The Douglas Bader in Suffolk Coastal

Good game of darts and a pint (or three) of Lager here. Staff friendly 👍👍

The pub advertise they show football and have a few big screens but they refused to put the sound on even when asked three times. Very poor and very odd. Won’t be back anytime soon.

Hi all alright I would like to share my personal feelings here... This Pub is my go to with family, meeting friends or on my own either way I feel welcomed. It's a nice spacious venue that has it all live sports, great food, games room, live bands and summer BBQs. Food is good great menu plenty of choice, deals and specials on offer as well as a wide range of drinks. There truly is something for everyone plenty of seating in and outside 👍. The list goes on it's a nice chilled place all the staff are friendly and polite. I would recommend the Douglas badger to anyone who wants to go to a friendly inviting proper pub with proper grub🍻

A completely acceptable local pub, great for a quiet bite on a quick break from work.

This pub is disgusting, guy running it getting drunk at the bar. Massive attitude. Over priced. Pub be gone in 6 months can't not recommend enough.

We happened to go out for dinner on a 'Quiz' night. Very friendly staff and a really nice atmosphere. The food was very very nice but then the quiz started and we had a really good evening

Had a lovely meal here.the staff were really friendly,the food was well cooked and reasonably priced.the menu has a great choice of dishes for children and adults.it also has it's own car park.

Lovely pub/restaurant. Had a lovely meal that was very well presented, tasted great and the staff were friendly, will be back for sure.

Lovely family meal out, food was really good, nice and hot and presented well. Great roast beef! Was very busy in the pub. We were a big group of 15 and it all came out quickly and together. Thank you so much

Nice friendly atmosphere. Good for dogs. Amazing Singapore noodles

As always our fave pub in the kesgrave/ martlesham area. We've been coming here since summer 2023 Amazing friendly staff, beautiful fresh food and fab atmosphere. We always feel welcome and the locals are lovely wouldn't hesitate to recommend. Plus the history of douglas bader is fascinating

Great food with good deals mid week, lovely village pub too

The second time we been here and like the first time the food and service was excellent food was nice hot. All eight of us had a lovely time . As it was Saturday we booked a table and on arrival our table was ready ….no waiting time . Thank you for a lovely evening.

Had an amazing meal today, staff were friendly and helpful. Asked about allergy’s first when ordering food without us having to tell them. The food came out really fast and was delicious. There’s toys and high chairs available for children to play with and sit in, my son loved it. Not too expensive, for 3 adults and 1 child with mains and desserts was under £70. Overall great experience and will definitely be back again.

The Lady owner is racist. I am an Indian. In November I along with my family and one of my neighbor went for a dinner. On the same day we booked a table for 16th December for Christmas dinner with my neighbors and for 31st December for my family to celebrate New Year. I asked the owner Lady about where they going to set up the band on New year Eve. She told me and I booked the front table on name of my wife. On 16th we along with my 8 neighbors went there and had fun. On New year Eve when I reached there with my wife and 15 years old son. I found out she changed my table without prior information. There was a hand made sticker with cello tape on it. Which says this table is reserved for " Name". It was unorthodox for me because I never saw this kind of hand made sticker to reserve the table. I was confused and looked for the owner. She was there but she was avoiding to exchange looks. Finally I met her and I asked why you changed my table. She replied "she had to. Because you are 6 people and I had a booking of 12 people that's why why shuffle it. Than I said " No, we are only 3 . " She mumbled and said " I am not going to shuffle it". I said " but you gave me your word. It that means something or nothing". She replied with the same " not going to shuffle". Than my hold me and said why to ruin our eve have fun. Later in the night I found out that the Lady owner allocate our reserved table to her friend. Because I saw her talking to her friend and at 0000hrs she sung a song with her on the bands mic. I was shocked. I asked my wife if there is any English customer instead of us, would she have done the same? It effected me deeply in my heart and mentally as well. Douglas and Bader is my first pub in England. So I am bit attach to it. I still have receipt of that night with me. I know it's been more than a month. But it took me time to come over it.

This spot is good. The Lady owner is racist. This is my first pub in England so I am bit attach to it. But experience on New year eve was appalling.

Very excellent Pub,good atmosphere. Terrific menu selection, food always hot cooked properly usually very tasty. Well priced. Staff are friendly, most helpful and polite. We have a Dog a Spaniel named Penny, she was made very welcome. Highly recommended.

Not very busy, male member of staff indifferent regarding quality of steak suet pudding, so ordered fish & chips. Wife ordered chicken pie. Fish & chips were excellent, but not a huge portion. Wife's meal was a real pie - well filled and tasty. Two meals plus orange and coffee came to just over £20. I would guess that nothing is cooked from scratch on the premises. However, it is what it is if you don't want a fine dining experience. Good quality, excellent value, friendly service. Will visit again.

Wanted to see what the pub was like, expected a bit more memorabilia, but the food was great and a very good quality and price, so was the service, would definitely go there again if I was in the area

Best pub food around! Steak and ribs combo was amazing - Steak had a perfect sear and cooked to perfection! Ribs meal was really good, lots of flavour on the meat! Kids meal was great and staff was so friendly Chef was very friendly and asked how I would like my steak cooked! the way staff was really friendly aswell

Warm & Comfortable Inn easily accessible. Invited to dine twice now and high standard of food is drawing me back. Today i chose Chargrilled Chicken and Streaky Bacon Wrap on Mixed Salad with a kind special side order of Grated Cheese. The serving was a piled high choice selection of succulent meats and the freshest of Salad. Top Notch. A big thank you to the staff. I highly it recommend it.

Have been here in years passed for pre Christmas meal with family Just back from the meal, very disappointing and will not being going back, the cutlery was dirty and glasses to, food was basic and not good at all, the starters you could tell had been set out before we arrived and was not good Once finished the starters we were rushed for the mains like 10 mins The steak was dry plates where the only thing that was hot after a while everything was cold and you could tell this had been waiting again for us. Then we told the waiter that we wanted to wait 15mins for the afters and on the dod they came out The restaurant was cold Tables sticky Place look run down No Christmas feeling at all Place could do with a big face lift Would not be going back As know places where you don't pay so much and get a better standard but though we would go here as last year's was good Never again

I went for a ‘ladies’ lunch’ with a friend and was shocked and disappointed by both the quality of the food and the service, which was rude and unhelpful. My friend ordered a steak and kidney pudding, one of her favourite meals. When it arrived, the ‘pudding’ was crisp and hard. When we queried this with a young waitress, she shrugged and said that was their pudding. My friend then tried to eat the meal. The filling was satisfactory but the pudding case was literally inedible. We called over the young man behind the bar, Ben, who said quite aggressively, ‘What do you expect me to do about it?’ I demonstrated that I could not get my fork through the casing and asked if he would be able to eat this. His reply: ‘I don’t eat the food here.’ He did then offer a refund. There was no hint of an apology for a disappointing meal. Staff surliness and lack of courtesy mean we are unlikely to revisit.

Lunch today was dire. I ordered steak and kidney pudding. I couldn't cut into it. I called a member of staff over and said 'This is not a pudding!'. Her reply was 'but it is our steak and kidney pudding' and promptly walked off! I struggled to try to eat it but found it inedible. The 'French beans' haha! Well they had been microwaved to a point that they were almost white and you couldn't get a knife through them! I called another member of staff over and said that it is inedible! His reply was 'Well what do you want me to do about it?'. I replied and showed him that I couldn't cut through the pudding. His reply was 'I never eat here'. No apology at all as he walked off. Eventually, I had to go to the bar and ask for a refund. Dreadful food but, more importantly, appalling rude service! Never again!

I gave no star review as it didn't warrant it. Strangely my negative comment has a 5 star review!! Not me!!!

Really tasty and hot Singapore noodles here today. Really speedy service and great staff. Would highly recommend

Nice place for a good beer,food is nice too

Really nice friendly pub with Really good food. Plenty of choice on the menu too. Will definitely be going back

We had a lovely evening. Callum and his staff looked after us well. The buffet was lovely and good value for money. I had brought a cake along and they kindly stored it, brought it out and provided further plates and napkins. I have also visited this pub a number of times over the past few months and the food has always been good and the staff really helpful. Thank you 😊

Popped in at lunch time just for a drink so can't comment on the food, however, there were a number of people enjoying a roast dinner while we were there.

Lovely atmosphere, service was spot on and the food was very tasty 😋 Thank you guys 😊

Just went for a drink. Very friendly pub. Their food looked good.

Been there several times and always enjoy the whole experience,good service,will be going back again

Excellent little local pub , brilliant service and food orders where coming out really quick , very impressed with this pub would recommend if your in the area for a nice quiet pint or lunch time drink 10/10

Just paid £15.20 for a glass of Prosecco and a pint of lager!!!! Felt ripped off.

Nice average cheap pub and they play sport on tvs

Sticky dirty tables. Average reheated food. Zero atmosphere.

Expensive drinks but clean tide and short wait times to be served

Food Is delicious. Service is spot on. Great atmosphere. Great place to visit.

Lovely staff.Great food.All around Excellent well. Done

As usual very friendly and good service

A nice stop on a nice day out to Ipswich

Great pub, staff are excellent, food is good for the price

Very tasty food, and didn't break the bank either. Recommend 👌🏼

We decided to just have our evening meal out and saw the sign for Douglas Bader. It’s a lovely friendly pub that allows dogs. Nice seating area outside. Very wide choice of food on the menu. Our meal was served quite quickly and was lovely too. I didn’t catch the names of the staff but they were all friendly. Well worth a visit. We will be going back

Food and facilities were fantastic. Good selection to choose from. Lovely family-friendly place to eat.

A lovely, family - friendly, pub restaurant. Great choice of light snacks to full on meals. My wife, mother, and I had very nice mains and desserts. Our only problem was deciding what to have from such a wide selection.

Bit expensive for what it is. All the tables and other surfaces were sticky.

Booked a table for 5 of us for a family meal out. We all had a great evening and staff couldn't have been more helpful or friendly. Food is good quality and there is plenty of choice as well as the drinks. Pub including toilets was clean and tidy. It won't be too long before we're back again.

Never had a bad experience here. Amazing staff, beautiful food and you are always made to feel welcome! Absolutely love having this place on my doorstep!

Lovely Sunday roast lunch enjoyed by 3 ladies. Beef was tender, good selection of veggies. Really nice staff, thank you!

Good ambience very friendly and efficient staff and nice views across the green. The food is very good too.

Great atmosphere lovely folks great night out apologies for my karaoke singing lol 😆 😄

We were really impressed with the amount of choice on the menu and the service we received. The prices were very reasonable. Everyone really enjoyed their food, it arrived lovely and hot and the roast dinners tasted very fresh. As an added bonus, the kids also loved the fact they were able to go and play with a football on the massive green outside. We all agreed we would definitely come back again!

We were all really impressed with the amount of choice on the menu and the service we received. The prices were very reasonable. Everyone really enjoyed their food, it arrived lovely and hot and the roast dinners tasted very fresh. As an added bonus, the kids also loved the fact they were able to go and play with a football on the massive green outside. We all agreed we would definitely come back again!

That is the 2nd time I have been there .and was great like the last time we where there .Good food lovely people. Would recommend to anyone .we did not pay this time our friends did xx

Booked a large table at very short notice, staff were very friendly and accommodating throughout our visit. The menu offers choices other places don’t and the food was all cooked nicely and tasted great. All at a very reasonable price point.

Went there with my partner for karaoke. It is a lovely roomy pub and the bar staff and locals are friendly.

Noticed the brown sign post on the A12 so I thought I would check it out as trip advisor said it was an aviation themed pub. I was expecting an old pub dating from the 1930/40s but very disappointed to find a modern estate pub with just a couple of photos of Douglas Bader and no explanation of why it was named after the ww2 pilot. It's just a modern pub built on the site of the old RAF martlesham airfield with no connection whatsoever. They did serve a good pint though.

A lovely setting for this family pub, on the edge of a village green with cricket pitch, community centre and local church. My friend and I went for lunch, the sun was shining and we sat outside, what could be more perfect. We had jacket potato and lasagne respectively. The food was tasty and just the right size for us. I would recommend the Douglas Bader, an unexpected gem. 💎

Sunday lunch (roast beef), with a friend, lovely staff great location, what's not to like? Well done!

Well priced and good atmosphere

Almost straight after me and my mates sat down we were pestered by an older lady for not ordering food or dinks before sitting down. Maybe 20 minutes later the same lady came up to us again and asked if we were going to order drinks because she could not understand why we were sitting there chatting. Very rude.

Lovely staff and great outside space. Extensive menu including vegetarian options.

This is our second visit in two weeks and the food has been lovely both visits. I wish I had taken photos of the food as the fish first visit and the burger second visit was plentiful as well as fresh and tasty. Staff very friendly and service. The place is also warm and inviting. Looking forward to a return soon.

Friendly, good food great atmosphere

Very nice food on offer, great menu and even some things including a drink.

We shared some small plate food which was very nice, but not eaten a main course or meal for several years but will have to try to see if the food has improved.

It wasn't busy but, even so, was surprised how quickly our food came out. Very tasty!

I went there to get a drink and enquire about their function room staff were polite and I asked to leave some leaflets which they said was fine. The next day I get a call from their manager who has Disgusting customer services! I got hung up on!!!!! so I called back asked to speak to the owner and low and behold the customer services from her were also disgusting!! And again got hung up on after advising her that her staff need customer service training! No wonder you have function room up for free!! Disrespectful to other local businesses awful attitude toward customers!

Staff always helpful and welcoming. Food always delicious and plentiful. Dogs welcome if accompanied by an owner. Lovely atmosphere.

Good food. Clean place. Nice atmosphere. No rush for anything.

Lovely place to eat and lovely food

Nice welcome from the staff, lovely food prepared for the wake of our uncle.

Haven’t visited for many years. Thought we would go out for lunch had a starter the Burgers for main and they were fabulous so moist and very flavourful. Pay this place a visit you will not be disappointed. Very friendly staff.

Was there for my cousin's wake. The staff were friendly and respectful. The food supplied was plentiful and they made sure to bring the hot food out in smaller quantities as required. Did not see a lot of the other bar areas.

Im absolutely outraged, the food here is terrible and tastes like rubber (definitely been microwaved!!) Blonde chef stood behind bar giving my children filthy looks. Also tried to order gluten free and it seemed to be a such a big deal completely feel discriminated. I will not return in future and my advice to anyone is to go elsewhere!!

Staff here we're amazing. Had such a lovely wake. Food was amazing

Great pub absolutely amazing delicious food would eat there every day staff very friendly

We hadn't booked but got a table for three thankfully, surprisingly busy for a mid January Sunday. Two roast dinners and a pie and mash were all really good, served by helpful staff who were working very hard to meet high demand. Price was decent as well. Great job!

Booked a Sunday roast with young grandchildren on a Sunday evening, big mistake we were put in front of a huge tv whilst football match was on with several football lager louts behind us shouting and screaming at the TV!! Not the best place to...

We had my Grandads wake here recently and the staff were brilliant. Food was lovely too. Thank you for everything.

My husband and I visited in December last year but I forgot to review it so here goes. We visited for a romantic lunch. The food, surroundings staff were excellent. We were well looked after. The dishes we ordered are on this review in photos we had the same dishes. We loved our experience here. We hopefully will visit again soon. It'sone of our favourite places to eat. We highly recommend this Pub Restaurant for your lunch, dinner or just a Snack or Drinks.

Went to meet some friends for a drink. didn't have to book a table. We didn't order food but stayed for a few hours. welcoming. Nice atmosphere.

Good beer. Good atmosphere. Very slow food service

Opted for a roast dinner which I was glad to see them doing. I suppose it does the job, but for £12 the vegetables were very basic, only one small Yorkshire pud and the beef was well done. Hopefully they can improve

Excellent service as always. The food is awesome. Staff are very friendly. Get down here and enjoy a lovely meal with the family. Selling point try their Sunday desert (I forget the actual name) it's a share desert but an absolute amazing desert. See the picture.

One of the best pubs I have ever been to!!!! The food was delicious, the people are kind, prices are fair and the location is great👍🏻 Would recommend and definitely go again!!!!

Good as always good prices at the moment

Been there a few times, nice local pub with a decent range of reasonably priced food, good service and friendly staff, recommended

An economically priced pub serving economy food....Dry tastless chips, over cooked fish, firecracker chicken without the fire, rubbery pizza etc....to be fair we were offered a chance to have all the meals redone but we declined as it was unlikely the same ingredients would be much different. Disappointed as we've had better meals there before.

Came here for a Sunday roast and was one of the worst pub meals I've ever had. The small, green slab of a nut roast had a strange taste and texture. Possibly microwaved, who knows, but it's hard to understand how something so dire could be produced, let alone served to a customer. I had to ask for it to be replaced with something else. All the main meals arrived within about 5 minutes which isn't necessarily a bad thing but might have something to do with them tasting so bland. No seasoning whatsoever and vegetables boiled to a watery mush. The desserts weren't much better - an oddly shallow brownie and 2 strangely chewy sticky toffee puddings. The first Twister ice cream we were given as part of the kids meal deal looked very weird and had to be replaced. I would definitely not recommend eating here. Would love to be a fly on the wall in the kitchen. Gave it 2 stars instead of 1 as it's an ok place for a drink (although the Beavertown Neck Oil is a whopping £6 a pint) and the staff seemed reasonable when dealing with issues.

Popped over for a quick meal and was pleasantly surprised. I had the chicken makhani and i must say it was one of the best meals i have had in a long time .. it came with nan bread, wild rice, mango chutney and poppadum. So yummy. Hubby had the fish and chips and he said it was perfect .. And the lady who served us was so friendly and polite.. well done !!!

Moved to Martlesham 10 years ago, this was our local. Strange place but changed over the years. Not visited as much since Covid and the issues faced by many establishments with staffing and supplies. Plus er have a small dog who likes to be up...

Staff were friendly and a great atmosphere

Good pub with good reasonably priced food. Good staff too!

Very expensive beer for the pub it is. Paid £6.20 for a pint of beavertown lager

Lovely location. Far too expensive. £17.75 for 3 pints.

Friendly pub, perfect for locals. Food reasonable and decent selection of drinks. No problems for the times you are flying solo, perfectly comfortable to sit and drink.

Really enjoyed eating here. Food was lovely, very reasonably priced. Staff were helpful and friendly. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Thankyou