I have finally made it!

The ‘Cambridge Chop House’ has an absolutely stellar reputation in the city for being one of the highest quality sources for meat cuts and I have been dying to visit for some time.

Offering a unique selection of different steaks, ranging from the classic rib eye and fillet steaks, to the less mainstream butler, tomahawk, and Japanese Wagyu cuts – any meat-headed carnivore is going to be completely spoiled for choice.

The Cambridge Chop House is thoroughly charming and perfectly decorated to reflect the nature of the historic centre of Cambridge. Everything has a real traditional feel and has been tastefully presented. This is a tourist’s dream.

The restaurant has a selection of beers on draft, including a couple of kegs behind the bar. I noticed ‘Smokevurks’ by local Harston-based brewery ‘Brewboard’, as well as an intriguing zesty IPA that caught my eye. There is also a hilariously named ‘The Badgers Nadgers’ by the ‘Papworth Brewery’ that made me chuckle.

You’ll notice a theme of locally made beers here. This is not exclusive to beers but also with a lot of the produce too. The Chop House tries very hard to make sure everything is sourced from the surrounding community, which they proudly boast across the wall of their restaurant and menu… And rightly so!

I ordered pork crackling which I thought was going to be a very modest snack at most. This turned out to be a beautifully presented visual feast which, quite frankly, took me by surprise in its grandeur.

The pork scratching is air fried pork crackling, making it much lighter and less salty than the usual stuff you’d find in a pub. It felt significantly less fatty and came with a side of apple sauce which was perfect to share. The portions were superb.

I opted for the rib eye steak for my mains. I was tempted to go for something more extravagant like a T-Bone but going down the menu meant that the prices shot up significantly. This is by no means a cheap restaurant but rest assured, you get the quality for your money.

The steak came with mash potatoes, peppercorn sauce, and a very small side salad. I ordered some cauliflower and cheese which was an added extra.

The steak met all expectations and more. It was one of the nicest and most tender cuts I’ve had in a long time. The mashed potatoes looked quite stingy to start with but turned out to be just about right in terms of balance with the size of the steak. The cauliflower and cheese was absolutely brilliant and one of the nicest examples I have ever had in my entire life. It was delicious.

My wife had ‘The Chop House Burger’, which was a trenchmore Wagyu-cross beef burger with baby gem, tomatoes, pickles and theit very own burger sauce. She thought it was very tasty, succulent, and well executed. It looked fantastic from where I was sitting.

My mum has the haddock fish cake with crushed new potatoes, spinach, and a creamy caper sauce. My step dad and sister had roast beef (basically a roast dinner). The yorkies were a little over done but otherwise an overall flawless meal.

I noticed a nice touch as I was going into the toilet, with Blackadder being played over the speakers. I couldn’t help but laugh at this as it is one of my favourite British

comedies.

Instead of dessert, I decided to opt for a cheese board. You get a selection of 3-4 cheeses with a side of grapes and celery. This came with a painfully stingy selection of crackers/biscuits, so we had to order more. The staff were more than happy to supply these without any trouble, so do not hesitate to ask for more.

You are able to pick any cheese you want for the cheese board. My repertoire of cheese knowledge is not great but they were able to supply everything I requested.

My family and I had an excellent time at The Chop House. It was everything I had heard and more. The steak quality, as expected, was superb and the staff were friendly, polite, and attentive. The selection of locally sourced draft beer was a real nice touch and the wine selection was excellent. I am honestly struggling to find a single criticism and am already counting down the days till I return, so I can move down the menu to their more robust selection of steak cuts.

This has to be one of my favourite restaurants in Cambridge. 👍🏆

Thanks for reading!