Midsummer House is an elegant, modern, British restaurant in Cambridge, UK. Daniel Clifford opened it in 1998. The restaurant holds two Michelin stars since 2004, so for 21 years at our time of visiting. It’s East-Anglia’s only two Michelin star restaurant.
Dining in high-end restaurants is not new to us. I started eating out in Michelin star restaurants at the age of 23. Before our son was born in 2016, we have been in many one, two and even a few three star restaurants in the UK and across Europe. Lately our visits became less frequent, but we have been going as and when we could.
Me and my husband celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary at Midsummer House. On the evening, we had ‘The Corpus Menu’. We were sat in the conservatory, and our round table was facing the Midsummer Common. There was a happy anniversary card waiting for us. Our first name wasn’t mentioned in the card. It was a nice gesture but not personal. Our dinner included a glass of champagne on arrival.
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The menu started with three, meticulously executed canapés. Delicate flavours were playing around on our palate paired with the champagne.
Parmesan Sablé – Apple, truffle
Duck Liver Flapjack – Bitter Chocolate, raspberry, port
Sardine – Tart Provencal, confit lemon
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The wine menu was huge. They have a very extended wine selection from across the globe. I decided to go with the ‘Classic’ wine pairing. It included three glasses of wine paired with 3 courses from the menu. My husband went for the alcohol-free pairing since he was driving. The latter was a first for us.
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Bloody Mary – Celery, Tobasco (I’m sure they meant Tabasco), Worcestershire sauce, lime
This was a very exciting version of Bloody Mary. The celery stick was a sorbet!
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We moved on to the bread course that was 20% (or 30%? our waitress wasn’t sure) freshly milled rye flour and 80% white flour. I bake a lot of sourdough, so I am very judgmental about it. This was beautifully made, whoever was in charge of making it knew what they were doing. We’ve had a few under-fermented sourdoughs in Michelin starred restaurants, so this was a relief. There was no breadbasket, just a slice offered. In other two Michelin starred restaurants we usually get two types of bread in a basket left on the table or offered from a huge basket by the servers with two types of butters. One slice of bread felt frugal compared to the rest of the menu. When they asked if we would like to have more I said yes, without hesitation. The table behind us shyly said no.
I had no intention hiding my greed in terms of bread.
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Cuttlefish – Cauliflower, hazelnut, pink ginger, lemon thyme
The pot came as an egg and was opened in front of us. The lid was filled with the jelly. It hit the wow factor. Very cleverly done. I am a big fan of cauliflower and enjoyed this dish a lot.
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Smoked Butternut Squash Sorbet – Manchego Cheese, Mangalista (I’m sure they meant Mangalitsa) pork consommé
Mangalitsa pork, also known as Mangalica, is a type of pork derived from a Hungarian breed of pig known for its woolly coat and rich, flavourful meat. This breed was originally raised for its lard, but the meat is now highly prized for its marbling, deep colour, and unique taste, often compared to Wagyu beef.
This was my husband’s favourite course. It was a celebration in our mouth.
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Visiting the restrooms in establishments like this are always fun and something that is part of the experience. The pictures on the walls made us giggle, they were original and great talking points between courses. Having disposable napkins out to dry our hands was a first at this level. Two Michelin star restaurants usually have nicely rolled white, crisp hand towels.
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St Brides Duck – Spring onion, cantaloupe melon, sansho pepper
Exceptional main course with lots of elements on the dish. I couldn’t name all of them, but some Asian influence shown through the flavours. Like the spiced jus or the steamed buns that sits separately on a side plate. This plate of food was a work of art.
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We received a Jack Daniels pre-dessert. This was introduced as a palate cleanser, but it felt way too sweet for that.
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I opted for the supplementary cheese course.
Reblochon Goats Cheese – Nettle pomme purée, onion and bacon mille-feuille
Beautifully presented dish however the only thing was missing from it was an actual piece of cheese. It was present in the form of sorbet. Nicely elevated, but I couldn’t get my head around the fact that I was sold a cheese course without a piece of cheese. The nettle sorbet was interesting, but I didn’t like the nettle cream.
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Dessert
Coconut Parfait – Coconut, Nyangbo chocolate, lime, green chilli
Lovely, refreshing dessert. The coconut mousse was wonderful. The chocolate gave the dessert crunchiness, but the natural spicy flavours of the chocolate couldn’t come out with the cold elements.
I didn’t feel like the wine pairing worked well with this dish. The wine was paired with the aromatic chocolate when the dessert was dominated by the light flavours of the coconut.
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Petit Fours
We received a basket of warm, apple shaped bottereauxs (type of French doughnut) with cold custard and apple purée. Dipping warm doughnuts into sauces, what’s not to like? We had some sauces left so we were debating to ask for two spoons. The fact that these sauces would go in the bin after they are cleared from our table decided the faith of our hesitation. Polite or not we asked for spoons and devoured the sauces.
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Our waitress sensed by my questions during dinner I would be up for a back of house tour (I didn’t tell her I am a professional chef until now). I had a chance to look around the kitchen and talk to the head chef, Liam Anderson, about fine dining and how high-end restaurants are getting along these days.
We were sent home with a goodie bag that contained two apple cakes. It went down as a treat the next morning with our coffees. Our son gave us the bad looks in the morning because we left him with a babysitter (who is lovely btw) but forgave us after he demolished one of the apple cakes.
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Date of our visit: Dinner, 9th July 2025
2 x The Corpus Menu at £170 = £340
Classic Corpus Wine Flight £58
Non alcoholic flight £39
Pure Ionic Water Still £5
Cheese Supplement £17.50
Discretionary service charge 12.5% £57.45
Total £516.95
(+£50 babysitting)
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