Food & Drink: The stars align at Eddington’s newest Bar and Brasserie, The Astronomer

If you fancy a spot of brunch, a lovely lunch or date night dinner, without having to trek into Cambridge, then upmarket bar and brasserie The Astronomer should be on your radar.

Located in Eddington, beneath the Hyatt and Locke Hotel (formerly KOTA), The Astronomer is the creation off award-winning pub and restaurant group Cambscuisine, whose portfolio includes The Cock at Hemingford Grey, The Cambridge Chophouse and Millworks.

Launched in October, it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a highly seasonal and predominantly local menu, plus regional beer, cocktails and wine.

What hits you as you step into The Astronomer is the immense feeling of space (pardon the pun). It’s bright, airy and blessed with abundant natural light which floods in from the huge windows, whilst the lush green planting throughout brings the outside in.

My husband Kevin and I had ducked out for lunch on a work-from-home-day, whilst our girls were in school, so it felt a bit like playing hooky, adding to the delight of our dining experience!

Eyes bigger than our bellies, we began with a pre-starter of homemade bread which was beautifully baked, almost chewy on the outside, soft in the middle and dotted with crunchy seeds; perfect with a slick of whipped butter.

Kevin’s charred mackerel starter was a seriously pretty plate of food, accompanied by vibrant green discs of cucumber, tangerine coloured roe, crème fraiche and a smoked mackerel pate infused with citrus flavours, which tasted amazing spread onto crispy thin toasts. The fish is delivered fresh daily and smoked in-house by the chef.

My nicoise salad took lettuce to another dimension, the crisp baby gem leaves, topped with plump black olives, golden-yoked eggs, tangy sun-dried tomatoes, al dente beans and huge hunks of halloumi, which were chargrilled, briny and moreish.

I was seduced by the Asian flavours of the stone bass main, with chef’s home-made squid ink noodles, a delicious dashi broth, charred pak choi and a peanuty crumble. The meaty fish fillet was so tender and I loved the fact we were offered an extra jug of the coconut sauce, which was so delicious I could have drunk it neat!

Kevin’s venison dish was impeccably presented, the pink steak stacked on top of a venison cottage pie and a mass of vegetables infused with autumnal colour, from the orange pop of the carrot to the deep maroon of the beetroot.

A pleasing mixture of wintry flavours and different textures (the crunchy malt crumb complementing the creamy spinach), it was oh-so comforting.

Having failed in every attempt to make our own hash browns at home, despite diligently grating potato for what felt like hours, we had to try chef’s version, which we were told are made with bacon fat. My goodness, they were so good and uber rich, dipped in a slightly-spiced sriracha mayonnaise dip.

The Astronomer’s signature dessert, the chocolate sphere with banana, caramelised white chocolate and zesty calamansi, is inspired by the restaurant’s celestial name. An orb of chocolate, which takes a big bang (of your spoon) to crack, it literally resembles a planet!

Kevin and I joined forces on this voyage of culinary discovery, blasting into the sphere to discover moon rocks, moon dust, popping candy and a rich chocolate mousse. Inspired.

We also ordered the sticky toffee pudding which was truly scrumptious, the light sponge floating in a decadently sweet butterscotch sauce, accompanied by an orb of clotted cream and caramelised nuts. I dare not think how many calories it amounted to, but it was worth every one!

Find out more about The Astronomer is at the-astronomer.co.uk