Midsummer House Restaurant

Whatever your business in the city - something to do with the university, hi-tech industry, tourism, or your team is playing Cambridge United away (less likely that one admittedly) - it is worth knowing there's a stunning, world-class restaurant up the road. Not every city in this country has one by any means. It's in a lovely part of Cambridge by the River Cam, beside a green where cattle freely roam, and all is seemingly well with the world. Daniel Clifford is a prodigious talent and it has been his mission since 1998 to put Midsummer House on the map. He's received a lot of praise in that time, won plenty of plaudits, (including a winner's place on the BBC's Great British Menu in 2012) but continues to drive the business forward with a remarkable amount of energy. The Victorian villa in a walled garden, the river running by, is in a truly delightful spot, and inside is as open-plan as it can be without the roof falling in; it's contemporary without being over-bearing, smart without being precious. The attention to detail here is evident from the off, with a mostly French service team who don't miss a beat and cooking that raises the roof. It begins with canapés in the bar - top-quality olives, gougères and Bloody Mary sorbet, maybe - before moving to the restaurant, done out in calming neutral tones, which extends into a conservatory (newly extended in 2012). Next up, the amuse-bouche confirms the intensity of the work ethic here: a fabulous piece of smoked haddock with a silky smooth Vichysoisse velouté topped with a perfectly cooked soft-boiled quail's egg. There are a few menus to choose from, the Taste of Midsummer being the show stopper, ably supported by the Classic Menu and Taste of the Market; whichever way you go, creative contemporary cooking of the highest order awaits, with visual impact on the plate and flavour and texture contrasts measured to the nth degree. Pressed terrine of chicken and mushroom is a well-crafted first course, with moist chicken, tender garlic and earthy mushrooms, topped with a super-thin piece of crispy chicken skin, plus sorrel essence, intensely flavoured mushroom purée and a perfectly cooked confit chicken leg. The produce is of supreme quality, not least a piece of cod, cooked to delectable translucence, served with caramelised celeriac, buttered spinach and a deeply satisfying Madeira sauce, or the superb pork that is slow-roasted and comes with a fabulous black pudding and apple purée and a potato cylinder filled with unctuous confit pork and apple and shallot foam (amongst other things). The technical virtuosity is confirmed once again with the arrival of a pistachio soufflé and chocolate sorbet. The wine list is a fine piece of work, too.