"Sam Carter's Michelin-starred Victorian townhouse on the Cam, with a £150 menu built on Anjou squab — book it for a first date."
Restaurant Twenty-Two sits in a Victorian townhouse at 22 Chesterton Road, a short walk from Jesus Green and the River Cam. Sam Carter and his partner Alex Olivier took it over in 2018, and the kitchen won three AA Rosettes in September 2022 and its first Michelin star in March 2023. Dinner is a tasting menu in two lengths, served across a handful of small rooms. For the rest of the city, see our Cambridge dining guide.
Sam Carter trained in Michelin kitchens including Gordon Ramsay's Maze and Hambleton Hall before opening his own room, and the cooking is modern British with a French backbone. The short tasting menu is £115 and the long is £150. Signatures run to an Anjou squab served as a liver-parfait croustade alongside the breast and confit leg, a venison tartare bound with Kea plum jam under cured egg yolk, and a main of 50-day salt-aged Waterford Farm beef with morels prepared three ways. Alex Olivier runs the floor and the wine list. For more rooms in this register, read our guide to the best tasting menus worldwide and our ranked list of tasting menus worth flying for.
The townhouse seats around 26 across small rooms, with stained-glass windows set into 1890s brickwork. Tables are well spaced for the size, the sound level stays conversation-easy, and the lighting is low in the evening. Dress is smart-casual, and no jacket is needed. The scale makes it feel private, which is part of why it works for two.
Book Twenty-Two for a first date because the room is small enough to feel private, quiet enough to hear each other, and the set menu removes any awkwardness over ordering or the bill. The Victorian rooms are warm and low-lit, the pacing is gentle, and a Michelin star gives the evening a sense of occasion without a three-hour marathon. Ask for a table in the front room. See more first-date restaurants.
Not for a big, loud group night. The townhouse is small and the tasting-menu pacing is calm, so it suits two to four people rather than a party of ten.
Yes, if you want Cambridge's standout tasting menu in an intimate setting. Sam Carter holds a Michelin star and three AA Rosettes, and the Victorian townhouse seats only around 26. At £115 for the short menu and £150 for the long, it is priced with the best in the city, and the cooking earns it. Book well ahead for weekends.
Plan a few weeks out for a weekend table. Reservations go through the restaurant's website, and the small dining rooms mean limited covers each service, so Friday and Saturday fill first. Midweek is easier. If you want a specific room or an early sitting, note it when you book and arrive on time, as seatings are tight.
Smart-casual, with no jacket required. The townhouse is a relaxed fine-dining room rather than a formal one, so most guests arrive in smart everyday clothes. You will not feel out of place in a jacket, but you do not need one. The focus is the food and the intimate setting rather than a strict dress policy.
Yes. The small rooms feel private, the noise level stays low, and the set tasting menu takes ordering and the bill out of the conversation. A Michelin star adds occasion without a marathon meal. Ask for the front room and an earlier sitting. For more rooms built for two, see our first-date guide.
Book through the restaurant website. Small dining rooms mean limited covers, so reserve several weeks ahead for weekends.
Affiliate disclosure: Restaurants for Kings may earn a commission when you book through our reservation links, at no cost to you. Our scores are editorial and never paid for.
Sam Carter's Cambridge townhouse earns a place on our ranked list of tasting menus worth a journey.
See the ranking →