What we thought

Sushi? At a Chinese restaurant? Yes, J Restaurant on Regent Street is a Chinese restaurant that serves sushi. A family run business that opened in May 2007, J Restaurant unusually for a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge has gone fusion, hence the presence of Japanese dishes on the menu, including sushi and udon noodles.

Undoubtedly the food is the star here, at a price one would expect to pay for it but

J Restaurant unusually for a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge has gone fusion

with lots of pleasant surprises. Providing a menu so extensive and chock full of tasty titbits it proved quite a challenge to pin down exactly what we wanted to sample - such was the range. J Restaurant specialises in doing Sushi, Dim Sum, Noodles and Rice dishes that make the place ideal for quick snacks up to full blown banquets. The Chinese chef (distinct from J's Sushi chef) hails from Nanjing in China and has brought a few of the region's specialties with him such as Nanjing Roast Duck, a dish allegedly from his home town, and the evocative Sweet Balloon Dessert.

The sushi platter we tried was by the numbers but the Chinese choices were great, particularly the Dim Sum. Not people expecting to extol the virtues of the humble turnip, Fried Turnip Cakes proved enticingly starchy with a firm spongy texture and a taste that was swiftly gone but not forgotten. Round two comprised Pork Dumplings in a Won Ton wrapping, a fresh touch to a Chinese Restaurant standard. For mains, Char-Sui Chow Mein and Cantonese Style Roast Duck followed without complaint, being extremely filling and full of flavour.

For dessert the Sweet Balloon Dessert captured our imagination from the name alone, and happily the experience matched the inspired title. According to the affable chef who came to say hello towards the end of our meal, this dessert, a seed covered doughy pastry ball with a warm red bean filling tasting similar to prunes, is unique in Cambridge and can't be found anywhere else. Sure enough it tasted like a whimsical play on mini-donuts and is well worth trying out. Rounded off with some Chinese tea the meal rather forlornly came to an end.

Recently refurbished J Restaurant is aiming to look every inch the sophisticated dining establishment with plush crimson cushioned chairs, dark wooden tables and lots of paper lanterns scattered about the place. It's a work in progress but add the droll Jazz soundtrack that played throughout our visit and the convivial atmosphere became deeply inviting.

Keen to promote a healthy agenda, all the food at J Restaurant is MSG (monosodium glutamate) free and prepared from fresh ingredients. Given its position on Regent Street, if you work nearby it would be criminal to miss out on this place as it's one of the better Chinese Restaurants in town and perhaps the one with the best dessert!

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