When You Can't Decide What to Eat...

If you're not feeling terribly picky, you want to see your options close-up, or you just want a particular regional cuisine, there are a few different parts of Cambridge that have a concentration of different restaurants. Pubs tend to be scattered throughout, but other types of restaurants are more closely grouped. If you pick any of the following parts of town, you're not likely to walk away hungry.

Lower Regent Street and the corner of Lensfield Road:
For some reason, this stretch of road is almost entirely populated with Mediterranean and Asian restaurants. Although there are a handful of non-food-related shops interspersed with the Korean, Indian, dumplings, and Chinese takeaways, you won't walk more than ten feet without stumbling on another place. The one and a half exceptions to the trend are a Persian restaurant (Shiraz), and a small Spanish tapas place at the northern end (www.titokiko.co.uk). Located in this area you will also find Yim Wah, Curry Garden, Golden House, and Seven Days. If you go past Lensfield Road, where Regent Street turns into Hills Road, you'll stumble upon Saffron Brasserie and, almost directly across the street, Sesame.

Bridge Street:
If you want a mix of European restaurants, try the stretch of street leading up to the Magdalene Bridge. Bistro-style Cote Brasserie (http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/) and Cafe Rouge (http://www.caferouge.co.uk/french-restaurant/cambridge) both draw their menu inspiration from French cuisine. If Wildwood's burger, pasta, and pizza-based menu has any particular affiliation, it's probably Italian. Venture as far as the Quayside, and you'll find Cambridge Wine Merchant's shop and wine bar, where you can not only buy a wide variety of wines by the bottle, but also pause for a bite to eat and/or a variety of wines, beers, and spirits either as samples or as full servings.

Market Square:
The options here are not geared toward a nice evening meal, but if you're looking for a quick lunch, this is the place to be. You can peruse the market stalls for cheese, bread, meat pies and pasties, and fresh fruit or order prepared food from one of the food carts located both in and around the market. Late at night, Market Square is home to the two food trucks, Van of Life and Uncle Frank's, which serve all the surprisingly satisfying, deep-fried goodness you can possibly desire, or you can venture a little ways down Rose Crescent to visit the Gardenia, which serves fish and chips, but also offers a Mediterranean-inspired menu until some odd hour of the morning. Sandwich shops include two Pret a Mangers, an EAT., and Marks & Spencer's Simply Food, all located either on the square or a short walk down Market Street and Petty Cury. The West Cornwall Pasty Co. looks out on the square from the corner of Market Street and Rose Crescent (literally looks out: there's an odd statue above the door that, if you see it out of the corner of your eye, looks like a real old man standing on a balcony). Dinner options are pretty limited, but Nonna Mexico and Yo!Sushi both have locations on Petty Cury, and Don Pasquale and Stazione offer Italian and Mediterranean food, respectively, with outdoor seating areas if you're so inclined.

Mill Road:
You probably won't want to venture this far afield, but it's worth mentioning. There are several little (untested) takeaways, including a Piri Piri chicken spot and a Korean restaurant. Located not far from one another, you'll find Tulip, which offers Turkish cuisine, and Al-Casbah, which offers Algerian food that, frankly, doesn't seem to be too different from Tulip's menu. The internet cafe CB1 is at the upper end of this stretch of restaurants, and if you happen to be there around lunchtime, they offer a variety of salads, paninis, soups, and platters that are very vegetarian friendly.

Aromi

http://www.aromi.co.uk/
Bene't Street
Fare: pizza, focaccia, paninis, Italian desserts, coffee
Price: £
Service Tips: order at the counter and specify whether you want to eat in or take away; they will bring your food to your table, so sit down once you've ordered

You can find Aromi quite easily, because it's the only place with a queue extending out the door and another shopfront down the street. That's partly because their counter area is tiny, so don't let it faze you too much. You might even be able to get a table--there's more seating downstairs, which may not be as charming as the window overlooking Bene't street, but isn't a bad place to eat and chat with friends.

There are probably lots of reasons for the length of the queue, but as I personally have not gotten past the pizza, I'm not qualified to talk about anything else. That being said, the pizza is fantastic. For £4.50, you get two hefty slices with thick crusts and really good toppings. Whether you opt for the basic margherita pizza or go for the more adventurous-looking courgette pizza, you probably won't be disappointed. And if you skip social niceties while ordering, you might get sassed by a cheeky staff member, which isn't so much obnoxious as part of the experience. If you don't want to experience the queue, you can swing by later in the afternoon when they've quieted down a bit, but don't go before noon, because they only serve coffee and pastries in the morning.