Cock Pub & Restaurant, The

A highly acclaimed restaurant and traditional pub in the delightful village of Hemingford Grey, offering English and European cooking, it has been transformed from the former village pub into a place where the regular village lads are as much at home as those who come from further afield to enjoy the full range of facilities. Conveniently The Cock is open seven days a week.

The Cock is regularly listed in The Good Food Guide and The Good Beer Guide. In 2003 it was voted Real Ale Pub of the District, and achieved further recognition when it has been made Cambridgeshire Dining Pub of the Year every year from 2005 to 2007 by The Good Pub Guide.

On dull winter days the décor is bright enough, perhaps helped by wood burning fires, to encourage thoughts of summer days not far away, when the spacious garden also comes into its own. Sunday lunches are a speciality, with the meat sourced from local suppliers.

An a la carte menu makes a strong play for the fish eaters of this world with a daily board offering the best the market has to offer for starters and main courses. Buffalo mozzarella, melon, chilli, mint and poppy seeds, and duck parcels with sweet and sour cucumber are regular attendees amongst other starters, along with warm beef salad, bacon, pine nuts and rocket.

The Cock is renowned for its selection of homemade sausages, notably the beef and porter variety, redolent of a lost age when quality had not been superseded by mass production. Roast chump of lamb with salsa verde, herb spaetzle, wild mushrooms, cauliflower and truffle puree offers excellent value.

Puddings kick off with a Pimms and raspberry crème brûlée, there's the Cock's take on sticky toffee pudding and strawberry and orange tartlet, crème fraîche and caramel sauce. British and Irish cheeses make a welcome appearance to round off a meal that carries the hallmark of quiet excellence.

An extremely informative Website, as you would naturally expect from such a well run place, will tell you much more about what you are going to experience.