Orford Restaurant Guide

“Still the freshest fish, cooked simply but with absolute care and attention… thankfully, standards are still maintained...” – “it is always a joy to take friends to this venue, run by the Pinney family” for over 50 years “where you are never disappointed” and whose stock comes from the family’s own two fishing boats and nearby smokehouses. “They serve posher bread nowadays, otherwise it’s very much the same as ever”. After lunch, you can stock up in their shop on the quay.

Handy for a visit to the “interesting Orford Castle”, this “laidback” coastal restaurant-with-rooms offers some “delicious” cooking from a “menu that changes regularly and they always use excellent local produce, e.g., Pinney’s smoked salmon, Blythburgh pork, Pump House Bakery bread”. While the odd naysayer feels that “this place has declined in the hands of the local Hotel Folk group” (who took it over from ‘Hotel Inspector’ Ruth Watson), the majority verdict is much more buoyant, and “if you are staying then they serve the best breakfast – again all local produce”. Note that they “no longer open for lunch”, except for the “very good” Sunday roast.

2022 Review: “You could almost be in Kerala” at this “excellent and imaginative Indian” on the seafront, noted for its “delicious spicing”… almost, were it not for the mismatched modern hotel setting; attractive booth-style seating and an impressive list of specialist beers are added motives for a visit.

2024 Review: There’s “always a long queue” at this well-known and much-commented-on fixture – “but it’s worth the wait” for “great fish ’n’ chips to eat on the beach” while trying to “avoid the seagulls” poised to pounce on your meal. Owner Peter Cooney was 11 when his parents bought the business in 1967, and he’s still frying. Top Tip – “grab a pint of excellent Adnams from next door while you wait”.

With its jaunty, nautically themed pale blue frontage, this sizable restaurant is a long-established feature of the high street, with fish centre-stage on its daily changing specials board. It attracts a fair number of reports, but something of a scattergun of opinions – ratings suffer from one or two diners who feel it “used to be better”, but a more representative report is of “a lunch, which though fairly basic was very well executed (it was our first visit here after it changing hands and it is still to be recommended)”. Twins Alex and Oliver Burnside who own it also oversee The Golden Key (in Snape) and The Plough and Sail (at Snape Maltings).

“A favourite of locals and often booked well ahead (meaning outsiders may need ingenuity to get a look in)” – this “friendly” bistro of three decades’ standing has been owned since 2015 by long-time manager Sam Hayes and his wife Maxine, and – in terms of volume of commentary – they have held their own against the arrival of The Suffolk. Food-wise, it’s a “perennial performer that doesn’t hit sublime heights but never disappoints”, serving “decent brasserie fare” that’s “the best value in millionaires’-row-on-sea Aldeburgh”, with most starters under £10, mains averaging £20 and puds £9.

2023 Review: This black-painted shack opposite Aldeburgh’s Moot Hall sells “seriously brilliant smoked fish right on the beach”. The seafood is either hot- or cold-smoked on site, using a light smoke to enhance flavour rather than the more commercial heavy smoke used as a preservative. Top Tip – “noon tarts to die for”.

Nowadays the talk of this posh coastal town: this ambitious seafood specialist – an “upmarket” restaurant-with-rooms – was reborn in 2022 from its pandemic-era conception as L’Escargot Sur-Mer, a Suffolk offshoot of the famed Soho institution, which operated during the period when the latter was shuttered. Those who visited for the first time since the name change report that it “didn’t disappoint”, offering the “perfect location for perfect fish and seafood”. Yes, it’s “quite pricey and noisy at weekends”, but cynics who feel it’s overhyped are vastly outweighed by those for whom it’s “well worth a visit to this lovely seaside town”. Top Tip – the “lovely sun trap terrace is perfect for summer lunches and evenings”.