Lavenham Great House Restaurant

I seem to be finding myself in Suffolk rather a lot at the moment. A mere hour and a half's drive out of London and the restaurant scene completely changes. Country lanes are adorned with quaint pubs serving up gastro style food and perfectly poured pints of ale, and the restaurants in the towns - well there can be some real gems. With some good researching of course, finding a good restaurant to eat in isn't hard. Part of that search led us to finding a gorgeous little town called Lavenham. About a twenty minutes drive from Bury St Edmunds, this village really takes you back in time, with its Medieval style cottages, all veering to a slant, old style bakery's selling cakes for a bargain twenty pence and a selection of restaurants to die for. After we greed on visiting Lavenham, it was then down to where would we eat? I had a fabulous meal not so long ago at Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmunds, so when I found out it had a sister restaurant in this little village called The Great House , I couldn't resist and insisted on going. The restaurant is housed in a building dating back to the 14/15th century but renovated in the 18th. Sitting next to the huge imposing fireplace in the dining room is certainly something to be seen. The other one notable thing about restaurants outside of London too, is the pricing. It's so much cheaper. Here for lunch you'll be paying £24.50 for a three course set lunch and wine starting around £4.95 for a large glass. One of the starters we choose off this menu was the fondue du fromage. A hearty bowl filled with a cheese fondue, soft poached egg, poached new potatoes and some crouton dippers served on the side. Sumptuous, decadent, moreish - I couldn't fault this dish in the slightest, everything was just perfect. Another starter was this beautifully plated piece of mackerel, glazed with a rice vinegar and ginger caramel, squares of horseradish tofu and some shredded radishes for heat and bite. Portion size on the whole was a little small, and

Amazing Food, wine and decor. People were really nice and the service was very good. Definitely a must go to!

Still keeping the standards up under the new ownership, if you like high quality French inspired food with wonderful traditional service at a reasonable price, this is the place.

Very high standard