Cambridge · England
Gillian McKeith's guide to healthy restaurants in Cambridge.
Written by Gillian McKeith
Cambridge eats better than it lets on. Behind the college walls and the tourist queues there are kitchens here treating a carrot with the same seriousness other restaurants reserve for a fillet, and I think that is exactly right.
vanderlyle on Mill Road is the clearest example. A tasting menu built around seasonal vegetables, no meat on it, and cooking sharp enough to silence anyone who still believes plants are a sacrifice. Namaste Village on Castle Street is entirely meat free, which means pulses, spice and vegetables rather than cream. The Folio Bar and Kitchen keeps dedicated vegan and vegetarian seasonal menus instead of a single sad option. Fitzbillies on Trumpington Street, an old Cambridge name, now runs a separate vegan brunch with plant milks, and Nanna Mexico on Petty Cury will build you a bean and vegetable burrito that actually fills you up.
The standard is mine and it does not bend for a university town: purity, wholesomeness, organic where the chef can manage it, and real quantities of fresh vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. Nobody on this page has paid me anything, and no amount of money would buy a place here.
Get new guides in your inbox
I add cities and update listings every month. One email, no noise, and your address is never shared.
Get my next picks by email.
One email a month. New guides, the restaurants that passed my kitchen test, and first access to my next picks. Nobody pays to be recommended in it.
One email a month, and you can leave whenever you like.
5 restaurants in Cambridge
Open in full directoryBeen here? Write a review
If you have eaten at any of these Cambridge kitchens, click through to the restaurant page and leave a review. I read every submission before it goes live.
Eating well in Cambridge: your questions
- What is the best vegetarian restaurant in Cambridge?
- vanderlyle on Mill Road. The tasting menu is vegetable led and there is no meat on it, and the cooking is precise enough to convert sceptics. Book ahead, because it is small.
- Where can I get a healthy lunch in central Cambridge?
- Fitzbillies on Trumpington Street runs a separate vegan brunch and lunch menu with plant milks, and Nanna Mexico on Petty Cury lets you build a burrito out of beans, rice and vegetables. Both are minutes from King's Parade.
- Is there meat free Indian food in Cambridge?
- Namaste Village on Castle Street, entirely meat free with plenty of vegan dishes. Indian vegetarian cooking leans on lentils, chickpeas and spice, which is how I have told people to eat for three decades.
- Are these restaurants suitable for omnivores?
- Yes. Plant-forward, not plant-only. I have no interest in lecturing anyone. I care whether the vegetables are fresh, the sourcing is honest and the kitchen knows what it is doing.
- Does anyone pay to appear in this Cambridge guide?
- No, and they cannot. I choose every listing myself on purity, wholesomeness and how much genuine fresh produce reaches the plate. That independence is the only thing that makes the guide worth reading.
Every Cambridge restaurant in the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide
Every Cambridge kitchen in the guide, with my notes on each.
Browse all Cambridge listingsThe monthly digest
Get my new picks before anyone else.
One email a month. New guides, the restaurants that passed my kitchen test, and first access to my next picks. Nobody pays to be recommended in it.
One email a month, and you can leave whenever you like.

About the author
Written by Gillian McKeith
I'm Gillian McKeith: television presenter, creator of the global hit show You Are What You Eat, writer, nutritionist, and the editor behind this guide. Every Cambridge entry here is chosen and written by me. I judge kitchens on the things that actually matter: real ingredients, honest sourcing, vegetables cooked with care, and food you feel better for eating.
Nothing on this page is a paid placement. Restaurants cannot buy a recommendation, and any listing marked as sponsored is labelled as such. If a kitchen slips, it comes out of the guide.
Other city guides
Browse every UK city guide and filter by vegan, vegetarian or wholefood.
- Healthy restaurants in Abu Dhabi
- Healthy restaurants in Amsterdam
- Healthy restaurants in Austin
- Healthy restaurants in Belfast
- Healthy restaurants in Berlin
- Healthy restaurants in Birmingham
- Healthy restaurants in Boston
- Healthy restaurants in Brighton
- Healthy restaurants in Bristol
- Healthy restaurants in Cardiff
- Healthy restaurants in Chicago
- Healthy restaurants in Denver
- Healthy restaurants in Dubai
- Healthy restaurants in Dublin
- Healthy restaurants in Edinburgh
- Healthy restaurants in Glasgow
- Healthy restaurants in Leeds
- Healthy restaurants in Liverpool
- Healthy restaurants in London
- Healthy restaurants in Los Angeles
- Healthy restaurants in Manchester
- Healthy restaurants in Melbourne
- Healthy restaurants in Miami
- Healthy restaurants in Monte-Carlo
- Healthy restaurants in Montreal
- Healthy restaurants in New York
- Healthy restaurants in Newcastle
- Healthy restaurants in Oxford
- Healthy restaurants in Paris
- Healthy restaurants in Philadelphia
- Healthy restaurants in Portland
- Healthy restaurants in San Francisco
- Healthy restaurants in Seattle
- Healthy restaurants in Toronto
- Healthy restaurants in York


