Bury St Edmunds, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Wow, what a find!” – Chef-patron Zack Deakins’s townhouse on Angel Hill offers “delicate, subtle, tasty and skilful cooking” in a “beautiful room”, along with a “cheery, warm welcome” and “attentive, friendly service” – “one table wanted the tasting menu but one with no fish; one no meat; one vegetarian... no problem at all, the staff were flexible and made helpful suggestions”. There’s also “an interesting, well-chosen wine list with wines from unusual countries (Croatia; Lebanon; Japan)”. It’s “great for business lunches”, too.

2021 Review: “For that romantic meal close to the town centre within super gardens and with a great terrace”, this elegant restaurant with rooms provides a “gorgeous” setting and “delicious cooking”. At lunch, there’s a cheaper set menu (as well as the option of sandwiches and salads).

“Bury St Edmunds is quite a gastronomical wonder town” and near the top of the pile is this “small beauty” – an “unpretentious” sort of place set up by chef Justin Sharp and FOH wife Jurga in 2009, and which has retained the tyre men’s acclaim since 2021. The “fabulous” and “scrummy” food is a mash-up of the Mediterranean and the Middle East that “never fails to delight”, while there’s “always something exciting, interesting or unexpected” on the wine list (particularly if you like organic and natural wines). Top Tip – the “off-pitch location” (a residential square) “means parking nearby at lunchtime is impossible”, but on the plus side it’s only a ten-minute walk from the train station.

A “beautiful” 400-year-old barn conversion creates a “lovely relaxed atmosphere” for the “interesting food and own-produced wines” served on Wyken Estate, whose vineyard was planted in 1988. The café at the other end of the barn reopened after a four-year closure in September 2024, serving more relaxed lunches, and there’s also an open-air pizzeria knocking out wood-fired sourdough pizzas on Saturdays.

A gloriously situated old watermill set on twelve acres strewn with weeping willows plays host to this venture, juggling a more formal upstairs dining room and casual outdoor hangout Tipi on the Stream, for cocktails and seafood. Chef-owner Lee Bye’s seasonal field-to-fork food is “done to perfection” (with one reporter preferring the à la carte to the tasting menu) and if you want to overnight, the rooms are “fantastic” too.

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

2021 Review: A “great place to eat in Lavenham”, this wine bar and restaurant-with-rooms in a beautifully converted fifteenth-century brick-and-timber house rates strongly across the board. Hosts Jo Knight and Rod Benson are locals.

2021 Review: “The most beautiful old Tudor building” in the stage-set town of Lavenham is “just the place for a special-occasion meal” – whether “an indulgent tea served on old-fashioned trays” or “a sumptuous dinner in the elegant Gallery restaurant”.

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”.

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”.

“A tiny restaurant with big flavours” – James & Sophia Carn’s ambitious yearling is “very different” by the standards of the area, but numerous fans suggest “it’s the place to be in Bury” and (“being very small – around 25 covers – booking is essential”). The menu provided a good number of diners’ best meal of the year: “a wide and diverse range of small plates” which can also be enjoyed as a tasting selection for £80 per person. “The whole underlying theme is one of care”: this is “tasty, pretty, creative food that is not fussy or pretentious in any way”, “served with professional smiles in a buzzy little space”. Top Menu Tip – “Bone marrow and oxtail pie is stunning”.