Patisserie Valerie, Cambridge; 9 Oct 10

 I am a person of habit. I’ve had my Myers Briggs profile done (twice) and I come out INTJ. The I is for introvert and I’m only just on the I side of this dimension. For the other 3 however I’m right against the buffers and they’re all about my analytical focus, hard objectivity and love of order.

That’s why the wife and I always go to Cambridge on a Saturday morning for breakfast and we always go to the same place, generally eat the same items and meet the same people. This week however we experimented. We went to Patisserie Valerie for breakfast instead. I still ate and drank largely the same but it was a venture into the unknown.

Patisserie Valerie is what Cambridge needs. It adds a little variety to the street scene and we could do with more stores which don’t sell mobile phones, are not national clothing retailers or just cater for tourists. So that’s a plus and good luck to it. And by the way I noticed a rather smart gallery just round the corner on Sydney Sussex Street. That’s also a breath of fresh air.

I’ve lived in Switzerland so I know what a good conditorei should deliver so it was with some anticipation that I entered Valerie’s. It looks and feels right and seats plenty. The window tables (we had one) are especially good because you get to watch the world go by although to be fair Jesus Lane is hardly Piccadilly. The service was fine but is hardly demanding and the menu (rather dog-eared) covers what you’d expect.

But …. there was no bite to the coffee. It was made in a real coffee machine but it was a tad weak and didn’t really hit the spot. Plus my Americano came in a wide cup which meant it cooled faster than I needed.

My scrambled eggs were almost perfect but were a tad over-cooked. Perfect scrambled eggs should not be dry. These were. And they came with granary bread which resulted in too much competition for my taste buds. Perhaps that’s what white bread is best for: supporting other foodstuffs but not competing with them. But fair does the menu did warn me.

Final score: 7 out of 10, more style than substance but I hope it succeeds. That’s enough experimenting for the time being. Back to normal next week.