Cambridge Chop "Houses"
steve.nemo
Food OK! Portions diabolically minuscule! STAY AWAY! One young colleague
who went there recently described the sausages in the bangers and mash -
as the size you get in a can - of a well known manufacturer - only
they throw in a few beans and no mash and don't charge you �10 quid'ish.
I've also heard that the steamed greens have BROAD BEANS among them -
GREENS OR BEANS?
Another young lady I work with went to the King's Parade Chop House for
a birthday treat! She came out so hungry she went to Rose Crescent and
had a McDonald's!
Sarah Cooper
steve...@ntlworld.com (steve.nemo) wrote:
Certainly not my experience of the Northampton St one. I can never finish
the portions. Good food, reasonable to large portions and charming
service. On the one occasion that the beans were a little overdone, there
was absolutely no fuss, a huge plate of perfectly cooked ones appeared and
we weren't charged for them.
--
SCoop
steve.nemo
Well Sarah! I will go and try the Northampton Street version myself!
Must confess I have only been to the Kings Parade one - and was not
impressed. But - I suppose at the end of the day - even though it's a
chain - the final product is at the whim of the individual restaurant
manager! Keep checking here will give you my review! Happy New Year to
you and yours - Steve.
Anthony Deane
"steve.nemo" <steve...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:2Fa_m.19726$Ym4....@text.news.virginmedia.com...
I wouldn't exactly call them a chain, there is only two of them. However it
probably is down to the manager/chef to set the quality of food.
Then again, any restaurant can have an off day. I've heard wonderful things
about The George in Babraham, but when I was there it was terrible. Awful
food, and terrible service. It put me off trying it again.
Anthony
Sam Holloway
> Food OK! Portions diabolically minuscule! STAY AWAY! One young colleague
> who went there recently described the sausages in the bangers and mash -
> as the size you get in a can - of a well known manufacturer - only
> they throw in a few beans and no mash and don't charge you £10 quid'ish.
> I've also heard that the steamed greens have BROAD BEANS among them -
> GREENS OR BEANS?
I've eaten at the original (King's Parade) Chop House many times, and
the new one (Northampton St) twice. No complaints whatsoever - indeed,
I'd go further and say it's probably my first choice of that style of
establishment in Cambridge. The portions are generally pretty large!
Sounds like you've caught them on a bad day.
Sam
steve.nemo
will try the Northampton Street one! Actually there is a third - but I
seem to remember not in Cambridge. Happy new year!
rosen...@cix.compulink.co.uk
steve...@ntlworld.com (steve.nemo) wrote:
> Hi Sam! You may well be right! I will give them another try - in
> fact I will try the Northampton Street one! Actually there is a
> third - but I seem to remember not in Cambridge. Happy new year!
Hmm. "chop house restaurant" produces 5.8 millions hits in Google,
including lots and lots for "chop house restaurant" in other places.
--
Colin Rosenstiel
Sam Holloway
> In article <R1N_m.20305$Ym4.6...@text.news.virginmedia.com>,
> steve.n...@ntlworld.com (steve.nemo) wrote:
> > Hi Sam! You may well be right! I will give them another try - in
> > fact I will try the Northampton Street one! Actually there is a
> > third - but I seem to remember not in Cambridge. Happy new year!
>
> Hmm. "chop house restaurant" produces 5.8 millions hits in Google,
> including lots and lots for "chop house restaurant" in other places.
There are four restaurants in the group : the Chop House on King's
Parade, the newer Chop House on Northampton St, the Boathouse in Ely
and the Cock at Hemingford Grey. Not been to the latter (as I'm rather
fond of the Axe & Compass nearby so go there instead!) but the other
three are all decent. Website for the group is www.cambscuisine.com
(although I note the Chop Houses are now on a separate site).
Sam
Mark Goodge
keyboard and typed:
>There are four restaurants in the group : the Chop House on King's
>Parade, the newer Chop House on Northampton St, the Boathouse in Ely
>and the Cock at Hemingford Grey. Not been to the latter (as I'm rather
>fond of the Axe & Compass nearby so go there instead!) but the other
>three are all decent. Website for the group is www.cambscuisine.com
>(although I note the Chop Houses are now on a separate site).
The food may well be decent, but that is an utterly terrible website!
Mark
--
Blog: http://mark.goodge.co.uk
Stuff: http://www.good-stuff.co.uk
rosen...@cix.compulink.co.uk
use...@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk (Mark Goodge) wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:57:59 -0800 (PST), Sam Holloway put finger to
> keyboard and typed:
>
> >There are four restaurants in the group : the Chop House on King's
> >Parade, the newer Chop House on Northampton St, the Boathouse in Ely
> >and the Cock at Hemingford Grey. Not been to the latter (as I'm rather
> >fond of the Axe & Compass nearby so go there instead!) but the other
> >three are all decent. Website for the group is www.cambscuisine.com
> >(although I note the Chop Houses are now on a separate site).
>
> The food may well be decent, but that is an utterly terrible
> website!
I'm not sure it's ever fair to judge food by a web site!
--
Colin Rosenstiel
Mark Goodge
finger to keyboard and typed:
>In article <lnlpj5p6k4d6bg7ao...@news.markshouse.net>,
>use...@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk (Mark Goodge) wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:57:59 -0800 (PST), Sam Holloway put finger to
>> keyboard and typed:
>>
>> >There are four restaurants in the group : the Chop House on King's
>> >Parade, the newer Chop House on Northampton St, the Boathouse in Ely
>> >and the Cock at Hemingford Grey. Not been to the latter (as I'm rather
>> >fond of the Axe & Compass nearby so go there instead!) but the other
>> >three are all decent. Website for the group is www.cambscuisine.com
>> >(although I note the Chop Houses are now on a separate site).
>>
>> The food may well be decent, but that is an utterly terrible
>> website!
>
>I'm not sure it's ever fair to judge food by a web site!
I'm not judging the food by the website. I've eaten at the Boathouse,
and it was very good. But you can't judge a website by the menu,
either :-)
steve.nemo
ANY OTHERS the ones' produced are: Kings Parade; Northampton Street,
both Cambridge - UK - I hasten to add - just in case you are thinking of
the Cambridge across the pond - and The Boathouse Ely and The Cock Pub
at Hemingford Grey! Also curiously they are also local! And I gather all
run by the same owner!
Time to throw the Sinclair ZX80 in the bin.
Espen Koht
"steve.nemo" <steve...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
I saw the original post and decided not to bother replying, assuming it
to be trolling, but since there is a chance you are being serious, I'd
just like to add that not only have I had many excellent meals there,
but would without hesitation pick the King's Parade Chop House as my top
choice of city centre restaurants of 2009. Food, service and atmosphere
are all excellent, and I'm really happy to see them achieve this in a
location which has previously been prime real-estate for the kind of
tourist trap still found around Market Square.
As others have pointed out, it is only a 'chain' to the extent that
there are 4 restaurants in the 'stable', and therefore not in the same
category as the ones that are strung along Bridge St if that was what
came to people's minds. The fact that their on-tap ales are from Milton
Brewery and at least some of the wines appear to come from CWM next door
suggest to me they believe in local sourcing, which is also good, and
the sausages you have dismissed without trying them yourself are made
in-house twice a week as far as I know.
I quite enjoy eating somewhere where there is enough interesting food on
the menu and the portions reasonably enough sized that you can have a
multi-course meal without feeling stuffed to the gills at the end, but
if you prefer McDonald's and bangers with beans in a tin, I can see why
this might not be the place for you.
Edric M Ellis
> [...]
> As others have pointed out, it is only a 'chain' to the extent that
> there are 4 restaurants in the 'stable', and therefore not in the same
> category as the ones that are strung along Bridge St if that was what
> came to people's minds. The fact that their on-tap ales are from Milton
> Brewery and at least some of the wines appear to come from CWM next door
> suggest to me they believe in local sourcing, which is also good, and
> the sausages you have dismissed without trying them yourself are made
> in-house twice a week as far as I know.
I don't know if they apply the same policy at all their pubs/restaurants, but
certainly at the Cock in Hemingford Grey, they state that all their real ales
come from breweries within 1 hours drive. (Having said that, given that they
regularly stock Wolf and Nethergate, I think they must be assuming a rather fast
dray). They also stock cider produced in Hemingford Grey itself (Cromwell), and
some of the game comes from locals.
Cheers,
Edric.
Roland Perry
13:50:38 on Mon, 4 Jan 2010, Edric M Ellis <eel...@mathworks.com>
remarked:
>I don't know if they apply the same policy at all their pubs/restaurants, but
>certainly at the Cock in Hemingford Grey, they state that all their real ales
>come from breweries within 1 hours drive.
That must restrict the availability of "Guest Ales" somewhat.
A shame they don't list the ales on their website. A picture there,
however, has:
"Great Oakley Harpers" 47mins
"Oldershaw Brewery Pearl" 1 hr 4 mins
"The Wolf Brewery Golden Jackal" 1hr 14 mins
"Buntingford Highwayman" 39 minutes
(Times by Google Maps)
Interestingly, pretty much one at each compass direction.
--
Roland Perry
Jon Connell
> [...]
> and the Cock at Hemingford Grey. Not been to the latter
I've been a dozen or so times and it was excellent every time. I'd pick
the Old Bridge over it for the Huntingdon area though.
Jon