The Restaurant @ Suffolk Food Hall in Mid Suffolk

I made a lunch reservation for two at 12.00 noon on the 3rd February. Upon arrival we waited at the Reception Desk to be seated. One staff member was in the vicinity but made no contact with us. Eventually a waitress arrived who, without speaking, checked our reservation, picked up menus and conducted us to a window table. No words were spoken by her at any time. A waiter took our drinks order which arrived quickly, and we chose dishes from the menu. For my guest the choice was Butchery Beef Croquettes accompanied by Deli Slaw whilst I opted for the Slow Roasted Rolled Italian Pork Belly with traditional aubergine and olive stew, focaccia, and seasonal greens. Good choices, (thank you chef), and my only comment in respect of the ‘stew’ is that, although the pork was very moist, the inclusion of focaccia was unnecessary because there was insufficient stew to mop up. It was very tasty. However, I like apple sauce with most pork dishes but was advised by the waiting staff this wasn’t available. (I fully appreciate this was not a recipe ingredient, just my personal preference). What grated with me was the waiter saying, ‘don’t blame me’. I wasn’t blaming anyone, and if not available, fine. The waiter’s attitude was surprising and uncalled for. English mustard was however available and forthcoming– in a sachet. Upon completion of our main course we decided on coffee – both Americano, which we ordered. The restaurant was fairly busy but after 15/20 minutes our coffees had not arrived, so I found our waiter whose response to my enquiry was ‘haven’t you got them yet’? Almost as I returned to my seat our two coffees were served. No sugar was offered – fortunately neither of us take sugar/sweetener in coffee! The coffees were undrinkable, the colour of Amazonian mud with a very bitter, unpalatable taste. When our bill arrived, and I commented on the coffee, the waiter immediately removed the bill saying the coffees would not be charged. This was done so speedily I wonder if other customers had similarly commented. All in all, a disappointing experience. The food was very acceptable but the service manner let the whole experience down. At no point during our time in the restaurant was there any apparent management/supervisory presence in evidence.

Saturday brunch and we’ve never seen it so busy here. We didn’t realise breakfast orders finish at 11.15 but managed to get ours in with seconds to spare and the staff were friendly throughout. Service was quick too. A complaint (hated to do this) about one overcooked food item was dealt with in the best possible way and so Thank You.

I love a roast for Sunday lunch and this is the best I have found. Very competitive at £17 for the beef. The meat was superb as were the Yorkshire and the gravy. A great, great Sunday lunch. A very nice dessert too with lovely views of the bridge and river.

We thought we would revisit the restaurant after its refurb. Our previous experiences had been underwhelming, but we wanted to give the place another chance. It did not go well and we won't be returning. The place looks lovely post refurb and nothing can ever beat the views across the river and of the bridge. That is where the praise has to stop, sadly. The food was dreadful. We had burgers, and fish and chips. The burgers were supposed to come with "smoked cheese, barbecue sauce and crispy onions". The cheese was definitely not smoked cheese, the amount of sauce was minimal and there were no crispy onions. The burger was bland. The brioche bun was over-toasted (ie: burnt). The shoestring fries were just about cooked. The fish and chips: cold chips, certainly not triple cooked as advertised, lack of seasoning. There was a chef at the pass, plus someone expediting, but there seemed to be no quality control. Having requested the bill twice, after twenty minutes one of our group approached a member of the bar staff to collect it personally (she was beyond helpful and apologetic for the poor service). However, the wait was spent watching staff avoiding clearing up a smashed glass. The manager clearly had very little authority over the servers (who promptly disappeared to the other end of the restaurant), and the presence of a table of families with young children seemed to do nothing to add to the sense of urgency. Delivering afternoon teas seemed to be more important. Such a shame as we so wanted to make this a regular visit. Would be better to head next door to the shop, pick up a picnic and enjoy the views al fresco.

Lovely staff, restaurant clean. Great views. Good menu with plenty of choice. I had beer battered fish and chips and was amazed by the large portion size. The fish batter was crispy and not greasy. The chips were crispy. And delicious. The peas were plentiful, fresh and cooked perfectly

The layout of the restaurant gives fabulous views across the river and the Orwell bridge. The breakfast choices were good and included a selection of eggs with hollandaise sauce (delicious!) Service was a tad slower than ideal - about 30 mins from placing our order which in itself wouldn’t have been a problem but sadly when it arrived the food was not that warm which was a shame. I am not sure why that was as there were several serving staff on duty. The quality and taste of our breakfasts was very good and the portions were fair for the price charged - just needed to be served hotter.

Excellent food. We had the Mediterranean platter to start and then we chose the Beer battered fish and chips. The servings were very large and very tasty. Wonderful views of the Orwell Bridge. I was captivated by the whole place. Lovely friendly relaxed service. Certainly hope to visit again as we did not have much time to visit all the shopping attractions.

We visited as a family for breakfast on the day of our son’s birthday. I booked online a few days ahead, this is very easy to do via there website. Our server was friendly and got our drinks order taken soon after we arrived. Four of us ordered the ‘sizzler’ and one of us ordered eggs florentine. The sizzler was a traditional style full English breakfast and cost £12, Eggs Florentine was £11. We waited about 35 minutes for the food and I would say the restaurant was moderately busy. The breakfast itself was delicious and nicely presented with good quality ingredients. The only disappointment was that the food wasn’t as warm as it could be, we all commented on this, so it wasn’t just one of us. The restaurant at Suffolk Food Hall is in a fabulous location, the setting is lovely and the large windows give you great views looking out towards the River Orwell and Orwell Bridge.

I took my grandparents to the restaurant at Suffolk Food hall and the food was lovely and Thomas was very helpful, friendly and polite. We had a really nice experience!

Really enjoyed our breakfast here on Easter Sunday. Went with our daughter and her 4 year old son. Coffee was the best we have had since arriving from Aus and the meal was hot and deliious. We had a 4 year old with us the childrens meal is really big for a little person this age but would have been fantastic for our larger grandchildren when we next visit. Highly recommend.

Really enjoyed our lunch at this lovely restaurant. We were recommended it via some friends and so decided to give it a go while we were in the area and weren't disappointed. The location is gorgeous, with great views of the surrounding area and the building is very nice too. From the moment we arrived, the staff were polite and attentive, even though it was fully booked and obviously very busy. We brought two young children with us for the meal and they were happy with the free colouring crayons and menu they could sit and destroy while we all got settled and caught up. The wait for a drinks order was done in a timely manner and then our food order came after a little wait, but again appreciated the restaurant was fully booked but certainly didn't feel too long. The food itself was excellent, lovely selection and was hard to choose what we wanted for lunch. We couldn't fault the quality of any of our meals and amount that you got was perfect (almsot too much on the cheese platter was ordered as an extra). We finished our meal with coffees (which I seen had poor reviews of, in the cafe section of trip adviser for "being bitter") but really enjoyed a well made and good quality tasting coffee. I think those that had not enjoyed it just don't know what the taste of good coffee is? We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit, and to cap it off, the kids playground / bouncy cushion outside made it a really enjoyable visit all round and we hope to visit again. Thank you!

Well it is a lot better than it was 2/ 3 years ago , it is now good and could be very good with a few tweaks . The serving staff were efficient and friendly and overall it was a pleasant experience. On the Wednesday we went it was very full and the mains took more than 30 mins to arrive , we were in no rush so it didn’t matter, but I could sense annoyance around us. My beef and rice dish was very tasty but certainly pricey for the small amount of food , it needed some further embellishment, a side sauce too as it was rather dry. I look forward to a few more dishes to choose from next time !

I booked for lunch as I had read about their recently refurbishment and how they did light lunches as well as normal mains. The menu was very disappointing with the light lunches consisting of either a sandwich or a platter of food. I decided to order a main instead as neither of those appealed to me. We then had to wait over 45 minutes for the food to arrive. My beetroot winter salad was nice but the chips that came with my husband's fish were soggy as if they'd been kept warm for some time. I found the restaurant to be very cold and draughty and did think about putting my coat on. All in all it wasn't an experience I would like to repeat as there are plenty of restaurants who do much better.