For the last three months of 2009, I was travelling to Cambridge for a project. Unlike Marlow, I only stayed over two or three times during the project. Cambridge has a much greater variety of foods than Marlow, and Restaurant 22 is one of those little gems worth visiting for dinner. Excuse the poor photos in this post since they were taken with my iPhone.

The restaurant looks more like a supper club, with the owners converting an old house into a restaurant. The seating capacity is quite small with only the ground floor entrance as the main dining room (seating about 30ish people) and then a private room seating about 8 or 10 about. It’s even one of those British houses that still have carpet in their toilets! Fortunately the whole place is very well kept and spotless. They focus on providing a two or three course meal for a reasonable amount, and with an extensive wine list to pair with all the dishes.

We were given an amuse bouche, of a small cup of a creamy cauliflower soup with some basil oil drizzled on top. Considering that it was so cold outside, this small surprise added a great start to the meal. Unfortunately none of my photos of the rabbit terrine with an apple chutney and toasted brioche turned out. It was a cold starter, and the you can at least tell the terrine was home made with hearty chunks of rabbit.

Another surprise arrived shortly afterwards with a small palette cleanser in the form of a scoop of pear sorbet. This was deliciously fruity with tones of honey throughout.

My main meal soon arrived shortly afterwards, being a Blackened Sea Bream with Winter Vegetable Casserole. The fish was nicely cooked with a crisp skin and still soft flesh that fell apart with the fork yet still remaining juicy. The winter vegetable casserole was nice and hearty as well.

Dessert was a perfect ending to a great meal, a sticky date pudding with ice cream. Who doesn’t like those sensations of hot and cold mixing together with a light cake surrounded by a rich sauce. Delicious.

I’d highly recommend dining at the Restaurant 22. It’s a nice little find and its intimate and unique atmosphere definitely has a lot of charm. It’s admittedly not great for parties over six or more and perfect for tables of two to four.

Name: Restaurant 22
Found at: 22 Chesterton Road, Cambridge, CB4 3AX
Website: http://www.restaurant22.co.uk/ (bookings recommended!)
TheKua.com Rating: 9 out of 10