Edwinn’s, Cambridge: 24 Jan 09

Have you noticed that when you find a restaurant with a super value set menu you generally end up spending twice as much as you expected when you went in ? So it was with me today when I was attracted by the £9.95 on offer at Edwinns in Cambridge. By the time I’d added a glass of wine (it was Saturday) and an espresso my bill added up to £17.27!

I’ve meant to give Edwinns, it’s one of a chain of 6, a try for some time. It offers what I like to see in a restaurant: nice white table cloths (although perhaps not as green as they should be), elegant glassware and a menu with good fish choices and several wines by the glass. So today I was on my own (the wife has gone to Berlin for the weekend with number one daughter) and the set menu was about the best offer in that part of Cambridge so I gave it a go.

Edwinns past 2 big tests: no charge for tap water, it came in a big jug which was left on the table, and a discretionary service charge which the waiter assured me went into her pocket and was not used to subsidise her wages.  It also got a bonus point for charging just £9.74 for the set menu, passing on nice Mr Brown’s reduction in VAT. Minor black mark for showing only 250ml wine prices on the menu although 175ml glasses are available. Although it was a Saturday it was still lunch time and 250ml would send me to sleep.

The food was OK. Stilton souffle to start with, which was a bit low on the taste scale, followed by braised beef on mash which was very tender and good cold weather food. I declined a desert and the espresso took the bill up to £17 plus.

Service was fine after the silliness of the guy who welcomed me with ‘how are you doing’. I was ‘doing’ fine but what I was there for was a lunch not a medical check. The lady who served was from Latvia and complained about the English weather. Don’t we all? I think she’s going native.

But I would go back. It is elegant, maybe a tad over-priced, it is convenient and it’s a quite different from the other chains in the neighbourhood.