Long Melford Restaurant Guide

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.

“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.

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”.

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”.

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”.

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.