Hardball Caribbean smokehouse bar and grill in Ipswich

Very good place to enjoy a meal w friends and family

really good food, great value for money

food cold and missing coleslaw

Came for the ‘last Sunday of the month roast’ - delicious food and friendly helpful owner who made a point of coming to chat to us. Very accommodating for the children too. We’ve had take out there twice and it’s always superb. Will be back again soon!

Went for the all you can eat roast dinner today. Food was lovely, went with children too and they were very accommodating. Have had takeaway before which has always been delicious, high recommend!

Lovely food very flavourful and excellent service a genuine little restaurant

I’m sorry but I have to be real I have no issue with the food atall it taste great. but I have to moan about the price an portion size its defo not worth it I payed £30 an in both big trays was half rice&peas an half goat but it was more less just bones wish I had a pic but as a Caribbean black man myself it tasted so good I just boxed it up lol while I was complaining on the portion size. For £15 i expect more cause i can defo get so much more food from other places for £15 for sure

Food good as always but delivery driver didn’t show until food had sat waiting 45 mins so by the time it got to me it wasn’t hot or as nice as it should have been . Just eats fault not the restaurants

The bbq chicken tasted stale and was dry, i couldn't believe it was the same place ive been to before. I loved it last time

Where do I start I'm a Stickler for customer service and manners so I'll start there. arrived at the resturant with one other couple just finishing eating so only myself and daughter left there. ordered food eventually and the cutlery was held in front of my face and not put on the table , meal came out had to call the waitress as it wasn't all there no apology just a funny look. during the meal a just eat delivery rider came in and waited 30 minutes for his order and argued with the waitress while she argues with the kitchen loudly. ..not good enough customer service has to be much better

Popped in for Sunday dinner with the fam. Tonight had fresh, home made meals and tasty cocktails made, so we enjoyed it. Quiet restaurant but the take out orders stayed busy. Thank for the great tasting food.

Uber eat order- the food turnt up very hot which was great, got the seafood boil and the jerk chicken pasta. Can’t fault the food honestly very tasty!

Chicken tastes like it’s gone off

The food here was absolutely delicious. We had a variety of dishes and all were superb. Friendly staff and reasonably priced. It was quiet when we went and it was lovely, but at busier times I can imagine this place having a really nice vibe. Total recommendation. Superb food.

Well I have traveled uk due to work and Caribbean food is the place I look for ‘ This by far has to be one of the best if not the best I have eaten to date the staff are also incredible One love

Brilliant customer service, fantastic food and great atmosphere. Would 100% recommend and will definitely be coming back.

not the 1st time ordering the seafood platter... any other time the food was ok but today the portions were considerably smaller and cold.

Had a lovely time on Sunday. Food was out of this world and the service was fantastic. Already looking to see when we can come back. It was pretty quiet, but it was also music in the park so probably why.

I enjoyed the food although a bit pricy it was well cooked and seasoned and tasty. Would definitely recommend 👌🏽

Ordered the food on Uber for my kids and I. Absolutely disgusting not one of us ate it, went straight to the bin. The chips were not even chips God knows what that was. It tasted like cardboard box coated in glue. The rice and peas tasted worse than ordinary rice while the peas were rock hard. And don’t get me started on the jerk chicken. It was literally drowning in the oil tastes absolutely atrocious. However, because I love to support a black business, I thought I’d go into the restaurant and give it another go. Biggest mistake I made in my life. The atmosphere was the definition of dead no costumers, nothing. Food took hours to come and tasted like it was a day old and weirdly it came in random orders which threw me off and there were NOO staffs, vibes were off and I just felt uncomfortable. The price was extortion wasted so much money on Uber and the restaurant. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

The place is so nicely decorated and the service was really good as well. I would really recommend you go there with friends. Now.... THE FOOD?! just run there while you can

We popped in to have some food, we just passed by and thought we’d give it a try. Didn’t regret it at all! Food was lovely and service was very quick. If you haven’t tried the festivals either (we hadn’t before) they are definitely to try! Also definitely try the Salt fish for starters!!

Delicious food, great service and atmosphere. Highly recommend!

Food was great and very tasty going back very so you must try Fire

Loved it!!! Great food great atmosphere

Terrible portion sizes, takeaway boxes weren’t even fully filled, paying more than £10 for the “meals” is an absolute liberty. The collection experience was awful too, got to the restaurant at the agreed pick up time, and they wouldn’t accept my name and showing them the order, then even when I showed the order number they were still hesitant, there was loud music blaring the whole time and I was still waiting around for 15 mins before even being given my order! Awful experience won’t be back!

Very good food worth the wait for decent cooked food. Please just adjust the timing as I had to wait an hour longer than they said but it’s to be expected when having authentic Jamaican. I would have given 5 stars if they offered me a free drink while I waited an hour longer than the collection time

Nice, bright environment, kid friendly. We really enjoyed the curry goat and jerk chicken, one of the best ever! Really recommend it :)

Not happy considering I didn’t get my plantain. The money for portion size is appalling. Won’t here from me again

I celebrated my birthday with friends here. Love the vibe and food. Went back again another time for dinner and comedy night and enjoyed every minute. Brilliant

Family platter ……The coleslaw was just salad. The festivals was really doughy and the chicken was dry and horrible

💯 every item I ordered was epic, really friendly staff!

phenomenal food as always, 100% recommend, they had even delivered to me when just eat cancelled the order after there was no driver's and the food was already cooked. top customer service

Absolutely amazing food and amazing delivery service!

Just been here for my son's 18th birthday. After a 2 hour wait for food it came out in stages and not everyone got their food. I told them my 6 year old has a milk allergy and they serve him last and put burger cheese in his burger that could kill him. They did not care. Everyone's food was tasteless and cold. They have no qualified chefs. This place is run by a bunch of jokers. If you want decent Caribbean food don't go here there are better places in Ipswich.

Food amazing jerk chicken wings spicy, honey jerk great for anyone not liking too much spice, oxtail very good. We could not decide so they did a tasting plate including goat curry. All with a couple of cocktails. Service excellent food good and a great soundtrack playing in background. Will return

An fantastic evening for a family meal, food was delicious (as were the cocktails) and 5 star service - would highly recommend

I had the curry goat with rice and beans. It was absolutely fantastic! Very special indeed. Will be going there again for sure.

Good customer service. Food was okay. Enjoyed the festival dumplings and the Bob Marley Cocktail more out of others ordered. Ordered curry goat with rice and peas and saltfish fritters (could hardly taste any fish or see at all). Clean environment, lovely music. The food takes a while to come out though but no rush when chilling with friends. Toilet is clean to an extent but no hand dryers. And good thing is they do takeaways so once could consider that too.

The food was lovely, and the staff were amazing! So friendly and welcoming. The atmosphere and decor are great. Highly recommend

Hardball Caribbean Smokehouse offers an outstanding dining experience with a welcoming atmosphere and mouthwatering dishes. From the flavorful jerk chicken to the impeccable seafood, every bite is a taste of the Caribbean. The staff's hospitality adds to the charm, making every visit memorable. Five stars without hesitation!

Loved the food, delicious meals, pity some items were missing when ordered from the menu (festival dumplings)

Big up Keira always good customer service and is very good when stuff is missing from orders ect she’s doing such a good job and good customer service

From my experience this is the best Caribbean restaurant I’ve tried in Ipswich so far down to hygiene to the presentation to the staff and the vibes they all give , amazing service 10/10

We had our first visit on Friday and really enjoyed visiting. Very friendly and welcoming. The cocktails we had, one alcoholic and one non, were very tasty. For the food, this was absolutely delicious, packed with flavour - two mains and two sides. Can't wait to visit again.

Good food and nice atmosphere. Great service too

Food was good. Had the curry goat and rice and peas. And fried chicken and rice and peas and 10 wings (5 bbq 5 lemon pepper) Came in, and there was no music on, ( no reggae music ambience ) Which was briefly changed on request (thank god) And then the music stopped after 15 mins and there was quietness for 15 mins and then the music magically came back on thank god. :)

Lovely food. Had expectations that it could be busy so made sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to order the food and then chill, and have a drink. Food was delicious. We had seafood boil, ackee salt fish, dumpling, and it was well worth the wait. They had a party they were catering in the restaurant and I felt like they did a good job of managing things. Best food out I’ve had in a long time. Staff were super friendly.

This place was great fun. Wicked food, perfectly seasoned and healthy portions. Really reasonable prices. Some great drinks deals and all on brand. Staff were really sweet and attentive. Proper family run feel. I'll go back again

Amazing food with a great atmosphere, customer service needs a slight improvement as drinks took a while to arrive potentially losing more revenue, my recommendation would be a bar manager to oversee what’s happening, then maximum revenue can be achieved. Other than that, a great place with great authentic Caribbean food.

Ordered on Uber eats - oxtail my fav … arrived on time and was totally delicious 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 can’t wait to try the menu

We ordered food from Uber to celebrate my sons 14th birthday. It was absolutely revolting and went in the bin. The jerk fries had no seasoning on and we're glued to the cardboard box, the mac and cheese was swimming in oil, rice and peas had some disgusting taste to it and we both spat it out along with the brown stew chicken which was definitely not chicken. £40 in the bin along with ruining my sons birthday. DO NOT VISIT THIS PLACE!!!!!

This Jamaican carribbean restaurant food is nice on tasty well cook also a great vibes environment inside fielding very comfortable 👌

Food and atmosphere was excellent

Very welcoming staff who provided an outstanding service.The food was delicious the cocktails where amazing will definitely be going again!

When we first arrived no one welcomed us, we assumed where we were sitting ourselves. Ordered drinks first. One of us ordered a rum and lemonade, he poured half a tin of sprite in it, said we would keep the other half for a friend who wasn’t drinking, as he had put it behind the bar. Another one of us ordered a shot of rum and was charged the same as the rum and sprite (£5.20) I ordered a tin of coke which was from an ALDI multipack and I got charged £1.50 for. One person got told there were no clean glasses left and offered a dirty plastic cup with lipstick on the side even though there were about 20 clean glasses hanging above his head, which we pointed out. Once ordered our food the first meal came out after an hour and the rest followed sporadically between 15/20 minutes. One order came out completely wrong, was sent back to the kitchen, the owner came out with the incorrect order questioning what was wrong and said one of us must of ordered it (no one did) this then took them about 30 minutes to bring the correct order out whilst everyone else had finished. Then one of us ordered ‘stew chicken with rice and peas’ this definitely was not stew chicken, it looked and tasted like bbq chicken. Then the rice and peas was more like rice and PEA. (There was one pea) Noones food came out hot. We had to ask where our sides were. The mac and cheese was cold, the coleslaw looked like a bowl of mayonnaise and was inedible. Side order of festivals never came. The whole time there was no apology. One of us was over charged by £10 and they had to call him up on it. The toilets only had toilet roll to dry your hands and only cold water from the taps. Two of the party were sick a few hours after leaving (these two people had no alcohol and were fine previously) Also a few people could notice a feisty smell like a wet old cloth had been used to wipe the tables etc. We have previously ordered take out and actually got stew chicken that looked and tasted like stew chicken. Only thing we all enjoyed was the music. Such a shame as this place has so much potential. Needs someone who knows what they are doing to take charge.

Was very disappointed delivered by uber, food arrived cold, rice and peas missing, chicken was dry, it say coke cola but you get a cola can from ALDI'S!! The dumpling was sweet it doesn't say this on the menu, not worth the money!

Maaaaaaaaan that was Beautiful Had the curry goat, saltfish fritters & dumplings. Decent size meal, decent portion on the sides. Atmosphere was good nice music to bop ya head to while you took in. Service was spot on , Smiles all around. ALL THE STAFF KEEP IT UP.

Very good service. Food was amazing especially the wings. First time trying Caribbean food and will definitely come again.

Brilliant Caribbean food wings were so good and the cocktails are amazing a big well done to Jacob the boss and the staff

We had our Christmas party there and it was absolutely amazing. Lovely food, great portions, lovely staff members. We will definitely return soon.

Servers were very attentive and patient, the owner even came over and greeted us which was very nice. The music slapped the whole time. This place deserves more attention.

Best Caribbean spot I’ve found in Ipswich. Great food, amazing drinks and still affordable.

Food is amazing! Worth the wait. I truly recommend the platters especially the Smokehouse family one. The servers are polite and smiley

If you haven’t tried this restaurant yet you’re missing out! Fabulous food and the.cocktails are amazing 🤩

It’s rare that I nope out of a place before getting food, but for a place that was almost empty, the service was atrocious. We ordered 3 drinks, and two of them they didn’t have - they took a long time to arrive: after almost half an hour, we received a very weak Malibu and lemonade, 2/3 of a pint of Guinness, and a congealed split Guinness punch (photo included). The bathroom clearly hadn’t been cleaned on that day, and the manager became defensive when we went to leave without ordering food. Will definitely not be going again.

Absolutely beautiful, I’ve just ordered an Uber eats and my food has arrived. Piping hot I had Kait with rice and beans with two patties not to forget the loaded fries ! Will defiantly be ordering from you guys again ! I did try to call to say thank you but was greeted with a solid buzzing sound !

awesome off the radar find... homemade jerk and off the cuff cocktails 👌

Can't get order right and wait hour

I have never eaten at hardball but, the person that owns it used to be the cook at Caribbarandgrill and this was what he sold me as jerk chicken. I took the order back to him and his two mingers cursed me out, i would later find out they were his mother and wife. These people don't care about their customer. I will never support any establishment run by them.

I saw this by chance whilst going to town and knew I had to try it. The environment was really nice, it was a very welcoming place to eat, unlike most places in Ipswich. The food was brilliant. I really enjoy my curry goat with the rice and peas. The meat was falling of the bone and very palatable. The rice was fresh and cooked perfect. it wasn't just throw together - you can taste the passion that goes into the cooking. I would very highly recommended everyone to go here! I saw a lot of people gaze in and look at the awesome decor, ponder for a second and walk on; I can only assume this is due to their anticipated disappointment in what Ipswich has to offer. But, this is an exception. And, at what cost? Less than a disappointing burger king... The previous day (when I was ignorent of Hardball's existence), I ordered a burger king, and didn't have much change out of £50. Total from here was ~£30, even with an alcoholic beverage. Absolute jem.

Had a amazing experience, food was delicious, cocktails were top notch and restaurant vibe was lovely…will absolutely be returning

Having read some of the harsh reviews on here...l would say go try it for yourself......As i did I had the curry goat and fish fritters and my wife had the honey jerk chicken.....oh and a portion of hard food with coleslaw......it was all very nice full of flavour ......yes the service is slow but anyone who knows or as been to Jamaica knows they run on Jamaican time which is at least 30 minutes behind the rest the world....however it was all worthwhile.....the staff are extremely polite and helpful......we shall be back

Delicious food, with great service. A perfect addition to the ipswich restaurant scene

Ordered from Uber eats, Uber never picked up and restaurant was closing so they personally delivered to us. Great food & great people.

Amazing food, delicious and lots of it! Friendly staff!

Ooof by far the best soul food I’ve had in ages, ordering once a week I can’t stay away - my fav restaurant in town currently. My stomach is incredibly happy, thanks you guys! 💋

Not enough staff during afternoon of bottomless brunch service,pre make jugs of cocktails like Mojitos and snacks to build the experience for large groups. Vegetarian option lacking But they did address this when requested. Meat option reduced to just chicken! Restaurant was mainly full,music good. New business venue needs supporting as is in a great area of town and could build into a great meeting place...Will give it another go

Ordered the smoke house family platter via Uber and was very impressed. Very decent size and food was yummy. Especially the fried chicken and dumplings! Definitely recommend

I was so excited when I heard a new Caribbean restaurant was opening at ipswich, after carib seems to have shut its' doors. So I decided to pop in over the weekend with my family. I must say what a disappointment it was, the food was absolutely atrocious, the mac and cheese was really dry and looked like it went through the microwave. There was a very hard texture to it that bruised my gum and had me feeling like I was chewing it forever. Jerk chicken was hard and dry, the jerk sauce they placed on it had one taste "hot". The rice and peas was definitely not fresh. This was after waiting an hour. This restaurant is even worst than carib, will not be coming back what a waste of money would've of been better off going to McDonald's and cheaper.

Food of this sort should be packed full of flavor and fresh. Very disappointing. If reheated left overs are your thing it will do fine.

Now having the all you can eat buffet for £15 a head - every Sunday. Freshly cooked meats: Chicken, Lamb and Beef together with rice, potatoes and salad. Absolutely awesome and excellent value. Get yourself down here! A must visit! Ken & Jacinth

Fantastic food. I ordered a takeaway, really enjoyed it especially the sea food boil. Perfecto👏🏽👌🏾. I certainly recommend this restaurant.

No jerk available from the menu

We won't be coming back here. Extremely long waiting times as kitchen is giving priority to delivery orders. First dish came after 50 minutes. Waitress had no clue of what was in the dishes. And to top it off, we were overcharged as included sides were counted again on the bill.

Ordered on ubereats. Amazing food, the Mac and cheese is unreal!

The food was excellent.. full of flavor and just as I expected to be.. 👌🏽💯💯💯