Alimentum

Numbnut

Exceptional restaurant 1st July 2009

1 found this helpful

As a frequent traveller, I have reason to eat in many "fine" dining establishments throughout the year and really very few ever prompt me to write reviews. Alimentum is an expectation to that.

It is an exception because it was such a truly memorable experience.

Memorable from the the moment I walked through the door and took in the delightfully tasteful, modern, yet welcoming ambiance and decor of the place. A pretty modern shell of a building has been internally transformed into a chic, impressive and still somehow understated surround.

The welcome from the staff was extremely professional, polite and attentive whilst not being overly forced. This set the scene for the service throughout the remainder of my stay.

Onto the fare - well, I can honestly say that I have to trawl my memory banks to recall a better prepared and thought through culinary experience.

I had had a salmon and crab starter which was sublime in both taste and texture and my partner had breast and tongue of lamb with anchovy which looked amazing and apparently tasted even better.

For mains I enjoyed a most exquisitely prepared sirloin and my partner the fillet and belly of pork. Both looked sensational on the plate the taste explosion was bordering on the surreal.

The many oohs and aahs that accompanied our meal made me somewhat self conscious in the end but such was the level of enjoyment they were truly difficulty to suppress.

My wife thought that the chocolate bavarois she enjoyed for her dessert was the crowning glory and my cheese board was diverse, interesting and full of fantastic flavours.

I don't pretend to be anything of a wine expert personally but the wine list was certainly broad and the sommelier recommended a wonderfully cheeky little number that complemented perfectly.

All in all, we left feeling incredibly lucky to have found such a rare combination of elegance, modernity, style and truly exceptional food in this restaurant. 10/10

dzr

Exquisite dining comes to central Cambridge 30th November 2007

5 found this helpful

Cambridge has very few really good restaurants, and for too long Midsummer House has had almost no competition. Alimentum changes all that. It may not be in the best location, and from the outside certainly looks like a more likely venue for a Nandos, but once inside the sleek modern decor and chic, simple ambience overcome the unpropitious exterior. The food was quite simply exquisite. The starters of smoked eel served with a salad of bacon and quince, and hand dived scallops with turnips and caramelized walnuts, followed by braised pork belly with parsnips, shallots, and spiced pork sauce, and slow cooked Denham Estate venison with celeriac, carrots, and gratin dauphinoise, finished off with honey crème brulée with chocolate dipped honeycomb were perfection itself. The wine list is excellent.

Eating in Cambridge is generally such a woeful experience that I honestly worry whether there is a market for somewhere like Alimentum to survive. If, like me, you've been aching for somewhere like this to eat in in Cambridge then I strongly urge you to go as soon as possible in case it ends up not being there at all anymore.