The Case Is Altered in Babergh - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

The summary descriptive listing is badly out of date. They no longer do food and have not done so for several years, other than occasional "pop up" vendors visiting. The beer garden is lovely but they seem to have treated all the benches and tables with a permanently tacky varnish which we can feel as a coating on the backsides of our trousers. It was like this a few weeks ago and they are still like it tonight so I'm not expecting any improvement. Hopefully it will wash out of our clothes..... We used to walk here from nearby Capel St Mary but with the lack of food there is less incentive. It is not surprising it is just a "locals" pub.

A pub owned by the village. Totally cliquey and if you don’t live in the village you won’t be welcomed. Will never visit again!

I spoke at length to two members about the history of this community owned and run pub. I hope they are also able to update the entry in the Good Beer Guide to reflect the intermittent restaurant opening times. They certainly served me some excellent ales at amazingly good prices. The atmosphere was lovely. I'll be back.

Volunteer run local pub. Good chat. Roaring fire monopolised by the locals!

A super friendly and welcoming community pub. The beers are kept well and a decent price too. Beer garden is how a beer garden should be, a garden!

I can't say anything about the food or service. I was driving for an hour and half when I saw the place and my kids needed to stretch their legs. We took a refuge at the car park and enjoyed the playground on the side. Unfortunately for us the place was not open yet for the day so we could not try it.

Lovely Community run pub. No food, and limited opening times, but a nice village vibe with a selection of guest ales. Does what is says on the tin.

Very nice little country pub. Lovely beer garden

Lovely friendly village pub. Great atmosphere Went for the open mic night first visit and made to feel very welcome. Will definitely return!

Very friendly and lovely staff, will be going back. Made us feel very welcome.

Great atmosphere, great clientele and staffed by people that want to be there. See the new year in here and it was a brilliant night. Could not rate this bar higher

Friendly bar staff lovely atmosphere

Good little pub to have a nice beer in the garden

Wonderful people. A really lovely community pub. ❤

Spent a afternoon here and found out it's a community pub with the local village running it.

This has got to be one of the best pubs in the UK. Absolutely fantastic setting, Magnificent Staff and Service. Truly a gem Bentley village should be proud of.

Love our village community run pub🙂👍

Friendly, clean and cosy community pub. Nice decor, good beer. Will return to try food which is served a couple of times a week.

First time in there absolutely loverly place staff and people so friendly, recommended visiting it

Lovey community run pub with great food

Super community owned pub. Very good food, great ales and friendly (volunteer) staff. Dank and wet November day when we visited was brightened considerably by the chance find of this country pub. Next to the village store, the volunteer staff were welcoming, charming and very keen to make sure we had a good visit. There is NOTHING off-the-shelf or run-of-the-mill here. Well cared for local ales and fresh homemade food at very reasonable prices. Three generations enjoyed a nice lunch and several games of dominoes. Don’t be put off by the “community” tag... this is one of the most charming pubs I’ve visited.

I booked a table for 3 a couple of weeks ago, and the pub was very busy so I was very pleased I had booked. We chose a roast, Molly chose a small chicken roast and I chose a small roast pork ( so we would have room for a dessert) Molly's husband had a large roast chicken. There were 3 fresh vegetables, roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, stuffing and plenty of gravy, a gravy boat was left on the table which was a nice touch.We also had a lovely dish of cauliflower cheese so there was more than enough on our plates considering, we had 'a small roast' My only complaint was there was no apple sauce with my pork, but there was lovely crunchy crackling. We all managed desserts, I had meringues, strawberries and a lot of cream, Molly had sticky toffee pudding and pouring cream and Nigel had apple strudel and ice cream.

We didn’t go in as we were on an event in the garden.

A very pleasant community owned and run village pub There was a fine choice of cask beer and a friendly welcome. Unfortunately there was no food on offer, but I felt that our visit was far from wasted.

Good, friendly, community ran pub. Had a BBQ which was inexpensive {£3 for a burger in a bun} also had a good selection of real ales. Highly recommended.

Well run friendly community pub, excellent great value food and ales.

We enjoyed a lovely walk through Bentley and found some Bentley Rockers then went to the pub for lunch. We sat in the lovely garden, with access to a children’s playground and were waited on by the friendly staff. We enjoyed a variety of food, kids fish goujons with fresh vegetables. Roast pork, chicken and nut roast, with Yorkshire, stuffing, potatoes and veg. Followed by kids ice creams, apple sponge and plum crumble. Reasonably priced. Lovely community pub.

Have started coming to this little quaint pub in Bentley with my partner. We drink aspall which is cheaper on most places for 2x pints. They also sell pork pies with mustard or states that they are small.... they are far from small they are medium/ large. Great garden areas too. Toilets are lovely great for nappy changes. Very cute pub

Lovely little Gem, super lunch and friendly staff. Will def come again, food was excellent, and so nice too see a village community pub doing so well

Excellent roast lunch. Very friendly and helpful staff.

Great community public house very friendly staff who are all volunteers from the local residents and fantastic food

Friendly bar staff all volunteers! Sunday lunch is lovely but you must book. Gardens are well maintained & pretty. Child & Dog friendly too.

Nice atmosphere, good beer and food, lovely pub.

Great little discovery! Excited to see what food is on offer on our next visit.

this pub has gone very downhill since Ali was running it. The food is terrible cold and tasteless the beer is flat and tainted obviously they do not clean lines properly and if you are not from the town expect the staff to be rude and ignore you.

Nice people. Really nice. Beers.... unbelievable quality.

Used to live in Bentley so have frequented the Case Is Altered pub quite a few times and have always enjoyed my visits. However, since it has become community owned, it really has improved. The atmosphere is very friendly & we really enjoyed our roast the last time we visited. A great selection of local brand drinks are on offer with something new to try upon each visit. i believe they have also opened up a little store next door to the pub where you can get your daily produce. Can't recommend the place enough. Definitely worth a visit.

Good food, pub bought by the locals.

Very nice Sunday lunch, pleasant friendly staff

Called in with family, four in total. Everything run by community volunteers. Barman friendly and helpful. Snacks tasty, well presented and good value for money. Highly recommended.

Light lunch with friends on a sunny February day, and it could hardly have been better. Freshly-made soup with cheese-topped scones, smoked salmon sandwich and - the pick of the bunch - ploughman's lunch. The best I've had in years. Seriously good cheeses (and generous servings), great bread, and all the trimmings. The beers are very well looked after here and went down a treat. Add to that a collection of friendly locals (and their assorted dogs) and it all makes for a very happy lunchtime. We'll be back.

Food fresh & tasty. Volunteer staff helpful & friendly. I had a very pleasant & relaxing lunch break.

Very nice homely feel, efficient and friendly service

Amazing evening thank you to Ester the Chef - delicious meal and fantastic atmosphere - looking forward to the next special themed evening 👍👍👍

Fabulous friendly community pub. First class and ales and food (when available). Proper local with good staff and customers - rare in itself. Well worth a journey.

Had a great Sunday roast. Very friendly pub

The pub opened specially for us to have our sports club Xmas party here - 25 of us! The food was amazing - even more so when considering the difficulty catering for so many at one time. The chef Esther was brilliant both before when we were planning the event and also throughout the evening. The staff were also fantastic and worked so hard to make it such a special evening for us. The room was lovely and so warm with the real fire. We will be back!

Nice dog friendly pub with good guest beers

Friendly welcome - wonderful Sunday lunch food cooked perfectly - roast meat - vegetarian and vegan options all delicious And to finish off blackberry and apple pie and custard well worth a visit 👍we will definitely be coming back soon.

Really nice friendly pub. Beer good & not overpriced.

This community run pub is everything a good pub should be. It feels like a community, people are friendly and the pub looks good inside and out, but most importantly of all, the beer is fantastic and very good value. £3 for a pint of Adnams Southwold! They also have three guest beers which are changed regularly. The beer is kept so well it makes a lot of other pubs in the area look like amateurs.

We stopped for a light lunch and were delighted by the beetroot and goat cheese salad perfect as a light option and so tasty. The vinaigrette was the chef’s own and was deliciously tangy. A nice treat.

Great service and friendly customer service. Opportunity to try beer before purchasing. Dogs are welcome.

Was passing through. Had a quick pint & an excellent burger. Very welcoming.

Fantastic venue - made us feel very welcome

Had a wedding reception to go to here. Lovely pub and lovely large gardens. Owned by the community and what a fantastic job they are doing. Very friendly helpful and welcoming people. Will definitely go back.x

I've lived in Bentley for 20 years and have seen this pub change over time; although I never much visited the pub before it became volunteer run, I know it was loved by many. I've heard that some people think the new direction of the pub isn't what it should be and that it's 'going down hill' but what a lot of people don't realise is that this pub is ran by the community. People from the village help work behind the bar, cook the food, and manage everything behind the scenes, and personally I think they do a great job! The food variety can be a bit limited sometimes, but they manage well with what they do offer. There are always new 'real' ales in stock, with a board featuring upcoming ales to be featured behind the bar. There's plenty of seating considering the size of the pub and village, and also a dart board to use! On the last saturday of every month they also usually host a pub quiz which is wonderful. The best thing about The Case, in my opinion, is the sense of community and the people you meet in there. It's become a real hub of the village, and considering until a few years ago we had been without a local shop for around 10 years, as well as almost losing this pub, it's wonderful to see that the village has pulled together and helped keep the community alive. Definitely worth popping into if you fancy an evening meal, or a cold beer! Just make sure to check the opening times on their website/google maps.

Fantastic pub and lovely people.

This is a great pub. It's community run and feels well cared for. At the moment the food offerings are limited, so contact them before going of you're planning to eat. The beer is well kept and they sell Adnams Sole Star (0.9%) which is great of you're driving. If you want a snack then the pork pies and scotch eggs are locally sourced and taste good.

Fantastic community pub run by volunteers. Real ales aplenty. Excellent food. Lovely people and all in a great setting.

Good to visit if you like real ale. 4 - 5 interesting real ale choices at a realistic charge. Community run pub and very friendly. Recommended highly.

I took some walking friends to see the Bluebells today and have lunch here. I rang ahead to check what was on for lunch and we had a lovely little stopover for lunch. 9 ladies and a little dog all VERY well looked after . A few of us had a very tasty soup and chunks bread and a few had sandwiches and one had a ploughman's. Very well presented great sized portions, very well priced and service was perfect. My friends were very chuffed and we will be back again soon . I then had to drag them out the community shop to get walking !! marching home with Rhubarb sticking out their backpacks :-) THANK YOU

We took a diversion off the A12 to avoid bad traffic and decided to stop here to wait until it had cleared. We ordered drinks and sandwiches from the friendly bar staff which were incredibly reasonable and enjoyable. Our sandwiches came with crisps and salad and were much better than some we've had in "posh" pubs and cost twice as much. The chef personally delivered the sandwiches and checked that everything was ok. Lovely unexpected pit shop which we highly recommend.

Community pub which is worth supporting food was rather nice esp the desert

A great pub. Quiz night good fun too.

Traditional pub with great beer and really friendly atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

Should have taken the hint when I noticed every restaurant table was empty, at 7pm week before Christmas.

The food here has seriously gone downhill! Still great beer and friendly, swift service but the meal was inedible. I find it amazing that the management must realise there is a problem in the kitchen but allow it to continue. Such a shame.

Really friendly. Well kept beer.

Very friendly community owned pub

Although a limited menu for hot food, food is really excellent. You get a really friendly welcome as soon as you step into the pub, which has a large car park. Highly recommended is the fresh fish, hand battered, served Fridays and Saturday. Yesterday it was the best battered cod that I have eaten anywhere, and at a very reasonable price. There is also a choice of jacket potato fillings and cold food too. If really hungry there is a choice of starters and big portion puddings!. Great choice of real ales, at present try Nethergate " Dark Brew".

If you enjoy a quiet lunch in a community run pub, with good food a beer, a good pub owned by the community for the community they must be congratulated on achieving what they have done, with so many pubs shutting & converting to Indian restaurants or new houses& flats. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

We popped in but we knew that curry was the only option for tonight. Choice was either chicken Tikka or Vegetable price £9.50 included poppadums (2per person) and dips with a naan bread with the main. The rice was long grain which was light a fluffy. The quantity of chicken in the dish was plentiful, it arrived hot and steaming. It was tasty and filling.

Community pub with shop at rear - both smashing.

A little gem of a pub. We had Sunday lunch there last week and it was superb ! We'll definitely be going back for one of the *theme* nights.

Nice little village pub for a meal and a pint.

Very nice food and friendly staff 👍

Great lunch and you can see the chef takes a pride in the food as she came out to speak to us and ensure it was good. Staff friendly and as it is run by volunteers you can forgive the service being a bit slow.

The food was ok, a bit dated maybe, a bit like an old berni inn used to be.No complaints just a bit bland.

Great community pub fantastic beers can't wait to return

Lovely rural community owned pub, be enjoyed a glass of local beer in the sunny garden before our meal.

We enjoyed an amazingly tasty Spanish meal with family at our wonderful community pub run by very friendly volunteers. The atmosphere and food brilliant we'll be back soon. Keep up the good work!

Wonderful food and great service, thank you !

Run by local volunteers it is true to say they are friendly and of manly of the older generation. Good food and polite service. Attached to the pub is a friendly local village shop.

Community owned pub staffed by owners and volunteers. First time visit and will definitely be back. Great selection of food e.g. steak and ale pie and crab salad. Good selection of drinks including real ales. Reasonable prices, friendly and efficient service. Lovely tranquil garden which is adjacent to a children's playground. We arrived on bikes but there is a car park at the rear. Easy walking, biking distance from East Bergholt at the centre of Constable country.

What pub who advertises serving food as not enough , some people travel from Ipswich and further only to be turned away , my last visit to this pub .

Not happy with this pub at the moment I live in Bentley and use this pub every weekend and like to eat here. But the service is very slow and also the front of house (young lady) is too young to even serve alcohol. With a very dry personality. But tonight we was told we couldn't eat as they didn't have enough food we could only have fish and chips or scampi, considering they only had a table of 10 booked. But I was still handed the full menu which is ridiculous. Not happy. Order more stock in for the weekend it's not hard!

Another enjoyable meal at our local pub. Thanks Jay and Sam. Frank and Molly our grandchildren loved it. Molly said they are the best chicken nuggets in the whole wide world they tasted of yummy chicken!👍😁

Called here with running friends, and what a welcome! Lovely pub lovely staff lovely atmosphere all good nothing negative to add. Didn't eat here but what I saw of the food being served looked amazing. Highly recommend this place. Well worth a visit

We really liked the Indian meal we had yesterday evening. The service was very friendly and efficient. The curry was tasty and served with puppodums, dips and naan bread. Well done.

The case is altered very Goog going for a meal next Saturday

Lovely pub! Great atmosphere, fantastically supported by the villagers that now run it, a feel of a real traditional pub with a large family that welcome you into their home so to speak! Fabulous food obviously prepared by a chef who knows how to prepare with flair and please their customers wirh good home cooked fare but also offers the experienced dishes only a qualified experienced chef can! I will be back!! And back I went!! Decided to go for a birthday treat! Steak Diana no! More a steak to die for that melted in the mouth perfectly cooked just the way I like it! A surprise birthday cake with candles topped my evening for me, with almost every customer wishing me Happy Birthday due to the decoration around my table! A very lively venue with great support from all the friendly locals who live there obviously enjoying their local pub! It was great to be a part of their evening, I especially enjoyed the great laugh had by all, as it was their monthly quiz night. Great evening. I will be back!! Another great meal! Haddock and Chips with a gorgeous salad. My friend had the Dressed Crab with salad and new potatoes it was lovely! Great atmosphere I will be back.

Lovely enthusiastic staff. Surprisingly tasty cheap grub!

This pub is owned by the community, it's a great story and clearly work in progress. Everyone was so helpful and the food although a limited menu was very good. Prices are reasonable and good value. If you go ask someone to tell you how this venture has come about. Love the idea that the staff are all volunteers. There's a lot of love going in to make this pub special. Go and support it.

This community pub gets the thumbs up all round. Pretty pub garden with lots of seating and a brilliant enclosed kids playground with less run of the mill 'attractions'. The volunteer staff were friendly and efficient. The food was excellent, very much home cooked but beautifully presented. The beef was tender and the Giant Yorkshire perfection! Lots of choice on the menu and the food and bar prices were very reasonable. This community pub deserves to do well. I can imagine it being the centre of village life and would hope the beer garden is full over the summer months. So if you are in the area, make a point of stopping off for lunch and visit the cheese shop next door - excellent.

Very friendly community-run pub. Clean and spacious interior. Small menu but well-kept beers.

Visited twice recently. Came initially because I like to support community run pubs and this one is also in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. Great beer and the bar staff are happy for you to taste before buying. Excellent well priced food. Home cooked and using local produce. Friendly chef, happy to come into restaurant and chat about the food. All the staff are helpful and friendly. The Case is Altered is definitely on my list and I shall return soon and often.

Came here with my family who were visiting from Cornwall. The 'staff' (volunteers) were absolutely lovely and so friendly! The food is excellent quality, home cooked, and there is lots to choose from. Would thoroughly recommend.

Went for a family meal. Lovely surroundings, made to feel very welcome, staff really friendly. Large selection of dishes, all freshly cooked and the portions were very generous. A good point was, the choice of portion size on almost all the dishes allowing for all ages, all reasonably priced. When the weather gets warmer there is a lovely outside area with plenty of room for children. Will definitely be returning.

Nice friendly local. Great food