Clown's

Y (£) **** Clowns’ (King Street) remains the most character-filled café in Cambridge. Its staff (in fact, one extended Italian family) is renowned and well-loved by many, and it’s generally full most afternoons with a lively, interesting crowd. The café’s clients are fairly evenly divided between university students and people from the town, which makes for a pleasant and less pretentious atmosphere than in some of the other establishments in the centre of the city. It serves hearty if uninspired Italian food, and, importantly, beer and wine until midnight most nights. Coming for a late dinner is an experience, when many of Cambridge’s more colourful local characters converge here to eat and gossip.

Michaelhouse Cafe

(££) **½ Michaelhouse Café (Trinity Street) offers a glimpse into the interior of what would have been one of Cambridge’s oldest colleges, Michaelhouse, being set up on two levels in the ex-college’s former chapel. Henry VIII dissolved Michaelhouse College, founded in 1324, in 1540 to create Trinity College, and the building now houses a vegetarian café and a community centre. The food really does taste healthy, albeit a bit bland, apparently because it is made with less salt than normal, and emphasises raw vegetables and pulses. The Independent just voted it one of the top 50 cafes in the UK - but we're not quite sure why.

The Bun Shop

Y(££)***½ The Bun Shop (King Street), a series of rooms each with a different ambience and menu, is a friendly, central place. Although most well-known for its middling tapas, we prefer the British-inspired food, which is consistently well-prepared and priced. The dining areas have a surprisingly old, woody country inn feel, considering the establishment is housed in a 1970s development bloc. The dining room on the left, lit by candlelight and serving well-priced wines, is the ideal spot for an intimate dinner.

The Fort St. George

(££)*** The Fort St George (Midsummer Common) was once on an island in the Cam. It derives its name from a fort built by the East India Company, which the building resembles. The pub's chief asset is its extremely picturesque location on the banks of the river, facing midsummer common. You can have your pint sitting in the garden facing the common, or on the riverbank, watching the boats go by. The hearty pub food and Sunday roast are generally above average, and in the winter months they lay on wood fires in the old wood panelled rooms.

Indigo's

Y (££) **** Indigo’s (St Edward’s passage), remains at the heart and soul of Cambridge young Bohemia. A tiny, character-filled cottage on two levels in a tiny, quaint passage between King’s Parade and the Market Square, it’s one of the best places to go to find out about plays, poetry readings, and concerts. Although the coffee itself tends to be mediocre and overly milky, they do good sandwiches and a delicious hummus platter. It’s also one of the few places in Cambridge you can find good bagels with cream cheese. In the summer, it’s nice to take chairs and coffee and sit in the nearby leafy churchyard across the passage.