What’s all this I’m hearing about ‘Grill Plug’?

I am hearing a lot of hype about Grill Plug on the Cambridge Foodies Facebook group as of late. Located in Cambridge, at the Barnwell Business Park, Grill Plug offers American style smash burgers delivered straight to your door.

For those of you who don’t already know, smash burgers are when you get a ball of mince and smash it into a flat metal grill. This enables more of the mince to make contact with the grill which crisps up a greater surface area and traps in more of the fat. During the cooking process this leads to the burger being cooked in its own juices, sealing in more of the flavour.

With numerous burger joints in Cambridge already, it’s going to be hard to break the market. But by offering a slightly different take on burgers, the team at Grill Plug could just stand out enough to make a success of it. I have never tried a smash burger myself, so I decided to pop by to see what it was all about.

We started off with their buffalo wings. These were not only delicious but something quite special. They were crispy, succulent, and had decent portions too. You can order these mild or spicy. I’ll leave you with the photo above to speak for itself. If you order from Grill Plug and do not order the wings then you are doing yourself a huge disservice. These, in my opinion, are as central to Grill Plug as the burgers.

Next, we had potato waffles caked in cheese, chillies, and jalepino’s. These were beautifully presented with brilliant vivid colours which made the dish pop the moment you opened the box. It was a frantic mess of utter delight. This is something you need to be careful while eating, I highly recommend a fork. Yet, at the same time, there is something about this which just cries out to be eaten with your fingers…the messy way!

We decided to sample the chicken and beef burgers in order to get a better idea of what Grill Plug had to offer.

The beef burger was exactly as I was expecting. It was succulent, juicy, and melted in my mouth. The texture was absolutely perfect. The burger bun did a great job at holding together even after being in the car for 20 minutes. Like with the waffles, this can get messy. Though this is part of the fun. Everything is just dripping with flavour and fun!

I noticed a very deep flavour in the beef, which is something which can often be missed with burgers, mostly because there are so many other ingredients which masks the flavour. After speaking with the team, they explained that the term ‘Grill Plug’ is supposed to mean “the source” of the grill. This means that they go that extra mile to make sure that the beef is acquired from locally sourced farms in Cambridgeshire. This is impressive for a takeaways burger joint and gives you an idea of the passion and dedication that the team has to provide excellence. You certainly notice it in the bite and it is a great example of how Grill Plug may just manage to stand out from other burger joints in the city.

Speaking of which, they have already caught the eye of a few of our fellow Cambridge Foodies.

Finally got to try the new Plug in town.
The Grill Plug The smash burger was one of the best that I have had the privilege in devouring. Burger was Juicy, with a good balance of sauce against meat. The patties literally melted in my mouth, absolutely smashed it boys!!
The loaded fries were exactly what it said on the box. What stood out is how fresh the ingredients were ie the salads used on the fries, very moreish.
The service was very prompt as its delivery only.
The drivers very polite and professional.
You can see thier is a lot of love and passion gone into the brand.
I hope you guys keep up the consistency and wish you the very Best of luck with your new venture.
Amin Syed

Well I would like to introduce you to the grill plug, on facebook so please check them out and give a follow, we’ll I went for some variety so went for the 2on2 with buffalo sauce and cheese, gotta say very tasty, I would have like it bigger but can’t have it all, rich juicy meat tho, I got some waffle fries, ziggy fries, all tasty fresh, I also had some loaded fries with beef and Mexican salad , bangin btw, I have chicken marinated in some sweet sticky spicy marinade which I wish came in toothpaste form lmao, few different shakes to try , Mars bar brownie and oreo, kids had some other flavours, all in all a very nice meal, defo recommend to anyone e looking for a messy meal to enjoy fully with your hands , please feel free to leave comments, thanks for reading .
Daniel Huckle

Unanimous praise!

If you are interested in giving them a go then make sure to visit their Facebook page. I don’t know about you but I’ll certainly be giving it a smash!

Don’t forget to visit back as we add more comments and reviews as more of our foodies visit!

Thanks for reading!

Wendy’s – Huntingdon (Brampton) 🇺🇲

I don’t eat fast food frequently but I have always felt like there is a time and a place for it. I am aware that I will likely get a few scoffs for writing a review on a fast food chain for a foodie blog but I have had Wendy’s on my radar for years. Even during my two visits to the USA, Wendy’s has somehow managed to escape me, which is a shame as I have heard that it is one of the better fast food franchises available from the states.

When I heard that Wendy’s was opening in Cambridgeshire my ears immediately pricked up. It was certainly going to be cheaper than going back to America to try and it’s always good to have more choice in the market. As Wendy’s is quite rare in the UK, the foodie box ticker in me couldn’t resist visiting.

I have always wondered whether it really made much difference which fast food outlet I visited. A lot of people would tell you that they are all the same. Could Wendy’s really offer anything which Burger King and McDonalds didn’t already? There is not a huge difference between the ones which are already in the UK, so what makes Wendy’s think that they could muscle into the British market?

There is only one way to find out!

Upon arriving, the place was very new and clean. It looks like this venue was built exclusively for Wendy’s. The place was a little sterile but certainly better than the public toilet design of Five Guys. It was incredibly spacious and they had a good amount of seating available.

Looking at the menu, there was a fairly standard choice when compared to other fast food joints. Burgers (which were square), bacon burgers, chicken burgers, and nuggets. They offered Cesar salad which was a nice touch, as well as chili portions and curried bean burgers. Nothing revolutionary but a few little things which might interest people. Considering that Wendy’s is right next to a Burger King and a Subway, you may want to visit for the Cesar salad or the curried burger.

Prices came to £21 for two meal deals. This comes to about the same price as Burger King, which comes to around a tenner for one of their Memphis burgers or other specialist meals.

I went for the “baconator” which boasts to be a half pound of British beef, American cheese, and 6 pieces of Applewood smoked bacon. As expected, the burger was square but the roll was still round. I’m not really sure what this offered but what the hey!

Wendy’s proudly boasts that they never freeze their burgers, which is something other fast food joints cannot say. I must admit, my wife and I did agree that the burgers tasted more meaty and less greasy than other rivals. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it. Sizes were slightly smaller than Burger King but larger than McDonald’s burgers.

I also noticed that the lettuce used in my wife’s burger looked incredibly green and fresh, something I don’t think I have seen at a fast food outlet before. Usually all vegetation looks incredibly sad in fast food.

The chips were excellent. They still had their skins on and were very salty. Just the way I like em! They were certainly my preference over McDonald and Burger King chips. There is an unlimited supply of ketchup but mayo and BBQ sauce was 30p extra.

Wendy’s brioche style burger buns are also my favourite out of the other fast food chains. Burger King, for example, has a very dry and flakey seeded bun which more often than not collapses towards the end of the meal. I had this experience with Burger King only the other day while at Addenbrookes hospital, and it is not very pleasant.

The drinks machines give you a wide choice of sodas which ranged all the way from Dr Pepper, Coca cola, Fanta, and Sprite. This is fairly standard with other fast food outlets but the difference here is that they let you mix different flavours like vanilla and cherry into your drinks. Better yet, you get unlimited refills! This is very common with places such as Five Guys but isn’t offered anywhere else from Wendy’s rivals.

Me being me, I decided to try and have some fun by trying to make the most disgusting mix possible. The best I could come up with is a vanilla sprite 😂🤮 Good times!

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Wendy’s. It’s a little more expensive than McDonald’s which will always remain the value king of fast food but you will notice a significant quality boost for the extra money at Wendy’s.

Wendy’s hovers around the same prices as Burger King and Five Guys. It’s interior and overall experience is aesthetically similar to Five Guys and offers the same kind of quality. This, I feel, is the kind of fast food establishment which you should be thinking of when looking at Wendy’s.

I feel Wendy’s can really hurt Burger King as it offers better quality at the same price. Especially since Wendy’s is right next door to the one in Brampton. Wendy’s also offers some different choices where Burger King has a very tired and generic menu and does not even have a drinks machine.

Have you been to Wendy’s? What do you think? Can I survive in a very competitive fast food market?

Simon’s uninspiring burger joints of Cambridgeshire (updated frequently)

I recently did a top ‘Top 5 burger joints in Cambridgeshire’ post which jogged my memory of some very unfortunate places I visited during my research.

This is part of our opinion page and it is exactly that…opinions. If you feel that any of the businesses on my list do not deserve to be here then remember that this is a community blog and anyone can contribute, so by all means make your own list with us and I’ll happily publish it. I have always taken the position of ‘consumers first’ and I don’t believe in blindly protecting a business when they are offering a substandard service. With that said, I actually quite like some of the restaurants on this list, I just don’t recommend their burgers.

6. Herbie’s – A14

I am rooting for Herbie’s, I really am! My son loves coming here for the milkshakes and the quirky retro American interior but they try so hard to be American they forget about physics.

Every burger is a sight to behold, loaded to the absolute brim with everything they can possibly fit inside, which makes it collapse and implode. The bun is the very foundation of the burger and holds it all together. If you scrimp on this then it’s like building a house on sand. After eating this, I was basically eating chilli by hand as the bun dissolved into nothing. This is burger 101.

5. Smokeworks – Station Road

What pisses me off about Smokeworks is that I actually love the place. Check out this review I did a while back.

There is so much to love about the venue, with some of the best (locally sourced) beers on tap, a very cool rock/metal interior decorating, a marvellous team who are incredibly hard working and attentive, and a lively Saturday night atmosphere which is seriously lacking in Cambridge…but that’s where it hits you!

This is a place which prides itself on doing top notch BBQ food and pours is heart and soul into everything but the food, which leads to a very ordinary and flavourless result. The food is slightly better than the other food on the list but what annoys me is that it is pretending to be high end so you end up even more disappointed.

4. Honest Burger – Cambridge

I mean…it’s ok. It shouldn’t cost £30+ for a burger, chips, and a few drinks though. C’mon, guys! It’s just a bun, mince, and a few potatoes. Aren’t chains supposed to offer better value or something?

3. Hartford Mill – Huntingdon/St Ives

For the record, Hartford Mill does a mean roast dinner and offers a wonderful value dining experience for families. With that said, don’t order the burger. You can expect the same price as a Hungry Horse but with less quality. The bun pretty much disintegrates in your hands and the meat is flavourless and full of gristle. It’s a shame too, as it looks the part.

2. The Robin Hood – Cherry Hinton

Fancy paying £12-15 for something you could do better at home? Come to The Robin Hood!

1. Grab A Burger – Ely

Do you want to be charged for a high end burger comparable to Steak & Honour but end up getting something you could have lazily made at Tesco? Grab A Burger is your best bet! This example was particularly depressing but even with a bit of tomato and greenery it is just an overly bland experience. Characterless.

Simon’s top Cambridgeshire burger joints (updated frequently)

Honourable mention: Steak & Honour

I have put Steak & Honour in my list as a show of respect to the Cambridge Foodies. Our poll back in 2021 had them as the clear favourites out of our 6000 members. I’ve only visited once back in 2018 and found them decent enough. I tried to visit them again in 2022 at the Haddenham Cherry Tree pub but they were in such high demand that there was a two hour wait, so I had to miss out. That said, it’s only a good sign if demand is so high!

Cambridge Foodie co-owner and admin, Sean, makes a visit in 2021. Check out his review here.

5. Holy Burger – St Ives

I was thoroughly impressed with my visit to Holy Burger last year. So many burger joints focus on quality ingredients that they forget we also want a BIG BURGER too.

Their Black Garlic Ketchup is absolutely killer and their hilarious biblical names really give their food some extra charger.

Cambridge is the undisputed king of Cambridgeshire when it comes to burgers, so it’s great to see a place with such quality and quantity outside the Cambridge bubble.

4. The Alex

The Alexander Pub is a place you would not expect to find a top quality burger but I was blown away by their Canadian style Celine Dion last month. Everything was done to a great quality and you could have an IPA while you’re at it!

I’m not the only one who is a fan of The Alexander Burgers, with other Cambridge Foodies also claiming this to be the best burgers in the city.

3. Grill Plug – Cambridge

Grill Plug is very new to the scene. Located in Cambridge, this delivery only burger joint will deliver to Cambridge and some of the immediate surrounding villages. It has made a real impression on me during my recent visit with their unique style of smash burgers, incredibly moorish chicken wings, and painfully messy (and incredibly fun) waffles.

The team at Grill Plug really pay attention to the details, especially with their ingredients. Ordering beef which has been locally sourced from a small farm. If you love burgers and haven’t given them a go yet, then you are doing yourself a real disservice!

2. Pigcasso

What makes Pigcasso so special for me is that it’s a little different from other burger joints in all the right ways. I have always had a problem with the cost of burgers in restaurants, as they come out to roughly the same cost as a Thai or Chinese, yet they are just a bun and mince with a few potatoes. Pigcasso however manages to give you superb quality pork with a very generous portion. This is possible due to food vans having no significant mark ups to worry about. Better still, they come to you, saving you the painful slog into Cambridge.

It’s the succulent texture of the pulled pork which wins it for me with Picasso. It’s the sort of thing I sit there and think about while I am supposed to be working or laying in bed….I really need to visit again!

1. The Taj Tandoori – Cherry Hinton Road

The Taj Tandoori is not only one of my favourite Indian restaurants but also one of my favourite burger joints too. Their infamous Shamee Burger fuses together the very best of what makes a burger and Indian/Bangladeshi food great.

A spiced lamb patty, with grilled paneer, an onion bhaji, with tamarind sauce in a brioche bun. This is perfected by being excellently presented alongside some crispy masala chips.

Better yet, the Taj Tandoori is BYOB so not only can you have a beer alongside it but you aren’t looking at £4-6 a pint either, making it very competitively priced.

The Alexander – The best burgers in town!

After a couple of excited posts on the Cambridge Foodies about the burgers at The Alex, on Gwydir Street, I decided to visit for myself and see what all the fuss was about.

The pub is a lovely place to be in, with a lovely back area making it significantly more roomy than it appears on the outside. It’s great for summers and winters alike.

There were some decent beers on tap. I didn’t see anything craft but I did see a lovely pale ale called Ice Breaker and a pilsner called Wolfpack.

There is a good choice on the menu, with some American and Canadian style burgers, as well as a “burger of the month” option, which was a Christmas themed during my visit. They mostly hovered around the £12 mark with chips at a very reasonable £1.50. There is also a 2 for 1 deal (well, 2 for an extra £1) from Monday to Friday lunch times, which is certainly worth looking into!

All burgers are served in a brioche bun and are hand made. I decided to go for the “Celine Dion”, which is a French Canadian inspired burger, which comes with a 6oz patty, maple cured bacon, and goats cheese.

The burger was not huge but a good size none the less. The maple cured bacon was thick and juicy and the goats cheese really made this burger pop as well as give it a very succulent texture. The chips were thin cut but were still absolutely superb. It’s hard to get excited with chips but I thoroughly enjoyed them myself.

I must admit, these are some of the best burgers I’ve had in Cambridgeshire. The ingredients are clearly all very good and nothing is scrimped on. The portion of goats cheese is generous and the bacon is cut well. The sweetness from the maple cured bacon gives the burger an extra dimension and the cheese gives the bite great texture.

The Mexican burger – make sure to visit Hungry Man in UK.

Check out these photos from the Cambridge Foodies. The Mexican burger – ground mince, jalapenos, and smoked cheddar.

Certainly worth checking out for any burger fans out there!

Thanks for reading!

Holy Burger – St Ives

Tucked away in a St Ives industrial estate is Holy Burger.

This food van has been on my radar for a while now, yet has always managed to escape me for one reason or another. Today I thought I would take the plunge and finally see what it had to offer.

Holy Burger first caught my attention due to their social media page showing examples of utterly gargantuan sized burgers (even by slightly warped advertising standards). As burger joints often leave me feeling a little underwhelmed for the money, I was hopeful that I might finally find a place which satisfies my stomach or my wallet (or both).

Looking at the menu, I couldn’t help but laugh at their hilarious biblical names for all their burgers. The Baby Cheesus, The Holy Porker, and the Good Samaritan. These names all give little clues into what the burger contains but the menu gives a detailed description to help guide anyone who may get confused.

There was also a good selection of sides. Many other food vans offer a very limited choice, so this was good to see. Loaded Chips, Mozzarella, Onion Rings, Slaw, and Mac & Cheese, you name it.

Being my first time I wanted to try their signature dish, so I decided to go for the infamous Holy Burger.

As mentioned above, many burger places leave me feeling like I’ve not quite had a full meal, so I ordered some pulled pork chips to go with it…just in case.

This came to £18 in total. £10.50 for the burger and £7.50 for the pulled pork chips.

When the burger came out I realised what a fool I was ordering the pulled pork chips too! This thing was a monster! The photo really does not do it justice but it was one of the largest burgers I’ve had outside of a Hungry Horse restaurant.

What immediately hit me was the size of the bun. Many places fall flat by cramming in as much as they can without thinking about how it’s all going to be held together. This leaves the bun unable to cope with all the sauce and juice which leaves the entire thing disintegrating in your hand. This simply isn’t the case here, as you can see, the bun is perfectly sized to hold this beast together!

Their signature black garlic ketchup does not look very appealing but really gave the burger a rich and very sweet flavour.

The Praying Porky Chips were also huge. I started to notice a theme here. These were chips doused in cheese sauce, pulled pork, their signature BBQ sauce, topped with spring onions. Absolutely fantastic!

I was really impressed with how much pulled pork it came with. For £7.50, this was a meal in itself and I couldn’t finish it after the burger. Bravo, Holy Burger, you have defeated me!

I was thoroughly impressed with Holy Burger. The portions were fantastic, the food delicious, and a good selection on the menu which gives you a reason to keep coming back. This is currently my favourite burger van and I have a feeling being so close to work that I’ll be coming back again! 👍

…Though next time, I think I’ll stick to just the burger!

Bills BBQ – Sutton In The Isle.

After discovering this gem while scrolling through the Cambridge BBQ Club, I was adamant that I was going to take advantage of a brand new Texas style BBQ stall located in my very own village of Sutton, near Ely.

It is not often we get excited over anything food related in our village. Despite the villages many great qualities, Sutton has always lacked on the food scene, so I was keen to get down there this Saturday afternoon and see what all the fuss was about.

Upon arrival I noticed a long queue spilling off into the road. Mildly frustrating but living proof of the demand for quality food in the village. The best thing about Bills BBQ is that free beer is offered while you wait…yes, you heard me! Free beer!

It took around 20-30 minutes to get to the front of the queue but with a free beer and the sun out, the time just flied by. It was also nice to see people in the local neighbourhood getting into the spirit of the day, with children wearing Bills BBQ t-shirts, and neighbours talking about how the man running it (I presume Bill) was up at 2am getting the meat ready for today…that is clearly a man who has a passion for what he does! The staff here were also friendly and incredibly chatty which added to an overall lively and positive experience.

Looking at the menu, there were limited options. Clearly they are focusing on getting a few things perfect rather than spreading themselves too thin.

You are able to buy different types of meat here in 100g portions, which I noticed some people buy on its own. I decided to go for a pulled pork sandwich for £7 and purchased an extra 100g’s of pulled pork to go into the burger. This brought the total up to £10.

This is not cheap, so this was going to need to be something special to justify the cost.

The sandwich (burger) didn’t take long to come out and was put into a polystyrene container to go. As I purchased an extra 100g of pulled pork the portions were fantastic. I highly recommend doing this for anyone thinking of visiting. I presume the original sandwich comes with 100g, so that gives an estimated 200g of pulled pork in the sandwich.

There were options for pickles and BBQ sauce (which I decided to go for) that complimented the sandwich perfectly.

The pulled pork sandwich was immense. The pork was so juicy and succulent with a lovely smokey taste. Just how I would imagine true Texas style to be!

I’ve struggled to find a burger joint in Cambridge which has managed to meet my expectations over the years, with places which as Honest Burger and Herbies being average at best but Bills BBQ has managed to not only meet my standard but go beyond it.

The price is on the expensive side, there is no escaping that, but with a free beer all can be forgiven, especially since some places will charge you up to £4 for a bottle alone.

It is also worth mentioning that the burger bun was fantastic too, and something which is not often discussed with burgers. The bun was strong enough to hold together through the entire meal and did not break under the succulent pulled pork and sauce. This is something which many places fall flat and I think it worth noting.

I highly recommend Bills BBQ and look forward to it popping up again. Make sure you keep your ear to the ground and follow them on Facebook.

Thanks for reading!

Pigcasso @ The Cherry Tree

A place I’ve noticed mentioned a lot on the Cambridge food van circuit lately is Pigcasso. Maybe it’s the fantastic name which made it pop in my memory more than the other food vans but it’s certainly a place which has a popular following either way.

The Haddenham Cherry Tree is a pub in the next village along from me and often hosts food vans, so when I heard that Pigcasso was visiting I had no choice but to swing by with my son and see what all the hype was about.

They have a good selection of burgers to choose from, from the classic Pulled Pork Butt to the Smokin Chicken burger. They even had a vegetarian option, the Bangin Bhaji.

Prices came to around £8, which is about standard for a burger in a restaurant. So I was looking forward to seeing what kind of burger I could get from a van which doesn’t have anywhere near the same overheads.

The staff were lovely and incredibly approachable. They waved us over and told us about their special – The Glazed Smoked Sausage (with sesame seeds). Naturally, we had to try this.

My son went for the Smokin Chicken burger and I had the Pulled Pork Butt. We also ordered some chips for good measure. The total came to around £25.

We were given a small device which vibrates and flashes when your food is ready. The range is good enough to reach the pub so you can have a swift pint while you wait. This is just as well, as it’s very popular and though it did not appear like there were many people waiting, there were lots of people waiting in their cars too. Our food took about 20 minutes, so I’d recommend popping into the Cherry Tree for a drink to stay out of the cold.

Once our food arrived we were told that we were allowed to eat the food in the pub, which was great for this post as it meant we could get photos in good light. The sausages were fantastic. For a side dish I thought they were a really decent portion.

My Pulled Pork Butt was excellent too. The texture of the burger was fantastic and it was incredibly juicy. The size was about as expected. Not huge, but a fair size.

What I notice with the cost is that you are almost certainly getting more meat for your money when compared to a restaurant and the quality is slightly higher too. This shows the power of the food van, as overhead costs are reduced to an absolute minimum and most of that gets passed onto you.

Better yet, you don’t have to travel into Cambridge or Ely to eat high quality food, as they come to you!

I tried to taste some of my son’s chicken burger but didn’t fancy losing a finger, so decided to ask him instead. His response was something along the lines of “Oh my god, dad! This is the best burger I’ve had in ages!”

He may only be 11 but gets around when it comes to food. He is acutely aware of the quality you’d expect from Herbies or Ed’s Easy Diner and he has told me that he prefers Pigcasso to this. I’ll leave it to you to decide from the pictures.

One thing which stood out in my memory is how Herbies tried to cram so much into it’s burger that it’s bun dissolved and collapsed in on itself. You don’t get that here. My burger bun was able to hold strong, despite the burger being incredibly succulent and juicy. This makes the entire experience significantly better, especially as a lot of people will be eating these on the go or in their car!

The chips were pretty good too. Crunchy on the outside and quite fluffy for thin chips.

I must admit, we were both impressed with our first visit and look forward to coming back again in the future. There was literally nothing to complain about from our visit and I personally thought that the quality was as high as the value.

I highly recommend!

Have you tried Pigcasso? Let us know what you think on the Cambridge Foodies Facebook group! Or better yet, get in touch with me and write a review for the blog yourself!

Ed’s Easy Diner – Grand Arcade

We decided to ignore all your suggestions for a burger on the Cambridge Foodies poll and go to Ed’s Easy Diner in the Grand Arcade ( That’s how it goes with children!).

I’ve been here many times before over the years and it’s not changed a bit. It’s a place which gives you exactly what you expect from a good value and high quality American diner, which is ideal for a lunch with the children.

They have a children’s menu which offers a meal for £6.99 each.

The burgers aren’t going to keep up with the quality of Steak & Honour or Honest Burger but it fits well into the gap between McDonald and the other top burger joints, which is why it’s great for families.

I couldn’t recommend it for foodies on their own looking for a top burger joint but I think they are very much targeting the family market here and do a fine job of it.

The chips were fantastic and easily the stand out thing about our meal.

The service is great too. The staff are energetic and engaging even with masks on. I don’t know how they do it all day!

You get unlimited refills here, which is a nice touch and they were very quick to top up our drinks. The food is cooked in front of you on the grill behind the bar which is always reassuring but also means that the food came out very quickly (even though it was packed).

Another good reason why it’s good for children and families. The interior decorating is a mix between atmospheric and dingy…I can’t quite make up my mind as you which. As you can see from some of the photos the neon lighting is very dim, so I guess it’s down to what you like.

They do a selection of milkshakes which I did not try but having had them before I can say they are very good. For 3 kids and 3 adults, it came to around £60 which isn’t too bad. Eds Easy Diner executes that mid range family market perfectly when you are feeling like something better than Burger King but don’t want to pay our for gourmet food.

Herbies – Swavesy (A14)

Every fiber of my being is cheering for Herbie’s!

I love the fact it’s independent, I love the fact it’s local, and I love the fact that it’s also a themed restaurant which doesn’t require having to mission all the way into Cambridge!

I know it’s had a rough time with the A14 upgrade over the past year or so, which just makes me want it to succeed even more! But unfortunately, if you are looking for a high end burger (which is what it’s priced at) then it will fall short of some of the better burger joints around.

I ordered a favourite of mine, the chilli burger.

I knew this was going to be a messy one and it didn’t disappoint. Being messy is all part of the fun, so I was aware of what I was ordering before hand, but the entire thing had to be eaten with a knife and fork as the bun was too weak to hold it together.

I tried to brave it but ended up getting completely doused and having to use a ridiculous amount of tissues.

The chilli was very spicy, which was great, as a lot of places would have made this mild to cater for the average Joe but he mince was flavourless. This is the very foundation of the burger and something you just cant get wrong!

The tomato was also very unripe.

That said, the chips may not win any awards but the portions were very generous – which was great for my bottomless pit of a son. This is where Herbies really shines. You’ll always get a big portion which might be what a lot of people are looking for and it’s certainly what you think when you think of the USA!

The atmosphere, interior decorating, and customer service was absolutely excellent. Every time I come I enjoy the company of the staff and my surroundings.

There is a superb selection of soda and milkshakes you simply cant find anywhere else, which gives Herbie’s something special to those sugar junkies out there! I don’t think I know of another place in Cambridge with this kind of selection, so if you are a “soda” drinker, sugar junkie, or a fan of USA brand sweets then make sure you check our Herbies!

Otherwise, I feel like even Ed’s Easy Diner would a better quality of food for a similar price. For £12 what you are getting just isn’t up to the huge amount of competition in the burger market these days. It pains me to say for a place I am cheering for the entire way.

Do we have any fans of Herbies in our there?

What do you think?