West Mersea, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

Ben & Sophie Crittenden’s tiny 12-seater “is a unique example of how a small, focused team can delight the diner”, with “superb cooking” and “terrific” six-course tasting menus that “never disappoint”. The couple opened the restaurant eight years ago so they could spend more family time with their three children; they closed their nearby tapas bar Dos at Christmas 2022 in the face of escalating costs.

“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”.

“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.

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).

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).

“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).

This “lovely local restaurant” with a “cool London vibe in a hard-to-find location off the High Street” showcases chef-patron Paul Wendholt’s “just fantastic” modern British cooking. It’s a “tiny place”, so “sitting at the bar overlooking the open kitchen is really interactive”. The venue changed its name and direction two years ago – “I loved when it was Grain, and I’m so glad the new name and menu live up to expectations”.