Southwold Restaurant Guide

In a Georgian building on the high street of this famous seaside town – where the brewery of this tavern’s owners Adnams is a key landmark – this well-known destination is “kept alive by the many tourists visiting the area” and has yet to regain its mojo of a couple of decades ago when the likes of Fay Maschler would declare it an out-of-town favourite. Nowadays, its dining room “is pleasant, but still needs to up their game in a number of areas”. Fans, though, do say “it’s on the up again, if for no better reason than the fact that it’s benefitting from the disastrous refurbishment of its sibling, the Swan!”

This 16th-century hotel on the market place and a short hop from the sea was acquired by Ernest and George Adnams back in 1872, the same year they founded their famous brewery. Still part of the family, the ancient venue does tend to split opinion these days, with fans claiming it “continues to improve”, and cynics – reciting a perennial gripe – that it’s “still struggling after the refurb” that fancified it in 2017. In any event, the bar (aka Tap Room) still offers “reasonable” prices though arguably “the best offering here is morning coffee or afternoon tea in their comfy lounge”.

“Fish is the speciality at this historic house hotel” – “we love the food here and we’re always made to feel very welcome” by proprietors Andy & Kinga Rudd, who have run it for 16 years. The building itself is one of the oldest in Southwold, dating from 1455.

“Slightly smarter since reopening” in November 2024 following a fire that gutted the premises a year and a half earlier, this much-loved local fishmonger and take-away (there’s a chippie sibling in the town centre) is otherwise unchanged: namely it “still offers lovely sharing seafood platters” and “the best fish ’n’ chips” in these parts. It’s “not cheap”, but nonetheless “well worth a trip to the harbour”, where “you feel very close to the catch”.

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.

“There’s a buzz about this place” – an old smugglers’ inn on the Suffolk coast that’s “very popular” with locals but also “convenient when holidaying in the Dunwich area and a bonus for a last dinner before the homeward journey”. Now part of East Anglia’s Chestnut Group, it turns out “super” locally sourced food, combining trad pub classics with more foodie-oriented options (plus the “child menu offers proper food”). In addition to the characterful bar there’s a small dining room, airy conservatory and – of more recent ilk – a “promising” new garden service.

“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.

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).

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”.

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.

2022 Review: “Great pork dishes” are the highlight of landlord Garry Cook’s menus at this fifteenth-century tavern, using meat from his wife Teresa’s smallholding, where she has bred prize-winning pigs and other animals since moving into the pub 15 years ago. Snape Maltings concert hall is just five minutes away, so the dining room is “well attended”.

“Everything is absolutely delicious, from savoury to sweet” at this “highly recommended” bakery that has grown to 10 branches across Norfolk and Suffolk in just 12 years since launching in Southwold (now with a central bakery and cookery school in Darsham). “They clearly source good-quality ingredients and know what to do with them”, serving up “excellent cooked breakfasts”, “generous pastries, tasty stuffed croissants and good coffee”, supplemented by “changing specials” and “gluten-free options too”.

Dependable pub food – with “attentive and friendly” service – are to be found at the “spacious” restaurant of this fixture in the “discreet resort” of Thorpeness, which is “buzzing with customers” during the season (“although some of the terribly smart locals do pop in for ample refreshment”). It has a sister venue nearby, The Parrot in Aldringham.

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”.

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”.

“A new chef has come to town – Harvey Thompson, late of Tuddenham Mill – and his food’s great” – so say promising early reports of this new rural bistro which opened towards the end of 2024. Too little feedback for a rating, but such as we have says the food is “excllent”: you can choose from a conventional menu and there’s also a selection of small plates. Top Menu Tip – “Venison and Bone Marrow Pie for two is stunning”.