Having lived in Cambridgeshire for over two decades it shames me to say that only on the 24 August 2012, whilst wandering around the backstreets of Cambridge, did I come across the famous 90 year old institution which is Fitzbillies bakery and had my first famous Fitzbillies Chelsea bun.

Fitzbillies is one of the institutions of Cambridge as much as the colleges and the punts, after a trialling time in early 2011 where the tea shop was forced into closure, a significant tweet by  Stephen Fry changed the fate of Fitzbillies.

"Feb 09 2011 @stephenfry  No! No! Say it ain't so - not Fitzbillies? Why I tweeted a pic of one of their peerless Chelsea buns but a six month ago"

The bakery has been saved by Tim Hayward, food writer turned tea shop owner and the bakery is again the happy welcoming tea shop with its signature Chelsea buns open seven days a week for lunch, tea, coffee and cakes and Fridays and Saturdays for dinner.

So how did I feel eating my first Fitzbillies Chelsea bun? The rich sticky mess of a Chelsea bun was like no Chelsea bun I’d eaten before, embarrassed for it to be my first time visiting Fitzbillies I took my bun to go and then wandered across the river and through the back streets of Cambridge between the colleges munching on a sickly sweet Chelsea bun. Licking syrup from my hands, (I realised precisely how disgusting I looked) but I felt very satisfied, maybe ever so slightly nauseous but very, very happy.

 http://www.fitzbillies.com/

Visiting Cambridge? Go to Fitzbillies, 52 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1RG; 01223 352 500