Monthly Archives: September 2016

Ely Markets Food Tour – Ely, Cambridgeshire (UK)

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On 24 September 2016, I had the pleasure of attending a “meet and eat” food bloggers tour of Ely Markets, organised by fellow blogger Alex Higgs who is doing some work for the markets. Alex was accompanied by Ely Markets representatives Julia Davis and Lisa Quin and took us on a 3-hour tour, sampling the delights of the food and farmers markets.

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Saturdays are real foodie days at Ely Markets, especially every 2nd and 4th Saturday when they hold the Farmers Market in conjunction with the Food, Craft & Collectables Markets. The Market Square has a food aisle every Saturday, which includes excellent street food and other food traders. I was impressed by the quality and variety of food stalls. I will definitely return on a Saturday morning to do some foodie shopping! Paulo drove me to Ely (just over a half hour drive) but the market is also easily accessible by train. Parking was so easy to find, especially in the morning. The short stay car park has free parking for 4 hours, which allows plenty of time to wander the markets. If you want to spend more time in Ely, then the long stay car park is best.

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We tasted and nibbled our way through various delicious food and drink stalls and by the end of the tour I was happily stuffed!

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Lagona – Cambridge (UK)

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UPDATE: This business is closed and has been replaced with a similar restaurant.

There’s a welcome addition to Mill Road in Cambridge and that’s Lagona, a new Lebanese restaurant offering good, reasonably priced food. The location used to house Jaffa Net Café but now it’s a bright, cheerful restaurant that includes a separate shisha area at the back, if that’s your sort of thing. A little something for everyone… to me, that’s what Mill Road is all about.

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Lagona opened fairly recently, in July 2016, and judging from the steady stream of customers, word has already gotten out that this is a must-visit. They don’t have a website and have very little social media presence so their custom is basically all word of mouth. That’s a good thing! I recommend this place for a casual, relaxed lunch or dinner. The portions are generous and service is friendly and helpful.

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We did encounter some minor problems but not anything that would deter us from returning. I believe the issues stemmed from being rushed in the kitchen, perhaps due to it being busy that evening. I have to say that the staff were excellent in dealing with our complaint and quickly rectified the issue. More on that later.

lagona-falafel

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Double Truffle Tagliatelle

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I love truffles… the subterranean fungus, that is (although I’m quite partial to the chocolate sweets). I had the pleasure of meeting Will Bailey of Truffle Face, a Cambridge-based importer of high-quality affordable truffles from Orvieto, Italy. I interviewed him for Flavour, Cambridge’s food and drink radio programme (podcast here).

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Will even made me a truffle-laden lunch… The Ultimate Truffle Grilled Cheese sandwich (recipe here). What a treat!

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truffleface-tagliatelle-in-plate

As we talked all things truffle, I couldn’t resist purchasing a pack of Tagliatelle al Tartufo, made by artisan company Margió, based in Umbria where Truffle Face source their truffles. I knew the tagliatelle would be tasty as the truffle is baked right into the pasta. You can actually see the yummy bits. All of Truffle Face’s products, such as truffles, pasta, cheese, oil and condiments can be purchased through their website.

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