The Lion, East Bergholt in Babergh

Great find. Should have found it earlier. Food is a little bit expensive but the quality is there.

We booked online for an evening meal with our one year old and we were not disappointed. What a wonderful evening in a clean and calm atmosphere with delightful friendly staff and such tasty food. The risotto, the chicken supreme, a Tbone steak and the catch of the day (plaice) were all very tasty and well presented. All the different fries were delicious and the creme brulee and the cinnamon doughnuts with gooseberry jam were also delicious. The changing facilities for our granddaughter were very clean and well presented. As were the ladies and gents. All in all a delightful evening and well worth every penny. Unfortunately we couldn't enjoy the garden, which is fabulous, as it was raining but our granddaughter absolutely loved looking at all the lions that are around in the pub and garden. Superb. We highly recommend The Lion.

Lovely venue and helpful staff. Delicious food and coffee ☕️! Thanks

Lovely courtyard setting for our fabulous reunion lunch. Good selection of dishes to choose from - all the food was perfectly cooked, catch of the day and the strip steak were out top choices. Great service from Sarah and the team, will be back soon.

We just had a lovely Sunday dinner at The Lion! Wow, it's fantastic in there. The food is amazing! We will definitely become regulars! Great job! The kids were especially impressed by the presentation of their dessert, the staff are so lovely!

Staff accommodating & attentive. Food very tasty. Excellent experience.

Charming village pub with large outdoor area, offering a very good menu of beautifully cooked dishes

I visited with friends for drinks only. Very friendly staff and the interior looks very bright and welcoming. I hope to return for a meal sometime.

First time visit,lovely day,we sat in the beautiful garden lovely view. Easy access with the wheelchair sat round table with umbrella.Great menu lots of choices we settled for a Club Sandwich. So under estimated it was a full meal!!! Reasonable price and the best pub meal I have had for a long time.on the high street of East Bergholt 100yds from the beautiful church once attended by "Constable".I fully recommend a visit to the "Lion".

Popped in for a beer. Fantastic on a hot (32) day. Lovely pub with great outside space. Food is really good and tasty.

Excellent restaurant/pub. Delicious food in a pleasant atmosphere. Very hospitable and service-oriented hostess and friendly employees.

Lovely staff in a beautiful setting

Fantastic Father's day lunch. Lovely people and superb food.

We had dinner on a Friday night (catch of the day) and it was delicious. Cooked to perfection! Really liked the banoffee ice cream too. The ladies serving were lovely and it made for a really nice atmosphere - great pub👌

Tried the new burger deal this week. Loved it. Great pricing too

Fabulous Inn in a lovely setting with fabulous rooms too. Staff are excellent, very friendly and attentive. The Gnocchi which came with the chicken dish is the best I have ever tasted. Would highly recommend a visit!

Beautiful food, seasonal and we had the catch of the day. Very fresh, clean. The staff complimented the dish just pure excellence. Every bite and personal touch made this little gem a heavenly experience. Loved the ambience, food and atmosphere

The most delightful countryside pub, with delicious food, friendly staff, great choice of drinks with a frequently changing specials menu. The Sunday roast and veggie roast were so good- not too heavy, and full of flavour! They have a gorgeous courtyard overlooking the garden, and they recently renovated the inside- I couldn’t take too many photos as there were too many people this time! Definitely recommend booking.

Granddaughter got awful food poisoning from this place. Would not recommend.

The food was amazing, service fantastic, very attentive staff and a lovely atmosphere. I had a brilliant time with the family. I will definitely come back!!

Great roast dinner at The Lion with friends - recommend prebooking a table as it is a popular place and busy atmosphere. Chicken roast was excellent, served with large Yorkshire pudding. Gravy and green beans fantastic and full of flavour. Desserts were notably on the expensive end at around £10+ each which felt too much for the portion size (2 profiteroles + accompanying sides) but service was fast and friendly from the team and would definitely visit again when in the area especially in summer to make use of the large garden Free parking available

Delicious food and excellent service! The scallops were fresh and light, the fat chips and fish divine. ALL the deserts were amazing - the apple crumble had the perfect amount of tartiness and was not too sweet and there was lots of crumble. The three puddings were chocolaty and delicate, and the fondant excellent! I was told the steak was perfectly cooked and the artichoke starter wonderfully spiced and delicious. And I LOVED the passion fruit martini with a shot of Prosecco. This was very good quality food. And the servers were lovely. Great meal.

Fantastic food in a lovely atmosphere. The staff were really helpful and attentive! Will be back

We came to The Lion for a 40th Birthday meal and we were all so impressed with the service and food! The lovely staff decorated the table for us with balloons and made us feel very special on the day - thank you!

Excellent food and service. Good choice of beers. Hard to fault anything.

Good food. Nice area. Staff friendly.

Took my family for breakfast with santa. Wow! What can I say...utterly wonderful. Everything was great from the food to santa himself. My children had a magical time and the grown ups fully enjoyed their full English breakfast that was cooked to perfection. The gifts were of great quality from hamleys and excellent value. And a special shout out to the donkey and his owners who were out in the rain. Thank you to the team at the lion, and santa. Can't wait for next year's visit but will be back long before then.

We stayed at the Red Lion in December 2023 and it was absolutely amazing. The staff were incredibly friendly and really went the extra mile to make us feel at home, the rooms were beautifully appointed, the food in the restaurant was delicious (with really nice vegetarian options) and it was great value for money. Would definitely stay again!

A lovely lunch again, great food and a wonderful team looking after us. We were also able to view the accommodation which look fantastic. It is great to see such a successful establishment when so many have fallen by the wayside in recent years.

Great little pub. Not exactly a cheap lunch, but high end food and great service.

Great breakfast. Quality of food was really first class as was the service. Thoroughly recommend The Lion

Amazing service and delicious food served quickly can highly recommend this pub and we will definitely return next time we visit this area.

We had a wonderful evening and we will certainly be returning! The food was delicious, especially the venison. The mussels were excellent, best I've ever tasted. Lovely children's meals too. Excellent service and a lovely Saturday evening atmosphere!

Not the cheapest, but the food and service was excellent! It was busy (Friday night) so I recommend reserving a table..

Very enjoyable lovely clean pub

Good value tasty food, cosy and relaxed

Just went there for lunch and much too expensive and the service although nice and polite, it took way too long- waited 3/4 of an hour for main meal and then another 40 minutes for dessert

it was the first time visiting The Lion having recently moved to the area. first impressions were good. friendly staff. nice venue. but the food wasnt great. we ordered Lobster thermidor which was missing the samphire and the Ploughman's which wasn't a ploughman's it was a charcuterie type type thing with a pound of cheese. no one wants 8 tomatoes 8 mini gherkins and olives on a ploughman's! nope! no ham no pork pie and a quail egg scotch egg that was grey and tasted like it was off. 1 slice of sad bread. the whole thing was dry as hell and the chef needs to sit there and eat it to understand what he is serving. we wont be back

Food was okay and set menu was reasonably priced, but the service was very slow.

Just keeps getting better! Great food, staff and service! Perfect family pub loads of room for kids to run around.

Beautiful setting in the outdoor Marquee/yurt but it was empty but for one other table at 2pm for Sunday Lunch and we were asked to leave the table by 4pm! (for whom? only one party arrived after us) Obviously not a popular venue. Apperol spitz was watery missing any prosecco Roast beef was grisly and chewy and swamped in gravy Trio of meats was dry Summer pudding was great Therein lies the problem. It is just not value for money. Food and service fairly unimpressive Atmosphere further dampened for me hearing the Chef and kitchen staff at rear of pub. We can hear you from the garden!

Friendly staff, with good service. Food was good !

Popped into the beautiful garden for a welcome drink in the hot sunshine. Lovely and shady with umbrellas. Staff are polite and welcoming . Treat yourself if u get a moment to a lovely peaceful time and a cool drink. 😁

Nice looking place with good garden, but I was shocked to be charged £8 for a pint and a bag of crisps

Lovely beautiful pub and the food was incredibly delicious. Will definitely visit again soon!

Excellent food, well presented. I went with a small group for a mid week lunch. There was a choice between a la carte or a lunchtime set menu. The staff were cheerful, helpful and attentive. Definitely be going again.

A cracking breakfast this morning in lovely surroundings and attentive service. Excellent all round.

A lovely pub/restaurant excellent food. Lovely gardens to sit out in. Nice atmosphere will definitely be visiting again.

Love, love and more love. Great food, great service and we can’t wait to return.

Nice Sunday lunch in a pleasant traditional pub. The environment is clean and airy. The food was good, and the portions large, especially the 3 meat roast. There's plenty of parking, which is handy.

Walked from the gorgeous nearby flatford mill hostel to The Lion (25min walk) on a sunny spring evening and had delicious beers and good food. Gorgeous outside garden for kids the run around. The staff especially deserves 6 out of 5 stars.

We've been before and yet again were not disappointed. Delicious supper. Hake was excellent. Thanks

Food was delicious and the staff and venue wonderful!

Didn't eat but the menu looked nice. Staff really friendly but didn't get 5 stars as my pint wasn't great. Didn't take back although I'm sure they would have changed. Great pub and would recommend.

After reading good reviews we thought we would try Sunday lunch. The restaurant was nice enough as were the staffbut the food was underwhelming. The home made breads starter was 4 thick slices of white bread .. The roast potatoes looked crunchy but were soft and tasted like they had been cooked the day before or very early and just heated (they were luke warm) not hot. No cracking as advertised with pork. Not much selection of veg with it. The soup was best thing. Didn’t bother with desert. Sorry we don’t usually comment but we were all disappointed

Absolutely love The Lion. You don't get many places in this region that have such a cosy atmosphere; fresh, local, quality ingredients (hence the higher price bracket); & excellent, friendly service. No wonder it won East of England pub of the year 🥳 Nice to see Adnams Ease Up & Southwold Bitter on tap, & can recommend the Viognier. If you haven't been before you MUST try the thick cut chips with aioli dip - they are the best chips ever!! We ordered from the a la carte menu & both steaks were cooked to just as requested. For a more affordable option, head there on a Wed & Thurs + Fri afternoon for the set menu.

Came away disappointed and hungry from an evening meal at the Lion, never a good outcome. In my opinion it was quite average food, below average portion sizes, lack of imagination in the menu and basic presentation. On a positive note the staff were friendly and helpful.

Great service good food competitive prices well worth a try

Food is tasty here but I don’t return that frequently because I prefer other places locally. I had a whitebait starter which was pretty disappointing in terms of portion size for £10, it was just 7 whitebait with some tartare and a slice of lemon plus they were seemed to me like the frozen type not hand battered or anything particularly special. My partner had the muscles as a starter which was a massive portion in comparison and came with bread. Had I ordered this I would have had a much better experience.

Lovely pub! Cozy and warming, staff are very nice, welcoming and helpful. Food was amazing too, all 4 of us loved what they had (everyone had a different dish). Child friendly too, they have highchairs and baby changing facilities which is nice and clean. Thank you for the delicious lunch!

Very cute pub. Hard to park as in a little village but spaces outside. It has a nice size garden that we look forward to coming back in the summer to enjoy. Lovely decor and vibe in the pub. Lovely staff. Yummy food and cocktails. Great price for a meal and drinks. We will be back 😊

After a great first visit last month on a Sunday we came back to try something else and it did not disappoint! The menu had plenty of great sounding options, I went for the scallops and then the guinea fowl. Perfectly cooked, we’ll be coming back for sure.

Love this place, especially being in walking distance is even better. Food is so so fresh and cooked to perfection

Child friendly. The child changing facilities were clean and easily accessible. Ample street parking. Reservations are a must to avoid disappointment. Beautiful pub. We had the roast trio and even though we got to The Lion almost three hours after they opened, the food was cooked well. The portions were just right. The beef wasn’t tough, dry or tiny. It was a proper chicken breast wrapped in bacon. We didn’t need more gravy. Veg was delicious - not over cooked or neglected. And the yorkshires were fantastic. And the desserts were great. Top marks for presentation. We had to cancel our original reservation as my baby was still sleeping. We were able to rebook and I was very happy with the way the staff accommodated my family. They put us at a table at the back where it was cooler and not noisy. There was room for a buggy and there was a high chair for us.

Enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the Lion. The pub itself is of a high quality, spotlessly clean and decorated to a high standard. The food was spot on and the staff were so friendly and helpful. We had one half one the eating area to ourselves. The chef came out to ask if we had any questions about the menu and Sarah was so welcoming, putting an extra log on the fire to warm us up! The service was quick and we really enjoyed our meal. The chocolate fondant was awesome. Highly recommend and we will definitely be back soon.

Very good establishment. Good, friendly service. Advisable to book,very popular.

Excellent food and fantastic service. Friendly and welcoming. The food was delicious, very generous portions. I had scallops, they were cooked perfectly, flavours were divine. Definitely recommend if you’re in the area or fancy a drive… it will be worth it!

Have visited red lion today for breakfast with santa the whole experience was very nice, beautiful cappuccino, full English outstanding but why is it not served with toast? We had to ask our waitress for toast and have been charged separately. That's the only reason for 4 stars.

First time visiting and it was fab. Will definitely go again

Best veggie breakfast I’ve ever had by far. Bravo.

Lovely atmosphere, really tasty food.

We had a lovely lunch, they were able to accommodate my mum needing an accessible area and it was quiet enough so we could hear each other. The photos are of the vegan wellington, the 2kg mussels, and the venison. We all enjoyed our meals and the service was impeccable. We had some good beers, and the desserts were super. We'll be back.

Brilliant service, fantastic food (we had the catch of the day and vegetarian wellington) and absolutely wonderful staff. Will definitely revisit this lovely establishment when I'm next in the neighbourhood.

Best Sunday Roast I've had in England!

Afternoon tea for 7 young girls to celebrate my daughter's 12th birthday. They hosted it outside of normal open hours so it didn't matter the girls were noisy (as a group of girls that age can be!). Lovely, helpful & very friendly staff - thoroughly recommend!

Lovely staff the place is WOW ...

Was issues with food, but they fixed it then satisfactorily. Excellent service. I’ll be back to try again

Absolutely amazing food top marks to the chef & very friendly staff the place looks top class after the refurbishment and would highly recommend to anyone wanting that special dine out.

loved the place, staff extremely friendly and not too attentive. Roast dinner was delicious just needed a little more vegetables, carrots and peas are cheap and they make the meal look more bulkier. Just a suggestion. sweet selection was very good and very tasty. well done.

We only had some drinks and cheese and olives, but it was lovely in there and they have a nice garden.

Wonderful Sunday lunch, great roast potatoes, lovely service, beautiful garden, what's not to like!

Nice lunch. Good food - top end of price

Our first visit but we'll be going again. Delicious food served in a delightful courtyard. Excellent!

Nice food, good service friendly staff and a free glass for my dad for fathers day thank you

Another fantastic meal. The staff are lovely and can’t do enough to help you. Thank you so much for a lovely evening. John and Pauline Beech

Good beer, good wine. Excellent food. Not cheap, but I felt what we had was worth it

Always 5* here. We go every Friday for drinks after work and it's brilliant. I've eaten here also and the food is absolutely incredible. You realise very quickly why it's an award winning place. You won't ever walk out disappointed

Lovely food and experience. Lovely interior and gardens

The people, the place, the food… what’s not to love. We came for a special meal on our mini-moon in East Bergholt and it was outstanding! One not to miss if you’re in the area!! Loved it. ❤️

Stopped here for lunch today during a walk in the area. Amazing place, lovely food. Staff were so welcoming and friendly. Will definitely return.

We were celebrating our 42nd anniversary and we had a lovely evening, the staff took the trouble to even give us a complimentary plate decorated with happy anniversary thank you

Great food and service. Beautiful garden and great outside seating. All in the quintessential English setting close to Flatford

Underwhelming experience! Venue is lovely but service was patchy and food forgettable. In my opinion not value for money- wish it had been different !

Good lunch time meal, eating outside in the sun. The loos were smart with an interesting display of old shot gun paraphernalia.

Visited for a family Sunday lunch for Mother's Day. Food was excellent - roast beef cooked to perfection. Staff were wonderful too and all mums were given a posy of spring flowers in a little jar, such a lovely touch. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend dining here.

What an amazing eating place food outstanding location beautiful staff are brilliant so friendly and accommodating a great place to go

Fabulous Mother's Day Sunday lunch. Roast beef cooked to perfection. Staff amazing. All mums were given a posy of spring flowers in a little jar, really nice touch. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Once again great food in a lovely setting, good choice for vegans dishes as well

Every time I go here I am greeted in such a personal friendly manner, always remembered from previous visits. Every meal has been uniquely fabulous in a gorgeous environment, inside or in the bohemian tent. Tonight surpassed all, I was dining with a friend, who in the end couldn't make it. I called to explain, half an hour later James bought to my door a delicious pizza and a bottle of wine.....I will remember this for a very long time.

Fantastic Sunday roast. Perfect beef and trimmings. Perfect portion size for me but don’t expect to leave feeling uncomfortably full! Great service too. We walked in without booking and were sat eating within 10 minutes!!