Stowmarket Restaurant Guide

“Old fashioned, with understated service and great ambience” – this impressive Grade I listed property dates from 1440 and was once the HQ to 1970s TV chef Robert Carrier, who restored it in the early 1970s. There’s a wide range of à la carte, tasting and afternoon tea menus, all in a traditional mould and all at relatively affordable prices.

A “beautiful” 400-year-old barn conversion creates a “lovely relaxed atmosphere” for the “interesting food and own-produced wines” served on Wyken Estate, whose vineyard was planted in 1988. The café at the other end of the barn reopened after a four-year closure in September 2024, serving more relaxed lunches, and there’s also an open-air pizzeria knocking out wood-fired sourdough pizzas on Saturdays.

Foo Trong’s traditional family-run Chinese restaurant with a long menu featuring all the classics is an Ipswich landmark after 27 years’ service – “you feel they are so pleased to see you, and they make sure you’re well looked after”.

“Wow, what a find!” – Chef-patron Zack Deakins’s townhouse on Angel Hill offers “delicate, subtle, tasty and skilful cooking” in a “beautiful room”, along with a “cheery, warm welcome” and “attentive, friendly service” – “one table wanted the tasting menu but one with no fish; one no meat; one vegetarian... no problem at all, the staff were flexible and made helpful suggestions”. There’s also “an interesting, well-chosen wine list with wines from unusual countries (Croatia; Lebanon; Japan)”. It’s “great for business lunches”, too.

“Bury St Edmunds is quite a gastronomical wonder town” and near the top of the pile is this “small beauty” – an “unpretentious” sort of place set up by chef Justin Sharp and FOH wife Jurga in 2009, and which has retained the tyre men’s acclaim since 2021. The “fabulous” and “scrummy” food is a mash-up of the Mediterranean and the Middle East that “never fails to delight”, while there’s “always something exciting, interesting or unexpected” on the wine list (particularly if you like organic and natural wines). Top Tip – the “off-pitch location” (a residential square) “means parking nearby at lunchtime is impossible”, but on the plus side it’s only a ten-minute walk from the train station.

A striking Georgian coaching inn overlooking this pretty destination’s surprisingly long village green. Now in the safe hands of the East Anglia-based Chestnut Group (behind the Old Bridge in Huntingdon and, most recently, The Maltings in Weybourne), this “reliable local” turns out varied grub, from hearty roasts to vegan options – and you can walk it off at one of the many stately homes nearby (of which the NT’s Melford Hall is just a hop away).

A 500-year-old country inn set in gorgeous Suffolk countryside provides a stunning backdrop to a meal at this ambitious property, which has been owned by Richard Sunderland & Sarah Broadbent since 2022. But if “after spending millions the place is very nice”, the odd report also has reservations: the traditional (and sensibly priced) French-inflected cuisine is well-rated by one repeat-visitor, but another feels that: “they seem to be chasing a Michelin Star, but are trying to run before they can walk”.

“A small restaurant with a single sitting, delivering an outstanding multi-course tasting menu for a fantastic price” – this open kitchen/chef’s table experience delivers a ten-course tasting menu using “some really creative cooking, and the selection differs using local and foraged ingredients every visit”. It’s only open Thursday-Saturday and sits on the 3,000-acre Rougham estate, alongside a cookery school. Feedback is only limited, but remains very upbeat.

“A tiny restaurant with big flavours” – James & Sophia Carn’s ambitious yearling is “very different” by the standards of the area, but numerous fans suggest “it’s the place to be in Bury” and (“being very small – around 25 covers – booking is essential”). The menu provided a good number of diners’ best meal of the year: “a wide and diverse range of small plates” which can also be enjoyed as a tasting selection for £80 per person. “The whole underlying theme is one of care”: this is “tasty, pretty, creative food that is not fussy or pretentious in any way”, “served with professional smiles in a buzzy little space”. Top Menu Tip – “Bone marrow and oxtail pie is stunning”.

Opened in February 2024, the new kid on the block in this foodie town is “part-owned by Régis Crépy, who used to run The Great House in Lavenham” (which he sold in 2018 after over three decades at the helm) and restaurateur Lamen Reddy, whom he met when they were running neighbouring eateries at Cambridge’s Grafton shopping centre. The Grade II-listed building (formerly Neal’s Yard and, way before that, Italian La Vita Bella) now offers a “fresh exciting menu” based on “superb” Mediterranean small plates and is “already very popular”.

“A perfect local Italian in an historic town famous for its castle, college and Ed Sheeran” – Ruth Watson and her husband Dave and chef Rob Walpole co-own this “light and airy” “neighbourhood” venue. It’s an operation with all its buttons sewn on: service is “sprightly” and food is “expertly crafted from a cunningly designed menu” that delivers “authentic cooking at an affordable price”.