Lunch in Cambridge- Amélie Review

Lunch in  Cambridge- Amélie Review

Trying new places for lunch in Cambridge is our favourite pastime and we recently had the pleasure of Amélie in the (newly revamped) Grafton Centre Cambridge. Look out for the bright yellow vintage Citroën van opposite the VUE cinema.

lunch in Cambridge

This independent, family run venture serves delicious flammekueche (I’ll explain this in a minute) and is proving popular in the city. Regis and Alex, the father and son duo behind Amélie,  both have years of experience at the top end of the hospitality industry and this shines through in all aspects of the restaurant.

So what is flammekueche?

Amelie Cambridge

This was new to us. A classic flatbread (not a pizza!), served throughout the east of France. Served on a thin yeast-free base ( their own recipe of course), spread with seasoned crème fraiche, then topped with fresh, local and high quality ingredients and stone-baked. Both savoury and sweet versions can be ordered.

Savoury:

flam-kuche

As we were both ‘flammekueche virgins’ we opted for two to share. Firstly ‘The Authentic’. This is a traditional crème fraiche base, topped with sliced onions, smoked bacon and Gruyere cheese. A great balance of flavours and after one bite we were both hooked. The light crispy base is a perfect vehicle for the smoky bacon and soft melting cheese.

places to eat in Cambridge

We also go for a ‘Goats & Beetroot’. Again this had a crème fraiche base, then a generous helping of caramelized onions, goat’s cheese, red beetroot, roasted pine nuts, honey and rocket. The tangy goat’s cheese is superb alongside chunks of earthy beetroot. The honey brings a lovely sweet element to this savoury dish. It disappears quickly!

salad at Amelie

All of the savoury flammekueche are offered in two sizes- medium and large. We went for two mediums and shared a fresh, green salad. After our first bite we both wished that we had gone large as both were super-tasty and extremely moreish! We will learn from our mistake next time- and there will be a next time for sure.

Vegan and gluten free options:

Amélie offers a wide range of flavour combinations, including vegetarian, and vegan options- if you’re a vegan, simply ask for the tomato spread. Gluten free bases are available on request too, so there is something for everyone. This would be a great choice for a group.

Drinks:

Amelie golden ale

From a small but well thought out drinks menu, I go for an Amelie Golden Ale which is brewed just for the restaurant. It is cold and refreshing on a warm summer’s day. Mel goes for a glass of crisp, clean house white.

Sweet:

lunch in Cambridge

For dessert we share a sweet flammekueche of red berries. A fantastic combination of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, sweet cream, crumbled, crunchy meringue, and chocolate sauce. This is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream which all sits on top of that fabulous crispy flatbread base. We have an espresso and Americano coffee to finish off which are excellent.

Service:

coffee

We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Amélie. The service was faultless, friendly and efficient but totally natural and relaxed. This perfectly matched the atmosphere and the delicious food.

Places for lunch in Cambridge, Grafton Centre:

places to eat in Cambridge

We highly recommended Amélie for a great value lunch in Cambridge and to try the excellent flammekueche. After, perhaps relax in the VUE cinema and sink into those huge, reclining seats? The perfect afternoon!

Amélie kindly invited us to review their restaurant but as always our choice to recommend and opinions are our own.

More Cambridge restaurant recommendations here.



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