What made you decide to get into college brunch reviewing?

Back in Lent term 2023, James Poff and Patrick Brownlow decided to venture to a different college for brunch. The pair of them went to Magdalene College brunch, at which they vowed to go to every college brunch before the end of their degree. They started @cambridgecollegebrunches on Instagram to help maintain the commitment, and through this account our passion for brunch reviewing was found. Flash forward to now, and our challenge to visit every Cambridge college brunch has been completed.

What is your favourite thing about brunch?

Wow, where to start? Runny eggs, succulent sausages, beautiful beans. However what really makes brunch is the company and conversation. This can be hampered by people like Asa Fletcher-Snow delivering offside chat but, if you can ignore that, the food is just a side piece.

Now you’ve reviewed every college brunch, which one was the best?

“What really makes brunch is the company and conversation”

Queens’ hands down. A 8.07 average rating is extremely high and well deserved. In Week 20 everything was exceptional and the price was outrageously low (around £3.50 for a whole brunch as a guest). They also have something special on each week, the time we went it was popadoms and the week after it was hotdogs and onions. This is not just a Queens’ thing and is seen at other brunches including Peterhouse and Pembroke, but the quality of their ‘special’ items dropped, unlike at Queens’.

And the worst?

Apart from Clare Hall, which is the only college without a brunch, St Edmund’s is the worst, with a record low average rating of 5.3125, which in hindsight was too generous! Do you like metal cutlery? Do you like proper cups? Do you like edible brunch food? If the answer is yes to any of the following questions, stay away from St Edmund’s.

What are the main things you look for when reviewing a brunch?

“Queens’ has the best brunch hands down”

Price, Quality, Quantity, Ambience. Apart from price, these categories may seem abstract, but it’s quite simple. Quality is how nice the food is, Quantity is how much of each brunch item you get per serving and how many different items there are. Ambience is the broadest category and encompasses vibes, aesthetic, condiments, water on the table (bonus points for this) and even the brunch staff.

What would you say to someone who says “brunch is all the same”?

Look at the page and come back to us. The culinary diversity seen at brunch is unmatched.

Have you been in touch with soupycamb?

Yes, however it has only ever been drunken spats which involve soupycamb boasting about having more followers and ourselves highlighting how we don’t follow everyone in Cambridge and only follow people who appear on the page.

Do you have any brunch horror stories?

St Edmunds’ paper cups and plastic cutlery jumps to mind. How frightening.

How have you dealt with the social media attention?

It’s definitely gone to all of our heads. All we can think about is CCB and how to promote it further.

Has anyone ever recognised you from @cambridgecollegebrunches?

“We yearn for brunch in the holidays”

This phenomenon happens very often and it surprises us every time. Some of us were recently working a lot of May Balls and at each one we got recognised from the page. I suppose when you run a hugely successful brunch review Instagram page on which you publicly show your face it is bound to happen (BNOC list coming soon). On a serious note, to be fully recognised due to a Instagram page which is just a bit of fun is very strange, but it is always good to speak to new people about brunch.

Do you miss brunch in the holidays?

Just how children yearn for the mines, we yearn for brunch in the holidays. Although brunch is available at multiple establishments across the world (see our Instagram highlights), Cambridge college brunch is not.

If you could have brunch with one person (dead or alive), who would it be?

I’m sorry but we have to give three: Eric Cantona, Anthony Bourdain and Jo Bayman.

What is your advice to anyone hoping to start up a Cambridge cuisine-based Instagram?

It takes a lot more effort than you may think so make sure to allocate time for it if you want to do it. Get a big group of people involved as it forces you to keep up the reviews, and keep it fresh and interesting.

What is next for CCB now you’ve reviewed every single college brunch?

Wow, what a question. We are currently undecided but probably some revisits or transition to something new. We’ve heard soup and bars are lacking Instagram review presence.