The Jolly Scholar

Following on from Tea at Bill's we stayed in Cambridge for our evening meal.

Originally we had planned to use our Tesco vouchers at Brasserie Gerard, but it appears they've gone bust. So back to our list of new places we haven't tried yet.

The Jolly Scholar (the web site is somewhat incomplete at the moment) is where the Bun Shop used to be. We've heard good things in the press, and the one friend who's actually been there was very positive.

The good things we had heard are thoroughly deserved. We decided to book a table for 6:30 but actually got there only a few minutes after 6, as all the shops in Cambridge closed very promptly and it wasn't really the weather to wander. They were just starting to serve food, so we sat down and had a good study of the menu.

The food is exceptional. We both started with the wood pigeon. It was rather more generous than I expected, was very tasty, and the beetroot and chorizo complemented it well. (And there was the added bonus of a small lead shot.) Melanie had the chicken off the special board. My rack of lamb was supremely tender, simply matched to a selection of roast vegetables.

We decided to skip pudding - we were reasonably full in any case, and still had plenty of cakes at home from Christmas, but I would unreservedly recommend the food at the Jolly Scholar.