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Eating Out: Velvet dines at Parker’s Tavern in Cambridge




With a new head chef trained by Marco Pierre White and mentored by Albert Roux, expectations are high for a visit to Parker’s Tavern, the restaurant at Cambridge’s historic University Arms Hotel. Velvet’s Alice Ryan reports

The elegant interior of Parker's Tavern at Cambridge's University Arms Hotel
The elegant interior of Parker's Tavern at Cambridge's University Arms Hotel

I first dined at Cambridge’s University Arms in 2000, or thereabouts. My grandparents were visiting me at university. We’d planned the ultimate Cambridge weekend, complete with behind-the-walls college tour and choral evensong at King’s. Where better for them to stay, then, than a hotel which has been integral to both the city’s landscape and social life since the 1830s?

Famously ravaged by fire in 2013 and then reopened in 2018, restored to new glory by an £80 million investment, the University Arms cuts a striking figure on Regent Street, thanks in large part to its pillared portico. Step beneath the invitingly illuminated arches and there’s a sense – immediate and, as it transpires, fitting – that you’re arriving somewhere special.

The restoration rid the hotel of its less-lovely parts, the result of some unfortunate architectural choices made in the 1960s, and returned its original elegance: from the lobby onwards, with its smart black and white floor, soaring arched ceiling and polished wood welcome desk, it’s refined without being stuffy – welcome is exactly how you feel.

Lee Clarke takes the helm of Parker's Tavern in Cambridge
Lee Clarke takes the helm of Parker's Tavern in Cambridge

With a new head chef at the helm of Parker’s Tavern, the hotel’s restaurant overlooking the great green sweep of Parker’s Piece, I was invited to sample his just-launched winter menu. Expectations were high: having trained with Marco Pierre White and been mentored by the late Albert Roux, Lee Clarke has won both Michelin Guide acclaim and multiple AA Rosettes for his food.

My husband and I arrived on an arctic Wednesday lunchtime to find both bar and restaurant buzzy with drinkers and diners – a sure sign, it being both midday and midweek, of the place’s popularity. The restaurant itself – panelled walls painted softest sage and galleried with artwork, red leather banquettes lined beside white-clothed tables glittering with glassware – strikes a clever balance between the classic and contemporary; it strikes as singularly English without being too old-school.

Parker's Tavern looks out across Cambridge's famous Parker's Piece
Parker's Tavern looks out across Cambridge's famous Parker's Piece

Led to a window seat and furnished with a glass of prosecco and menus, we spent a ridiculous length of time deciding what to order. With standout dishes including orange and thyme dry-aged Carver duck baked with beetroot in a salt pastry and an onion tarte tatin with Yorkshire pecorino, pickled shallots and roasted cobnuts, we wanted to try it all!

Eventually, taking pity on the charming staff who’d given us a couple of polite nudges by this point, I chose to start with the Cambridge Gin-cured rainbow trout with blinis and fennel pollen cream, while my husband opted for mussels cooked in Suffolk cider with fennel and lovage.

As you can already tell, there’s a strong local flavour to almost every dish. Lee, popping out of the kitchen for a quick chat, explained that’s very much his mission for the menu: to put the best of British produce – always seasonal and locally sourced wherever possible – centre-plate.

Velvet's Alice Ryan dines at Parker's Tavern in Cambridge
Velvet's Alice Ryan dines at Parker's Tavern in Cambridge

Both starters were faultless. My trout was silky in texture and rich in taste, perfectly partnered by the warm and fluffy blinis and tart pollen cream, while the mussels were plump, juicy and clearly moreish – the bowl emptied at pace.

Velvet's Alice Ryan dines at Parker's Tavern in Cambridge
Velvet's Alice Ryan dines at Parker's Tavern in Cambridge

For our main courses, both being big fans of fish, we couldn’t resist the grilled Cornish sole and brown shrimp, served with green herb salsa, watercress and lemon and a generous side of Koffmann’s Chips. I’d been dying to try these chips: made from potatoes developed by legendary French chef Pierre Koffmann specifically for chipping, they’ve swiftly attained cult status in the high-end hospitality world. Made skin-on and sprinkled with dill salt, they were glorious: golden and crispy on the outside, pale and fluffy in the middle, and ideal with the creamy sole and its tangy accompaniments.

On Lee’s recommendation, I finished my meal with his signature profiterole, a cylindrical choux filled with acorn coffee custard, caramel and crunchy hazelnut, topped with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce. Put it this way: I scraped my plate to the point of indecency. My husband had crumble and custard, elevated by infusing the fruits – Bramley apples and local blackberries – with Cambridge Gin and adding almond to the topping.

Leaving was a wrench, and not solely because the weather outside was frightful. As befits a restaurant housed within a true Cambridge institution, dining at Parker’s Tavern is something special.

Velvet visited Parker’s Tavern by PR invitation. To book a table and to view the current menus, visit parkerstavern.com


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