The Empress is situated just off Mill Road, 1.5 miles away from Market Square. In classic Cambridge style, it’s in the middle of many houses and not much else. When you first go in it seems tiny, but with a double sided bar and a beer garden out the back, it’s actually fairly large. It has a pretty plain but pleasant interior with a pool table on one side. 

It has a well stocked bar with five hand pumps. On my visit, there was another cask sat on the bar as well. The title on the side of said cask was Tydd Steam Cock, shortened to 'Cock' on the Ales board. I had a sample but decided it wasn’t for me despite the hype surrounding it. They had Saint Austell Tribute which is a personal favourite, which allowed me to wash away the unsettling taste that ‘Cock’ had left behind. After a few other childish jokes, which were silenced when my friends and I noticed we were sitting next to a knitting group, I had a pint of the reliably tasty Doom Bar. Despite their hardness (no jokes please), the pork scratchings (a wise addition to any pint), were very enjoyable. 

The Empress have had a stroke of pub genius by storing frozen pizzas under the bar that they’ll cook up for £6.50. I haven’t had the pizzas, but what could be a better way than to spend a night away from exam work with some friends, a few beers and some pizza without the hangover that a nightclub inevitably brings? 

The Empress really comes into its own with its whiskeys though. They have an extensive collection of single malts, to which I shall definitely return. The staff were pleasant and helpful. Pints were £3.60 and scratchings £1. All in all, a really great pub and definitely worth the walk out.