The Cambridge Public House — Restaurant in Paris

I debated whether to leave this review because I understand that all F&B establishments have their off days. That said, the experience left such a poor taste in my mouth that I consider it important to, especially since the bar is well ranked and I think a positive service experience would ordinarily be expected. It is also a pity because it is completely inconsistent with the warm service freely available all over the rest of Paris.

It started ok - the door host showed us to a table and politely explained that it would be required back at 8pm for a reservation, which was fine. Thereafter, we were ignored for at least 10min waiting for a menu. Eventually another server brought them apologizing for the delay. He was polite. It was extremely difficult to order thereafter and there was zero acknowledgment on how long it had taken to order when the host finally took our orders after I had asked if we could order. Even if the bar is busy (and it was not packed), it was certainly obvious we had waited a long time and I was surprised by the terseness of the service.

The drinks were thereafter at least made fast and decently, but the overwhelming feeling was that our presence was not welcome by the host. The most on the nose behaviour was when the time came for the host to light the tea lights on each table and lit every one around us (including the empty tables) but not the one on our table.

I hate to speculate why the discriminatory treatment especially since it is 2025 but I can’t say I’ll be back, nor can I say I will encourage my friends to come.

In fairness, the other two servers we encountered (who handed us the menu and helped with the bill) were polite and friendly.

I hope a bar worthy of being on best 50...

(2.5⭐️) Had high hopes for this one, but ultimately a pretty mediocre experience, sadly.

We were welcomed and seated in a nice manner; the host seemed eager to help us out with our choice of drink. It didn’t feel forced in any way, so overall a pretty decent first impression.

We ordered a neat bourbon to begin with, and meanwhile, settled on the house cocktail while switching seats from the floor to the bar, because we usually like the atmosphere at the bar more.

When making the house cocktail, we were met with pre-rimmed glasses and what looked to be pre-mixed spirits. At least, none of the spirits were poured from their original containers, and we found this to be quite odd, since the recipe called for gin and mezcal. The disappointment kept on going when we tasted this cocktail. It was bland, and quite frankly, boring. The mezcal came to its right and added a nice smokiness but, the overall impression was that their signature cocktail was lacking in flavour.

Furthermore, the bartender felt very insincere in his service towards us. If he asked us how we were enjoying our drinks, we couldn’t even respond before he was already gone. It is also worth mentioning that the bar was pretty empty, so it was not like he had a packed venue to attend to. At one point, he loudly yelled out a string of swear words when mixing a cocktail because he apparently ran out of a cheap spirit mid-pour and now had to finish his pour with a slightly more expensive spirit. Having worked in the bar industry myself, I would never have shown this level of frustration, not even 1 meter from my guests.

In conclusion: A bit mediocre and underwhelming experience with an unfortunate crash out from the bartender. Don’t go here with high...

So kind of this bar to ask for my review.

We had a booking at 16:00. Confirmed the day before. 8 Upon arrival the staff told us there was a special event that evening. Guest bartenders visiting and the opened at 17:00.. too bad so sorry see you later

One would think a place with this reputation would have contacted us to tell us they weren't open, but no.

We went to another bar nearby. Had better drinks , better service and more pleasant conversation than we would have ever gotten at the Cambridge

Also let's be honest. Guest bar shifts are all about ego. The drinks are never memorable, and the instageam photos are forgotten faster than it took the person to make it.

The bar is dead to me. Thankfully some much better options exist nearby.

Figured I'd add an edit

At no point was any attempt to contact me made, last minute or otherwise. I've included the photo of my reservation confirmation sent the day before. This was the only contact I had from them.

I did attempt to see if i could come back when they opened that same day an hour later but was told they couldn't save a spot for me because they weren't taking reservations that evening and they were going to be very busy.

Maybe if this offer was made right away it would hold some weight but the staff was very dismissive and didn't care at all at the time that they had wasted part...