Cambridge – Tram Depot
I didn’t have enormously high expectations for this pub, but I liked its heritage as it’s the former depot for the horse-drawn trams. However, the welcome from the staff member was immediate and authentic, and I started to think that I could rather like it here. The pub was clean throughout as well and they were operating the track and trace effectively.
I was seated on a low down sofa, but I looked enviously at those high tables with power and ability to tap piffle on my keyboard. I was willingly allowed to move.
And here we are in my new location, overlooking the bar in what is quite a spacious place. There was table service offered throughout and the staff member was suitably engaging and welcoming. I liked this place sufficiently now to get food as well.
Quirky buildings often make for great venues, although it’s a shame that the pub makes nothing of this on their web-site. In short though, this was the depot of Cambridge Street Tramways which operated horse-drawn trams between 1880 and 1914. This was required as the railway station had been built around a mile out of the centre of town, which wasn’t exactly ideal.
The reviews of the pub are pretty high, no real issues there, although one customer complained they were barred and I liked the manager’s direct reply of:
“Hi Colette. You know full well why you and your partner are barred, due to you[r] abysmal behavior on previous occasions.”
I like direct.
And then reviews like this, to which the manager didn’t reply, which seems to forget that licensing often dictates these things, not “evil” and “disgusting” pubs.
“What kind of an evil place advertises pizza outside to then let you come in, sit down and be denied service because you have a teenager and an 11 y/o? I understand a no children behind the bar rule, but if you serve food, you should not discriminate. Never seen a pizza place for over 18s only, disgusting.”
Excuse the poor quality of my phone’s zoom, but there was a reasonable range of beers on. Actually, the selection was well measured with a variety of different beer types.
Titanic is one of my favourite breweries, so I was pleased that the pub had their stout available.
The Big Tram pizza, with toppings of pulled pork, pepperoni, Prosciutto and chorizo. The quality was very high, particularly with reference to the toppings, and chorizo on top of a pizza is one of those gifts from the Gods. Perhaps it could have been just a little tiny bit bigger, but this was better tasting than I had expected. Indeed, the pub hadn’t disappointed me on anything, a reminder not to judge a book by its covers.
The other bonus here was that the Government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ kicked in to reduce the pizza price from £11.95 to £5.97, with the beer taking it to £10.10. The next excitement was that Amex Shop Small then kicked in, so this expedition cost me a grand total of £5.10. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal.
This was one of the better pubs that I’ve been to in Cambridge and, if it was anything to do with me, I’d want to see it in the next issue of the Good Beer Guide.
