Restaurant Twenty-Two, Cambridge
Just to put it at the very beginning. I enjoyed this restaurant more than my visit to Midsummer House a few months ago, also in Cambridge. The restaurant operates in a very small building next to a main road. However, once I stepped in, it was actually quiet. The menu was relatively small, but I found it was interesting, especially lamb as a starter and pork as the main. It makes sense, to a degree, that the price of this set is £115, compared to many Michelin star restaurants charging £200+ for a set. However, the use of lamb and pork made me curious.
Menu
The first dish was already very interesting, comprising radish, blood orange and habanero, a type of chilli. Though the taste is a bit light, where slightly more salt or acid seasoning would help here, the presentation and the colours are very attractive. However, I should mention that I grew up with a lot of chilli food, hence I cannot taste much of the habanero.
Chalk stream trout, radish, blood orange and habanero
After that, it was the lamb! It was as expected but also with a bit of twist. At the first glance, it looked like the traditional lamb with mint, which I can get from many restaurants and pubs. However, if you looked closely, they paired lamb with seaweed, in particular, which is not a common ingredient in the U.K., (but probably more common for Asian culture).
Nidderdale lamb, seaweed, brassicas, anchovy
I also enjoyed the pork main dish a lot, a pork sirloin and a cheek. It was very surprising that the pork sirloin was still a bit pink, but it actually tasted very tender and nice. All the fruity seasoning really brought out and contrasted the pork very well. The cheek was less interesting here, but it probably added a bit of variety here. The only criticise that the dessert was a bit ordinary, but it was understandable given the price and the excellent starter and main dishes.
Dry aged saddleback pork, sweet & sour apple, celeriac, tarragon
I went here with a friend; we also went to Midsummer House previously together. We were all very happy with the set and believe it was a great place to visit.
[Update: congratulations that they got a Michelin star.]
🐼 Score: 3/5
