"Cambridge's only Michelin star since 2023, Sam Carter's seven-course tasting on Chesterton Road: book it for an anniversary worth the drive."
Sam Carter and Alex Olivier took over a narrow Victorian townhouse at 22 Chesterton Road in 2018, and the address gave the restaurant its name. Five years later it held a Michelin star, still the only one in Cambridge. Carter cooks a modern British tasting menu, seven courses at £150 or a shorter five at £115, in a room that seats around twenty-six and backs onto Jesus Green and the River Cam. Olivier runs the floor and the wine list.
Carter trained at Michelin level before opening on his own, with stretches at Hambleton Hall in Rutland and Maze under Gordon Ramsay. At Restaurant Twenty-Two that grounding shows in precision rather than volume. The meal opens with fat Gordal olives, the same green Spanish olives served at the couple's sister restaurant, Margaret's, a few doors from the Chesterton Road dining room. From there the menu moves through dishes like Anjou squab in two acts, a pine-salt croustade filled with pigeon-liver parfait followed by the breast and confit leg, and a roasted quail in a buttery vin jaune sauce.
Dessert is often a study in chocolate, coffee and mascarpone: a striped mousse with dark chocolate crumb and burnt white chocolate ice cream. The full tasting is £150 per person, the shorter version £115, and a Wednesday or Thursday set lunch is £65. The first Michelin star landed in March 2023, a year after three AA Rosettes in 2022, and it has held every year since.
The dining room is small, around twenty-six covers across two intimate floors of the converted townhouse. Tables are well spaced, the lighting is low, and the sound level stays conversation-easy even when full, which is most nights. There is no dress code beyond smart-casual; a jacket is welcome but never required. Evenings run a single tasting service, so the room never churns, and the outlook over Jesus Green and the river gives the back tables a quiet edge. Service from Olivier's team is warm and well drilled rather than stiff.
Book this room for an anniversary or a milestone because the format does the work for you. The tasting runs close to three hours, long enough to feel like an event without dragging, and the single nightly service means nobody rushes you out. The townhouse is quiet enough to talk across the table, the riverside setting flatters a special night, and the price is clear in advance, so there are no surprises on the bill. For more, see our best restaurants for an anniversary and the global best tasting-menu restaurants.
Not for a quick bite or a large group. It is a set tasting of up to seven courses over three hours, and the townhouse seats only twenty-six.
Yes. It is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Cambridge, and Sam Carter's cooking earns the star with serious technique and genuine ideas rather than flash. At £150 for the full tasting it sits in line with one-star peers, and the Wednesday and Thursday £115 short menu or £65 set lunch are the value entry points. Treat it as the main event of the evening and book ahead.
Moderately hard. The townhouse seats only about twenty-six, so weekend evenings and the cheaper midweek lunches go first, often two to three weeks out. Booking is through the restaurant's own website at 22 Chesterton Road. Midweek dinners and the short lunch menu are the easiest slots to land; Friday and Saturday dinner are the hardest. Join the cancellation list if your date is full.
Smart-casual, with no jacket required. This is a relaxed Victorian townhouse rather than a formal hotel dining room, so a shirt or a nice dress reads as right; neat denim is fine. Most guests dress up a little for the occasion and the price, but nobody will turn you away for arriving without a tie. The mood is polished but unstuffy throughout.
The full tasting menu is £150 per person, the short tasting £115, and a midweek set lunch £65, all before drinks. Wine pairings and an a la carte list of wines add to that, so a couple with pairings should plan for roughly £400 to £500 all in. The set lunch is the way to try Carter's cooking for less.
Yes, it is close to ideal. The room is small and quiet, the tasting makes a proper event of the evening, and the single nightly service means an unhurried pace. The riverside setting and clear pricing make it an easy choice for a milestone. Book two to three weeks ahead and see our anniversary dining guide for the wider plan.
Via the restaurant · book 2–3 weeks ahead
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