Restaurant Twenty-Two

High quality cooking

A walk or perhaps a cycle-ride from the city centre, across Jesus Green and over the river Cam, Restaurant Twenty-Two is one half of a Victorian semi on a busy road. But that’s where any ordinariness ends. Chef Sam Carter, his wife Alex Olivier and their top-class team have built something exceptional here since arriving in 2018. The culinary roots are resolutely classical, but contemporary flair sparks in all directions, whether you’re there for the three-course set lunch (£60 well spent, Thursdays only) or are lingering over a tasting menu with paired drinks. Gougères, boxed and picture-perfect, set the tone with a wallop of aged Parmesan and sweet lick of black garlic honey. A charcoal croustade brims with minerally venison tartare, the chopped loin bound with Kea plum jam and topped with grated, cured egg yolk and dainty pickled shimeji. That so much care should be taken over a down-in-one morsel is remarkable, but details matter – it’s not surprising that bread is 24 gloriously butter-rich brioche layers served with a silken threesome of (more) butters. A ‘shroomy little chawanmushi is full with ceps and girolles, Wiltshire truffle and a cep dashi. Similarly luxurious ingredients define the rest of the menu. Yorkshire wagyu is braised for a patient 48 hours till spoonably soft. There’s a flighty puff of beef tendon – a Quaver but not as you know it – and knockout umami from caramelised onions, white miso emulsion, and a limpid beef and bone-marrow consommé. A full-bodied Cà dei Frati 'Ronchedone' 2020 from Italy’s Lake Garda holds its own alongside this punchy standout creation. A fish course might deliver wild bass with seaweed tartare, pumpkin and ginger, enhanced by the freshness of yuzu, trout roe and finger lime in a glorious beurre blanc. To follow? Maybe Anjou squab, a dish of two parts that fully honours the bird: first up, pigeon-liver parfait piped into a pine salt-dusted croustade, then its glistening breast and confit leg (best eaten with fingers) served with tempura-battered enoki mushroom, mini choux-farci, celeriac purée and blackberry sauce. Try it with a glass of Nuala, a berry-packed wine alternative from Muri in Copenhagen. The soft pairings are notable here – most of the cordials, juices and infusions are created in-house. Finish with a toffee-apple flourish: fudge-dotted torched Swiss meringue hiding a bay-leaf parfait and Bramley apple compôte, everything contained in a sablé pastry case and surrounded by a moat of caramel. It’s a sweet finale in an exceptional restaurant.