Royal Standard, Romsey Town, Cambridge

Well down Mill Road into Romsey this ale house is rightly in the 2024 GBG.The front door gives way to a central bar with short wings to either side.The parquet flooring throughout is note worthy,and the furniture is reasonably trad while leaving room for vertical drinking.There is a door to the side beer garden. Unlike a lot of locals in Cambridge this pub opens at noon and also supplies bar snacks and meals.It's a friendly place and the barman offered tasters and advice on the ale.There is also a long gantry of craft keg beers besides the three handpumps which were drawing Nene Valley Simple Pleasures,Buntingford Hurricane and a very good Broadtown Daisy Belle (NBSS 4.5). I was on a crawl visit and next time I would stay longer,worth pushing along Mill Road to visit this pub if seeking good ale in this fine drinking city.

The Royal Standard was another new Cambridge pub for me, having had my attention drawn to it by its entry into the latest Good Beer Guide. With a single room, spread either side of a central bar, it appears to be popular with a young crowd. Most appeared to be students. Service was quick and there were 3 real ales to choose from - Abbeydale Moonshine, Kelchner Ampthill Gold & Nene Valley Release The Chimps. I was trying to decide between the latter two, when I spotted a board on the wall listing 8 ciders and perries - Simon's Vice Versa, Short Stirling & Pear, Thatcher's Cheddar Valley, Broadoak Kingston Black, Crone's User Friendly & Rum Cask & Newton Court First Press. I opted for the one I hadn't had before, which happened to be the strongest one at 8% (Pear). It was very enjoyable. QR codes on the tables can be scanned to order Greek food from the in-house restaurant Tzatziki. Any visit to Cambridge presents the drinker with a multitude of excellent pubs to visit. I'll certainly be adding this one to my list for any future trips here, as it was my favourite pub of the day in Cambridgeshire.

An excellent little town pub with a lot to offer, previously Kitty Dunphrey’s but now recovered. It consists of a single U-shaped bar with Victorian-style tiling on the front of the counter, parquet flooring and simple décor enhanced by a large collection of pump clips behind the counter. Outside, there is a small paved patio to the side. The young staff were really helpful, happy to come over and chat, and it all felt very comfortable. Dogs were allowed in too. Beer really was good – ales on draft were Calverley IPA, Animal Hop Kitty, Nene Valley DXB, Colchester Stout Monkey and Adnam’s Ghost Ship. Food was a fair bit over-priced, but this is more of a drinkers’ pub anyway. There were 8 Belgian beers and a cider on, and 10 craft beers – really something for everyone. I’m very happy to come back here and include on a crawl.

Back open as a pub, I didn't get in as I passed by in the afternoon, it opens later midweek. Looks the part though so worth a try.