What happens when you bring together a passionate head chef, a refreshed menu and two people who take their food very seriously?
For the latest special edition of Made In Ely, we headed to RBK – Riverside Bar and Kitchen – alongside local food creator MattyMakesMunch to get a first taste of the restaurant’s new autumn menu.
We met head chef Fabio, heard about the thinking behind the new dishes, and, of course, got stuck into some seriously tempting food.
From slow-cooked pork belly bites and indulgent dirty fries to a crispy Asian-inspired chicken burger, there was plenty to get excited about. And while we might not have managed to squeeze in dessert, we certainly found out what’s on offer!
A Fresh Approach to Pub Favourites
One of the most interesting things about the new menu is that it doesn’t try to reinvent everything.
Instead, Fabio and the kitchen team have taken familiar dishes and given them a little extra thought, focusing on quality ingredients, careful preparation and combinations that work.
The aim is to offer something for everyone, whether you’re after a classic pub lunch, something a little different, or a relaxed meal with friends and family.
The menu features burgers and sandwiches, traditional Riverside favourites, stone-baked pizzas and a selection of tempting starters. There’s also the Sunday carvery, alongside daily specials, including freshly made pies and soup.
It’s a balance that makes sense. You can order something familiar and comforting, or try a dish with a few more adventurous flavours without feeling as though you need a culinary degree to understand the menu.
And after tasting what Fabio and his team had prepared, we were keen to see more.
The Star of the Show: Asian-Style Pork Belly Bites
First up were the Asian-style pork belly bites, and these were an excellent introduction to Fabio’s approach.
The pork belly is cooked slowly overnight before being cut into pieces and fried to create a crisp exterior while keeping the meat tender.
It’s then coated in an Asian-inspired sauce featuring honey, soy sauce, coriander and sesame oil, and served on a fresh apple and fennel slaw with crème fraîche, chives and lemon juice.
Pickled chillies, pickled onions and crispy onions finish the dish.
The result is a combination of textures and flavours that works beautifully. The pork was tender rather than chewy, with a lovely crispness on the outside, while the slaw and pickled garnishes helped cut through the richness.
Pork belly can be a divisive ingredient, particularly for anyone who has experienced a fatty or poorly prepared version in the past. This was a reminder of just how good it can be when it’s given the time and attention it deserves.
It was also a great example of how a few carefully chosen accompaniments can lift a dish without overwhelming it.
Dirty Fries, Done Differently
Next came the dirty fries, and these certainly lived up to their name.
Rather than simply topping chips with melted cheese and bacon, Fabio has created a rich sauce using the stock from the pork belly, thickened into a velouté. Cheese, bacon pieces and pulled pork are then combined with the fries, with pickles and more bacon to finish.
It’s an indulgent dish, but what stood out was how well the individual flavours came through.
The fries remained crisp rather than turning into a soggy pile, the bacon added texture, and the pork-based sauce brought everything together.
There was plenty going on, but nothing felt out of place.
It’s a small detail, perhaps, but it says a lot about the care going into the cooking. Even a dish as familiar as loaded fries can be made more interesting with a little extra thought.
Sticky BBQ Chicken Wings with a Crunch
The crispy barbecue chicken wings were another highlight.
Marinated in buttermilk before being coated in a blend of gram flour and cornflour, the wings are fried until crisp and tossed in a sticky barbecue sauce.
Fabio also explained that the coating and soy sauce used in the preparation are gluten-free.
The wings had a satisfying crunch without drying out the meat, and they were a generous size, too. The buttermilk marinade helps with tenderness, while the barbecue sauce brings that familiar sweet, smoky flavour.
They’re exactly the sort of dish that works well as a starter to share with friends or as part of a relaxed meal.
And if you’re ordering them alongside the pork belly bites and dirty fries, you might want to arrive hungry.
A Menu with Something for Everyone
After working our way through the starters, we moved on to three more dishes that showed the variety of the new menu.
The Asian Crunch Chicken Burger
The Asian Crunch Chicken Burger combines crispy chicken with an Asian-inspired slaw, sriracha mayonnaise and hot honey.
The slaw brings together ingredients including julienned carrots, spring onions, soy sauce and sesame oil, adding freshness and a little extra complexity to the burger.
The chicken itself was beautifully crisp on the outside while remaining moist inside, with the sweetness of the honey helping to balance the other flavours.
It’s a good example of what the new menu does well: taking a recognisable favourite and adding enough personality to make it stand out, without adding unnecessary complications.
Baked Goat’s Cheese Salad
For something a little lighter, we tried the baked goat’s cheese salad, served with beetroot, house dressing, apple, rocket and pumpkin seeds.
Goat’s cheese and beetroot are a classic combination for good reason. The sweetness of the beetroot works beautifully with the creamy cheese, while the apple, peppery rocket and toasted seeds add freshness and crunch.
It was a well-balanced dish that offered something different from the richer meat and cheese options elsewhere on the menu.
Half Chicken with Rosemary Fries
The half chicken was marinated with garlic, lemon and herbs, and served with rosemary fries and salad.
Sometimes, familiar dishes are familiar for a reason. Good seasoning, well-cooked chicken and crisp, fluffy chips can make for a thoroughly satisfying meal without needing to overcomplicate things.
The rosemary fries were particularly memorable, delivering the sort of crunch you want from a good restaurant chip.
Together, these three dishes demonstrated the variety RBK is aiming for, with options to suit different tastes and appetites.
Behind the Menu: Meet Head Chef Fabio
What made the visit particularly interesting was hearing directly from Fabio about how the menu had come together.
Having joined RBK from Cambridge around six months earlier, this was an opportunity for him and the kitchen team to put their stamp on the restaurant’s food offering.
Rather than simply bringing a menu from a previous workplace, Fabio explained how the dishes had been developed with the venue, its customers and the local area in mind.
That means keeping the familiar favourites people expect from a pub and restaurant, while introducing some different flavours and preparations for those who want to try something new.
The approach also extends to how ingredients are used. The slow-cooked pork belly, for example, features in different forms across the menu, from the crispy starter bites to the main course.
It’s a practical way of making the most of an ingredient while giving customers different ways to enjoy it.
Throughout the tasting, what came across was a real enthusiasm for the food and a willingness to talk through the thinking behind each dish.
That enthusiasm matters. A good menu isn’t just a list of things to order; it’s the result of decisions made in the kitchen, from preparation methods and sourcing to the balance of flavours on the plate.
And What About Dessert?
Although we were too full to try dessert on the night, Fabio was happy to talk us through the options.
The menu includes freshly made apple crumble, served with a choice of ice cream or custard, alongside warm, fudgy brownies and churros.
There are also four sundaes: brownie, sticky toffee, crumble and Eton Mess.
In other words, whether you prefer a traditional pudding or something a little more indulgent, there should be something to tempt you.
The team also discussed gluten-free and vegan options, helping to make the menu more accessible to different dietary preferences.
And for anyone who likes to see what’s cooking on a particular day, RBK is introducing a specials blackboard featuring dishes such as freshly made pies and soup of the day.
We may have skipped dessert this time, but it sounds like there’s a good reason to return.
More Than Just a Meal
One of the things we enjoyed most about the visit was the opportunity to see the team behind the menu and hear about the working relationship between the kitchen and the front-of-house team.
In hospitality, that relationship can make a huge difference to the overall experience. Great food is important, but so is the atmosphere, the welcome you receive and the feeling that everyone is working towards the same goal.
RBK has the makings of a relaxed, welcoming place to meet friends, enjoy a meal with family or gather a larger group together.
And with a menu that combines familiar favourites with a few more interesting additions, it offers plenty of reasons to return.
For us, the standout takeaway was that good food doesn’t have to be complicated. It needs to be well prepared, thoughtfully put together and served at a price that makes sense.
From the tender pork belly to the crisp chicken wings and that surprisingly sophisticated take on dirty fries, Fabio and his team gave us plenty to talk about.
Made In Ely: Celebrating Local Businesses
Our visit to RBK was another reminder of why we started Made In Ely.
We want to celebrate the people, businesses and ideas that make our local area such an interesting place to live and work. That means going beyond the finished product to find out what happens behind the scenes, meet the people involved and understand what makes each business tick.
This time, that meant swapping the usual podcast setup for a table full of food, a conversation with a head chef and a few very enthusiastic opinions about the perfect chip.
A big thank you to Fabio, Emma and the team at RBK for welcoming us, and to MattyMakesMunch for joining us for the tasting.
If you’re looking for somewhere to enjoy a relaxed meal in Ely, RBK’s refreshed menu is well worth exploring.
And if you want to hear the full conversation, including more about the dishes, the kitchen team and our very important debate about food, you can catch the special Made In Ely episode with Matthew Makes Munch.
Made In Ely is the Ely Work Collective podcast celebrating the people, businesses and ideas that make our local community what it is.
If you’re a local business owner, freelancer, creator or entrepreneur with a story to tell, we’d love to hear from you.
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