The Lodge, Duxford - Piatti

Provenance Brix Mortar

➤ Hill Farm Rd, Harston, United Kingdom

Piatti • Delis • Grill • British • Vegetarian

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"I have been to this restaurant twice now for brunch and have been disappointed each time. The visits were spread out over several months, so it was not just a one-time bad experience. The food was either cold or lukewarm, and seemed like it was just thrown together. Overall, a small brunch for four people cost us more than £60 which is quite pricey for what we received. It's a shame because the restaurant is beautiful, but it lacks love and attention to detail. I will not be returning."

The Green Man

➤ 2 Lower Street, SG8 7RJ, South Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Piatti • Pub • Steak • Vegan • British

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"We visited here as a family for Sunday lunch many times before, but the past 2 experiences mean we won’t be repeating it. There is a complete disregard for allergies. Our child has a serious dairy allergy and food arrived topped with a Yorkshire pudding. The young staff were a disgrace. They were lolling around chatting to friends on the other side of the bar who were loudly swearing. My husband mentioned to the waitress that this wasn’t a suitable conversation around diners. She was totally uninterested. Towards the end of our meal many the young staff upped and left leaving just one girl on the bar who also was serving the few diners there were. She said they’d all walked out and left her and was complaining loudly saying she just wanted to get out of there. It was just a terrible experience. The chef ended up coming out to see if dessert orders were coming through as everything stopped. Advice to management- don’t leave these kids alone to run your pub into the ground. This wasn’t a lack of training. It was hiring people with characters completely unsuitable for the job."

The Deli Cafe And Bistro

➤ 8a Woollards Lane, South Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, CB22 5LZ

Piatti • Pizza • Pasta • Delis • Coffee

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"Despite one of the photos, the Deli is no longer a sit down eatery. It has a modest (but well chosen selection of cheeses and other deli foods all prepackaged, not portioned to order plus a kitchen that makes hot and cold take away foods. There are some reasonably nice breads, although not sliced. They will reheat their pizzas (etc. to order. Which cooked foods they have at any given lunchtime seems a bit random. You might find (rather good pizza one day, Spanish omelette another, and so on. You can usually rely on some kind of salad being available too. That 's just one part of the Deli, though. The two other main parts have gourmet sweets, snacks and cooking ingredients, and housewares. But I need to address the elephant in the room, which always needs a big label. And on it is written: PRICE! EVERYTHING in the Deli is expensive. Don 't even think of going in if you aren 't comforably well off. It seems aimed at customers who would happily get their groceries in Fortnum Mason, if it were not so inconveniently far away. A hot takeaway snack or salad will set you back £7 8. A confectionary bar, £5 or more. Homewares are firmly in the Fancy Christmas gift price bracket for most people. This is why they lose a point on the score. What they sell is excellent, but to my mind is (shall we say? cheekily priced. Now, to be fair: if you want to pay Tesco prices, walk to Tesco, a short distance away. The Deli probably isn 't for you. I just don 't want someone to make a long trip, only to turn back when they see their lunch wouldn 't be much less expensive if they ordered at a local restaurant. Having said all of this, one thing you 'll never complain about at the Shelford Deli is service. The staff are uniformly lovely, and will go out of their way to help in any way they can. Arguably, this goes with the luxury bracket, but it 's genuine, not forced, and very nice to see."

Zara Indian Cusine

➤ 1 Hinton Way, CB22 5BE, South Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Piatti • Fish • Asian • Vegan • Indian

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"I recently ordered and paid for a takeaway over the phone for a Saturday at 6.45. I arrived to find a group of around 10 people waiting. Clearly there were a lot of annoyed customers waiting beyond their ordered time. Arguments broke out when some wished to tell staff they were outside. But one large male prevented anyone passing him by standing guard at the door. A fight nearly broke out... At 7pm I collected my cold food that had been standing on the counter for some considerable time. It was total chaos with the restaurant accepting no responsibility for managing the queueing process. A deplorable and potentially dangerous situation. This has never been my favourite local Indian restaurant...and when it came to eating the food I remembered why. Onion bhajis were 90% flour paste. The chicken Al Badami sauce was inedible because it was exceedingly sweet, the precooked chicken chunks tasted stale and lacked any other flavour. Chicken Balti was barely acceptable..the Nan was par-cooked and inedible....a disgrace. At point of ordering I claimed the promised £5 discount and then it was not deducted from the bill. I’m a great believer in the good use of Trip-advisor ....but NOT as a tool to complain...but this is an exception. Every aspect of this restaurant’s takeaway service was appalling and we will not be returning."

Square Compasses

➤ 46 High Street, CB22 5EH, South Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Piatti • Meat • Steak • Cheese • Drinks

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"Booked this weeks in advance for Sunday Lunch and they mentioned they didn’t know if they would be doing Sunday Lunches or just Christmas Dinners but someone would call if it was an issue. So no call. Having been seated and no menus were forthcoming I approached the bar and asked and the lady, who I assume was the Landlady, dismissed me with a sit down and we will come to you. Meeeerrryy Christmaaaas! Also saw a foursome come in for drinks and the welcome was dismissive to say the least. “we are fully booked” was the welcome, “we just want a drink”. They came to take the order and I asked about starters and they said there weren’t any. She went to check and reaffirmed it as a no as we would have had to book a Christmas Lunch to prebook starters. If this was the case then that promised phone call would have resolved this and we would have had the Christmas Lunch instead and they would have got more revenue from us. The meal was ok, lots of veg and nice and hot, limited gravy, meats were very good but the Yorkshire Puddings and the Roast Potatoes were Aunt Bessie’s or other frozen fare which was disappointing. We would have had a dessert too but no we weren’t the privileged Christmas Lunch customers. So overall a disappointing visit which with a little thought and advance notice could have been much better."