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We ate here a couple of times when it first opened and thought it was a pretty decent gastropub makeover of an old Suffolk pub in all the latest tasteful Farrow and Ball colours with good Food , albeit not cheap. Reading the owner's blog and the various promotional blurbs on menus Etc, we got the strong impression that they really cared about ingredients and cooking standards.
Today (mid May 2011) we went back for a quick lunch. We were very disappointed.
With service, starters and main courses for two including a modest bottle of Beaujolais – the bill came to £92 – Pretty toppy prices for a quick lunch in a rural Suffolk pub, even near Woodbridge…
Not only that, while prices appear to gone on an upward trajectory, other standards appear to have gone downhill.
We both had smoked seafood as starter .. The Smoked Mackerel Pate was good, the smoked salmon was just about passable, the smoked prawns were iffy, the sourdough bread wasn't fresh and had a chewy crust. Portions were small
My main course of Pork Belly was poor .. Pork Belly needs long slow cooking to render and soften the fat .. This pork belly appeared to have been pan fried briefly like a pork chop, the result was horrible. The accompanying broccoli had been over cooked. My wife's shoulder of lamb was OK, nothing great, nothing bad.
Like many restaurants today, we had a number of routine enquiries as to ‘is everything OK?’ 'are you enjoying your food' Etc. Twice to two different waiters in response, I answered in a pleasant non confrontational way that the cooking of the pork belly wasn't to my liking .. No apology/comments/follow-up… Why do waiters ask these questions if they don't care?
Our conclusion is that next time we're in the Woodbridge area, we'll eat at The Crown in town. While the parking isn't so convenient, everything else was far superior on our last fairly recent visit.(and it was decent value…)
