Saxmundham Restaurant Guide

2022 Review: “Great pork dishes” are the highlight of landlord Garry Cook’s menus at this fifteenth-century tavern, using meat from his wife Teresa’s smallholding, where she has bred prize-winning pigs and other animals since moving into the pub 15 years ago. Snape Maltings concert hall is just five minutes away, so the dining room is “well attended”.

2021 Review: This comfortable old inn between Southwold and Aldeburgh has generated all-round enthusiasm since joining East Anglia’s Chestnut Group a couple of years ago: the food is well rated and “friendly staff make a meal here a real pleasure”.

“Unpretentious but consistently good cooking and wonderful service” help sustain this Aldeburgh fixture, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, as “the epitome of a reliable, welcoming local restaurant”. Owner Sam Hayes “is a terrific host” and with his “exemplary staff” makes sure that every meal is “a fabulous experience” – and “given the multi-millionaire level” of Aldeburgh prices, it’s also “thoroughly good value”. Top Menu Tip – “excellent fish”.

This unpretentious high street outfit is run by twins Alex (on FOH) and Oliver (kitchen duties) Burnside, who had already racked up a decade-plus of experience working there before taking it over in 2020 – and, in the case of Alex, having met his wife there too. As befits the coastal location, fish and seafood are the focus, but the popular specials board ranges more widely. If you like their style, the duo also oversee cottage-style dining pub The Golden Key, in Snape, and The Plough and Sail on the front at Snape Maltings.

There’s “always a long queue” at this well-known and much-commented-on fixture – “but it’s worth the wait” for “great fish ’n’ chips to eat on the beach” while trying to “avoid the seagulls” poised to pounce on your meal. Owner Peter Cooney was 11 when his parents bought the business in 1967, and he’s still frying. Top Tip – “grab a pint of excellent Adnams from next door while you wait”.

2022 Review: “You could almost be in Kerala” at this “excellent and imaginative Indian” on the seafront, noted for its “delicious spicing”… almost, were it not for the mismatched modern hotel setting; attractive booth-style seating and an impressive list of specialist beers are added motives for a visit.

“There’s a buzz about this place” – an old smugglers’ inn on the Suffolk coast that’s “very popular” with locals but also “convenient when holidaying in the Dunwich area and a bonus for a last dinner before the homeward journey”. Now part of East Anglia’s Chestnut Group, it turns out “super” locally sourced food, combining trad pub classics with more foodie-oriented options (plus the “child menu offers proper food”). In addition to the characterful bar there’s a small dining room, airy conservatory and – of more recent ilk – a “promising” new garden service.

Having switched hands from ‘Hotel Inspector’ Ruth Watson to six-strong group ‘The Hotel Folk’, there are “impressively high standards across the board in this charming Suffolk spot”; “fish is a strong point” of the operation, which is also reputed for its “relaxed ambience with a silver demographic”. “The interesting Orford Castle is close by” and can be glimpsed when dining al-fresco.

“The menu doesn‘t change much at this venerable restaurant” and “over the years the school dining room feel is just the same” too, but, hey, “if it ain’t broke don‘t fix it” – and this veteran from the Pinney family definitely ain’t broke. On the menu, “fish, either fresh or smoked in their own smokery” and then “simply cooked – perfect”. “After lunch, wander down to their shop on the quay to stock up on oysters, various smoked fish and meats, their own pâtés and more goodies”.

“Gastropub? More like a fine-dining experience” say fans of this “prize-winning” and “dog- friendly” Brit-alian venue (est. 2015), which secured top honours on Estrella Damm’s Top 50 UK Gastropubs list for the second time in 2024. For all the headlines, it continues to attract cynics who feel it’s “vastly overhyped”, “not as good as it was” or who note “ever-increasing prices”. Still, all who report rate the cooking as “good” or better. Top TIp – there’s no doubting that the ‘Be Unruly’ “tasting menu on Thursday is exceptional value” (£49 per person for five courses, as per the usual £75).

2023 Review: This attractive Arts & Crafts pub-with-rooms and an acre of land is a “good place to stay on the Suffolk coast”, with “friendly service” and “good pub grub” which puts an emphasis on local seafood and produce – including beers from champion local brewer Adnams. Mark & Sophie Dorber (formerly of the White Horse in Parsons Green, aka the Sloaney Pony) have owned and run it for 19 years.

Born in 2001 when the owners started to sell their daily catch from a small clapboard hut in the harbour – a fish ‘n’ chip takeaway sibling, ‘The Little Fish & Chip Shop’, in the town centre, joined in 2015 – this local fixture was gutted by a fire in spring 2023. As we went to press, it was still operating as a takeaway with outside seating (plus fishmonger open seven days a week), but happily there were plans to re-open the restaurant proper in November 2024, so here’s hoping it’s back on its feet by the time this guide is out. Owing to such unfortunate events, feedback this year was limited, but the much-loved icon continued to secure very respectable marks.

This attractive Georgian high street inn, long of note among London daytrippers, is part of the Adnams stable, so “exemplary beer” is a given. While it’s “had its wobbles over the years” (decades, really) and there was the odd “average” report again this year, a number of reports claim it’s “finally improving again” and its biggest fans say it’s “everything that you’d want a seaside hotel restaurant to be”.

“Fish is the speciality at this historic house hotel” – “we love the food here and we’re always made to feel very welcome” by proprietors Andy & Kinga Rudd, who have run it for 16 years. The building itself is one of the oldest in Southwold, dating from 1455.

This 16th-century hotel on the market place and a short hop from the sea was acquired by Ernest and George Adnams back in 1872, the same year they founded their famous brewery. Still part of the family, the ancient venue does tend to split opinion these days, with fans claiming it “continues to improve”, and cynics – reciting a perennial gripe – that it’s “still struggling after the refurb” that fancified it in 2017. In any event, the bar (aka Tap Room) still offers “reasonable” prices though arguably “the best offering here is morning coffee or afternoon tea in their comfy lounge”.

“Consistently great cooking from Paul Yaxley” that’s “reasonably priced”, too, makes this “absolutely delightful venue” – a Grade II listed former guildhall – “a destination for that ‘special occasion’ dinner”, with “attentive service” led by his wife, Sarah. Some fans, though, say “the cooking’s good but it would be nice to see the menu revamped more often”.

“Good bread and tasty pastries” have driven the expansion of Rebecca Bishop’s East Anglian group since she opened her first “great coffee shop-café” in Southwold in 2012. She now has 11 branches across the region, including two with pizza ovens, a delivery shop and a bakeschool at Darsham. Top Menu Tips – “Portuguese egg tart & Danish cinnamon bun are recommended”.

This pub-with-rooms (plus a sibling, The Parrot, in Aldringham) is “mostly a restaurant now, although some of the very smart locals still use it as a pub” and regulars say it remains “the social fulcrum of this very under-the-radar and incredibly exclusive resort, where discretion and good taste rule” (with “boules pitches in the gardens at patrons’ disposal during summer months”). Ratings are quite safe across the board, although there’s a feeling that “the good food has been somewhat up and down” of late.

“A perfect local Italian in an historic town famous for its castle, college and Ed Sheeran” – Ruth Watson and her husband Dave and chef Rob Walpole co-own this “light and airy” “neighbourhood” venue. It’s an operation with all its buttons sewn on: service is “sprightly” and food is “expertly crafted from a cunningly designed menu” that delivers “authentic cooking at an affordable price”.

Since its post-pandemic arrival, this “bright and appealing” restaurant with rooms in the premises of a converted old hotel has been a “pleasant addition” to the dining scene in this posh coastal town and its popularity is such that it “becomes noisy and crowded at weekends”. It wins consistent praise for its “great seafood (very nice lobster in particular) and fresh, well-prepared fish” but there are also a number of reports which suggest that it can feel a little overhyped locally: “it’s aiming high, but maybe not quite reaching the heights… not memorable if very pleasant”.