A new Cambridge favourite, super stylish Espresso Library finally opened its doors in February 2015, after an awful lot of anticipation. It proved worth the wait: as well as serving up great coffees, they offer a menu bursting with local, organic and seasonal produce, all served up in their gorgeous cafe. Come the weekend, the brunch menu features deliciousness like mashed avocado on sourdough toast with spiced chickpeas, and a mean Welsh Rarebit. For something sweet, opt for their deluxe take on porridge, which comes laden with dates, banana and honey. Brunch perfection. 

The café menu changes through the week, with everything from healthy brunches and wholesome hot dishes for lunch, to indulgent cakes and puddings.  They make everything by hand in the on-show kitchen and source ingredients from trusted local suppliers, plus they have a licence to serve alcohol with food so you can even relax with a glass of wine over lunch. Never again be tempted by a chain in Cambridge city centre – head to Stickybeaks for lunch, brunch or just a big slice of cake.

Garden Kitchen offers delicious coffees and a lovely range of home-made bites. Fill your pot with a selection of granola, natural yoghurt, fresh fruit salad and berry compote, or indulge in freshly baked pastries, muffins and bacon rolls. On Saturdays, they offer all this plus additional dishes like blueberry and banana pancakes, waffles with crispy bacon and maple syrup, bacon and egg rolls and some amazingly tasty home-made Danishes. There’s only a handful of seats inside so you may not be able to dine in but this is a great option for a takeaway bite to eat. 

Upstairs at Relevant is a friendly vibrant café with coffee at its heart. Alongside perfect cups of coffee, they serve a variety of cakes, baked goods, salads and other tasty treats supplied by great local bakers, cake makers and wine merchants. Downstairs is a vinyl only record shop and lounge that attracts the local cool kids. Angie who runs the café always has a smile and seems to know the names of everybody who comes in for coffee.

A good starting point for a morning stroll past the independent shops of mill road and into town.