Browns, Cambridge Review
Browns
Cambridge
Reviewed by Philippa Plater
We had a booking for Browns in Cambridge on Sunday (10 August 2014) at 1pm. The restaurant is just on the edge of the city centre. Knowing the difficulty with parking in the centre we parked a little way out and had a very pleasant 10 minute walk to the restaurant. When we got there we saw that there was some parking meter parking outside, but with only a 2 hour limit.
Browns is situated in a beautiful old building that was originally part of Addenbrokes Hospital, and still has the quaint “Out Patients” sign in the stone above the door. There is a lovely outside area to the front that is covered, which was needed for the amazing sun showers today! The front has an elegant old revolving door – the four of us pushed our way through…
Inside the restaurant is old-school cool, a cross between a gentleman’s club and a 1920s first class railway carriage. It is a very attractive room; black feature walls, lots of dark wood, accented grey chairs and brass fitments. It’s big, I’d guess 80+ covers and it feels spacious added by the high glass ceiling. We were seated in an open booth, the kids sitting on the high back black banquette and the grown-ups on the wooden chairs opposite.
The menu – or should I say menus; we had the Regular Menu, the Specials Menu, the Sunday Roast Menu and the Children’s Menu – provided a lot, maybe too much, choice. I particularly loved the cocktails, or ‘softtails’ as they were called, on the kid’s menu, featuring such drinks as virgin mojitos and diamond fizz! Browns advertises themselves as the ‘Best of British’ and the menu reflects this well.
Our waitress was Ania. She was enthusiastic, helpful and friendly, in particular to the children. We ordered drinks and then we were given a few minutes to decide what we would like to order.
We decided on scallops with cauliflower puree and shallot vinaigrette, and smoked duck with beef dripping vinaigrette and fried pickle for starter. For the main course Fillet of Beef with Bubble and Squeak, and Fillet Steak served with straw potatoes, mushrooms and red wine sauce (although we asked for the mushrooms to be removed as we both have a complete aversion to them and changed the red wine sauce to a Béarnaise sauce). The children ordered Sausage and Mash and Macaroni Cheese. Ania asked if we would like the children’s meals brought out with our starters – something that most parents appreciate!
If I’m honest the smoked duck and pickle was not to my taste, the pickle was way too overpowering – but I think this was more to do with my palate as my husband finished it and said it was delicious! The kids enjoyed their meals but I would like to have seen some vegetable on their plate. This is not a criticism of Browns alone, a lot of places serve kids meals without any vegetables – even a small spoon of peas on the side would be fine (although I’m sure the children weren’t bothered!). I really enjoyed my steak, cooked perfectly medium for me, the bubble and squeak was a little soggy in texture but tasted amazing. The other steak was served with a side of pâté on toast, this was fine but the steak had an overwhelming taste of pâté, instead of the pâté being an accompaniment, which we can only assume was due to it being cooked in the same pan? Dessert for the children was ice cream and little squares of tiffin, which they both really enjoyed. We had a brownie and ice cream, and on the recommendation of Ania, the caramel profiteroles. The “Salted caramel profiteroles with lime fudge sauce and homemade salted caramel” deserve a special mention, completely delicious! The grown-ups enjoyed a bottle of the house white wine, which for a house wine was excellent. Our 7 year old really enjoyed the Diamond fizz ‘softtail’.
The restaurant was quiet when we arrived but was getting busier as we left but didn’t feel loud or full. The relaxed surroundings and great service made it feel like a perfect place on a Sunday to eat, drink and relax – in fact there were quite a few large family groups eating. Our children were welcomed and we really loved the ambience of the place. We talked about how nice it would be to have a room decorated in the same style at home!
Browns in Cambridge gets a massive thumbs up for the building, décor, staff and service – definitely top marks. The food was good, but not amazing (apart from the profiteroles!) but we would all definitely go back and would recommend it as a great place to go.
Rating: 4/5
For more information, to view menus or to make a booking visit www.browns-restaurants.co.uk or call 01223 461655.
Browns Cambridge, 23 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QA | 01223 461655
