Image courtesy of Readerwalker

As the eruption under the Eyjaflalla glacier in Iceland kept me on the ground yesterday, together with half a million other people in Europe, and I found myself confronted with the question of what to do with another evening in Cambridge. So I decided to give the Oak Bistro a try which is just a two-minutes walk from where I live but which so far had slipped my attention. The Bistro is located in a historic coaching inn at the corner of Regent Street and Lensfield Road. People sitting at one of the few tables in the front room can observe the busy life at the crossing. As an elderly lady with a hearing problem kept shouting at her company, I decided to take a table in the back of the bistro. The Oak features an eclectic menu with hints to a number of international cuisines. I started with some Shetland scallops which still had their coral attached, placed on a bed of a very nice, light, citric green salsa, accompanied by a Viognier Altas Cumbres Lujan de Cuyo from Argentina from 2008, a relatively light and crispy white wine. For main course, I choose to go for the wild mushroom risotto, which was good. The chef ignored my resentment against truffle oil but luckily used it very sparingly.With it, I had a Broken Rock Chenin Blanc from Coastal South Africa, again  2008. It held what the wine list promised.

I finished with a selection of cheeses, which was a mistake (three relatively large pieces of relatively boring cheeses), only to have reason to drink one of their desert whines, followed by a glass of Armagnac and Espresso.  Overall, it was a very delightful evening with good food and the Oak’s friendly and attentive staff.

Did I make my way home? Yes, I was able to get one of the few remaining Eurostar Tickets for the next day and took the train from London St. Pancras home to the Black Forest. Breakfast in London, lunch in Paris, dinner with your loved ones at home in south-west Germany. Life could be worse.

We asked them for selection of their choice and got:

• Miso soup and silk tofu
• Poached egg in a smoked broth
• A selection of sushi and sashimi and kobe beef
• Lamb and black cod
• Udon noodles with salted butter

Accompanying the menu, we have various type of room-tempterature sakes. Everything was just perfect, including the very nice service.

La Mimosa has both a beautiful location and a very nice menu – solid, no-nonsense Italian food.

In the summer you can site outside directly at Jesus green at Thompsons Lane, Fen Ditton, Cambridge, CB5 8AQ, UK, +44 1223 362525. The interior is very cosy, the staff enjoyable and friendly and I’m more than happy to recommend the place. Today we shared some mixed antipasti consisting of a bit too much salad, prosciutto, salami, buffalo mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Nothing fancy but solid quality.

I had a Risotto ai funghi porcini as the main course. Well done!

And concluded with the a traditional Italian desert – so boring that I’m ashamed to say which one.

Then Double Espresso and a Grappa, as usual.

So, good food, nice people running the place. A great evening for the second time, which I really credit to the people taking care of us.

A fried goose liver with artichokes and a caper pesto on balsamico glace formed the second course. I’m not commenting on quality – everything with no exception at all was just fabulous – fantastic material, creatively combined, cooked to the point. The service was also flawless, with a special price to be awarded to the sommelier whose recommendations where always right. The goose liver was accompanied by another white burgundy, this time with pronounced notes of oak.

The third course – scallops with a truffles from the Perigord – was especially nice because it was combined with a local specialty, Topinambur roots, their earthy, moldy taste perfectly complementing the truffle. The main course, a potpourri of lamb with fennel compote and a mild garlic jus underpinned again Wohlfahrt’s dedication to flawless ingredients combined with uncompromising craftsmanship.

Although already slightly overwhelmed by what we had so far and time approaching 3 o’clock (we had started at noon), the cheese cart selection easily managed to revive our excitement. My memory being as bad as it is, I can only recall an ash-covered creamy goat cheese and a perfectly semi-liquid brie, but all six specimens on my cheese table where equally sensational. For both the lamb as well as the cheese we went for a Rioja, which was smooth with a well-balanced rich full body.

The first of the two concluding deserts consisted of a warm lemon biscuit on rhubarb compote, with a ginger lime sorbet served in a separate glass. The latter combination of tastes is one of my eternal favorites which I try to get where ever I can. The sommelier recommended a 1992 Riesling Beerenauslese for desert, which have lost a lot of its initial intense sweetness over the years and was now just incredible, with a wonderful acidity over fruit and honey notes.

The last course served its purpose of completely equilibrating our taste buds. A simply surprising apple-cilantro sorbet was set on a bed of mango and hibiscus juice, with a crunchy eucalyptus oblate on top.

So, it was simply astounding. We would have preferred to go there for dinner, but you need to book a dinner table up to a year in advance, depending on when you want to go (I guess, Saturday evening is the hardest). However, if you consider visiting Harald Wohlfahrt’s Schwarzwald Stube, just book a table – it will be an unforgettable event, no matter how long you wait for the evening to arrive.

I can recommend the “Trueffel”.

This will certainly be a recurring location on our busy dining schedule.

At the Duxford lodge, you’ll have your aperitif at the bar and will be guided to your table just before the food is ready. This procedure seemed to be standard. If an Anglo-Saxon gourmet reads this, could he or she please enlighten me if this is that case?

Well, anyway. I asked for a Kir and got a sweet, cassis-laden warm mixture. I must say I prefer this with a very dry wine, just a dash of cassis and reasonably chilled . Enjoying the bar nevertheless – it felt like a time warp with walls covered with fighter-squadron paintings – it was just some 15 minutes before I was led into the dining room.
There, I had the chance to study in greater detail the certificates over the fire place. The restaurant has won the Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence in the every year since 2002. The award is granted by something called AA, whatever that may be (reader, please enlighten me again).

The menu started off with a pre-starter from the chef, a spicy kidney bean soup, which had an extreme
note of Cumin, nothing more than quite ok.The starter was a panfried fois-gras next to Chanterelle Boudin with Sautéd Chicory and an apple terragon emulsion. It came with a glass of a 2005 Wolf Riesling by Dr. Loosen.  This was all quite delicious – my first encounter with Chanterell Boudin – and I’m still not quite sure what that is .

The main course, a pork tenderloin with mashed red potatoes, left mixed memories. The pork was dry, which happens
easily with lean pork but must not happen to a chef with a cullinary excellence award. The mashed red potatoes, however, were wonderful in texture and taste.I had a glass of a 2005 Conti Rossi Pinot Grigio, delightfully negligible as can be expected from a pinot grigio.

For desert, I took a Chocolate Assiette, consisting of White Chocolate Soufflé, Biscuit Pudding, Iced Layered Mousse, Mint Choc Chip Sorbet, strawberry & Milk Chocolate Tartlet – quite palatable.

A problem, as so often, was the music in the dining room – elevator style first, then pop – not quite appropriate.

Overall, I had an enjoyable dinner at the Duxford lodge restaurant.

The Felix’s location is a bit far away in the north, too far to walk if you have a heavy backpack with you. Although quite near to Huntingdon road, the heavy traffic is not recognizable. A taxi to the center was about 10 pounds, if I remember right.

The hotel’s central building is a beautiful Victorian house, spacious, with a nice mix of traditional and modern design elements in the interior. Two modern annexes have been added left and right on the rear side, forming a courtyard. I was in a room on the first floor, directly right of the elevator, which normally is a reason to ask for another room. In this case, however, the elevator was a) not used frequently and b) barely audible. The room itself was looking towards the courtyard, had a nice high ceiling, was equipped with a comfortable king size bed and a spacious bath room with a bath tub.

The “Felix” has a wireless network at a typical and therefore unacceptably high price, but I guess they can charge at these rates because everyone pays them – and so did I.

I very much enjoyed the breakfast, served á la carte in a generous living room where an open fire created a cosy atmosphere. The rest of the guests seemed to be both business men as well as academics visiting the University. Generally, the restaurant can be recommended.

Nice was the subtle understatement of the hotel, the staff was friendly, attentive and not uppish at all. I can very much recommend this place if you don’t mind being a bit farer away from the center.

I can recommend this restaurant without limitations.