Suffolk, Italian Restaurant Guide

Brendan Padfield’s “fantastic restaurant/pub” has topped Estrella Damm’s Top 50 UK Gastropubs list three times in four years (2022, ’24, ’25), and most reporters agree that “it’s No.1 for a reason”: “I’m lucky enough to have been half a dozen times, and it’s outstanding”; “the best gastropub we’ve experienced, and it really is still a pub!”. The Guardian’s Grace Dent concurred with this view in her January 2025 review, heaping praise on imaginative chef Dave Wall’s ‘go-hard or go-home’ food, perfect for the adventurous diner. But a possibly surprising number of naysayers insist it’s “not quite as good as it thinks it is” – or worse, that it “always manages to disappoint” (“the judges of various awards clearly see something in this fairly ordinary gastropub which I don’t. Having eaten here many times I have been neither disappointed nor impressed”).

“Great cooking… a welcoming, warming atmosphere… an ever-changing menu” – there’s plenty to love about this “gorgeous traditional coaching inn” set in prime Constable Country, and with a distinctive yellow façade. There was praise this year for the “well-priced” seafood, as well as the “delightful” service, and it’s “also worth a shout-out to the excellent range of local beers”. Owner Piers Baker, who has shepherded the venue for two decades, is also behind Church Street Tavern in Colchester and, as of 2022, The White Hart Inn on Mersea Island.

“Great Italian food – in the middle of Suffolk!” (“there’s no better pasta in the UK”) comes as a surprise to visitors who don’t know the “famous owners” are TV’s ‘Hotel Inspector’ Ruth Watson, her husband Dave and chef Rob Walpole. “Service is always sweet and efficient” and “the prices seem very fair as well”. Top Menu Tip – “it’s one of the only places outside of London to do zucchini fritti perfectly!”