The Three Blackbirds in East Cambridgeshire

We normally look forward to our Chrstimas meal at the Three Blackbirds, but this was disappinting this year. In future we would either choose to go for a mid-week meal or eat much later on a Sunday. We appreciate that being extremely busy is good for business, it does not always translate into a 5 star dining experience for everyone.

Our family visited The Three Blackbirds based on a word of mouth review for my Sons 18th birthday meal. Table of 7 booked for 15:15, we arrived early and enjoyed pre-meal drinks in the bar beside a comforting log burner fire. Our first impressions of this quintessential English village pub was very high. We then were seated to our table 20 mins late and enjoyed delicious starters. Our expectations for the main Sunday roast was now extremely high, however the mains did not nowhere near meet our expectations or the standards we have been accustomed to in our usual haunt. The roast potatoes had clearly been microwaved and had an awful taste and texture that was like cutting into a sponge in a leather overcoat. The Yorkshire pudding didn’t fair much better and was as hard to chew as it was the cut, like cutting through a wax jacket. Again clearly reheated hours after cooking. The veg was barely lukewarm and the side plate of cauliflower and broccoli cheese was so cold, it would have been warmer served outside. This was sent back and again re-nuked and reserved to us. The top layer was piping hot, but the underside still fridge cold. The gravy was like dirty sea water as it was that salty. On a positive note the pork crackling was nice after we requested it, as it was missing from the plate and the presentation of the main was good. Great if it was a work of art and wasn’t intended on being eaten. We were not asked once how our food was, probably because they knew what the reply would be. Drinks during the meal had to be chased up on more than one occasion. On reflection, I’d only ever visit this public house again for drinks and bar snacks , such as the amazing scotch egg.

Delicious meal ! Great service, Abi was lovely

Lovely food. Abi served us and was amazing

This is an edit of my 5* review having been abroad and revisited only a couple of times since returning. The pub still has a great atmosphere but it has lost its personality with staff that feel detached from the customers. I also ate here for the first time since returning, having fish and chips. It arrived absolutely cold so I sent my food back with it returned burnt and inedible. This is the first time I have ever sent food back twice, deciding then not to eat. It was not my opinion that my meal was simply returned to the deep fried, but it is what the staff told me had been done. Twice cooked chips may be a thing but twice cooked fish is certainly not and just a lazy way to try to fix things. Other establishments would have only received 1* but I know this place well and assume this is hopefully just a one off.

Roast dinner wasn’t great and service wasn’t worth the £8.50 charge automatically put on the bill , nice building though

This pub chain gets how customers should be treated. Another excellent visit.

Part of the brilliant Chestnut group, but didn't live up to expectations. Room caostrophobic, food overpriced for over small portions, couldn't manage inclusive dog extra packages on serveral occasions, smoked out bar lighting fire, and charged service charge despite paying cash tip. And protective rather than resolving attitude by GM to queries when answered (given most calls go unanswered and emails not responded to).

Had an excellent Sunday roast, highly recommended.

Went for a Sunday lunch the starter was wonderful and the beef was very good, unfortunately the easy bit, roast potatoes were very hard and seemed to have been not boiled first but batch made and reheated. We had to ask for horseradish sauce and gravy which took a while to come. The price we were charged for two glasses of wine was ridiculously high and means we would not go back very often, All in all a shame as this is a nice local venue that we would like to visit regularly and enjoy.

Have previously had lunch at The Three Blackbirds so decided it would be the perfect place to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. Food is great value for money and the staff are always friendly and accommodating

Went for a Sunday roast. We weren’t disappointed. It was fabulous. I had roast pork which was perfectly cooked & the crackling 👌 Could have eaten more. Again, cooked perfectly. Staff were lovely and couldn’t have done more. We will definitely go back.

Lovely experience, beautiful place will definitely return .

The service as first class, good ambience but the meal was let down by the pudding whuch wasn’t as advertised. Also, it was difficult out to eat my fish main corpse as it was in a bowl instead of on a plate.

Excellent food and superb service by Annie. Maybe we had the wrong seats but despite being 8pm on a Saturday night we were surrounded by kids, babies and alcohol-fuelled Irish who were no strangers to swearing. Still a cracking pub but it’s not a romantic dinner for two. There are better in this chain of pubs.

Went for a meal Sunday afternoon, restaurant was serving Traditional Sunday roasts, only one vegetarian option, Gnocchi, not even vaguely comparable with the other offerings, were told we could have the roast with the meat taken off! I'm sure it was meant as without the meat added but no obvious guarantee that the gravy or the way potatoes were cooked was vegetarian. Food was OK but a bit disappointing.

I just had lunch here and it was 10/10. Great welcome, great service, great food, lovely pub/restaurant all round. Reasonably priced too. The reviews were spot on. We’ll be back for sure 👍🏻👍🏻

We have been to the Three Blackbirds numerous times before. We came with our children and dog for a roast dinner on Sunday. As we had our young dog with us we chose to sit outside with less distractions for her. Whilst our food was enjoyable the experience was made unpleasant by customers from inside the restaurant stepping outside and smoking or vaping in the garden area, blowing smoke over our children and food whilst we are eating. On this basis we would not return and eat outside again. We did not order deserts or coffee, which we otherwise would have done. Perhaps you could review or enforce a no smoking policy inside the garden area? Many thanks

Fantastic service and the food was excellent.

Wow !! Great. Lovely staff and mega rooms. Breakfast perfect. Will no longer stop at the prem in town. I stay in Newmarket approx once a month.

Excellent in all aspects, as ever. Staff from newly added Chestnut establishments should visit for a much needed masterclass in customer service and hospitality.

Nice food, but very overpriced. The food is nice here, a notch above the usual "pub grub", but it doesn't warrant the high prices. eg scotch egg starter - £10 soup starter- £8.50 strawberry desert - £9.50 Scampi - £24 ! Lamp chop (with large bone in), £30 ! Basically a meal for two with no drinks is going to cost you over £100. Service is good, surroundings are nice, but these are more like central London prices, and the food is just not up to that.

Amazing meal and amazing service Thanks Sam

Amazing food. Amazing service. Been here a few times recently. Greeted with a warm smile and welcome from the gentleman at the bar, Sam. Will definitely come back and highly recommend. The sirloin is excellent!

Lovely pub, brilliant service from the Bar Tender Sam! Great experience :)

A charming pub with excellent food

Delicious steak and a relaxed environment!

Visited for Sunday lunch and the 4 of us sat at an outside table on a glorious summer's day. The mackrel pate was a nice starter (£9.50) and all four of us went for the roast beef as other reviewers had recommended it. It was delicious with very generously sized portions. The meat is sourced from the English White heritage breed. Drank the Norfolk bitter on tap and the Ghost Ship 0.5% bottle is a good non-alcoholic. With coffees, around £130 incl. service. Good professional service. Just what a country pub should be doing to survive and thrive in West Suffolk.

A truly excellent meal - great choices, and what we did select was all spot on - the fish beautifully cooked, and the flavours married.

We had a Sunday lunch for Mothering Sunday, 2 adults and 2 children. Booked for midday we were the first table seated upstairs but we were crammed into a dark corner so we asked to move. The staff obliged but then moved us a second time for an unknown reason. The food was very good, standard roast dinner fare and generous portions. However we had to query the bill as the staff hadn't deducted the deposit we paid, they didn't know how to put the kids set menu on the bill correctly so had to deduct random items until it was approximately correct. Plus the service charge of 10% was already added (for a table of 4) which I didn't see and subsequently left a tip for the staff, although that is more my error than theirs, however it was easy to miss on the bill after all the faff regarding missing deposits etc. Overall the service let the experience down, it felt like they didn't care and couldn't be bothered, even when it hadn't got busy.

Lovely pub and the rooms built at the back are spot on! Lovely little village it was based in and the local customers were all really friendly

Today we visited the Three Blackbirds for the first time, after eating at many of the sister restaurants such as the Weeping Willow. We arrived slightly late and we were informed we were upstairs. As we had a disabled guest this wasn't ideal but there was apparently no way to accommodate five guests downstairs. As we proceeded up the stairs we were then told the table wasn't ready yet, 15 minutes after the booking time, despite there being several more accessible tables available that we just walked by. We continued to wait an additional 15 minutes until we asked again if the table was ready yet and it finally was (or at least close enough to ready). Upon going upstairs there were four free tables two of which never had any party seated on whilst we ate, so half an hour after the booked time slot. However after this shambolic start, things took a positive turn, the staff upstairs were brilliant and much more attentive, helping promptly. Taking the orders and bringing the food very swiftly as well as helping out with smaller requests such as extra gravy or similar. The roast beef was wonderful and the cuts are much more generous than like-for-like restaurants in the area, (e.g. similarly priced establishments), the Yorkshire was delicious but the roast potatoes are likely batch made and re-heated throughout the day, they were the weakest part of the roast which was to a good standard. The selection of beers on tap are good (in my personal opinion) and reasonably priced. I would hope to return again. They also have a couple of charging points in the car park but expect for non-eletric vehicles to be parked in these bays, this would be great if you're staying as a guest in their rooms (bring your own cord though).

Everything great: the food, the restaurant, the service, the stay in the barn.

We booked to stay this weekend but could bot make it. Asked for the following week but they were fully booked. Turns out they took the money for our stay and the dinner we booked despite an email to cancel with several days notice. Please be aware of their very aggressive cancellation non policy. They took the full amount, room and dinner well over £300!

Stayed for the weekend as family wedding nearby. The Chestnut Group of pubs with accommodation are a fantastic brand. Consistently provide great service, food and accommodation. Reasonably priced for good quality throughout.

Unfortunately a very negative experience all round. The food was average at best, inedible at worst (a chicken terrine full of gristle). The atmosphere was fine but sadly the service was appalling. All the staff appeared completely untrained but most importantly rude and unhelpful. Everything took an age to arrive, for example 30 minutes for two simple glasses of wine with no apologies or allowances made. The dirty plates sat in front of us for over 45 minutes. I visited with an elderly relative and the whole experience was very stressful for her. Sad as it's a lovely location with such potential!

First time here great food and very friendly staff. Definitely one to go to another day.

We stayed at the three blackbirds from 16-19 May and ate on the 17 May for dinner. We loved our room the Bramble. It was so clean and the decor and bathroom were high quality. The view was great. getting things like fresh milk for the room was brilliant we don’t get that in 5* hotels. The food was amazing and staff were efficient, friendly and made us feel so welcome. We absolutely loved our stay. Thank you! We hope to come back to stay soon.

We enjoyed our stay at The Three Blackbirds and we would stay again. Would 100% recommend.

Really lovely pub. We went on a cycle ride from Cambridge and had lunch there. Arrived at 12:30 just in time for a table outside which was awesome on a sunny day.

A lovely pub with cosy rooms. We stayed for 2 nights and were made to feel really welcome. The staff were really attentive and friendly and the food was great. Would definitely visit again.

Nice food and great quiet location for a summer afternoon

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay over 2 nights. The rooms were excellent as was the food

Lovely B&B, accommodation was good. Only downside was breakfast. The toasted sour dough loaf was impossible to cut, so would suggest it was on the stale side. Other than that no complaints.

I have now stayed in a number of the Chestnut Group properties. This is of the same really good standard. Rooms are well equipped, comfy bed and bathroom has "Roca" white furniture throughout. We had the sharer sirlion, which was excellent. Breakfast was good, but sourdough was over toasted, and poach eggs could have been softer. But otherwise delivered on all counts.

The staff and facilities were lovely. Great quality food, well prepared. All staff were so friendly and helpful.

Excellent place, very friendly & efficient staff, very comfortable room & excellent bar & restaurant serving delicious meals. Would definitely recommend.

Lovely country pub, good food , bit busy , but didn’t effect the good service

First time here as we’re staying in an Air b&b close by. I can honestly say this was the best meal, service and atmosphere we have ever experienced. The staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating. The food was delicious! Thank you so much!

Very expensive and small portions,

As a familiar and regular visitor to other Chestnut group pubs and spending a fair few £s on drinks and meals over the years, we decided to visit The Three Blackbirds this afternoon for the first time. We did the dog walk, as suggested on the website, with the intention of finishing at this dog friendly pub with a few drinks and food from the bar menu, which the website states is available all day from 12pm. On entering the bar at 3pm we asked for the bar menu, which the bar server was about to provide, when ‘KITCHEN CLOSED!!’ was yelled our way and pointed towards a packet of crisps on the bar. We looked at the other patrons tucking into bar menu food, so turned on our heels and left. A disappointing first impression, that means we won’t be returning. I visit these type of pubs and eateries knowing you pay ‘top dollar’ for food and drinks and I normally leave with a smile, but not today. A warm welcome it was not.

Beautiful pub with a great atmosphere

Long overdue review. Breakfast was fabulous each morning and they were so accommodating of our just turned one years old Labrador who decided to wrap his lead around the table legs and tip it over smashing all our drinks everywhere. We were embarrassed for only a few minutes as the stuff were so kind, even wrapping up our leftover steak bone for the bubba to enjoy later (which he certainly did). All the food was delicious and the staff couldn’t have done enough. Room also lovely, we went for the top one and couldn’t have been happier. We will certainly be back. Our dog loved it and so did we! Thank you!

Such a wonderful place for a night away. Service in the bar was impeccable, the food lovely though it would have been nice to have a few alternatives for vegetarians and the room was absolutely gorgeous. Little touches like welcome biscuits and waters. Would highly recommend for a relaxing overnight stay if you just want to get away.

Really liked our room, the staff were lovely and we had a great time. We love the properties within the Chestnut Group

Lovely rooms. Nice restaurant and excellent service. Happy to recommend.

Perfect place for a gorgeous meal

Great food and service, we will certainly go back

This is our second stay here as we loved it and this time we brought our dog. It’s very dog friendly & he had his own bed treats & bowl! Did a couple of muddy walks & we loved it. Had dinner in the restaurant & food excellent would definitely recommend

Best Scotch Eggs I've ever had and the 3 blackbirds salad was amazing!

Three Blackbirds is always our go to pub when meeting friends and as this was to meet up with a friend who moved to Australia and has now moved back the UK this was our first meeting in 30 years. The atmosphere is always good, busy but not too loud. Warm and welcoming, the staff friendly and considerate (we didn't get round to looking at the menu as quickly as we might have done!). Food excellent, as always and a good choice. Only problem was that we forgot to pick up the receipt so cannot add the points to our loyalty card. Thank you.

Very helpful staff , and the food was great.

Excellent meal , very helpful and friendly staff, service was excellent, food outstanding. Thankyou for a lovely evening, Steve.

Our stay at The Three Blackbirds was exceptional. The cuisine delighted us, the room exceeded our expectations, and the thoughtful extras provided for our two four-legged companions were a wonderful touch. The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming, making the charming ambiance of the place even more inviting.

Once again excellent food and friendly staff. Looking forward to returning.

Went for a meal it was lovely, reccomend.

Very enjoyable meal to celebrate my daughters 21st birthday

We didn’t stay as we only live 30 mins away. We met up for breakfast for 2 humans and 2 dogs before going for a dog walk. Everything was perfect. Service, food, atmosphere. Can’t think of a single thing to improve. It was a great way to set us up for a lovely long walk. We were even able to rinse the mud off the dogs when we returned as they had an outside tap for this purpose. Wonderful pub doing everything well. We will definitely return.

Ver enjoyable stay in a great country pub. Very good food and wonderful staff.

We were travelling back from North Wales and originally booked for 7.30pm but journey was better than expected so extremely happy when we were able to be accommodated an hour earlier. Staff were very friendly and efficient despite a few very short power cuts. The food was well presented, good portions and very taste. The restaurant was warm and cosy. Thank you

Not quite in the middle of nowhere but certainly off the beaten track. We visited for lunch on a Friday. The dining room is attractive and the service was very good and friendly. The food was excellent. We started with home-made sausage rolls and then had fish and chips and sea trout - all were very good. Highly recommended.

The food was very good, just that a little more might have been better. The "thin chips" were just chips that were not chunky chips. Only 2 cheeses on the cheese board. The less would be the constant breeze coming through the window !

Went for a meal with my husband and loved this place. The food and service were both excellent and the venue is fabulous. I am vegetarian and enjoyed my meal very much - my husband had fish and said his meal was excellent too.

Really enjoyable evening, great food and service. Returning for Sunday lunch in a couple of weeks and can’t wait.

Went for lunch on Christmas day Jamie served our table our waiter was just wonderful ,the food was absolutely wonderful from preparation to presentation very pleasing.thankyou so much for taking such wonderful care for our family during our visit to the blackbirds inn ,the friendliness of the staff seems genuine it was a beautiful relaxing dining experience and again Jamie was outstanding ,the bar area is lovely the staff are wonderful top marks to the manager

This is the second time I’ve visited and been disappointed. The last time was on New Year’s Eve, when my boyfriend and I popped in for lunch. I’ll start with the positives... It was very quiet and we sat in the bar area, which is lovely. The lady who served us was delightful and friendly (a vast improvement on the service I had on my previous visit when the server seemed totally careless about our feedback regarding the overly microwaved or oven heated sticky toffee pudding - more on that later). However, the food was not what I expected. I had ordered the sea bream dish as a main but what arrived was nothing less than measly - it was more of a starter than a main and the smallest piece of fish I’d ever seen with a VERY small amount of potato and a smattering of veg. This was priced at £16. Whilst tasty, it certainly wasn’t worth that. More like £8. My boyfriend ordered roast beef, which, again, was the smallest portion and hardly any veg. Seriously, if the Blackbirds are going to compete with other local gastro pubs nearby, they really need to up their game food wise. This leads me onto my previous visit a couple of months earlier. I popped in for lunch mid week with a friend. On this occasion, the food was good. However, when I pointed out to the waiter that the sticky toffee pudding was tough and we’d had to use a knife to cut through it, he said he would tell the chef. We never heard anything after that until our bill came. I mentioned it again to the manger on the day and his response with a shrug of the shoulders, “oh, we told the chef and he said it was fine!” I have since been in touch with the manager about this sad lack of customer service.

Ye olde worlde pub, wooden beams, log fire, excellent food, excellent service, reasonable priced AND dog friendly, 7 of us for lunch, from London, quite particular, dine out a LOT, all very impressed, definitely recommend :-)

We took some friends for lunch on New Year's Day and, despite the pub and restaurant both being full, the service from the bar staff and in the restaurant was superb. The food was excellent and our waiter, Michael, on loan from the Packhorse, was both friendly and efficient.

We booked a table for four at this pub on a Friday evening. The person that dealt with the reservation on the phone was helpful and polite. Our Son and his partner are new to the area so we had no prior recommendations on what to expect. We were seated within a minute of arrival and the service was fantastic. Our server who took the time to go through the specialist steak menu. All locally sourced meat. For drinks my husband couldn’t decide which local beer/ lager to try so a taster of all 3 was prepared for him so he could make his choice. The food was also great, well prepared and well presented with a good range to cater for all. The rump steak was delicious and my apple & blackberry crumble dessert flavored with a hint of rosemary was divine. Prices were reasonable, service was exceptional and food delicious. We will definitely make a return visit.

A large groups of friends and I visited the Blackbirds in December for lunch, bringing with us children, babies and a dog. Each was welcomed by the friendly and efficient staff who couldn’t do enough for us throughout our meal. The food was delicious, generous and arrived promptly. All in all a fantastic afternoon!

Went for lunch today. Only main meals as week after Christmas. That’s fine.

We have been to The Blackbirds Inn many times and this was one of our best visits Friendly welcome, good menu, delicious food and excellent service from Michael. Our only gripe was the music being too intrusive but this was resolved immediately after we asked for it to be turned down. We had a great lunch and look forward to returning.

Excellent meal out with the family over christmas. We have eaten here before for sunday lunch but thought we would give an evening meal a try. It was quite a busy evening for the restaurant but it didn't show in the service or the food. We were treated attentively and the food was delicious. Overall, very reasonably priced food, cooked perfectly. Good wine selection and lots of beers on tap too. Would particularly recommend the duck!

Have visited many times drinks, lunch, dinner always excellent service by all staff very professional and wonderful atmosphere. Would definitely recommend couples, families and dog friendly too !

We booked our annual friends gathering at The Blackbirds Inn on the 23rd December. The food was delicious and the service was exceptional. John and his team were very accommodating from start to finish and it was the prefect setting to celebrate the festive season. We look forward to returning in the NY and will definitely be booking a festive lunch again for next year!

Four of us went for an evening meal on 23rd December. It is a beautiful old pub and it was lovely to have our table by the open fire. The food was very tasty and nicely presented. The duck was particularly good - cooked just right. The bar is nice and relaxing with good ale and wine. Only a short taxi ride from Newmarket!

Amazing place - manager could not do enough for us even though we arrived late for our reservation with a baby in tow. Good food, cheery fire, excellent service.

Basically this is a pub, where the food emphasis is on beef. Had some steaks which were very good . They do an amazing T Bone and other cut for two or more people.

We had a great Christmas Day this year, curtesy of the team at The Blackbirds. The food was lovely, the turkey was well cooked and the portions generous. The atmosphere in the pub was fun yet relaxed which was exactly what we were looking for. The service was perfect, and we didn’t feel rushed at all and were given plenty of time in between the various courses. A huge big thank you to all the staff for making our Christmas Day one to remember! Please book us in for next year!

Since I last visited The Blackbirds Inn it has been taken over by The Chestnut Group. The renovation has been done very sympathetically retaining all the best country inn features whilst keeping the cosy feel - open fires, a dog-friendly bar room and a lovely dining area. The service was just the right side of attentive and informative, great food and a lovely atmosphere conducive to a leisurely lunch with our friends. The beer in the bar is Adnams (always a plus point if you're from Suffolk) and the steak menu is excellent. It's a new favourite.

I was looking for a dog friendly pub around the Cambridge area to meet with our brother in law, and after a few Google searches for the Blackbirds Inn. Choosing somewhere on spec. like this is always a risk, but when we found the pub and walked in, we were pleasantly surprised at the ambience, and especially the friendliness of the staff. Its not the biggest of dining rooms, but the tables are well spaced so we didn't feel crowded. The food is excellent, not the biggest of portions, but tasty and hot.

A coach load of us were booked in for a breakfast on our way to Thursford in Norfolk.

Arrived and the pub had some xmas party lunches which was fine, we were asked to sit by the fire.... it was smoking and smelling, meaning you would end up smelling like you had been by a bonfire all afternoon...we asked to move and we did so.

We came here on a Tuesday for their steak night and had the T-bone to share. It was honestly the best steak we've ever eaten. It was cooked to perfection and the service was spot on from start to finish. We will most certainly be back!

Thank you so much for our delicious Saturday evening meal. The food is always delicious, the atmosphere is buzzing and the staff are so friendly and efficient. Without a doubt the best pub in the area

We had eaten here previously when under different ownership and had always thoroughly enjoyed it. Having visited again today I can now categorically say I won't be returning. We were visiting with my elderly in-laws and despite having an early booking we were seated at the very rear of the restaurant where the draught from the window was so severe we had to ask for the use of the blankets to keep warm. A heater was provided but was insufficient - when asked if we were warm enough I gave an honest answer, but was told it was because the building was Grade 2 listed!

Absolutely awful. Staff very slow. Incredibly expensive and small small portions. Came home and ate another meal. £16 for a trout nicoise salad no bigger than a starter in most restaurants was a complete rip off.

I was invited to this pub by friends with my husband. Lovely pub inside and out, but food portions are tiny. Definitely not typical pub food. Not value for money. We all left still feeling hungry. Quite expensive too. Will not be going there again. It's a shame as staff were very attentive and friendly.

Chosen at random as we were in the area. A lucky find. Proper country pub with friendly staff. The food was excellent. My wife had the fish and chips and without a doubt it had the lightest batter either of us had ever tasted. I went for the Sea Trout Niscoise. An excellent mix of ingredients with a perfect soft boiled egg. Both of us said this was the best pub food we had ever eaten.

Lovely food with a good range on the menu and a choice of main or set price lunch. Nice country pub dogs welcome and provided with bowls of water. Log fire gave it a lovely ambience on a chilly day. Service was very attentive at first but has it got busier things took longer to serve or were forgotten and we had to request again. Coffees took ages to arrive overall a lovely country pub with good food