#52 | The Cambridge Public House, Paris, France
Last Visit: Fall 2024
I still remember the moment of confusion last year when I not only read that one of the biggest legends of the European bar scene — Little Red Door — had internal struggles and lost its two creative bar heads. It was also subsequently taken over by a bar that I had only heard about for the first time a few weeks earlier. That was when the latter had suddenly appeared in the World's 50 out of what felt like nowhere 1–2 months earlier. How did that happen? A bar that was completely unknown to me took over one of the giants?
As you can probably guess, the second of the bunch was The Cambridge Public House and, to the relief of every bar nerd, they decided to keep the Little Red Door independent in its old location. While we may talk more about their takeover in the related LDR article, today we look at what they themselves actually have to offer for the ever-growing Parisian bar community.
Copyright: Cambridge Public House
Foremost, it is a very clear “unique selling point”, namely the CPH's concept as a “cocktail pub”, as co-founder Hugo Gallou lived in London for several years and wanted to open a bar in Paris inspired by British pubs, with all the trimmings.
This can be seen both on the outside and in the menu. The old-school blue façade with the large “The Cambridge” embellished on it, while the warm, wooden elements of the interior can already be seen through the large windows. We were there on a Sunday, and it was still packed, but we managed to get a seat after 10–15 minutes. At the same time, you immediately noticed that compared to a few other bars, it felt like >90% of the people here were tourists and/or expats, although this may be due to the choice of day.
As a result, the authentic flair is lost a little and, together with the contrast between the very strikingly British pub interior and the French capital outside, you feel like you're in a fancy theme park. At the same time, of course, the Cambridge can't be blamed here and to say this as a (professional) tourist ourselves is also somewhat schizophrenic. In any case, the final outcome of the interior is that you feel very cuddled up and in good hands, you don't have that cold feeling that some very modern or even futuristic bars sometimes give you.
Copyright: Cambridge Public House
The USP is particularly evident from the extensive menu, in that the bar is a true all-rounder. Craft beer, a few nice wines, exciting homemade sodas, appetizers, a surprisingly extensive cocktail selection for such a “combo” concept and, of course, important for a pub: British staples such as meat pie and sausage roll. We had both of the latter, by the way, and you definitely won't find them better in this more classic preparation, especially outside the United Kingdom, of course.
The service was always pleasant and friendly, but at the same time obviously quite stressed by the amount of guests, even on a Sunday. Nevertheless, questions were always answered in a concise and skillful, although short manner with so many guests in the house. Of course, you should be prepared for the fact that there won't be a close or intimate atmosphere here like in more classic, small bars. Especially since the place has made it onto the World's 50 list, with all the implications due to that fame.
The cocktails are divided into Signature Drinks, Non-Alcoholic, and “Tiny Bevs”, meaning small, more aperitif-style drinks. Due to the high seasonality and rotation of the drinks, there is also an indication of which 1-2 will soon no longer be available on the menu — a cool feature.
Cool Cat
| Sesame
| Flor de Cana 12yo
| Dolin Rouge
| Oloroso Sherry
| Noix St. Jean
The Cool Cat comes from that “Tiny Bevs” category and of course reads like a drink exactly to my taste, which it was. Overall, it was quite classically constructed, only with the fine sesame note added. It was my favorite drink at CPH. A fat wash of the already quite dry rum with sesame oil naturally goes well with the wine apéritif also made with walnuts (Noix St. Jean, highly recommended if you don't know it). Smooth and yet full-bodied, unsurprisingly on the nutty-dry side, some grasses, and woods from Flor de Cana and Oloroso, as well as some wine-like notes.
/rds
Luxury Motivation
| Yellow Bell Pepper
| Nori
| Ocho Tequila
| Empirical Ayuuk
Don't expect an ultimate margarita that presents all the notes of agave powerfully. But it's an easy, slightly salty and vegetable-based drink to accompany your meal, which uses the progressive Empirical Spirits bottlings and breaks with the “pub clichés” a little.
/jf
We also had 1-2 other drinks and, like the ones mentioned above, they were characterized by solid to high quality, but also a certain smoothness, as is often the case in bar concepts with an equivalent food offering. Then there are the exciting homemade sodas. These can also be ordered as an “enhanced” version with alcohol. John had the clove & grapefruit kombucha with sweet potato shochu and I had the fig/ojicha/licorice soda. The latter was a really memorable one, not only at the Cambridge, but in general as far as non-alcoholic drinks I had last year are concerned. Of course, it lacks a little of the power of alcohol, but the flavors spread out wonderfully and all came through individually. Dry fig, tea notes and subtle hints of aniseed made this a real aromatic highlight. The kombucha long drink was also cool, but more on the sweet side, which was certainly also due to the tonka in the drink (not mentioned on the menu).
We try to rate The Cambridge Public House apart from its World's 50 ranking, it sometimes feels pointless to see everything, every time in this comparative context. Although we didn't have the big “wow moment”, our visit was satisfactory, good food, equally good, albeit well-rounded drinks, as well as a great offer beyond that (homemade sodas, craft beer, a nice little wine selection etc.). The bar is also a very active, positive player in the community, making it the first bar internationally with “B Corp Certification”. This is a globally recognized certificate that assesses a company's social and environmental impact, as well as its external and internal transparency towards staff and so on.
With the “Cocktail Pub”, Paris has thus definitely experienced a further enrichment of its bar scene, not only due to its merits, both in the “rescue” of an independent Little Red Door, but also in its influence in the industry outside of it. The unique combination of sophisticated drinking culture with well-made British food in a cool location also makes it easy to recommend a visit while touring Paris.
/rds
Excerpts from the menu (click for original size):
