Liutaio Music Cafe in Cambridge

We booked this place for dinner and there were just the four of us the whole evening. The place is also a shop and it was tight with items for sale displayed everywhere. The food was tasty but very expensive. The menu offered was very weird, there were sets for two and one couldn't just choose what they wanted. Our friends weren't crazy hungry and were forced to overorder

I rarely write reviews but I felt compelled to highly rate this neighbourhood gem. We had a delicious meal for two and left highly satisfied. Service was excellent, they asked every diner their dietary needs upon seating at tables, and the restaurant was so interesting inside. A feast for the senses! Will be back!

Excellent dim sum. Service was excellent, the ladies were very attentive and asked about any intolerances.

The location was right in front of the traffic light, I ordered rice and seafood soup while my friend ordered rice and vegetarian sweet and sour soup, I had the Senbonzakura cocktail, so nice and refreshing. We visited on a Saturday but there wasn’t any music as the name implies, lol, you can confirm when they perform beforehand. Atmosphere was great, we could relax, talk and we felt free, service was nice but decoration was mid. I recommend for second time dates or business casual.

Have a dim sum set menu and a cocktail or two, you won't regret it. I love this place, a real Mill Road experience.

My dinner at Liutaio Music Cafe ranks as one of my most enjoyable meals ever in the UK. The concept of a music restaurant, cafe and shop focused on traditional Asian foods and classic instruments & gifts is quite unique. The set menus are thoughtfully crafted to offer a wide variety of flavors and textures meeting every dietary restriction. Even the chrysanthemum tea is an elevated variety that balances beautifully with every bite. The dishes range from familiar har gow prawn dumplings and vegetable spring rolls to less familiar (but equally enjoyable) lotus root salads and sticky rice dumplings. I highly recommend visiting on a week night that is less crowded to immerse in the full experience.

Best vegan dim sum I have ever had! Always come here for a treat. Beautiful restaurant too & often has live music. 100% my restaurant recommendation for Cambridge.

Below average food. Not worth the price. Food lacked flavour and the quantity was minimal compared to some other Chinese restaurants in town.

amazing food and wonderful people!!

Excellent food, very tasty and delicious. Not giving 5 stars only because of the extra 10% you have to pay when they play "some" music (which we don't like, but that might be my taste cannot blame the musician). Great value on menu sets.

Food was delicious! My favourite food item was the shiitake drops. They also have some interesting tea options -- try the licorice root or black chrysanthemum tea. The lady serving us was patient and kind. I hope to come here again

My partner and I enjoyed a vegetarian set menu here (the Staccato). The food was fresh, hot, and very tasty from start to finish. The restaurant is decorated with musical instruments, many from Asia, as well as decorative storage boxes. This all makes for a quirky, yet special, ambiance. It is also cozy. Bring cash, as this restaurant does not take credit cards.

Love the atmosphere! Beautiful instruments, live music and kind intelligent people surrounding you :) highly recommended. Especially - if you need something for your violin!

Amazing dim sum, so tasty. This place is a hidden gem on mill road. And the service was fantastic and friendly

Lovely Cantonese restaurant in a cosy music shop setting. Traditional loose leaf tea, Xiao Long Bao (steamed soup dumplings) and other dishes where all amazing!

Bad Attitude by the Waitress. Came for a small byte and was asked to place minimum order of 40 pounds for 4 people. Not worth it . Left the place immediately because of rude behaviour.

Excellent food. Great dim sum sets. Lovely live music and ambiance.

They refused me service due to my dietary requirements.

this place is a gem in cambridge. the drinks were lovely, very unique flavours and well made cocktails. for the food, we tried the crispy squid, octopus dough balls, duck gyoza, and char siu buns, they were all absolutely delicious and everything tasted very fresh. wish there was live music when we went, but would definitely go back another time for the music!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this beautiful cafe! I have never had so many vegan dim sum options that were all executed exquisitely and to high quality. I don't live in Cambridge but I will return solely to eat here again. Amazing food and service. Love the instruments and the music.

Food was really delicious, the live music created a lovely atmosphere and the service was great - they even split the bill for us with a drawing based on where we were sat! Will be back!

One of my favourite places along Mill Road. And there's a lot of competition. Wonderful dim sum set menus. So good in fact I've failed to investigate the rest of the menu.

Great food, deep fried box tastes delicious!

Visited here with my daughter for an early dinner. The staff were great. They helped us with any dishes we weren't sure about and the food was delicious! Definitely need to book if visiting after 5.30pm.

Three of us went there and ate mostly but not all vegan. Mostly dim sum and some dishes ordered through one of their many set meal options. The food was delicious, every single dish, excellent service with good advice on ordering. Plentiful food, complete with desserts to choose. Extremely friendly management. We will be regulars now that we have discovered this gem. We used to live in the West Coast of the US with excellent Chinese restaurants and are just delighted to find one here.

It was very quiet as it was a Monday, we were the only ones there! The menu was good except the specific set meals were all for 2, which meant I had to just order everything from it for myself, but that turned out to be too much food. Very nice food though, even if some of it was too spicy. Also the music was good.

Fantastic restaurant serving delicious, fresh meals, with plenty of veggie options, and great cocktails.

We had the Silk Road set menu and it was very good indeed. The staff were lovely and very helpful. I have been here a few times and will return again

Dim sum was the worse I have ever had. Wine, only one choice of white, rose or red all extortionately priced, .....almost £10 per 175ml per glass, and not as described. Atmosphere... non-existent. Cash only....and only told this when the bill arrived. Told there was a cash-point across the road!! Service charge supposedly discretionary but included on the bill.

Food is good but beware that they don't let you order the dumplings as you want. Basically they want you to have their set menu. Also they don't tell you before that they take cash only. I won't be coming back.

Enjoyed a vegetable set menu, it can be difficult to find vegetarian Chinese food let alone dim sum so pleased to have this in Cambridge. £59 for two, more than enough food for this price.

The food was fantastic and service exceptional. We had two starters and four mains (i.e. gyoza, dumplings, roast duck, pork belly, black bean chicken, Japanese curry tofu), a bottle of delicious wine, and wonderful dessert (i.e. apple gyoza, custard pastry, and wife cake). Great place to impress your family, friends, and dates. They also have a varied vegan menu and lovely cocktails. Will definitely be coming back again.

Absolutely delicious and the staff are brilliant. Highly recommend.

If you want good food and good service then come here, dim sum to die for, takoyaki to did for and a lovely smile on the face of the waitress. Oh and they have a great selection of antiques and stuff to buy

Excellent Takoyaki. 15-20mims for steamed buns and dumplings, great portions and flavours. Cash only, ATM at the co-op across the road.

Vegan food. Incredibly tasty. Slightly more expensive than average.

Wow what an amazing quaint gem. Friendly staff in an eclectic atmosphere. Food is made fresh so be prepared to wait 20mins but the food is served hot, plentiful and absolutely delicious!.... truly unique restaurant.

A wonderful experience, they played live music as we walked in, and we had the seasonal dumpling shared platter - every single one was delicious! I also enjoyed looking through the items they had on sale at the back of the restaurant. Fast and friendly service.

Nice place but don't accept cards

Very good DimSum in an interestingly decorated antique shop with beautiful music!

They don't take reservations via the phone or online. You will have to go in person in advance to book. You can only order their set menu if you go with a large group. They only accept cash. The food was okay but quite pricey. The restaurant is decorated with musical instruments but you will have to book in advance to go to the music shop. No live music when we went.

I loved the way the restaurant is decorated with the East Asian items mixed in with musical instruments. It made for a very inviting and relaxed feel. The food was equally delicious; we ordered an assortment of dim sum and main dishes. Overall, service was prompt and everything was well executed. My only nitpick is that the place is cash only. There’s a cash point across the road if you don’t have enough on hand. Not enough of a downside to cause me to take a star away though!

This is easily one of the best restaurants in Cambridge, a real hidden gem serving super authentic dim sum for very reasonable prices. Portion sizes are great too. There's huge selection, great for veggies/vegans too, but there's also set menu options if you're overwhelmed by the vast array of different dumplings - all of which I've tried so far on 3 separate visits have been delicious. Very friendly service and a real unique atmosphere that isn't trying to be anything other than what it is - traditional, good value, authentic food. I've lived in Cambridge almost 30 years and I tend to only write reviews when a place is really, really good. This is one of those times.

Brilliant! We booked a dinner for ten with live-music and the dishes kept coming and coming ... everybody loved it! My favourite restaurant in Cambridge - unique, great food, music, and wonderful hosts who make you feel at home.

Went there this Sunday, not really a good place. Somehow they wanted us to order a set meal in order to get some unique dim sum dishes... We didn't order the set meal as it has a lot of deep fried stuff which is never authentic Chinese cuisine.... Food wise, the quality is so so, but the portion is bad... spent around fifty for two persons but didn't really eat much :(

This place had great vegan food. The staff were very friendly and the atmosphere was nice and peaceful. The only downfall was that I though there would be live music. After asking the waitress she stated they only do that every once in awhile. Other than that this place was fantastic.

I really enjoyed my time here. The vegan menu was really good. My partner and I had the sweet and sour seitan and we both really liked it. The set up was nice and it was a very calming atmosphere. I would have given it 5 stars if there was live music. My partner and I picked this place for date night expecting music but apparently they only play sometimes, so that was disappointing. Just a heads up make sure you have cash because they don't take cards.

Amazing restaurant, food and service.

2 set dinner 2 extra main meals 4 Chinese tea costs £170, Chinese tea costs over £3.00 per person, a total rip off, no live music, still have to pay for Service charge WHAT Service are they providing?? , food below average, prawn crackers tasted stale, the Dim Sum nothing special, frozen shop bought re-heat. Cash payment only. Highly recommend NOT to go there. I would give no star if I could. This owner takes us all for a fool, don't go there

Awesome place. Delicious, authentic, freshly-made Chinese food in a cool music shop.

Lots of vegan options and all tasted lovely! The person that took our order was really friendly and the restaurant itself was like being in an antiques shop! Would definitely recommend 🌱

Very good food. Tried the set menù 13 dishes to get of everything that is on the menu. It was delicious

Absolutely AMAZING food. So many vegan and vegetarian options. Was soooooo good. Best food experience in a very long time. Definitely go there! :)

No request was granted, not even one. Not flexible with dishes, nor with tables. Their fried plate was not very good. The dumplings some were nice others not really. And no cards are accepted we had to withdraw cash....

Terrible experience! The food was bland and felt “cheap”. Extremely expensive. £65 for a 2 person set menu that included 10 total dumplings and 6 prawns. The dumplings felt soggy. I have tried better dumplings from a 3£ frozen packet from Tesco. Terrible experience would not recommend to anyone.

Good food, pricey, worth a look

Surprised how empty this place was especially with how good the food was but it was a Thursday night. Was so good, really attentive and very good value for money considering what we ordered!

We (4 friends) had a great evening at this very interesting Chinese restaurant. Everything cooked fresh, lots of help with the menu and kind, gracious owners/staff who helped me choose items off the menu - I’m under doctors orders! The food was delicious and the restaurant itself is quite unique!

The staff were extremely accommodating and friendly. The food was delicious and freshly cooked to order, and I can recommend the dim sum pork with coriander, the prawns and the seaweed salad. I need to go back to sample some more of the menu.

Unique. Carefully prepared food. Talented attentive staff. Classical musical instruments. In 15 years of world travel I have never come across a place like it. Just go - it deserves success.

Visited on a whim having loved coming here several years ago and being back in the area. Lucky to get a table on a Friday night without booking. The staff are amazingly polite and friendly and knowledgeable, and the vibe is relaxed and fantastic. The musical wallpaper and instruments are hugely evocative and made me feel right at home. And the food! Oh my, the food. Really excellent quality in everything on the wide and varied set menu, and very affordable for the quality. A firm favourite, will return often. A place to bring those who appreciate good food.

Liutaio was a delightful experience, I highly recommend it. A very days per week, Liutaio offers set menus exclusively. They had 3 different vegan set menus. As we were three, we ordered one each and shared. I also order a virgin cocktail (La Rose de Versailles) which was delightful. The food was delicious and diverse. I forgot to take a picture of the desserts, which were also delicious. The staff were always attentive and helpful. The restaurant is also a store and sells antiques and music instruments. The atmosphere is relaxing and intimate. Please note that although Liutaio has an extensive vegan menu, they only have one steamer and one fryer.

Délicieux. Très belle surprise. Un vrai chef aux cuisines, raffinement dans les assiettes et dans le décor. Excellents menus végétariens.

I had charsiu buns, which were nice, but I also ordered har gao, which unfortunately came raw and I only discovered it being raw after seeing half a raw prawn in the remainder of a bite. The server was nice, but didn't apologise. She also offered to get fresh har gaos, but the waiting time for any dim sum to come out from the kitchen is a minimum of 20 mins. Disappointed with the shop, really wanted to have a worthwhile time.

We really enjoyed our stay here. The staff was very attentive and friendly. Everything was prepared with care. The wooden furniture and Chinese items lend this place a nice flair. Most items are for purchase, too. This is the perfect place, if you'd like to try vegan dim sum :)

Great little restaurant with friendly staff! Dim sum fixed menu had a fantastic selection and was very filling - we had to take some away for later in the end! They went out of their way to cater for our preferences.

It was brilliant. This restaurant is a southern Asian fusion restaurant, meaning there's food from all over southern Asia. I got a mocktail (the azure) and it looks beautiful, as well as tastes great. For the mains, me and my family got a dim sum set for two, and a land and spicy sea set for two. It's lovely: very large meal, all the components made carefully, great, fast service, and even a little shop where I bought a jade charm and some Buddha and turtle figures for a good, fair price. Then for dessert we got the hot yuzu and honey drink (which was brilliant: it really warms you up) and the Apple gyozas (which come with corn syrup), as well as two extra salted caramel ice creams. It was brilliant. I'm not from Cambridge, but if I ever come here again, which I expect I will, I will be sure to visit this place. If you're in the area, at least try this place out, you'll love it. 😍😍😍🙂🙂🙂.

Wonderful place, great atmosphere, great food, great staff. Vegan friendly.

The set menu here is great, and soo much food! Caters really well for vegans, would definitely recommend to anyone, vegan or not

Nice atmosphere and very welcoming. All courses we had were prepared with great attention to details and packed with flavours. Will definitely come back.

Wonderful dining experience! The service was excellent and the quality of food was very high. We tried the vegan set menu and were amazed at the number of options they had, great value for money, will definitely visit again

We had one of the best meals in a long time here. The food was unbelievably delicious, the drinks remarkable (best gin and tonic we've ever had, and their homemade cocktails are so delicious and unique), with wonderful staff and the live music was so atmospheric and made the experience even more special. We can't wait to come back!

The food was good, but it felt quite overpriced.

My favourite place for dim sum in Cambridge. Excellent choice also for vegans, lovely venue, exquisite teas to go with your food, and a peaceful, relaxing musical atmosphere. Wonderful service. The restaurant also features a shop selling violins, wooden boxes and prints, and other very interesting items.

Great food in a unique atmosphere. The restaurant is like no other. Inside are lots of different instruments and the decor is very unique and vintage. Gives an inviting feeling. The service is great, attentive and fast. Food is very good. Dishes were pretty good - pork and coriander dumplings were amazing. Would highly recommend those.

A nice and quirky place in Cambridge. A good selection of vegan and vegetarian options. A bit pricey but you definitely get what you pay for.

Was walking pass with my friends searching for good place to have lunch, and Voilà! So happy to discover this special small restaurant in end off Mill road 👍 Prices affordable, food portions huge, quality and standards are high! So on that note highly recommended! If you love music will love this place too 🤓👍

The best restaurant in Cambridge! We would eat here every day if we could! The vegan tasting menu is amazing! We love their tea selection and the food is the best we've had in Cambridge. The service is fantastic, the staff makes you feel like family. It feels like having dinner at their home rather than eating at a restaurant. We love catching the live music because it's so relaxing and really sets the mood.

We would eat here every day if we could! The vegan tasting menu is amazing! I love their tea selection and the food is the best we've had in Cambridge. The service is fantastic, the staff makes you feel like family. It feels like having dinner at their home rather than eating at a restaurant. We love catching the live music because it's so relaxing and really sets the mood.

Super-efficient Friday night service thanks to the pre-order system. We shared a set menu and the food was visually appealing and tasty. The music themed decor was attractive and the service friendly. What a little gem!

New favourite restaurant in town! Absolutely amazing tasting menu, great vegan options, so well priced, beautiful decor and live music to top it all off.

Absolutely amazing. I am left speechless of how good the food was. And the live music was incredible. With very polite and friendly staff

This restaurant is absolutely beyond amazing. The food is the best Asian food I’ve ever had. It was so authentic and flavourful. I got the vegan set menu and I could not believe it was vegan. It’s such a nice place with gorgeous decorations and teapots. I thought for what we got was well worth the money and we got 2 free drinks too which were so amazing! I really recommend this place, it is so underrated in Cambridge where most popular restaurants are commercial chains. The service was great, everyone was so lovely and welcoming, thank you so much for a great evening :D

Absolutely loved it! Food was absolutely delicious and big selection of everything. Amazing teas and very nice service. Just FYI they don't accept cards but right across the street is ATM it will definitely not stop to visit again and again.

Well, it looks beautiful, and the menu looked beautiful with lots of items I wanted to try. But I was not able to try the things I wanted, and the experience was so off-putting. I walked in around noon on a weekday when the place was absolutely empty, and asked to order dim sum for takeout. I was trying to order items that were listed on the large a la carte menu up in the window. I was told that they were out of most of the things that had intrigued me enough to go in. Like 3 out of 5 things. I asked when they would have them so I could come again another time to try the items listed on the menu that I was interested in. Then I was told, well, we _have_ them right now, but _you_ can’t order them now a la carte because then we wouldn’t have enough for the full set meals later. That just felt really awful to me. I’m not inspired to want to go have an expensive set meal there after that. And if items are only available as part of the set menu, they should not be advertised in the window as being available a la carte. It’s really disappointing because it looks beautiful and the menu looked great. Probably if you are with a group ordering set menus instead of a solo woman wanting to sample a few things when they’re empty at lunchtime, they’d be more interested in having you as a customer and you’d have a better experience.

Would definitely recommend! Great authentic food with a range of veggie/vegan/meaty selection! Lovely staff too and setting. Must go to, best meal out I’ve had in a while. THANK YOU!

Amazing authentic Chinese food. Great decor as well

Great :) We asked if we could upgrade the full vegan set menu from 2 to 4 people, so they offered us to pick different salads, mains, and desserts between the 4 of us as well; this way we got to try lots of the menu! There were many tasty bits in there and a massive selection of vegan and vegetarian foods - massive amount of food for the price too. Their drinks are delicious and beautifully presented too, I especially enjoyed the hit Juzu & Honey drink. The waitress was also very sweet and helpful! Would definitely recommend for vegetarians and vegans who want to enjoy tasty Dim Sum! Only downside: the venue is cash only, but luckily there are ATMs nearby at Tesco & Co-op.

Excellent food. Nearly caught out by the’Cash Only’ policy.

Lovely food, great service and really good for young kids, especially with earlier openings at the weekends for dim sum. The only drawback is that there is no change table in the bathroom, but other than that, it's fab!

We booked on a Friday and could only have the set menu, we went for the vegan one. Overall the food was high quality. We found the first few dishes of starters and dumplings were more stand out than the mains, therefore if we went again we would go more for dumplings. The value was good as we had so much food we had to bring it home! Also nice to have music in the background and the cocktails were very nice. Overall a very positive experience with good food and a nice atmosphere.

Great veggie and vegan offerings with plenty of options.

Delicious food, premium ambiance, friendly staff. Highly recommended. I had lunch here yesterday and left my backpack with a MacBook in it. I didn’t realise it until early today. The laptop contains very important information. The friendly staff kept it safe and when I came back to look for it, them recognised me straightaway. I can’t express in words how grateful I am. Great people, great food!

Glorious venue. The food was just excellent- incredibly tasty, classic but the fine details were right. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Fantastic steamed Dim Sum and pork belly to die for, in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Kind and competent staff.

Lovely atmosphere, brilliant food, fantastic staff. I had the vegan menu and every item was delicious.

Odd little music shop/great dim sum place

Hidden gem! Food was insane and team/service was fantastic!

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Cambridge. The space is quirky, unique and interesting, and the food is the same! Plenty of thoughtful and delicious vegan dishes and great selection of teas too! The only thing that lets it down is the fact that it’s not coeliac-friendly. I’ve been on a detox for the past so I haven’t been able to visit as I’m avoiding gluten - however I’ll definitely be back soon!

The food is decent. Love chatting with the staff at a clean and comfortable environment!