Zizzi's, Regent Street

Zizzi's is the restaurant I most often choose to visit and go there for regular catch ups with my girlfriends. The reason being that they generally always have a voucher offer, which either entitles a second person to eat for £1 or is two courses for £10. See their website to print yourself one. http://www.zizzi.co.uk/

It works out to be quite good value with the voucher offer, especially the main course for £1 deal. Zizzi's is a chain restaurant, found all over the country serving up Italian dishes. In Cambridge, it's located right in the heart of the City, on Regent Street by Parkers Piece.

Some of my favourite dishes include; 'Strozzapreti Pesto Rosso' (chicken with creme fraiche and red pesto), and the 'Linguine Gamberi' (linguine with tomatoes, prawns and chilli). I like to order fine green beans as a side too and they come drizzled in olive oil with rock salt. They obviously do a pizza and calzone selection as well as a meat and fish menu (not usually included in the voucher offer). Dessert-wise, for anyone who loves chocolate, I totally recommend their chocolate melt which has a warm, gooey middle, however the 'Torta Cioccolata' and 'Pannacotta' are also great.

I've never been disappointed when eating there and considering I go there so often, this means that their food and service is consistent. They also have one of the nicest rose wines I've had around town; though I like my wine more sweet than dry, which is not to everyone's taste. If you have a similar preference I recommend the Zinfandel.

Reliable restaurant with filling Italian dishes. Do not visit if you're one to avoid refined carbs like bread and pasta!

The Sea Tree, Mill Road

Fish and chips at it's finest.

Offers alternatives such as salmon, tuna steak, sea bass, trout, calamari, prawns, crab and salmon fishcakes, and you can also source yourself fresh fish to take home by the kilo. This is a brand spanking new shop, with minimalistic modern decor which means that they can charge slightly more than your usual chipshop. Cod and chips will cost you something like £6 or £7 and the alternatives are dearer, but then everything comes in a swanky white box rather than wrapped in paper and like I said, they've made an effort with the interior design.

They have all the usual side dishes, including salad, new potatoes, petit pois or mushy peas. And you can eat in as well. They have a reasonably sized seating area which you can enjoy without feeling like you've got coated in a layer of grease by doing so. It's clean, well presented and offers healthier foods than most of it's brethren.

I've eaten in there a few times and the service has always been prompt. Most recently, I had the healthier version of cod and chips and got grilled salmon steak, new potatoes and petit pois, which cost something like £10. I also tried the fish pie there once, but it wasn't heated through completely so I won't be eating that again. The Sea Tree is like a mixture of a seafood restaurant and a chipshop, but it works well.

In general, it's distinguishing feature is it's prices. If you want upmarket takeaway, this is your place. The fish is of very good quality, but this place is not for the light of wallet.

The Calcutta Club, Mill Road

I must say, despite having walked past this new Mill Road restaurant quite a number of times and it not grabbing my interest, my partner took me along and I was very very impressed by the food here.

The decor is modern and although I like the colour scheme of rich oranges and red, they had printed their menu in these colours, which didn't make for easy reading. I found the interior to be a touch on the stark side and I think the ambience would have been nicer if there were soft furnishings or throws around. But hey, this is just a little niggle and personal preference. Overall, the place was very clean, well presented and the staff on good form. The service was prompt and the waitress explained items on the menu that we were unfamiliar with. They also served Kopparberg, which you can't find everywhere. There's a good array of alcoholic beverages available, including cocktails, since it is both a bar and restaurant.

I have to say, I really enjoyed the food and found it a refreshing change from the standard offerings of Indian eateries. I decided to try the dosa, which is an Indian style crepe/pancake with a filling of your choice, for a starter. It was well sized and well tasty too. Quite heavy for a starter since the filling is potato based, but very yummy. I also wanted to try the Thali, which is a traditional Indian way of eating. Food is served on a large silver platter, with a number of dishes in different pots, including one curry of your choice from the menu. I liked this style of serving food and the curry was delicious.

I'm not a connoisseur of curries, but the selection looked a lot more exotic than other local places and I think this is because the dishes are much more like those you would get in India itself. I certainly enjoyed the food and left feeling stuffed. It is a tad more expensive than the other Indian restaurants, but you will get a culinary experience of a different standard, so I think it's worth it.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend it and am giving it a 4 out of 5. I've read some bad reviews on Local Secrets about the standard of service, so I'd like to go again and see if I have such a good experience next time.

The Red Lion, Grantchester

My partner and I took advantage of the torrential downpours yesterday by stopping for a bite to eat in The Red Lion.

The pub itself is beautiful; nicely located in the idyllic Grantchester, large and spacious, with a traditional looking interior of wooden beams and fireplaces. There's plenty of space in the beer garden, both at the front and back of the pub as well as patio and function areas. I think it would make a great place for large social gatherings. But, on to the most important thing, the food.

We ordered a Sunday roast, which was priced at £9.75 per head with an offering of chicken, beef, lamb or pork. At that kind of cost, I would expect a pretty decent meal, however, it was decidely average. The gravy was instant, the roasties were soggy, the yorkshire pudding was tough and chewy and the vegetable selection was both limited and probably microwaved. My boyfriend also said that the lamb was 'a bit rough'. It is hard to find a well cooked roast in pubs because obviously they have to cater for large numbers and I wouldn't mind this if the meal was priced at somewhere between £5-7.

The pudding was also £4.75 a pop, but again was a rather unimaginative selection of items that could be kept in the fridge or microwaved. In short, a very bog standard meal at not very bog standard prices. Their menu had a good selection of seafood dishes, which would perhaps be better, however, I'd be disinclined to eat anything other than chips or bar snacks if I visited again.

So, my verdict rating is 2 out of 5. A tad overpriced for the quality of the food served. It's a shame, because it's well located and has a good ambience.