Harwich Restaurant Guide

“Another from the Milsoms’ stable” (whose flagship is The Talbooth at Dedham), this delightful small hotel dating from 1860 has a dining room that is “fish-focused to reflect the setting”, on the historic Harwich waterfront.

Californian Sherri Singleton’s “marvelous neighbourhood restaurant” occupies a 1723 coaching inn, with great views of the River Stour, and bedrooms set above the pub or on top of kitchen shop and cookery school. The “consistent” and “sophisticated seafood menu” (but not just) ensures that it’s “always popular”, and there was praise this year for the “good-value set menu” (two courses £24.95 or three courses £27.95 per person).

2021 Review: “Quirky, quaint and stylish, with excellent food” – Julien & Karine Jourdain took over this antique Belgian gunboat in October 2018 from the Crépy family, and it’s “one of the best Ipswich has to offer”. Permanently moored in the marina, near the city-centre, its modern European menu options vary by the day.

Foo Trong and his family “always meet expectations” at the “traditional high street Chinese” – always one of the more commented-on restaurants in these parts. They have established the place as a local institution over 26 years, serving “delicious, generous and thoughtfully spiced food” using “high quality of ingredients” in a “warm and relaxing ambience”.

“Difficult to find better”, say the many fans of this “stylish” gastropub (est. 2015), whose ‘Britalian’ food “nails the authenticity” of its influences, be it arancini; “leftfield but delicious lavender and honey custard tart”; or “simply great seafood” (not to mention the beloved ‘Be Unruly’ tasting menu, yours for a discounted £49 per person on Thursdays). Admittedly, it’s “well-hyped” these days – having garnered ‘best gastropub’ awards from many a national authority – and where there’s hype, there are inevitably skeptics, for whom it’s generally “far from cheap” and in a rather “unspectacular” roadside location too (albeit one handy for the A12, though). Top Tip – good for a business lunch.

“An excellent” stopping-off point in the heart of Constable Country, this centuries-old coaching inn has all the beams and wood panelling you’d hope for – as well as “very tasty meals with nice accompaniments”. There are “lots of tourists”, of course, but it’s a “fun” and “reliable” operation under the same independent ownership for 21 years.

This attractive hotel in Constable Country is “a very pleasant place to eat”, owing to its terraced gardens and “good basic bistro food” (“plus it’s always open”, which doesn’t hurt). Service is not always a highpoint though, and can be “slow”.

“The delightful setting in Constable Country” makes this famous landmark – opened in 1925 – ideal for “special occasions and memorable meals”, and the beamed interiors are almost a match for the dreamy Dedham Vale location. But the pricey food has too often been judged “average” over many years – critics feel it “doesn’t live up to its reputation or ideal surroundings”.

This red-brick hotel with rooms was formerly owned by TV ‘Hotel Inspector’ Ruth Watson, but is nowadays under local group The Hotel Folk; “the menu is seasonal and consistent” and features “lots of lovely fish” landed in Orford, as well as locally reared meats, with “professional” service thrown into the mix.

The Pinney family’s fishy institution “hasn’t changed for 40 years, apart from the odd tweak to the menu – and why not, when it’s as perfect as this?” A “simple setting” doesn’t detract from its charms – including the fact that “it was doing local before it became a trendy buzzword, with fish (both fresh and smoked) and oysters from down the road”; “after you’ve eaten, you can wander through this impossibly picturesque village to their shop to take more home”.