bibimbap.

We order the regular bulgogi bibimbap and the pork bulgogi bibimbap which both come as a nice set with miso soup and two of my much beloved sides. Unfortunately, they weren't my favourite sides - a mash potato salad and some vegetables - I'd much prefer some kimchi, or those fish cakes, or the jelly things, or those marinated potatoes... yum yum. I should probably learn their names.

The bibimbap itself was tasty and sizzling hot, full of gochujang goodness, although the rather large looking bowl was actually deceptively shallow. I very much liked the two bulgogi types, more watery than I'm used to at other Korean restaurants and not so sickeningly sweet, which made it better than usual!

And to top it all off, (presumably) the son of one of the chefs was at the table next to us, wolfing down a meal himself whilst playing his DS.

Yes, I like this place.

Bibimbap House
60 Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 2AS
01223 506800

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Petrou Brothers, Cambridge

You can't get more British than a dreary grey sky and a plate of fish and chips.

The thing I never understood about fish and chips is why this dish is so strongly associated with British food. There's nothing about it that strikes me as particularly British.

On a similar note (that The Fastest Food Blogger also noted recently), it strikes me as unusual that Cambridge should have at least two dedicated fish and chip shops, yet it is so difficult to buy good fresh seafood for cooking...

Anyhow thanks to a tip from LL Cool J, n∈R and I decided to head to the mall outside the Grafton to lunch at a fish and chippie called Petrou Brothers. What were we there for?

Oh yes. When LL mentioned last week that you could get a "mini" (read: maxi) fish and chip meal for around £3, this was an opportunity that could not be passed up.

Objects in photo may appear smaller than actual size.

Maxi alright, he wasn't kidding. Out comes a rather generous portion of fish and chips, slopped with a pretty damn huge ladle of mushy peas.

The fish was actually pretty well fried, with a good crunch and not at all sogged with oil. I have to say I wasn't the biggest fan of the chips - they were quite good for British fish and chip standards I think, but still there was less golden crunch and more of a hardened skin to the outside of them, needing quite a bit of salt & vinegaring. (I miss Uni Bros chips for any usyd people out there. Mmm chicken salt.) Mushy peas are mushy peas ie. tasteless green volume that counts as one of your "5-a-day".

Verdict? Pretty tasty fish, reasonable chips, um yeah peas, and a bloody good price.

Petrou Brothers
12 Burleigh St
Cambridge CB1 1DG
http://www.petroubrothersfishandchips.co.uk/

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Seven Days, Cambridge

 Somehow the name "Week" doesn't roll off the tongue as well...

Hello Mr Chilli, nice to meet you.

PC, The Shok and myself manage to score a free meal off M&M, and whilst there are some strong suggestions for Midsummer House, it is decided in the end that we should do Chinese and go to Seven Days for dinner. Always on the ball, The Shok calls ahead to make a booking as it's a Friday night, and Seven Days is notoriously popular, especially amongst the Chinese student crowd in Cambridge.

Fish flavoured fried eggplant.

The first to arrive is the 'fish flavoured' eggplant, with the tender eggplant chunks cooked with a generous amount of oil, seasoning and serious wok hei. Perfect with rice, this dish is immediately PC and M&M's favourite, so much so that we don't hesitate to order a second portion. In my opinion, the sauce is a little too strong on both sweet and salty levels, but still delicious and superior to the rendition I had previously had elsewhere.

Fish fillets in hot chilli oil.

The next to arrive is a pile of dried chillies bathing in a giant bowl of scalding hot oil. And this is the small size. Underneath the layer of chilli lies slices of incredibly tender and silky fish fillets, thanks in no small part to all that oil. Right at the bottom of the dish is a bed of bean sprouts, which I find to be a little on the salty side.
This dish is also a clear winner, and everyone seems to enjoy "fishing" for the small remaining pieces of fish until the bowl is completely cleaned out of everything but chilli and oil.

I'm surprised that this Sichuan cooking technique (shui zhu) is one that has only become popular relatively recently, so the internets tell me.

King prawn fried with salted egg yolk.

Next is the prawns fried using salted egg yolk, something which I pick because M&M wants king prawn and I haven't had the taste of salted egg in a while. Reluctant to get their hands dirty, and perhaps a little uncomfortable with prawn heads, this dish unfortunately ends up being a little neglected. I get superlazy and start eating the shell... although after getting colder, this becomes a little bit unpleasant and I revert to peeling them. In my opinion, this actually isn't bad at all, although it does get too greasy and heavy when it cools down.

Tofu with fish mince in chilli oil.

Last but not least is the tofu which is basically like mapo doufu except with fish. Standard and does the job.

At the end of the meal, I feel like I've eaten several bricks, probably because of eating far too many of the prawns in a desperate (and successful) attempt to not waste them. Everyone is most definitely satisfied, but not requiring food for quite a while. Or at least until an hour later when we scoff down a blackforest cake between the four of us...

Seven Days is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Cambridge, with authentic flavours that don't compromise for a foreign palate. Perhaps a little too heavy on the oil to be eating regularly, but that's how the cooking style goes. At around £55 for 5 big dishes and rice for everyone, it's decent value too.

And by the looks of the crowd it attracts every night, we're not the only ones who likes the place.

Seven Days
66 Regent St
Cambridge CB2 1DP
Tel: +44 (0) 12233 309559

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I've been in Munich this week for a certain festival. Take a wild guess what I'm referring to...

Of course, the CIPSM Festival of Chemical Biology! Oh apparently, there's also some other festival on at the same time that has something to do with beer, but I mean who on earth would be interested in that?

Yim Wah Express, Cambridge

There are two good signs in this picture.

The first is that you can see the chef at work, meaning that they have nothing (or less at least) to hide. The second is the racks with hanging roast duck and pork - whilst some people apparently think it's unhygeinic, but for me it's always a reassuring and slightly mouthwatering sight at a Chinese restaurant.

After our last after-lab-dinner trip, this time YST and I decided to try out Yim Wah Express, the new Chinese place on the corner of Lensfield Rd and Regent St. Together with Golden House and Lan Hong House, this now makes a trio of Chinese restaurants on this corner. Unlike it's take-away style neighbours however, it looks like they've spent quite a bit of effort to make the place look nice, with shiny new furniture and a decent sized seating area.

I had initially intended to go for something with roast duck in it, since they had it just hanging there, but upon reading the MASSIVE menu (over 200 food items, a logistical kitchen nightmare... how do they do it? lots of frozen stuff?) I decided to go for something a little different...

Marinated beef tripe ho fun in soup (£6.80)

In my opinion, most non-muscle cuts of meat taste pretty good, and most people don't give it a fair go because they are turned off by the mental distress of eating a cow's stomach lining.
So I was delighted to find my tripe soup noodles turned out to be more than just tripe (stomach), but also liver, kidney and tendon.

Does anyone find this too hard to STOMACH? Get it? Damn I'm funny.

Tendon and tripe are my favourites - tendon is wonderfully thick and gelatinous in texture thanks to lots of collagen, a little similar to the texture of fat except without all the guilt. Tripe on the other hand is more chewy, but it really soaks up flavour!

Kidney wasn't bad either, with a mix of meatiness and jelly-like consistency. Liver however was my least favourite - it was a little gritty and had that characteristic livery taste which I'm not the biggest fan of (although I do like pate).

Chef's special mixed fish balls and vermicelli soup (£7.20)

YST's fish ball noodle soup was a little disappointing I have to say, with just a few balls and a bit of chinese cabbage as the only toppings.

Frog legs with chilli (£6.20)

We also split a dish of frog legs, which were deep fried and slathered in a generous amount of sticky sweet chilli sauce. Sensory overload but pretty bloody addictive!

Overall this restaurant seems like a welcome addition to the Chinese restaurant scene in Cambridge, with the generally milder flavours a good counterpoint to the more fiery style of Seven Days (which will be the next blog post!). I'm keen to go back and have some of the roast meat dishes, as that seems to be their kind of speciality.

Yim Wah Express
2-4 Lensfield Rd
Cambridge CB2 1EG
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 309530
http://www.yimwahhouse.co.uk/


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Stickybeaks Cafe, Cambridge

There's quite a number of restaurants that I'd been meaning to write about for quite a while but never got the chance. Blog procrastinating, who would have thought... anyway here's one of them.

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Looks like they print a new menu every day!

I'm very much biased in favour of independent restaurants and cafes. So when I saw Stickybeaks Cafe on The Fastest Food Blog, I had to try it out.

Sausage and butterbean casserole with apples and leek (£5)

The casserole was simple but hearty and satisfying, less a casserole and more of a soup almost, and definitely a good thing because I was suffering from a bit of a cold at the time.

SWN went for the chicken wrap which was pretty neat looking, although I didn't steal a bite to check! The salad however was quite unusual, and altogether not bad. The yoghurt sauce was a decent match with the meaty aubergine eggplant chunks, although the pomegranate didn't seem to fit in. Maybe I'm just not the biggest fan of pomegranate in dishes, as I do recall saying the same thing before here. The whole thing was topped with a dash of herbs to make a pleasant side salad.

Bang bang chicken wraps with mango and mangetout (£5) ; Roasted aubergine with pomegranate yoghurt and cherry tomatoes (£2.50)

I'd definitely come back here, mainly because the menu changes, and a changing menu is always exciting! And of course the food seems quite nice also... good for a light lunch type meal.

Stickybeaks Cafe
42 Hobson St, Cambridge CB1 1NL
http://www.stickybeakscafe.co.uk/

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Michaelhouse Cafe, Cambridge

How much would you pay for this quiche of the day (asparagus and pine nut), rosemary roast potatoes and three types of salad?

£6? £8? Maybe even £10?

I'm meeting DW, the pirate and Lady G at Michaelhouse Cafe after a nice swim at the outdoor pool at Jesus Green, and whilst I'm pretty sure the menu at the counter says £7.85, I only get charged £3.95 to my surprise.

"They probably just made an error." is the conclusion we come to.

But no, the receipt reads "CHP LATE HT SPEC". Translating from receipt-world-language, that reads cheap late hot special. Michaelhouse has a "hungry student deal" from 2:30 - 3pm, where all remaining hot food goes for £3.95. Amazing! And delicious too...

Too bad I'm usually working at 2:30 - 3 pm. (don't ask me why I wasn't this day)

Michaelhouse Cafe
Trinity Street
Cambridge CB2 1SU
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 309147
http://www.michaelhousecafe.co.uk/

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Bill's, Cambridge

There's something new on Green St. 

Where the old Slug and Lettuce used to be, there's a new cafe/restaurant/store and it looks a little something like this:

Some cute salt and pepper shakers.

Stumped?

That's one busy interior...

This is the new Bill's restaurant that opened up recently. Actually I blogged about this a while back when I got confused between this Bill (Collison) and a certain Bill Granger of Sydney-egg-fame.

Anyhow, this self-proclaimed 'foodie heaven' has been on my to visit list, as any establishment that takes such a keen interest in food must be a good thing for Cambridge.

The writing is on the wall: a recipe for haloumi burgers, written in that cafe font.

Did we mention we sell stuff?

The first thing you notice about this place is the density and intensity of colours. Jars, cans and bottles lining the walls from top to bottom, large bundles of dried chilli hanging from the ceiling. It's borders on sensory overkill, and is rather heavy on the merchandise, but definitely far far better than the ordinary bland atmosphere of some British cafes. Plus, fantastic for taking photos! Foodie heaven indeed.

Hedgerow fizz: sparkling wine, elderflower cordial and blackberry (£3.95)

Upon arrival, we are greeted with enthusiastic service and a very welcome complimentary Hedgerow fizz, a sparkling wine cocktail. Nice touch for opening week =) Perfect to kick off a late evening get together.

Crispy fried calamari rings with paprika, served with garlic mayo (£5.75)

As it turns out, we're only here for a drink and a few nibbles. AD needs to fulfil her deep-fried cravings and goes for the calamari, whilst together with Peekabou (sorry, I couldn't help myself), Mr Always-smartly-dressed and the Robust Lady, we also pick the mezze board.

Bill's mezze board: hummus, olives, babaganoush, guacamole, slow roasted mediterranean vegetables with pesto and goats cheese, served with grilled bread (£8.95)

Everything comes out nicely packaged - the pile of calamari rings, whilst not outrageously crispy or anything, has been fried well and is light rather than greasy, and comes with a nice topping of sliced chilli which also suits AD just fine.

The mezze board is a mix of a few dips: the hummus is especially thick and fibrous (but in a good way) with a wonderful colour thanks to a good amount of paprika. The babaganoush on the other hand is very creamy and smooth, although it lacks the smoky burnt hint that comes from roasted eggplant. Guacamole likewise smooth, not too much impact. The roast vegetables are great, but none of us quite figures out how you're meant to 'dip' bread into them... a small dish of olives, capers and pickled onions accompanies.

I know much less about wine than I'd like, but everything washes down well with a Syrah from France.

La Garenne, Syrah, France

Overall, I'm impressed. A lot of effort has gone into setting the place up, and the atmosphere is something you definitely can't find elsewhere in Cambridge - a good compromise alternative to the pub and bar when you're looking for a place for drinks but also nice food. Yes, despite all my biases against restaurant chains (I don't know if this counts, there are a small handful of Bill's around in the UK), I have to admit that this place is pretty sweet.

The most interesting part for me though is the opening hours. This place goes from 8am breakfast all the way until the late snack round at 11pm. Fantastic for us, as we basically live next door!

Bill's
34-35 Green St
Cambridge, CB2 3JX
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 329638
http://www.bills-website.co.uk/Home.htm

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Trinity BA Society Garden Party

Fellows' Bowling Green, Trinity College, Cambridge

Twenty-nine degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Perfect summer weather for a garden party!

Trinity College, and well Cambridge in general, is a completely unrealistic place. Our beds are made for us daily, we wear academic gowns to dinner every week by choice, 15 minutes walk is a terribly long distance, and a nice day out involves champagne and strawberries whilst punting along the river. It's a ridiculously decadent lifestyle, totally unsustainable, and yet you so easily get sucked into it's charms... I guess being a beneficiary of it all, it's hard to complain!

An assortment of cakes, cupcakes and macaroons from Tom's Cakes

The recent BA garden party is a prime example of this completely surreal lifestyle. A year ago, I would have never pictured myself sitting in a place like this, drinking Pimms and bubbly whilst enjoying a few cakes and nibbles!

A very small portion of the cheese on offer - two types of goats cheese, aged cheddar and Cambridge blue

For those who aren't familiar with the BA society, it's the graduate society at Trinity College. Run by students, they organise a bunch of social events and formals, orientation events and generally look after the welfare of graduate students.

The humongous brie. AMAZING. From the Cambridge cheese company.

Anyway, onto the food! This is a food blog after all... we had a wonderful assortment of cakes from Tom's Cakes (they have a stall in the market square on Sundays), a range of cheeses from the Cambridge cheese company including a massive massive brie, a few savoury nibbles from catering: smoked salmon and parma ham squares, asparagus rolls and cheese straws.

Everybody likes pink.

And of course, lots of drink! Sparkling white and rose, Pimms, G&T, as well as orange and apple juice, and elderflower cordial.

A stupendous amount of ice cream and strawberries.

And it wouldn't be a garden party without a trolley full of strawberries and ice cream: brown bread, pistachio and mango!

Top it off with a classy four-piece band and there you have it: a classic Cambridge experience. Totally unrealistic, yet you wouldn't want it any other way.

Alimentum, Cambridge

  

Kind of like Midsummer House, but cheaper and slightly less nice...

OK that's a horrible and unjustified oversimplification. Yet it's difficult not to draw comparisons between Alimentum and it's more famed and Michelin-starred older brother on Midsummer Common. Yes, the chef patron Mark Poynton used to work at Midsummer House. But of course it's unfair - there shouldn't be any sort of comparison - they are two different restaurants and both making an invaluable contribution the Cambridge food scene.

I can't help but compare though. Starting with the location, one could almost walk straight past Alimentum on the very busy Hills Rd without realising that this gem of a restaurant exists. The trucks storming by outside the window don't help with the atmosphere, but I'm sure at dinner time it is a little more peaceful.

The food in Alimentum is a combination of the best of classic British with a few French touches added here and there. Peen and I were here for the three-course fixed price menu - an absolute steal at £22.50 (after service charge) at lunchtime and Mon/Wed evenings.

Sage and Orange Bread

Er, 'sejanoise' bread? I'm sorry, could you repeat that? As it turns out, I had a bit of trouble understanding what was actually 'sage and orange' in a heavy French accent! But the bread itself was so good... still warm, moist and just slightly savoury. I've really grown to love bread in Europe. Especially free bread.

Rabbit terrine, summer vegetables and asparagus pesto

Peen started with a rabbit terrine after not realising the menu said 'terrine', deciding the combination of ingredients sounded appetising, only then to realise that aforementioned ingredients would come packaged in a squashed little circle wrapped in fat. Apparently, he has accidentally ordered far too many terrines in exactly the same manner.

Not a big problem really, as terrines are awesome. This particular one was beautifully presented, and came with a wonderfully creamy asparagus pesto generously smeared onto the plate.

Mackerel, anchovy toast, tomato, lemon and caper

I decided to start with the mackerel - a really fresh tasting combination of flavours. I'd also never seen capers on stem like that before (only ever in jars I'm afraid).

Baked ricotta, wild mushroom, walnuts and blue cheese

For main, I went with a baked ricotta parcel, which was delightfully crisp despite sitting on a bed of amazing sauted wild mushrooms. Despite being chock full of ricotta, the parcel was surprisingly not heavy at all.

12 hour lamb breast, peas, mint and jersey royals

Whilst I'm not 100% sure what the 12 hour in lamb, 12 hour breast quite means (cooked for that long i presume?), the meat was seriously seriously tender. Slow cooking is just amazing. Lamb and mint is a classic combination, and the fancy twist on mushy peas was clever.

Lemon meringue, lemon and soy sorbet, vodka

Dessert time! The meringue was really designed with diehard citrus fans in mind. Lemon in the meringue, in the sorbet, in the foam puffs, and to top it off, a sprinkling of pretty sharp lemon sherbet crumbs. Luckily, I happen to like lemon! The flavour was definitely not homogenous - each different element had a slightly different balance of sweetness and tartness, whilst the range of textures was fun.

Peanut and banana, biscuit glace, caramel and chocolate

If I didn't know better, the peanut and banana dessert would have looked like chocolate and coffee flavoured dessert actually. No mistaking the serious peanutty flavour bomb though. Again, fantastic presentation. Yum.

All in all, I think Alimentum is a fantastic restaurant (if you couldn't tell already). And for that price, it really stands tall next to the giant that is Midsummer House. Yes, that means you should all go.

Alimentum
152-154 Hills Rd
Cambridge CB2 8PB
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 413000
http://www.restaurantalimentum.co.uk/

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After a slight report-writing hiatus, we're back! Expect some serious blogpost spammage soon =)

OH AND... did you know Pembroke College kitchen has a food blog? AMAZING!!! My mind was blown when I found that out. You should definitely check it out.

Cambridge Beer Festival, Jesus Green

Last week we visited the Cambridge Beer Festival, the 3rd biggest beer festival in the UK where over 35000 people drank over 90000 pints of real ale, cider and mead. It's altogether an incredible collection of local brewers with a myriad of unique brews, and a testament to how much the British love their drink.

Coming from Australia where the beers are generally quite light, I'm still getting used to the whole obsession with heavy, low-fizz, strongly-flavoured British ales. However, the beers at the festival were definitely tastier and more interesting than the regular sometimes muddy-water stuff you get off the tap in the pubs around Cambridge.

Some of the more interestingly-named beers we tried included Golden Pippin, Beijing Black, and my favourite: "Comrade Bill Bartram's Egalitarian Anti-Imperialist Soviet Stout". Trust the Russians... well, they produce bird-eating pelicans and all, so nothing surprises me now...

Except this:

I have only one acronym for this. It begins with a W and ends with "TF".

Yes, it's an egg, wrapped in "meat", coated in batter and fried. Oh my damn... apparently they call it a scotch egg, and it is a common picnic food in the UK.
Mind you, I did eat it all. Well I guess you should always be open minded when trying new foods! And at the beer festival, the glass is always more than half full. Cheers everyone!

Beer festival tip: Buy half pints. 1) You get more. 2) You try more types. 3) You win.