We had been to The Beagle (which can be found off the Ipswich – Hadleight road) some time ago, and thought it was about time we had a return trip.

Having visited the ‘Vintage Inns’ website, we found a voucher giving 2 grill meals and a bottle of wine for £25, which should be good value.

On arriving at The Beagle around 2pm on Sunday we noticed that it did look very busy, with a large amount of cars parked on the road outside, but don’t be put off. There is a large car park to the rear of the pub and we had the choice of several tables inside.

We both ordered the 9oz rib-eye steak at the bar (medium rare) and a bottle of Italian wine, all of which were specified on the printed-off voucher. Admittedly the choice was a little restrictive but adequate considering the price.

The meals arrived in very good time and the steaks were both cooked to perfection, served with chip, peas and a tomato – none of the ‘garnish’ that so often spoils a meal!!

All in all we were very impressed with the quality of both the food and the service, and will no doubt be adding The Beagle to our list of local favourites.

The Beagle, Hadleigh Rd, Sproughton, Ipswich, Suffolk IP8 3AR

Having driven past The Cadogan Arms several times, we eventually called in on Sunday to try the place out.

I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation, after 2.00 o’clock at the weekend and everywhere seems to be closed for food. Well The Cadogan had been a personal recommendation and as we were in the area we thought we’d see if, on the off chance, they were still serving food at 2.30 on a Sunday.

The status of a place can sometimes be gauged by the car park, so the Bentley and Aston Martin parked there (2 seperate dining parties I might add) got out inital impressions off to a good start.

Better that that, we were told that they served food all day on a Sunday!

We picked our table and selected our food and wine, which both arrived with reasonable haste.

The food was excellent. There is no other way to put it. We had relatively simple dishes, but The Cadogan prides itself in being able to list their suppliers (in public), many of them local, and the quality of the food was beyond reproach.

Value for money is always important, and again The Cadogan scores very highly here. We had 2 courses each and a bottle of very pleasant wine, for under £60.

A short drive out of Bury St Edmunds on the A134 towards Thetford, The Cadogan Arms has an AA 4-star rating, with accommodation, bar snacks, ‘a ‘grazing board’, breakfast, dinner and lunch menus and all at very good prices. Add a hog-roast on summer Sunday afternoons and The Cadogan really has so much going for it.

We will, without doubt, be returning to The Cadogan, frequently!

For more details try The Cadogan Arms website.

We booked a table at Maison Bleue having seen several recommendations, not least of all from Jay Rayner, food critic for The Observer. The only down side to this was that even booking a couple of days before, the earliest table available was for 8.30pm, so for the weekend the mantra must be ‘book early’!

The restaurant had a lively buzz about the place and service was swift without being too rushed.

Maison Bleue gives itself the title of ‘the unconventional fish restaurant’, which must mean unconventional for Bury St Edmunds as the relatively small dining area is neat and tidy rather than a mish-mash of styles and themes that you sometimes find elsewhere.

The menu, naturally enough, concentrates on fish, although land based produce gets a fair airing on the menu, and is cooked with just as much care and precision as the moules and oysters.

Jay Rayner made the comment that “There’s an awful lot of mail-order cashmere in this room.” Sure enough, the clientel are of a more senior generation than your average bar restaurant, but that does make the place feel very upmarket, yet reasonably priced.

Grumbles? Well perhaps the very polite waiters were a little too keen to top up our wine glasses, with 3 different (yet very smart an polite) young things assisting us to empty our bottle or very nice wine rather rapidly. I believe that was just being a tad over-attentive rather than a deliberate ploy.

I had lemon sole for my main, which I also felt was perhaps a little flavourless, and yes, I know that it’s too easy to kill the taste of such a delicate fish, but a little butter sauce would have been welcomed.

Overall though, a very pleasant dining experience which we will no doubt be having again!

Maison Bleue, 30-31, Churchgate St, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1RG

Oh dear! What a incredible disappointment!

We stopped off at The Pickerel Inn on Saturday, early afternoon, about 2.30pm, hoping to get a bite to eat, having seen the ‘Food Served’ sign on the main road, enticing us to pay a visit.

Surely the biggest gastronomic mistake we have made in a LONG time!

Having browsed the menu, I decided that a cheeseburger would be pretty safe, and my wife picked a prawn sandwich.

Well we waited for quite a while for the food to arrive and as we were the only ones eating (always a warning sign..) I assume it was because the oven and chip pan needed heating up!

When the food finally arrived it looked pretty awful, and tasted a whole lot worse. The prawns were quite obviously frozen ones that had been thrown in a microwave, were without any sort of sauce and were between 2 slices of the cheapest brown bread you can buy.

As for my burger, it was possibly the most flavourless item I’ve eaten. There were onions in the burger somewhere but again, the cheapest of the cheap, with a tiny piece of molten cheese in the cheapest bap in town! Oh, and the chips were soggy and horrible…

We decided to just pay-up and get the hell out and to be fair I was quite relieved that the barman didn’t ask how our meal was!

The address of The Pickerel Inn is 38 High Street, Ixworth. I’ve only added that as I would hate anyone to wander in there by mistake…

This is another ‘out-of-area’ dining experience that we can definately recommend.

The George Hotel in Stamford is just an hours (fast) drive from Bury St Edmunds. Sitting in THE historic market town of Stamford, access from the A1 couldn’t be easier.

There are 2 principal restaurants in The George, The Garden Room and the Oak Panelled Restaurant. The garden Room is pretty informal and booking usually isn’t required, although if you do have a short wait for a table, there are plenty of comfortable lounges to relax in. The Oak Panelled Restaurant is a much more formal (and expensive) option although the food really is of the highest standard. When we get a nice summer there is also the option of eating in the open air courtyard with a covered section if the weather does turn out to be rather inclement!

Having eaten in both restaurants, we can honestly say that the quality is good in both, with just that little bit extra in the Oak Panelled room.

Our most recent visit was to The Garden room, where 2 glasses of champagne, a bottle of white wine and 2 very good main courses came out to £65. This still makes for good value though and the restaurant manages to be lively and relaxing at the same time.

Private functions can also be catered for with weddings a speciality and there are further menus in the York Bar, with Afternoon Tea available in the lounge or courtyard.

Having returned to The George Hotel time and time again we can thoroughly recommend it and have no doubt that the majority of customers will always hold it as one of their favourite locations. If you are anywhere near Stamford or Peterborough, or even just passing through on the A1, you really should pay them a visit!

More information and menus can be found here: The George Hotel of Stamford

OK, so it’s not in Suffolk, and strictly speaking it’s not somewhere to buy a decent meal.

How about a picnic in Thetford forest on a sunny weekend afternoon?

A couple of picnic chairs, a cool bag, a bottle of chilled champagne and a couple of pick and mix salads from your favourite supermarket. I know it’s not haute cuisine, but it really is a very pleasant way of spending a lunch time, and the best part of the afternoon if you have a blanket and a decent newspaper!

There are a couple of decent large forestry commission car park on the A134 to the north of Thetford, and no doubt several other secluded places elsewhere.

Don’t forget to bring a designated driver!

We thought we’d try the Marlborough Head Inn for a late lunch as we were driving around the countryside on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Having been to the inn many years ago it was interesting to see how it had changed. I did have to wait a considerable time to be served drinks in the lounge bar – having said that I had failed to notice a bell to summon bar staff. I guess 3pm on Grand National day probably isn’t the best time to draw the bar staff away from the TV in the bar!

Having ordered some food, which arrived in reasonably time, I’m afraid to say we were a little diappointed with the quality. The prawns in my wife’s prawn sandwich were quite ‘rubbery’ and my cod in beer batter and chips was really nothing special.

Having said that the bill was fairly reasonable at just over £15

I think we will try the Marlborough Head Inn again sometimes, when there isn’t a major sporting event on, just to give them another chance. The Inn has an AA 3 star rating although one must assume that is for the quality of the rooms rather than the fine cuisine.

The Marlborough Head Inn

Mill Lane, Dedham, CO7 6DH

01206 323250

OK, so it’s a little out of Suffolk, but if you happen to be in the area and need a bite to eat, then The Warrener on the outskirts of Thetford is worth a visit.

Serving food all day, this pub is attached to a Premier Inn but unlike most Premier Inns, this isn’t on the side of an extremely busy motorway!

The food was exactly what we expected from a pub of this type, the atmosphere was OK and the bill was relatively cheap. They also have a special offer during weekdays of 2 meals for £10, which would be well worth taking advantage of!

If you’re visiting Thetford Forest and need somewhere to eat on the way home, the The Warrener is worth a call.

T: 0870 850 6320
F: 0870 850 6321

Having tried The Dog Inn in Norton before, we thought we’d take a couple of friends there for dinner on Good Friday.

Surprisingly the place was relatively quiet which meant that we got a table straight away.

The service was very good, the food was exactly what we expected and the bill was very reasonable for 4 people. Admittedly we didn’t have deserts and drinks were bought seperately at the bar, but at around £12 per head, it definately didn’t break the bank!

All in all a pleasant evening an nice atmospheric inn.

I have no doubt that we will be returning in the not too distant future.

We always used The Rushbrooke Arms when we felt like somewhere cheap and cheerful where you had a pretty good idea what you were going to get, and with all day food, we’ve eaten there quite often.

Previously we’ve found a table in the bar area and eaten in there. Very pleasant especially on a cold wet winters day when the fire is on.

On Saturday however we decided to get a table in the main restaurant area, which believe it or not, was a big mistake!

We generally don’t have a problem with ‘family friendly’ pubs, but I guess this time it was just too family friendly, with plently of kids wandering back and forth being chased by parents, or going in and out to the outside play area.

We also, unfortunately, were sitting opposite the kitchen, where the door was left wide open. Not only did we have to put up with shrieking children, but also the clatters and bangs and general racket coming from the kitchen.

To make matters worse the music in the main restaurant was different to the music playing rather loudly in the kitchen. What with the kids, Gnarls Barkley mixed with The Chemical Brothers and the general bedlam in the kitchen, this was probably our most unpleasant eating experience there so far.

I doubt that we’ll be going back anytime soon, but if we do, we’ll definately be sitting in the bar, well away from the kitchen and would suggest that if you try The Rushbrooke, you do the same….