Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Ipswich
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Ipswich restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 13 restaurants in Ipswich and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Ipswich restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Ipswich Restaurants
1. Hintlesham Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Hintlesham
Hintlesham - IP8
This “impressive” Grade I listed country house in Suffolk dates from the reign of Henry IV and is a “glorious hotel to stay in”. It is sometimes said to be “uninspiring given the pricing”, but the majority of accounts this year were upbeat, hailing cuisine “worthy of its late owner, Robert Carrier” – who was a famous TV chef in the 1970s – “but up-to-date and interesting”. Dip your toe in the water one afternoon, for the “large tea, with excellent scones, served in a lovely old hall”.
2. Trongs
Chinese restaurant in Ipswich
23 St Nicholas St - IP1
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”.
3. 1900 Mariners
French restaurant in Ipswich
Neptune Quay - IP4
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.
4. The Mistley Thorn Restaurant & Rooms
British, Modern restaurant in Mistley
High St - CO11
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).
5. The Unruly Pig
British, Modern restaurant in Bromeswell
Orford Rd - IP12
“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.
6. The Pier at Harwich
Fish & seafood restaurant in Harwich
The Quay - CO12
“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.
7. The Sun Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Dedham
High St - CO7
“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.
8. Milsoms
Mediterranean restaurant in Dedham
Stratford Rd - CO7
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”.
9. Le Talbooth
British, Modern restaurant in Dedham
Gun Hill - CO7
“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”.
10. The Bildeston Crown
British, Modern restaurant in Bildeston
104 High St - IP7
2023 Review: This half-timbered fifteenth-century former coaching inn is a “reliable venue for good food”, with a menu that ticks boxes all the way from basic cheeseburger or beer-battered hake ’n’ chips to more original offerings such as goat cheese doughnut with beetroot sugar and a flexible selection of dishes available in two sizes – as either starters or mains. Top Tip – “the great lobster Caesar salad”.
11. The Angel Inn
British, Traditional restaurant in Stoke-by-Nayland
Polstead St - CO6
“At last Suffolk has somewhere very special again” – this “relatively new, upmarket” outfit is set in a five-hundred-year-old country inn that has long had a culinary reputation. Fans say it’s “the best-looking restaurant for miles around”, and is “trying hard” – they’re “obviously chasing a star” in the kitchen, which is praised for its “great tasting menu” (the only option by night).
12. The Crown
British, Modern restaurant in Stoke-by-Nayland
Park Street - CO6
2023 Review: In the heart of Constable Country, this gastropub with rooms is “a busy venue with a good atmosphere and friendly service”. Foodwise, it’s praised for cooking that’s “outstanding” at the “very reasonable price”; and wine lovers are well-catered for too, with 250 bins (they also run their own merchants).
13. Watson & Walpole
Italian restaurant in Framlingham
3 Church Street - IP13
“Really exceptional and genuinely Italian food, beautifully prepared, cooked and presented with brio”, makes this three-year-old from Ruth Watson, TV’s ‘Hotel Inspector’, her husband Dave and Rob Walpole “a very special place”. With its “airy, light interior” and “exemplary service”, it’s “everything a neighbourhood restaurant should be” – and “not what you expect to find in a Suffolk town”.
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