Midsummer House Restaurant

It is a curious quirk of the British gastronomic map that, with a captive audience of gourmet academics, well-heeled visiting parents and scrums of tourists, our major university towns have so few top-flight restaurants. Happily, Midsummer House has chef Daniel Clifford's relentless pursuit of innovation and perfection as an exception to prove the rule. The modest Victorian villa beside the River Cam is English to the core, but a distinctly Gallic sheen infuses this enterprise, from slickly attentive French waiters, to a strong showing of French wines and the unmistakably classical French technique that underpins the kitchen's exuberant culinary style. The conservatory extension dining room, modishly minimal with pristine white walls and Indian slate floors, overlooks a delightfully-fragrant walled herb garden with river views; diners are kept well apart at capacious tables dressed in white linen. You might choose to arrive here via the sophisticated upstairs bar and river-view terrace for alfresco aperitifs. Clifford's cooking is full of twists and turns, foams and essences, constantly thrilling and surprising with off-the-wall contrasts in texture and curveball flavour combinations. Of course, you can't pull off this kind of wizardry without the basics of top quality ingredients, hyper-advanced technique and a committed, talented kitchen team all singing in tune. One ingredient - perhaps cod, sweetbread, turbot or pig's trotter - introduces each dish on fixed-price lunch, à la carte or tasting menus; these terse descriptions listing ingredients with few adjectives do little to prepare you for the wow factor that arrives with each plate. Langoustine is grilled and lightly coated in sesame seeds alongside tortellini of moist king crab and a purée of sweet-and-sour swede. Main courses bring on more revelatory arrays - slow-roasted belly pork comes with superb Savoy cabbage and a crisp potato tube filled with braised pork and an apple and shallot foam. Desserts end on the same note, for example a pear and fennel delice that is served with black olives marinated in a vanilla syrup, and a cannelloni filled with fennel mousse and olive oil ice cream.

Park in Pretoria Rd, then walk across footbridge. Restaurant on left
Nearest station: Cambridge

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