Vanderlyle — Restaurant in Cambridge

After mourning the loss of the Hole in the Wall, I was delighted to see Vanderlyle was opening, and even more delighted to find its name comes from The National's magnificent song Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, with enthusiastic endorsement from the band for this use of 'their' word. The restaurant is worthy of the name, the experience as memorable and expertly put together as a song by the band. I was fascinated to find it was an entirely vegetarian menu, though not officially a vegetarian restaurant. It's spring and this is what's fresh and great to eat right now. So many highlights in the flavours. The wild garlic and turnip top risotto was possibly my highlight, a close battle with the mushroom dish, though the amazing pairing of white chocolate and celeriac in a semifreddo balances with the amazingly refreshing celery and lovage granita was unforgettable, and everything about the orange and carrot cake dessert was to die for. The vibe is relaxed, the staff are very friendly, great to see Alex Rushmer with a place in Cambridge, and very nice to have a chance to chat to him about the place and about The National! It's not cheap, this is serious, quality cooking, as you'd expect, but for a food lover this is one of the very best places Cambridge can offer. The flight of wines is also excellent, though I was amazed to find the risotto paired with a ravishing citrus wheat beer from Linton, that combination was inspired. And the Washington state red with the mushroom too. Oh, and the orange muscat too. Can't wait to go back, would like to sit at the pass next time. Thanks for...

Oh how was I looking forward to it! First the positives: Vanderlyle is a remarkable restaurant, and the food is fresh, locally sourced and often delicious ! The chefs clearly make a good show of their talent and creativity. Staff are relaxed and friendly and there is a lovely atmosphere (and a great playlist). However, maybe a bit for bad luck, I was presented with a menu with a massive monotonic chord: sweet. I do not enjoy sweet very much, and I did not expect to have to endure 8 courses of variations of the theme. After the rarebit crumpet with strawberry ragu (fairly at the start of the journey), my threshold had already been lapped. One incomprehensible course, in the middle of the meal, was a generous serving of cashew parfait (a bloc of buttery pâté), with prune and cherry, surprisingly the one course without paired drink (it needed one to go through it). This heavy load unambiguously came in the way of enjoying (nor getting close to finishing) the following 2 autumnal dishes and 3 desserts. At some point both my partner and I felt dazed and overly full. The thought in our mind was unfortunately: “make it stop!” :/ I was probably only unlucky with the October menu which did not really match my taste, however with the price paid we expected to have a good experience no matter what… hence the 3-star. A big shoutout for the smoked carrot tartare which was absolutely delicious and the red wine that went with the mushroom suet pudding. We will probably come again (after saving a few more months) and hope to get our...

Aug 2023 - Our second visit to Vanderlyle and, if anything, the food and service were even better this time. Too many highlights to mention them all, but the smoked roasted peach half way through the 7 course tasting menu was just inspired - an explosion of unexpected taste and texture sensations - fab! We eat in a lot of fine dinning restaurants on our travels and love the fact that Alex and the team dare to be different. Not just in the 'almost' vegan food, but in the endlessly creative menu and the purposefully relaxed atmosphere. It just feels as though it is a restaurant that is totally comfortable within its own skin. Having said that, I have marked the atmosphere down a star because it was too noisy at the start of the meal for us to be able to talk without straining. Thankfully the noise levels reduced as the meal went on and we were able to enjoy the experience to the full. Thank you Alex, Alice and everyone else involved.

Dec 2019 - We were nervous taking our 6 year old to Vanderlyle for the Christmas special. It was her first experience of a tasting menu. 3 1/2 hours, at least 8 courses and not a piece of meat or fish in sight! ... We needn't have worried, the relaxed friendly atmosphere coupled with the exquisite morsels of food and divine pairing of soft drinks was a total hit, pretty much from start to finish. Oh, and we loved it too. Our new favourite restaurant and it's just down...