Gardenia Take Away

I know that this place has the reputation for the drunken-​night-​out take away, but I decided to check out the tiny, leeeeetle restaurant upstairs.
1) I am always looking for an indoor venue. I always manage to visit Cambridge during the worst weather… snow and ice, what seemed like a hurricane but was just a blowy rainy day, and that blast of Arctic air that still isn’t as cold as the coldest winter I had to wait for the school bus, but still manages to rattle your bones. I didn’t exactly want to try consuming fish and chips outside in the cold (I know it is very British, but I’ve been there and done it…) and they did have a few tables and seats to spare upstairs.
2) I was also doing some research into affordable, but quality eats for my students… I absolutely hate it when I hear, «We went to McDonald’s (Burger King, KFC, whatever…) because we couldn’t find anything else and it was cheap.» No, McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC are not cheap in Europe… or anywhere else in the world besides ‘merica. You must have forgotten to do the conversion rate. Hope you enjoyed your $ 10 fake meat burger.
3) I like Greek food… although this place is a bit of a mix of different styles of food, but that’s ok, I like that too.
The restaurant upstairs is really small… I think there were six-​ish tables and a very small bar. It is cozy, but on a cold day, that helps with the heating! The staff were very nice and really quick to get people served… I was impressed with the way they maneuvered the narrow stairs and the crowded dining area. I decided to have the Falafel. Good money spent! The Falafel was not dry like most places I have them at. There were three on the plate, there was a nice salad and veggies, and some lovely warm pitta bread. I had ordered some tzatziki because I am addicted to the stuff and will dip anything in it… including my finger. Their tzatziki sauce is lovely… and a great contrast to the Falafel. It wasn’t fancy, it wasn’t elegant, but it was good, simple food and great value for the money!

This place is THE PLACE to go for drunchies. They are open until 4 am, and their prices are cheaper than Trailer of Life. They have a great selection of good food, and the staff is SO FRIENDLY! They also give free tap water.
I would recommend this as THE PLACE to go for drunchiez over the trucks for sure. When you discover this place (Which is close to the market square anyway) you will not want to go anywhere else for drunchiez.
1.70 large fries
their calamari pita for 4.20.dank.

A bastion of the Cambridge night out… mixed kebabs, burgers… just about all the stuff that goes well with large amounts of beer!!! This place is great and I used to eat here sober too. It can get silly busy when the students are in town but they’re used to it and get through the queue pretty sharpish so don’t be put off if you see it out the door — that’s half the fun.
They also have a little restaurant area upstairs and we’d go there every now and again for a break from the norm.

Its bloody brilliant!
Cheap, tasty and near the clubswhat more could you want?

I had the pleasure of visiting Gardenia’s last Friday night after playing a gig down the road, dragged there by my bandmate who’s an ex-​Cambridge student and big fan of the city in general and Gardenia’s in particular! The glee on his face as he scanned the menu and ordered the best chips in town was a sight to behold, and happily for the rest of us he was dead right about the quality of the food.
What interesting vegetarian dishes too! I munched very happily on butterbeans in a tomato sauce served in pitta bread but could have had any one of four or five dishes and been very happy, I expect. A couple of the other boys chowed down on the Greek burger, which looked big and satisfying and even had some feta cheese on top.
The photos all over the walls were good entertainment, though whenever I see these I wonder when they got taken — presumably much later in to the evening when groups of drunk people start to take over the streets. I was stone cold sober apart from post-​gig adrenalin and I loved Gardenias, so I’m not surprised it’s a hit with the local drinking crowd.

Ah, Gardies. I have a love/​hate relationship with them, but the truth is there’s no one else that serves chip buttys at 3am (I tried asking the Trailer of Life to make me one, but they politely told me they don’t carry any pita bread.) I really wouldn’t recommend going to Gardie’s any other time though.

I could murder one of their chip buttys right now.
Hot chips, stuffed into a pitta bread and doused in mayonnaise. How can that fail? It doesn’t.
I’ve rarely eaten anything else at Gardies. I’m a loyal pup to my chip butty. It’s a cheap way to imbibe a lot of calories, for sure.
Their greek kebab-​shop menu is pretty interesting though, and I wouldn’t say no to a souvlaki right now either… those are always good. Especially late night when you’re spilling out from the pubs and clubs of Cambridge and it is the DONE thing to do. Gardies is THE place for a 2am snack… forget your Van of Life and Van of Death. The Vans have nothing on this place. Come get messy with the doners and hot sauce, mingle with the drunken crowds. While you wait you can wonder who the regulars are in all the photos on the wall, and wonder who on earth would rent the upstairs room for their sit-​down meal option!

Gardies serves the only kebabs/​takeaway I will eat while sober.

It’s an institution with both students and non-​students. Pictures of people in the take away cover the walls so you can go in and spot your friends — or yourself! I usually have a pitta with lettuce, cheese and chicken, which definitely fills a gap after a night with maybe a bit too much alcohol involved.
Apparently there is a restaurant upstairs, which I think is just the take away food served on a plate, but I’ve never been up there!
It’s got such a caché in Cambridge that a musical about it was even written and performed here about it!
And they give away free lollypops.

‘Gardies’, as it is known to its frequent visitors, has become an institution in itself. You are always greeted with a warm friendly smile, like you are part of the family. The walls are adorned with the photographs of its many visitors, all grinning with delight at being in the best fast-​food café in Cambridge. The customer service is top notch.
And the food? It is not half bad. The chips, well, you can’t go wrong with them. A kebab? Pretty tasty. The chicken burger? You’ll want to go back for me. With Gardies, once you have been once, you will want to go again and again. Not necessarily because of the quality of the food it is, after all, just fast food. You will want to go back because of the friendly open nature with which you are greeted and the genuine quality of the service you receive. Forget McDonalds, Gardies, only five doors down, wins hands down.

Their cheeseburgers taste way better than MacDognuts just down the crescent. I even had a proper sit-​down meal upstairs once and really enjoyed the nice, simple food they did.
I like it here. And my god, some of the girls in those polaroids on the wall are HOT!

They do great souvlakia here! They take drunken pictures of students and stick them all over the walls. Not sure I would go unless I was out on the town, but it always brings a smile to my face!