Midsummer House is a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Cambridge, housed in a modified but quaint Victorian house on the edge of Midsummer Common, on the banks of the river Cam.  It’s a beautiful setting, which is complemented by beautiful food from chef/proprietor Daniel Clifford and Executive Chef Mark Abbott, which Mr A and I enjoyed immensely on our first visit in August 2020.  I secured a table for dinner here, and then built a Cambridge visit around it, on the back of a two night stay in London and restaurant bookings there.  This was to be our 7th Michelin star in 3 days, and a meal I was really looking forward to, because I loved the pretty, light, seasonal food last time at Midsummer House (and scored it 10/10).

We walked to Midsummer Common from our hotel, allowing plenty of time to see and photograph the cattle which still graze on the common land – quite a rare thing these days – but sadly the cattle weren’t there and we had to make do with a trio of horses.

During Covid times restaurants need guests to arrive on time, not early, so we used some spare time to watch the rowers on the Cam.  Such a lovely and calming prelude to dinner, on a warm summer evening! (As close I could get to midsummer’s day)

We arrived into the restaurant at 7pm and were seated at a table in the centre of the main part of the dining room, after being warmly greeted by the front of house team.  We broke the ice further with our waitress who used to work at Sketch in London, where we’d eaten the night before.  As with our last visit, the restaurant offered only a tasting menu at £230/person, and a £50/person deposit was required at the time of booking, along with full payment of £135 each for the wine flight. So I had prepaid £370.

The fixed menu includes a glass of Krug Champagne, which we sipped whilst our canapés were served.  The first was a little egg-shaped delight called “cheese on toast” because that’s exactly what it tasted like!  10/10

Next we had dainty little cheesy biscuit 10/10 and finally a potted strawberry plant appeared, with two chef-made faux strawberries asking to be picked.

Inside these wobbly, gel covered fruits was a red pepper ratatouille battling to be tasted above the strawberry flavoured outer gel. A decent effort, but not quite successful. 8/10

We were then brought a three-part amuse bouche which our waiter called “all about the prawn”.  In a small bowl were some sautéed freshwater prawns underneath a prawn bisque jelly, in another bowl was a prawn mousse topped with tomato essence jelly containing small cubes of tomato, fresh peas and broad beans.  Finally there was a small glass of salty prawn head broth, which pleased Mr A, who always complains we Brits are fools not to use the heads of prawns!  This was an exciting start to dinner; big on flavour, but light, delicate and refreshing. The dish was written on the menu, so it was really the first course, not a ‘surprise’ amuse bouche 9.5/10

Next up came a dish almost identical to one we’d loved last August: Suffolk tomatoes with a gazpacho sauce. Essentially there are five or six tomato elements, each prepared differently, and then a gazpacho is poured over them at table side.  The main difference compared with last year is that instead of just having a basket of focaccia on the side, this time slices of focaccia were laid over smoking rosemary sprigs.  This gave good theatre, but didn’t hugely affect the flavour.  This is the sort of summery dish packed with flavour which I really love.  Just like last year, my only complaint would be that I wanted more gazpacho, so that it could be mopped up with the bread. 10/10

Our third course was a dish which has been on Midsummer House’s menu for 17 years: hand dived Orkney scallop with celeriac, Granny Smith apple, white truffle and a very sexy butter and cider sauce.  Pimped up with a spritz from an apple cider atomiser.  Utterly delicious! 10/10

The fourth course was “Roasted Norfolk quail, creamed shallots, duck liver, confit quail egg, Jerez vinegar”. A pretty little ‘fried egg’ sat in a fine pastry tartlet, next to slices of roast quail breast. Everything sat on a slither of quail rillet.  This was a very good dish and quite innovative in its faux simple presentation. For me the stroke of chef genius was the Jerez vinegar to balance the rich parts of the dish. A little cabbage also added a good surprise to the palate. 10/10

The fish course was Cornish turbot with a roasted hazelnut crust, local asparagus with pickled elderberries, asparagus puree and elderflower vinegar.  I liked the hazelnut texture on the fish, and once again I felt the vinegar element added a lot to the overall flavour profile.  8/10

Our main course was “Grass fed Yorkshire beef, tender stem broccoli, pickled anchovy, beurre rouge”.  I forgot to take picture of this very good dish, but my notes remind me that the beef was ultra-soft and tender. 9/10

Midsummer House includes a cheese course in its tasting menu, but the cheese isn’t just presented as slices of coagulated milk protein and crackers – the kitchen devises innovative ways to bring cheese and cheesy flavours to your table.  On this visit we had a glass containing yogurt, mushroom consommé, truffled honey and truffled Baron Bigot, a macaroon of Baron Bigot, and a truffled cheesy brioche.  This course wasn’t quite as good as the ‘cheese course’ we had last year, but I’m still scoring it 10/10

Our dessert began with a very pretty dish of local strawberries with a ewes milk set yogurt and strawberry sorbet. I thought this was a beautiful dessert; light, balanced summer flavours, and not overly sweet. 10/10

Our waitress brought a trolley to our table and proceeded to make a passionfruit granita with liquid nitrogen. The granita was then added on top of a passionfruit ice cream and “Lady Grey” tea sorbet, which accompanied a perfectly smooth orange tart, for our second dessert course

This was a dessert packed with soft cleansing fruit flavours, and the tart was perfect. 9/10

We then enjoyed a fresh mint tea and a selection of petit fours. There was a bay leaf chocolate cream, a Jack Daniels whiskey sour jelly, and a coriander, mango and coconut chocolate sweet. We liked them all 10/10

Just when you would think it was all over, along came a small basket of donuts with Bramley apple sauce and a smooth creme anglais on the side.  The donuts were so light and the accompaniments so delicious we had no trouble eating them up!  10/10

We had returned to Midsummer House on the back of a lot of heavy eating in London, and I was really looking forward to a lighter, more seasonal meal.  Executive head Chef Mark Abbott gave me everything I was hoping for, and a little bit more.  Midsummer House is a very charming restaurant in a delightful location, which consistently serves up innovative, visually impressive and flavour-packed seasonal food in a relaxed and friendly service.  It’s well worth its 2 Michelin stars!  10/10

My final bill to pay on the night was £360, which, when added to the £370 deposit, makes a total cost of £730, which is a lot of money, but in line with other 2 star restaurants.