Feeling Festive in Cambridge
It’s the time of year where, everywhere you turn, there are endless opportunities to do something festive, eat a mince pie, down some mulled wine or sing carols, so where do you start?! This year we decided to explore the Mill Road Winter Fair and took the opportunity to check out The Cambridge Brew House – we were not disappointed!
First up the Mill Road Winter Fair, almost the entire road is closed to cars and people pour out filling it to the brim to enjoy all the festivities. There has been a Winter Fair on Mill Road since 2005 and from what we hear it gets better every year. It is a great opportunity to explore all the independent shops available on this road, the area really excels in community spirit all year round. One of the main events is the parade although, don’t feel too bad if you miss it as, there are a number of acts performing dance, music, and more up and down the road the whole time.
We hit the road at the bridge and headed away from town, there was a huge queue for delicious hot dogs with proper sausages at Andrew Northrop’s Butchers and this was just the start of tasty offerings available. We made room for chips and calamari at The Sea Tree, these truly are my favourite calamari, the batter is amazing, it’s so light you really get to enjoy the squid. They also offer Gluten Free batter! We waved at Santa in the window at The Old Chemist Shop Antique Centre and grabbed a large cup of mulled wine from Limoncello which was made using amaretto – yum. We always enjoy a visit to Limoncello, its a wonderful Italian deli with samples to try and superb sandwiches. We popped into Romsey Mill to see the HATs competition and the Bouncy Castle and were lucky enough to hear a children’s choir singing Christmas Carols, they were excellent and really made us feel Christmassy, yep even more than we already were!
We then wandered back the other way taking in the sights and sounds before checking out the food court area. I was devastated to arrive at Steak and Honour just too late, they had sold out, so I’ll just have to hunt them down for another opportunity. We picked up some amazing Macaroni Cheese, but sadly don’t remember who made it but it was delicious and super cheesy, just the right strength of cheese, warmed us up. Mr Cake’s stall was buzzing but again we missed out as he had sold out of his salted caramel truffles, but all the treats looked really special, great gift ideas.
We couldn’t walk past Hot Numbers without picking up a coffee (if you’re serious about coffee this is a must!) and popped into Cambridge Wine Merchants to pick up a bottle of wine for a Christmas party. They have an excellent selection of wine and beers but the thing that really caught my eye was the Gin Advent Calendar – one for next year I think! Finally we explored the craft tent and found some of our crafty friends selling wonderful gifts, cards and more; Rachel Thompson Design, Purplespoon Design (beautiful Christmas Cards from Purplespoon Design in the picture below) and Retrovert. There was much to see and experience that we couldn’t possibly do it all so of course we’ll be back next year and recommend you all pop along too. Keep reading to find out how we got on at The Cambridge Brew House!
After all that walking, eating and shopping it was clearly time for a sit down and a brew, of the beer variety on this occasion. We made a beeline for The Cambridge Brew Houseafter some top recommendations. It was buzzing, great atmosphere, and we went straight to the bar to find out what was on offer, the answer…plenty! Unfortunately I had to drive so I ‘forced’ my husband to try a number of beers, he made a really noble effort and started by ordering a tray of beer including a really festive smelling one. I wouldn’t know where to start to explain the variety of beer on offer here, including their own micro brews, so you really do have to just go and enjoy yourself to find out. Go soon so you can also check out their fun take on a Christmas Tree as I wasn’t able to capture it well enough on camera. We sunk into two really comfy seats by a window and took in our surroundings. We didn’t have long and wished we could have stayed for dinner, the menu looked amazing. I had my eye on the Sir Guby platter although I would have been torn between that and the Sausage Feast platter but it was the Twice Cooked Sticky Beef I can’t get out of my head, how amazing does that sound! Not to mention the intrigue of being able to go ‘dirty’ or ‘filthy’ on the Steak Burger! We’re keen to get back for one of their Brewery Open Evenings (second Tuesday of each month) and really can’t wait to hear about their Beer and Food Matching Experiences! For more info check out their website or you can follow them on Twitter or Like them on Facebook!
Hope you are all enjoying the festivities available near and far. Let us know what puts you in the festive mood!
Happy Holidays!
With Thanks to Bekki C for some of the photos above. If you would like to use any of the photos in this or any of our posts please contact us first and link back to us.