Haverhill Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: This “delightful old village pub/restaurant” earns consistently strong ratings for its locally sourced and well cooked meals, which appeal to “locals and walkers alike”.

“Consistently solid gastropub food” earns ratings to match at this well-presented inn from the East Anglian Chestnut Collection of pubs.

A striking Georgian coaching inn overlooking this pretty destination’s surprisingly long village green. Now in the safe hands of the East Anglia-based Chestnut Group (behind the Old Bridge in Huntingdon and, most recently, The Maltings in Weybourne), this “reliable local” turns out varied grub, from hearty roasts to vegan options – and you can walk it off at one of the many stately homes nearby (of which the NT’s Melford Hall is just a hop away).

This gastropub from the local Cambscuisine group, in an affluent commuter village south of Cambridge, is “worth a detour for its lovely garden and good-quality food from friendly waiting staff”. (The pub is named for its flamboyant owner from the 1970s, ‘Squire Kim Joseph Hollick De La Taste Tickell’).

2022 Review: Carl & Beth Shillingford operate out of these converted former stables nowadays (having moved from art venue, The Quay in Sudbury, a few years ago). Food is served from breakfast and then deli-style throughout the day. On certain weekend evenings they bring back the full ‘Shillingford’s’ experience – providing a seasonal menu with many foraged ingredients. Limited but upbeat feedback – “a rustic-feeling place with good, rustic food”.

“An unexpected delight in Sudbury” – a “lovely old house” with beams plays host to Stéphane Chapotot and Alain Jacq’s “excellent French eatery”, long a local light (and veggie-friendly too); post-pandemic, it has fused with the formerly separate café, and now serves “very well-sourced and presented” breakfasts and lunches, plus more gastronomic dinners on Fri/Sat.

2022 Review: Jamie Oliver’s parents Trevor & Sally retired from this sixteenth-century village gastropub after 44 years in November 2020, so it has recently changed hands: it’s now a part of the 12-strong Chestnut group of pubs. The Olivers always ran the Cricketers well, but regulars say “(even in the tepee) the food is possibly up a notch”.

2023 Review: Limited but positive feedback on this successful vegan, which shifted to this new location in a new development near the station in 2021. Worth remembering if you are catching a train and a place of pilgrimage for those who eat meat-free. It’s a rare Cambridge eatery that has spawned openings in the capital (see also).

“Delicious thin-crust pizzas” and “incredible service”, “what more could you want?” – “we came here tired and hungry, we wanted good pizza without a wait and that’s exactly what we got”. Scott Holden’s Mill Road outfit also majors in ‘bottomless’ brunches.