Bury St Edmunds Restaurant Guide

“Interesting food of great quality and at a good price” from chef Zack Deakins is the attraction at this Grade II-listed townhouse on Angel Hill: one of the city’s better established culinary destinations. It “has seemed really busy and vibrant this year, which is great to see and really builds a good ambience”.

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).

“Mediterranean (meets Middle Eastern) fine-dining without the Michelin faffing or prices” awaits at this “quirky” restaurant (est. 2009) from Justin Sharp and FOH wife Jurga. It’s “in a most unlikely location” (a residential square), but there’s no quibbling with Justin’s “unusual” food, and “in a world of commoditised wine lists”, Jurga’s “perfectly curated list is a joy”, with “plenty of interesting wines from small producers, including organic options, natural wines, etc.”.

“A beautiful high-ceilinged 400-year-old old barn in the middle of a vineyard” makes an “amazing setting” for the “great food” served at this restaurant, now in its third decade. “Wines made on site and in the local area” are a special feature, and you can “walk through woodland to view the vines” before or after eating. Post-lockdown there’s also the outdoor Moonshine pizza café.

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”.

A fifteenth century inn overlooking the local green that’s ably helmed by the Chestnut Group, who run a series of characterful boozers across East Anglia; it’s praised for a “well-balanced menu” (steaks, fish, veggie options like risotto) and its handy location for visiting local stately homes, with NT property Melford Hall just a five-minute walk away.

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”.

“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.

2021 Review: “Modern cuisine using local seasonal produce” wins plaudits for chef-owner Calvin Holland at this upscale village pub. “Surprising and innovative” dishes from the tasting menu sit alongside “simple steak and fish dishes for more traditional diners”. “A recent refurb has created a relaxed seating area where you can enjoy a drink before and after eating”.

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”.

This “new, fresh and creative” venue – a former bus shelter with room for 23 diners – from “a young chef with a great pedigree”, James Carn (ex-Pea Porridge) and his wife Sophia, is already making waves with “really personal cooking and personal service”. Two reporters had their best meal of the year here this year, while The Observer’s Jay Rayner in his July 2023 review was also bowled over on an early visit, describing it as “ambitious, clever, relaxed and hugely enjoyable; in one word, it’s special”. It’s named after the river which flows through the town.