Novi Kitchen And - Cambridge

I made a reservation for a special lunch, only to be surprised that it was a Vegan meal. Upon arriving, we were not given a menu and had to wait a long time for salad baps with veggie sausages to be prepared. While I could understand a vegetarian option, Vegan seemed a bit extreme for me. I assume the butter on the baps was dairy-free.

We made a reservation for September at Novi in Cambridge. Our first impression was not great - the decor seemed sparse and cheap, there was no atmosphere, and the staff seemed bored. The food was nicely presented when it arrived, but it was barely warm. We mentioned this to our waiter, who apologized and passed on our feedback to the chef. However, the apology seemed insincere, and we did not receive any reduction on our final bill. We were very disappointed and will not be returning to Novi in Cambridge. We would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

One major issue arose when a staff member assisted a member of our group with a broken arm in transferring their food onto the main plate. Some of the food ended up on the floor, and despite requesting a replacement portion, it never arrived. There was also no apology, and the item still appeared on the bill. The staff seemed more interested in chatting amongst themselves rather than taking care of the customers. Overall, this was a disappointing experience and we will not be returning to this restaurant.

The bar/restaurant itself (we never ventured upstairs to lounge bar so cannot comment) has been nicely done up- light airy and open love the entirely open front of the restaurant- feels like you're in a Spanish tapas bar! Also loved the polished brass menus/bar) Cocktails although not cheap were delish, the food was the real head turner though! All served as small plates except for handful of dishes that were a bit more substantial. Small in size but big in taste- real delicious mix of flavours that didn't disappoint- all tasted fresh and not too heavy so didn't feel that I'd over indulged like I usually do after a meal out and then not have enough room to enjoy a dessert- highly recommend the Thai fish cakes, the fillet steak and the polenta with kurly kale! For dessert we had passion fruit sorbet and the chocolate dessert with granita which was heaven in the mouth! The service was exceptional, Matt the owner stopped to have a chat and to make sure everything was ok for us and our waitress was just the perfect amount of friendly, polite and attentive. We will definitely be coming back! Few more cocktails in the lounge bar next time! The only real negative was the lack of ambience as my partner and I came on a Tuesday night and we were one of sets of diners. Some background music would have been nice and made it feel a little livelier, having said that we had a relaxed and romantic evening so thank you!

We went to NOVI for a late Sunday lunch . Ambience quite nice and friendly staff. The menu it`s pretty basic with a limite choice. We probably were unlucky , however what we ordered was not available and we had to settle with a second choice. Observed some lack of attention to customers as we had to ask twice for cutlery and napkins. This place it`s nice to go for a drink but would not recommend for lunch except if you keep your expectations low.