Cambridge secrets?

A question about : Cambridge secrets?

Hi, I moved to Cambridge as a student in October, and while I know my way round OK, I haven't discovered many of the cheap shops etc you get to know if you are local to an area.

Stuff I know about is the discount warehouse (now sadly closed ), the similar shop by Argos, the market (obviously!) and some of the ethnic grocers on Mill Road.

Does anyone have any good cheap food shops/houseware shops/cafes/similar to share?

Best answers:

• Cambridge does'nt do cheap,it must be one of the most expensive towns in UK,even the market charges rip off prices compared to markets in other towns especially if you go up North.Every cheap area is developed and gentrified by the council and the cheaper shops forced out.
  The city centre has one v small Sainsburys that is full of students having social chats in the middle of the isles.The rest of the town is being taken over by ye olde gift shoppes and restaurants to cater for the visitors.Cambridge residents get a poor deal out of the city.Newmarket Rd area now has a Tesco and an Asda and there is an Aldi along Histon Rd near the Esso garage.I still like life in Cambridge though
• Have you been to the local secrets website? Local Secrets It has various offers on and reviews of cafes and restaurants.
  My favourite cheap cafe for lunch is Tatties - all they serve are baked potatoes (with a wide range of toppings) and baguettes. It's just near the SPCK bookshop, close to Lakeland Ltd.
  In the summer, we sometimes buy a baguette (they have a couple of stools in the shop) from "Bridge Cafe" - or something very similar - next to the Greek Orthodox church. Can't remember the street name, but it's close to Fat Face and Park Street car park (Round Church). We take the baguette and sit on the banks of the Cam opposite Trinity College Library, watching the punters go by. It's great entertainment and you get to hear all about the university from the guided punts (did you know that A A Milne was a student at Trinity and there's a first ed Winnie the Pooh in the Trinity Library? And did you know that Prince Charles' bodyguard got a higher degree than PC?)
  I hope you understand that garbled message!
  By the way, have you found the Jesterlarf comedy club that is held on the first Friday of every month at the University Centre? Jesterlarf
• take the train into peterborough loads and loads of cheap shops here
• Kailash on Mill Road - over the bridge, going out of town does cheap everything - bit like Poundland!!
  CRC used to have a restaurant on the Newmarket Rd site where you could book and be catered for by the catering students, nice 'posh' food at a good price, not sure if they still do.
  The Local Secrets website that Vicky posted is good - reviews and money off vouchers for lots of eating places.
  The new Cineworld on the Cattle Market site has "Bargain Tuesdays", all seats Ј3.80.
  I love living in Cambridge but it ain't cheap and public transport is a farce. Very interested in hearing other local's tips!!
• Hi Crana,
  Yes, I'm a student teacher (PGCE), but in Bedford. I travel there from just south of Ely every day - the commute is shorter to Bedford than it would be to Cambridge, time wise, NO JOKE!
  Cambridge is my local big town, and I use it alot for entertaining/shopping. My friends always want to visit Cambridge when they visit me and have a walk around the colleges etc.
  Have you been to stuff at the ADC? It's where they hold the Footlights and many "famous" people have started off their careers - Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson blah, blah, blah.
  Cambridge is lovely, but it's just so expensive (as you've found out). No chance of buying a house round here at the moment...................... Plus I'm a student again so definitely no chance
  Vicky
• Excellent range of reduced price books at Gallway and Porter.
• I know they have bus stops.. but the thing is by the time I've paid a return bus fare, I'd have to buy quite a bit of stuff to make it worthwhile over sainsburys & the market, as I don't buy much stuff every week - I've got a reasonable stock of storecupboard stuff so I mainly only need to get perishables, and there's a limit to how much of that one person can eat before it goes off... I don't have a freezer to stash things in either
  I think it's probably just easier for me to "shop smart" at Sainsburys / market from a time point of view as well.
  I don't think I get a discount on buses although I can travel free on Citi 4.
  Actually, that reminds me, do you all know about the free shuttle bus? It doesn't seem to go anywhere particularly amazing - it goes up to the Grafton centre but the other side to Asda. (Fair St) but is free, lol, and goes every 15 minutes from oiutside Corpus Christi on Trumpington St, Drummer St, Kings parade by the market i think, on a circular route, can't remember where else it stops!
• Take your life in your hands and get a bike,you can be in and out of town before the car park queues have moved a few metres.Get a cheap bike from the boot sale at Cowley rd on Sunday mornings(Also good for learning Russian)
  Always lock yr bike even for a minute.
  Read books and mags in comfortable arm chairs in Borders book shop.
  Lots of good charity shops in Burleigh St,I think the council is trying to close them as they attract the wrong sort of people(the less well off)
  There is also a v good butchers down there,not cheap but v good meat.Strange town Cambridge,there is always people around any time of day and night,all the roads around the city can be empty and the centre will be one giant traffic jam as usual.I moved here around 30 yrs ago and it's still good fun.
• Have you considered going to Newmarket Races for a day out? Cheapest tickets there are Ј6 each. Not bad, I thought. Over the summer they have "Newmarket Nights" where they have racing, followed by a band (all for your Ј6). In the past I've seen 10cc, Human League (who were AMAZING!), the Bootleg Beatles and "Voulez Vous" - an Abba tribute. Okay, so I'm not tempting you at the moment? This year, they've already got signed up Jools Holland, Ronan Keating and Status Quo.
  You watch the racing - Frankie Detorri has been racing when I've been there - then they take the barriers down in between the cheap seats/grassy knoll and the expensive members' area so that you can get as close to the stage as you wish. It's a great, cheap night out. Maybe you could arrange a minibus of friends from Cambridge, or get the train?
  Have a look on Newmarket Nights website. Don't worry about the threat of Girls Aloud and Darius, they were on last year (didn't go to see THEM!). Click on the "events" tab and it'll give you all the details for this year so far.
• I got a couple of tickets to see Blue (not my choice I hasten to add!!) at Newmarket Nights for a present for a friend last year - turned out she'd already got some for herself. Good value though.
  Sometimes worth listening to Q103, they do on the spot ring-in competitions. Last year I won tickets to a play at the Arts, it was a good production and a friend and I had great seats, so a top night out at my favourite price (ie free!). It was the first time I'd ever rung in - only happened to hear it on the radio in the car and thought I'd give it a go once I'd got to Sainsbury's carpark. Never thought I'd get the tickets as it was probably a good couple of minutes after it was announced.
• Wish I'd found this thread before I got my bargain tenner a night at the Cambridge Travelodge a month ago! I could have done with a few tips. I have to say I thought that the Cambridge TL was very good and even better for the price I paid. Unless they have the same deal on again when I have some free holiday I doubt I'd be able to afford to stay again.
  I discovered that next to Domino's Pizza on the road between the town centre and the TL (I think is called Hills Road??) is a dark blue minimart kind of place which sells reduced-price baguettes and sandwiches at the end of the day which are at a very good price (much much better than in Sainsburys - where actually I couldn't find any end of day specials).
  And speaking of Sainsburys, while I was in there at the end of one day I searched the discount shelf (next to the wine aisle) for a bargain and found a can of vanilla coke and took it, along with a few other bits and bobs I was going to buy, up to the check-out. The (nice) check-out girl couldn't find a price sticker on it so she asked a lurking supervisor type who then had to ask an officious-looking young woman - presumably a supervisor of supervisors. This woman looked at me like I was about to steal from her and told me that they could only be sold as part of a multipack and couldn't have been on discount beause they didn't have a price sticker on them.
  Yes, at this Sainsburys belittling your customers and making no sale is indeed worth the price of a discounted can of vanilla coke!
• Pukeko, I live probably only about 10 minutes from the shop with the baguettes - never knew about it, lol! Will have to check it out, thanks!!!
  Stupid woman at Sainsburys was either lying through her teeth or unaware of her selling policies, they regularly have masses of split multipack cokes on that shelf - and I can tell you they're always 30p! The supervisors in there can be a bit up 'emselves!! Mostly we're fairly friendly over here in the Bridge of Cam, though
  Didn't realise the town centre TL was included in the tenner deal - good spot, it's brand new so shouldn't have been too shabby!!