Orchid, Cambridge; 29 Aug 13

There was a knock on the kitchen window at 0625. Good friend Tony Halls (owner of Anthony’s, the excellent menswear shop on Trinity Street) was picking me up and we were off on a gentlemen’s day out. Of sorts.

Our route was to take us along the A14, M5 and M56 to Daresbury. I’ve done it often and I know how to do it painlessly. Hence the early start which was timed to get us through the A14/M6 junction before it got busy and then into the services on the M6 Toll for breakfast.

We probably needn’t have gone so early. It was still school holiday time and the economy is not yet firing on all cylinders so there was no congestion, not even the sign of the start of the rush hour as we passed north of Coventry. That put us in the services soon after 0800.

Breakfast was to be at Costa and I approached with some trepidation. I use Costa a lot but am often frustrated by its speed of service and this one often has long queues; but not today. We were in and served without delay. We were even provided with one jug of hot milk, one jug of cold without any grumbles. So the culinary part of the day started well even down to a table outside enjoying the sun of the West Midlands.

Motorway services in the UK generally get a bad press and often this is deserved but they are much better than they used to be. The problem most of the time is crowds and their demand for fast food and that’s where these services are different. Because the people who run the M6 Toll have chosen to raise prices to secure the profits which they seek they have ensured that the road never gets busy and the services reflect that. There are no buses and no trucks and those who use them are more typically business travellers for whom ‘time is money’. Tony being of the trade noted how many were ‘suited and booted’.

We were going on a business trip. We both have small shareholdings in EHTech, a start-up with very exciting and novel diesel engine technology. What’s exciting is that the technology addresses the fundamental inefficiency of diesel combustion and doesn’t just address its consequences. I’ve known the company for some time but although he invested at the same time that I did Tony had never met Gary McMahon, CEO and originator of the technology. EHTech has offices in Daresbury and we made landfall there soon after 1000. Not bad for a 180 mile trip including breakfast.

Business is generally boring so let’s move on … By about 1230 we were on our way again and time to get focussed on lunch. In a former life I lived in Wilmslow, much-loved by footballers’ wives, so I pointed Tony in the direction of the Yellow Broom in Twemlow near Holmes Chapel. When we got there it looked as good as it always did and the menu seemed fine. The only problem was that it was closed for lunch.

That set us on plan B which was to head off through darkest Cheshire to the Black Swan at Withington. I described it on TripAdvisor as country pub meets Laura Ashley and if you read reviews of it online that seems to be what it wants to be. There has recently been a £500K refurbishment to make it ‘more female-friendly’.  Anyway it was open and there were tables aplenty. We both had fish and chips which came quickly and just about perfect. The fish was white and flaky and fresh. The batter crisp and light and not glued to the fish. There were chunky chips and the brown sauce was HP. There were several wines by the glass to choose and a proper coffee machine which made all the right noises and delivered an excellent espresso.

Back on the road and we risked the old M6 via spaghetti which was slow (50mph) because of road works but not a crisis. It took us 5 minutes to get through the M6/A14 junction but at this stage we were in no rush and we were back in the garden drinking tea by 1630. A good day.

My day continued at a literary event at Heffers. I had recently met Kate Rhodes (author of Crossbones Yard) and she kindly invited me. She was joined by Penny Hancock (Tideline) for a couple of hours of free canapes and drinks. But I had to leave before the readings because my day was to get even better.

Orchid is a new restaurant on Newmarket Road. It claims to offer ‘authentic Asian fusion cuisine’. That seems to mean Chinese food on square plates with a decent wine list in posh surroundings.

It started badly. I don’t like officious waiters being overly controlling with seating but being totally ignored is a bit too much in the other direction. Unfortunately it was a bit of a pointer for the evening, service continued to be patchy. Sometimes it was excellent but then the good work was undone as when they started to clear our table and offer us desert before we’d had our main courses.

Fortunately there was enough to compensate and the manager did engage when we gave him feedback.

The food was excellent. It is basically Chinese but the flavours are perhaps a little more subtle and the dishes are served on square plates The assumption is in favour of people ordering their own dishes and not of everyone sharing. However we did share. Firstly spicy salt and pepper fresh squid and soft shell crab with chilli and garlic and then pan-fried diced rib eye beef in black pepper and red wine sauce and steamed turbot fillet with ginger and spring onions. The deserts unfortunately were not great. My cheesecake, that’s stretching Asian fusion, was soft and lacking in bite, and the wife’s banana fritters took an age to come and were served with strawberry and chocolate ice cream, maybe that is Asian fusion.

Moreover it’s a good restaurant for drinkers. Several Asian beers, a good wine list with very drinkable wines by the glass served in nice big goblets, a large choice of sakes and exotic cocktails visibly present.

Taken as a whole Orchid is a good place. I hope it survives, and sorts out its service, but I have one concern. There have been restaurants on this site before but they’ve failed. I trust that the owners have taken care of the Feng Shui so that they don’t, fail that is.