I have walked by the Rainbow Cafe many times, dismissing it as an establishment purely for cow-lovers or veg-aholics. But when I braved an evening out with my vegetarian friend, I was pleasantly surprised.

Once I recovered from the general atmosphere of peace, love and broccoli, I came to realise that rather than being rife with militant vegetarians, the ambience is fun and cosy, and both staff and clientele are friendly and always up for a chat. The prices may seem expensive for a student budget, but the portions are huge and for a carnivore like myself, make up for the lack of meat. Cheese seems to be the main protein staple here, so if you have to be a vegetarian you may as well do it with a hell of a lot of halloumi!

The food is phenomenal to say the least, and there is a wide international range meaning there’s bound to be something to tickle everyone’s fancy. Most likely though, like me, you’ll end up choosing the dish with the snazziest name. I was lured in by the scrummy Shepherdess Pie, with my dinnermate favouring the Jamaican Roti cups. It’s one of those places where although your own plate is divine, you end up saying you want to “have what she’s having” as everything just looks so good. They also do daily specials which are worth a try.

Where the Rainbow Cafe really comes up trumps though, is in desserts. I like cake, and as a self-appointed ‘pie boss’ they did one of the best apple pies I have ever tasted; drenched in custard, pungent with cinnamon, crammed with raisins and covered by a hunky pastry. Heaven on a plate, or as near as you can get in Cambridge. Apparently the cheesecake is fabulous too but there was so much choice I expect to go back again and again. The cafe is open all day, so even if you don’t go out in the evening you can go for afternoon tea – perfect for a student inundated with lectures. Most of the desserts are vegan; this didn’t mean anything to me, but this is a spectacular feat to achieve in making it taste better than cardboard.

The staff are lovely and can recite ingredients like mantras; I was introduced to veganism, and they weren’t stroppy at all that I tend to prefer my sausages from pigs instead of bacteria - I was worried they would try to ‘convert’ me but quickly realised there was nothing to dread. I would really recommend this restaurant to staunch meat eaters such as myself. It will make you realise that food can be equally and, in fact, more tasty in the absence of meat, and that vegetables aren’t the spawn of Satan.

The Rainbow Cafe does still leave something to be desired. The setting is too small and winding for my liking, and when descending down the too-narrow stairs there is very much the feeling of squeezing into a rabbit hole or creeping into an underground secret drinking society. We ended up queuing up the stairs, and it was too cramped when we were seated at a tiny table in the corner. The somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere takes intimacy to a whole new level. The decor is questionable, with lots of funky Buddhas and well, rainbows, but all in all nothing can detract from the quality of the food.

At the end of the day; you have to go here. Nothing more to say!