Bungay Restaurant Guide

“Well worth a detour from the coast” for “delicious food and an interesting menu”: Paul & Sarah Yaxley’s “exceptional” venue – a beamed former guildhall – is “an oasis in the middle of East Anglia”. “I’ve been coming here since I was a teenager 45 years ago, and despite many changes over that time it still never disappoints”.

Locally born chef Daniel Smith’s “modern British” cuisine at his village pub-restaurant on the edge of Norwich is “always a winner” for its “imaginative flavours” and “excellent service”. “We eat here regularly and it’s first-rate both for the food and the pleasant atmosphere”, while “the set lunch and the tasting menu are both brilliant”. The venue’s name is left over from a previous African-themed incarnation.

2021 Review: “Exceptional” Indian vegetarian and vegan cooking wins high ratings for this “beautifully decorated” little restaurant on a central Norwich backstreet – a family-run business operated by “people who really care”.

“Excellent fish” is the highlight of the “imaginative” menu at this “delightful restaurant”, which is “probably the best place for dinner in Southwold”. The ancient building dates from 1455 and has been run for 15 years (10 as owners) by Kinga & Andy Rudd – the latter “a fun host who really cares about making sure everything goes very well”. Al-fresco dining is available in semi-private outdoor timber ‘pods’.

Chef-patron Richard Bainbridge’s “brilliant, fresh and exciting food” wows reporters at the restaurant he opened with his partner Katja almost 10 years ago. With “great staff and a wonderful ambience”, it is yet again plugged by many diners as “the best in Norwich”, but its local rival Hickman’s just had the edge in our annual diners’ poll this year, due to a small minority of critics who found the food “hyped and average” (“but we might have hit them on a bad day”).

“The best restaurant in Norwich (which is not intended to damn with faint praise!)”, according to fans of Roger Hickman’s “classy” and long-established dining destination in the city centre (which narrowly edged ahead of nearby Benedicts this year in our annual diners’ poll). All reports applaud the “very assured cooking” – “deeply flavoured with deft presentation and lovely combinations, without a single gimmick or fad”. Service is “willing” (“polite, charming, considerate, good-humoured!”) and “the room itself is elegant, and the napery satisfying”. One gripe – “it would be better to have their more extensive à la carte menu back in the evenings, but I guess the focus on a tasting format is a sign of the times”.

Back in the day, this characterful, Adnams-owned Georgian tavern in the heart of the town was an easy entry in London-based journos’ round-ups of day-escapes from the capital. For many years now, however, it’s been a less commented-on and less reliable attraction: for the majority, “still a favourite in Southwold after forty-something years” and some would say “back on form”; but there is still the odd disastrous trip reported here.

Chef Andrew Jones returned to his Norfolk origins seven years ago after working for Richard Corrigan and Claude Bosi, to open this modern venue that “never fails” with its locally sourced meals – “we love going there for lunch”. He and his partner, Hannah, also ran The Dial House restaurant-with-rooms in Reepham for five years, before selling up in autumn 2023.

2021 Review: “After nearly 30 years under the same ownership” owner James Sawrey-Cookson retired and this “well-loved Norwich institution” changed hands last year: bought by a number of business-minded regulars. Chef of three years’ standing, Iain McCarten is “well into his stride, but what makes this place so popular is the whole atmosphere (there is a real sense of belonging”). “Hopefully the new owners don’t ruin the formula” although change is certainly afoot, with a new outside terrace and adjoining brasserie section opening in autumn 2019.

On the market place, the Adnams brewery’s grand seventeenth century hotel attracted some positive reviews this year for its “good food” and “warm, buzzy atmosphere”, but also critics in equal measure, for whom the food is “OK, nothing special” – contributing to a lingering sense that “it was far better before the botched refurbishment” back in 2017, which added fancier design cred and fancier prices to go with it. Top Tip – for a cheaper meal, head to the Tap Room, not the main dining room.

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.

A fire in May 2023 engulfed this beloved clapboard-shack-style venue with town-centre spin-off, as well as its quayside neighbours, but they were already up and running as a takeaway the following month, with plans to re-open the restaurant (for now there’s limited outdoor seating). Despite the setback, it continues to win raves for “fish ‘n’ chips as good as it gets”, featuring “crispy batter” and “crunchy/soft” chips, “all cooked in umami-packed beef dripping”; add in “a dollop or two of mushy peas as contrasting texture…and who could ask for more?”

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”.

Ex-Alimentum chef Mark Poynton opened an eponymous restaurant at this country house hotel ten minutes’ drive from Norwich in March 2023, with Byron Franklin as his head chef. The debut allowed little time for feedback in our annual diners’ poll on their offering which features a five-course menu for £75 per person; or a nine-course menu for £100 per person.

This “must be the ultimate transport caff for foodies”, say fans of this artisan bakery on the A12 – part of founder Rebecca Bishop’s nine-strong East Anglian group – which draws more than just passing trade with its “lovely bread and lovely baked stuff”.

“Lovely” daily-made pasta wins star billing at this “really good Italian” from former Roux at the Landau head chef Oliver Boon and his brother Ben (Ben & Oli). The “short but varied menu” is “creative, tasty yet somehow still traditional in feeling – in the Italian way rather than a British take on Italian”.

“A lovely, authentic French bistro run by friendly couple with lots of favourites on the menu that’s been a great addition to Norwich” – husband and wife team Thomas Aubrit and Gemma Aubrit-Layfield are celebrating their third year in the Norwich Lanes, having launched just as covid struck at the start of 2020.

“A fresh and vibrant menu with a fusion of local foods and inspired cooking” inspires enthusiastic (if limited) feedback on Jimmy Preston’s funky two-year-old, which started as a pop-up and went permanent in late 2021. In early 2023, The Observer’s Jay Rayner also raved over its “face-slapping flavours” and “cheeky, magpie-like romp across Asia” (including XO seasoning which includes Frazzles, Scampi Fries and Monster Munch).