The Old Fire House Restaurant & Gallery Beside Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire

 This place used to be in the Michelin guide, but have no fear. The prices are okay and the food is unpretentious but delightful and plentiful.

The Upstairs Gallery

One toilet is on the ground floor. Upstairs is a second toilet in a bathroom, a lounge where you can divert for tea, and a room with art  on display. The art is rather pricey, but so are the old masters and these are new masters and you can buy them.

We had a huge salad lunch and a fish pie with huge chunks of solid fish which I thought was chicken. We also had lots of bread. They wrapped up our leftovers which made another meal next day.

We were able to have lunch there, leave our car in their car park and go back for tea. You could also park outside if you can find a space. Elsewhere we found a one hour parking space, though a trip around the inside of the cathedral takes longer, especially if you go to see the exhibition which I shall describe in my next post.

The cheery old lady who served us had been there four decades. Because of Covid they no longer have the cakes on display. I don't know why they don't show photos. The Japanese have had menus with a photo of every dish in just about every restaurant for years.

I wondered whether the chocolate cake would be too sugary as well as a diet spoiler. So I opted for the carrot cake. It was delicious. The flavour was great. The texture was great. It was satisfyingly solid. It contained nuts and candied peel for an interesting taste and texture and added walnuts for more flavour and crispy crunch.

What is there to do in the area? The Tourist board has a map and calendar and loads of leaflets and the lady on the desk told us a whole history of Cromwell. You can visit the Cromwell museum, the Ely cathedral. We saw a stained glass exhibition. At certain times you can book a tower tour. They also run events for schoolchildren.

Old Fire House Restaurant, upstairs lounge for tea or coffee. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Parking

You can park outside if you can find a space. The restaurant has a free car park at the back. 

Useful Websites

The Old Fire House Restaurant

Cambridgeshire

http://www.theoldfireenginehouse.co.uk/