Southwold, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

“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”.

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”.