consumer mode.

Carringtons' long experience in catering for Cambridge shoppers enables it to be right on the button with the range of food on offer. From delicious cakes and scones, as good as auntie used to make, to farmhouse-style dishes bubbling away appetisingly under heat lamps, there is something for most tastes. This café-restaurant is very busy but it has a good number of tables and seems to have a quick turn around, so it should be possible to find a corner to enjoy a restorative snack or lunch.

The choice of quiches - we opted for the broccoli and leek - all come with a crispy, mature cheese topping and can be bulked up with portions of vegetables or salads, though you may prefer to keep some space for a dessert. Also on offer is a small choice of savouries which keep well on the hot plate - pasta bake, lasagne and pie, as well as jacket potatoes. If you're just stopping for a snack, there is a choice of sweet and savoury scones - also great to wrap in a napkin and whisk away for a tea break back in the office, as we did.

Carringtons has survived competition from the endless stream of bars and restaurants that have sprouted in the city since it started business in the early '80s, and with good reason. The prices are good value given the quality of the food and it is quite simply, and totally unpretentiously, what it says on the little printed coasters: a café-restaurant - there for snacks and coffee but offering more substantial lunches if you can tear yourself away from the shopping for long enough.