The 15 best restaurants in Suffolk
There’s never been a better time to eat out in Suffolk than now. Most of its major towns and resorts have a handful of good restaurants, with Bury St Edmunds in particular undergoing a bit of a food renaissance.
From long-established local favourites serving delicious pub 'classics' to a beach-shack style eatery with a Mediterranean twist, discover the best restaurants in the county.
For further inspiration, discover our guide to Suffolk and the best hotels, nightlife and things to do in the area.
Find a restaurant by area
Suffolk Coast
The Bell, Saxmundham
A few miles inland from Aldeburgh, this classic coaching inn was updated a couple of years ago and now makes for a stylish – and moderately priced – alternative to some of the places on the coast, both for food and an overnight stay. Its restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and serves a menu focused on fresh fish and seafood, Blythburgh pork and local cheeses. They serve local beef and other roasts on Sunday, and have a bar that continues to be a busy haunt for many Saxmundham locals.
Contact: thebellhotelsaxmundham.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended for dinner
The Lighthouse, Aldeburgh
A long-established locals’ favourite, The Lighthouse is arguably Aldeburgh’s best restaurant, an informal and relaxed sort of place on two floors where they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. The interior is simple yet cosy, with light-wood tables, a small patio garden out the back and a great atmosphere presided over by the affable owner Sam. The menu generally favours locally sourced ingredients and good, simple home-cooked food, with everything from excellent fish and chips and liver and bacon to pan-fried scallops and venison tagine. It's always busy.
Contact: lighthouserestaurant.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Best tables: Downstairs in the front, or, in summer, in the courtyard behind
The Crown & Castle, Orford
Originally founded by the former TV hotel inspector Ruth Watson, the Crown & Castle in sleepy Orford bills itself as a 'restaurant with rooms', and although it’s a terrific place to stay, and won 'Small Hotel of the Year' in a recent East of England awards, it’s always been a foodie joint at heart. Sample all manner of delights from Orford’s landmark smokery, Pinneys, local oysters, Suffolk lamb and the freshest fish and seafood. They only serve lunch on a Sunday, but it’s a good one, and afterwards you can take a stroll down to Orford quay and the coastal path, or pick up one of the pub’s electric bikes for a more ambitious tour of the local area.
Contact: crownandcastle.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended for dinner
Sea Spice, Aldeburgh
There’s only one Indian restaurant in Aldeburgh, and as you might expect in this most middle-class of resorts, it’s a posh one. Part of the White Lion Hotel, it is, however, a hell of a good restaurant, one of the best in town in fact, serving an authentic sub-continental menu that is a little bit different – and a couple of notches above – most small-town Indian restaurants, with more in common with new-wave places like Dishoom. There's good service too, though it’s not the cheapest place for a curry.
Contact: seaspice.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended for dinner
The Sail Loft, Southwold
This beachside restaurant with rooms brings an almost Mediterranean air to East Anglia. It has the feel of a funky seaside shack, with rustic furniture, bare floorboards and a crowd that’s as mixed as Southwold itself. Food is served through the day and there’s an emphasis on the sea that suits the duneside location.
Contact: sailloftsouthwold.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
The Unruly Pig, Woodbridge
In its former incarnation as the English Larder, this pub on the fringes of Woodbridge has always been a great place to eat, and for the last few years it has continued the tradition, with excellent food (British with an Italian tinge so for bread you get Pump House sourdough along with Sardinian ‘carta di musica’), a lovely laid-back vibe and great service. It’s pretty good value, too, and dog-friendly, with a garden out the back for warm summer evenings. Very handy before or after a visit to nearby Sutton Hoo.
Contact: theunrulypig.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
The Suffolk, Aldeburgh
This Aldeburgh restaurant with rooms opened in 2021 as the Suffolk outpost of the long—running Soho stalwart, L’Escargot, and now occupies in a prime site on the town’s main drag. It’s a lovely place to eat, and has a roof terrace overlooking the sea for a pre-prandial tipple. They feature the best local produce, emphasizing brilliant fish and seafood –oysters, fresh crab, skate wing and lobster, to name just the most obvious highlights – along with beautiful local lamb, and a terrific Cote de Bouf for two. All served simply and beautifully presented.
Contact: the-suffolk.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Inland Suffolk
The Station, Framlingham
It doesn’t look like much, but this stripped-down old boozer is a real foodie joint. Menus are written up on blackboards, with simpler stuff at lunch – kedgeree, burgers – and slightly more refined dishes in the evening – think venison and pan-fried pigeon breasts. On Sunday, they serve a decadent roast and fire up their pizza oven Thursday–Saturday. The food can be as comforting or surprising as you like, and the pub has the welcoming feel of a home-cook’s front room. Framlingham’s most convivial haunt, and I'm not just saying that because Ed Sheeran has been known to pop by.
Contact: thestationframlingham.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
The White Horse, Sibton
The great thing about this country pub – apart from its excellent rural location, perfectly placed for some of the highlights of the Suffolk Coast and also the picturesque nearby villages of Peasenhall and Yoxford – is that it remains at heart a locals' pub, with lots of people popping by just for a pint, while also cooking up delicious and sometimes inventive food with ingredients sourced from the kitchen garden outside and local producers. Start with lightly seared pigeon breast with a bean and chorizo stew and follow it with rump of spring lamb with courgette ribbons and tzatziki.
Contact: sibtonwhitehorseinn.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended in the evening and at weekends
Best table: Very cosy at the bar
The Black Lion, Long Melford
This gastropub-cum-coaching inn has a lovely dual-aspect dining room overlooking the village green where you can eat excellent, self-consciously British food, with an admirable focus on East Anglian produce. The menu is short, seasonal and divided between pub classics – fishcakes, fish and chips, a good burger, pizzas – and only slightly less mainstream fare such as slow-braised pork belly, duo of English lamb or baby monkfish tail with streaky bacon and aubergine caviar – plus they usually have a steak of some kind.
Contact: theblacklionhotel.com
Reservations: Recommended
The Bildeston Crown, Bildeston
This posh pub with rooms has been going for a while now with a firm dedication to sourcing local produce and mentoring the most promising local chefs. With impeccable presentation, the restaurant serves the same (shortish) menu in the bar and the slightly more formal restaurant, and you can choose between an excellent selection of delectable 'classics' – burgers, fish and chips, and steak – and the more seasonal, and more refined 'select' menu, where you’ll always find local meat and game, inventive fish dishes (sea bream with oxtail, anyone?) and at least one veggie option.
Contact: thebildestoncrown.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Pea Porridge, Bury St Edmunds
Recently awarded Suffolk’s first (and currently only) Michelin star, it’s probably the town's most adventurous restaurant, featuring cooking that is resourceful and unique, with anything from snails to sweetbreads for starters followed by quail, slow-braised veal belly or fresh whole mackerel.
Contact: peaporridge.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Ipswich and Constable Country
Milsoms Kesgrave Hall, Ipswich
Milsoms Kesgrave Hall is a boutique country house hotel with a deliberately relaxed restaurant and bar on its ground floor – a large space with bare tables and a big open kitchen, and a fabulous terrace, overlooking a massive lawn that’s perfect for little ones to gambol about in summer while their parents tuck into their food. They serve a delicious menu whose rib of beef and Mersea Island lobsters attracts a loyal local clientele; they always have a curry dish of some kind on the menu, and always a whole fish.
Contact: milsomhotels.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: No bookings taken
The Crown, Stoke-by-Nayland
Situated in the heart of rural Suffolk, The Crown sits at the heart of the quintessentially English village of Stoke-by-Nayland, bang in the middle of what’s known as Constable Country. Part of the regional Chestnut group, the food is pretty good – high-end pub grub really, with half a dozen starters and mains that include steaks and a burger plus excellent locally sourced fish and seafood dishes – all washed down with an unusually extensive list of wines that includes lots by the glass, and which are all for sale from their unique cellar shop.
Contact: crowninn.net
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Salthouse Harbour Hotel, Ipswich
Occupying the prime spot on Ipswich’s resurgent waterfront, the Salthouse Harbour Hotel mixes up the city’s maritime legacy with a unique modern style from its classy rooms to the restaurant, which is one of the best places to eat out in town – squint and on a sunny day you could be in Antibes. It serves a menu that changes monthly and focuses on fresh local meat, fish and seafood, and includes a choice of delicious nibbles and sharing platters. They also serve afternoon tea and host regular wine-tasting nights with food.
Contact: salthouseharbour.co.uk
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
How we choose
Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller’s taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.
