Theberton Lion in Suffolk Coastal

Lovely pub, friendly staff and delicious food. Steak and ale pie very popular and the beefburger was superb. Tasty chips

Excellent meal and friendly staff and locals, dogs were made to feel welcome

Haven’t been here for decades!! Visited at lunchtime, obviously a well used and loved ‘traditional English pub.’ Great to see the friendly banter from locals with the barman/owner (so sorry forgotten your name!) with visitors receiving a friendly welcome. Great to see someone loving his job. So far the lion has retained its independence without conforming to a chain, can only hope it stays this way with the decor resisting a makeover. Home cooked food- ‘proper meals’. Makes such a difference. Quite traditional but updated which works when the chef clearly loves what they are doing and takes pride in serving good quality food (or fooled us) I was surprised to see lamb chops (haven’t had since a child) but the meal and sides made me want to recreate it ,Veggies perfect . Rabbit pie not available however the steak and ale pie was apparently the best ever according to teenage daughter. Yes food upper end price for pub food but actually really good quality. If you want a cheap meal in price and quality there’s availability in the nearest town .

Pub was quiet, but couldn't accommodate us for food for over 1 hour! There were only 2 tables marked as reserved. And as the landlord has replied I will add - service starts as soon as a person enters the door. Wife and daughter said they thought we were invisible to the lady working the bar.

I stayed here with my dad (in the twin cabin) for a trip to RSPB Minsmere. Not only was the location excellent for visiting there, but it was a lovely place to stay in general! Parking was never a problem (something my dad always worries about!) The cabin was cosy but spacious with all the necessary bits and bobs. The pub itself had a wonderful atmosphere with friendly staff. Great selection of drinks! The rhubarb cider was especially tasty :D My dad tried a few local ales. We wouldn't normally spend so much on food, but thought we would treat ourselves to dinner at the pub for a couple of nights, and all of the food was delicious, especially the red velvet bread & butter pudding, which was absolutely to die for! Overall, it was a brief but brilliant stay, and we'd definitely stay (and eat) again if we were in the area.

Amazing food, the burgers are delicious and massive. Highly recommended

We visited twice over the weekend and have to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Tom and staff were great company, also the customers which made it a great evening each time. The food was also very good.. we thoroughly recommend this place for food, drink and atmosphere. Also, sorry to everyone if our enjoyment was a tad loud..

Such a friendly and nice local pub. Highly recommended!

Wonderful food, homemade and delicious. Lovely atmosphere and made to feel very welcome. Good choice of ales and great menu.

Astounding food. Good beer and friendly staff. We had a fabulous evening and would highly recommend. I had swordfish, some had the vegan veg pie, others had the duck. All of us were more than happy with the cooking and flavour of the food. The staff in the pub could not be more friendly and helpful.

This is a great little pub. Very welcoming, it feels like a real old style local. Lovely choice of real ales, comfortable and friendly. Food a bit hit and miss, excellent meal one night, pretty average pub food the next. I'll definitely be popping in the next time I'm in the area.

Superb village pub with excellent, interesting and well kept ales. A proper community pub.

Lovely food in a super dog friendly pub. Staff were friendly & efficient. Food was well presented & delicious.

On our first evening living in Suffolk, having just moved up from Kent, we decided to check out the Lion as I'd done a bit of research to find a 'new' local and the beer selections looked tempting.. Happy to say it was a great choice - had the warmest of welcomes from landlord Tom, the beer and cider was top notch - very well-kept - and Rebecca managed to squeeze us in for dinner - an enormous, and tasty, serving of Cumberland sausage and mash.. there was a great atmosphere in the pub, friendly customers, and a great outdoor space out back.. we were so impressed with the whole experience and looking forward to our next visit..

Wonderful welcoming pub! Landlord was brilliant and extremely friendly. Chef and food was wonderful, the chef is a coeliac as am I and 99% of the food is GF to a coeliac standard. My partner was very happy too as stocked a large variety of drinks on tap, some being very local produce. First time in ages felt comfortable instantly on stepping into a pub. Thoroughly recommend.

We had high hopes for this place after reading some of the reviews and having had chatted to the owner prior to booking the meal. I can honestly say I have never been so disappointed with a meal, ever. We have eaten in many restaurants and pubs over the years, varying in price, don’t get me wrong, they say you get what you pay for, and if the starters and desserts were £3 and the mains £8, then I guess I may have expected what we got, however, the bill came to just over £100 for 4 of us, 2 of which were teenagers so there were only 2 alcoholic drinks, and 1 daughter had water. I won’t bother going into too much detail, but the chips were soggy, the way too big onion rings were mainly uncooked batter and the burger was so over cooked it was crumbly and the one dessert my daughter had, because after the awful starters and mains we didn’t really want to risk the desserts, came out totally different to what was expected/asked for, a chocolate torte, now anyone who knows anything about desserts knows what a chocolate torte is, I will let you google it if you are unsure, what came out looked like a kind of bun, you can see in the picture it absolutely was not a torte, and didn’t taste like one, when we mentioned it as it came out, the lady said it was the owners recipe, ok, but still not a chocolate torte! my daughter still really wanted it as it was gluten free and she struggles to find gluten free desserts when we are out. We left just feeling really disappointed and also really annoyed that we had spent over £100 on food that was so overpriced for its quality, we would pay those prices in Aldeburgh where the food is top notch, I would hate others to eat here and have to pay those prices for that kind of food.

A real gem of a local village pub! Clearly the heart of the community but really welcoming to visitors too. Fantastic range of local beers kept to perfection. Had eaten before we went but menu looked enticing, great deal of locally sourced produce & diners around us were extremely complimentary. Was particularly impressed by how much the staff knew about what they were selling & how friendly & keen they were to help. Will certainly be returning, thanks all for a lovely evening.

Booked a Sunday lunch after a long drive we were looked after very well the food was excellent.

Average local pub beer the beer was really good the best we had whilst on holiday name had Dragon in it! THE FOOD WAS ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE never had food so bad and NOT cheap either. Burgers were microwaved and the bun so hard and over heated up they needed to go in the bin. Fish and chips was burnt and super greasy disgusting. Please stick to just drinks and snacks until you can actually get a proper chef, I know these are hard to come by but bad reviews don’t help returning business and word spreads, we did check some reviews and they were average so we thought we would take a chance seriously never thought it could be so bad 😳

This pub is a great find, and it turned out to be conveniently just round the corner from our holiday rental. It was our first night, so naturally we didn’t feel like cooking, and with no booking, we effectively gatecrashed their Halloween party event with everybody, turning up brilliantly dressed up in full horror fancy dress while were in civvies. Nonetheless, we received a great welcome, the excellent range of drinks was explained, and we sat down and soaked up the atmosphere. Very conscious that without a booking, we might not get served, but when we asked, they just said if we could bear with the kitchen for half an hour or so they could provide food, so we were happy to wait. Between us we had the burger, pork medallions, and the steak and ale pie. All was absolutely excellent, we really enjoyed the friendly service and the great atmosphere – really recommend anybody in this area to try the Lion.

Lovely homely pub and restaurant with friendly staff. Food is amazing, we are always going back, we have had lovely curry’s and often stay late for rock and roll bingo, loads of fun. Another plus is the cabins on site, they are next to the cute sheeps on the farm at the back of the garden. P.s they love digestive biscuit’s. Thank you for making us always feel so welcome.

Another great visit. We camp near by every year and walk here for lunch. Great food every time. Will definitely be back. Dogs enjoyed there biscuits to !! Thank you for your hospitality

Ooh this is such a good place, you should visit from all surrounding counties. For why, the beer is meticulously cared for and the food is fastidiously to die for. I was nearby for three days, went three times. Damn, got to head home now.

OMG this was probably the worst curry we had ever had!. We were on holiday and had booked for the curry night a few days earlier . We were really looking forward to a curry, we ordered a chicken curry only to be told It was off the menu so we had beef instead. It came on cold plates, the beef was diced in cubes and was tough and chewey OMGwith no taste. The" sauce" was watery and also had little or no taste. The appearance of it didn't help. We had to complain and could not eat it. We were offered something else but the "moment " had gone so we got up and left. We were not charged for this or our drinks. Only one other couple were earing in the almost empty pub whilst we were there. It gives me no pleasure writing this bad review but we were on holiday and the evening we were looking forward to was spoilt.

Had a lovely time, meals were great plus staff very accommodating, friendly & service excellent 😁😁

Fantastic pub, with a great selection of beers, ales and ciders. Unfortunately couldn't stay for a meal, but the menu looked very promising!

Booked table over 1 week ago for 5 people, had it verified and arrived to quite a hostile man presumably the owner who had no record of our booking and asked if it was verified which I showed him the proof on email, we had the meal after a lengthy wait as he said they would be very busy but could squeeze us in ! The place was half empty ! The lady at the bar was very friendly and helpful too good for that place. We were told we couldnt put the box of condiments on the next table as it would be rammed which I found amusing as it was still half empty when we left and table next to ours was still empty. The food was mediocre at best and not that hot, a shame really as on a previous visit our meal was lovely, sadly we will not return or recommend. In response to your response about my review, I did not say anything at the time as my family were with our party and did not want to make them feel uncomfortable, I did not say the food was cold, it was not hot but warm, and as I said the garden seating was empty, the front seating area was empty and the table next to ours was empty the whole time we were there. Whilst I appreciated your offer of a free meal for our party as compensation it was a bribe to offer it on the proviso of removing an honest review.

The lady at front of house was very welcoming & professional but was let down by the standard of the food. 1 starter had to go back as it was inedible & the other not much better. Chef needs to understand that if you put cooked food with salad it cooks the salad which is not particularly appetising. The mains were supermarket standard ingredients cobbled together with little taste. We were table checked but decided not to complain further as it would spoil the evening. Sorry but can’t recommend eating here..

I found the food to be excellent. A good choice and all nicely prepared. Lovely curry and excellent pudding. Problems was short staffed and the slow service - allow 2 hours + for the evening meal.

We had supper here on two consecutive nights. It restores my faith in pubs. The food was excellent, home-cooked, freshly made and well-presented. The chef came out to check we were happy. It was delicious. I had trout steak with a caper sauce one night, and a butternut squash curry the other night. Both were really tasty, and offered at a good price. The cheese plate had a selection of local cheeses, all very tasty, with an onion relish. Definitely to be recommended. The publican was really friendly and welcoming. We sat in the outer garden, where it was very peaceful. This pub has no pretensions... it's simply good food at a good price.

Had a lovely Roast Beef Sunday lunch. Food was piping hot and all including the vegtables well cooked. One of the best I have had in the area. Will go back to try the famous Steak and Ale pie.

We stopped today for lunch and the food was amazing. The best meal out we’ve had in a long time. The rhubarb cider is a must try!

Visited for an evening meal having booked a table but food still took almost an hour to arrive! Once received the food was OK but nothing to shout about and we felt there are better venues in the area!

Tom and Helen run a great free house in the Suffolk village of Theberton. There’s always an excellent range of well-kept ales, real ciders and a choice of keg options too. Decent home-cooked food too, and always a warm welcome. The church over the road is worth a visit too. Look out for the zeppelin!

Had a free weekend so booked up a cabin for the night. I was a bit concerned as it was so cold, but I need not have worried. Nice and warm and the beds were super comfortable. Great breakfast brought to the door too. Didn’t eat in the pub but food looked great. Friendly staff and great selection of beers. Looking forward to returning.

My wife and I recently had a walking week in the area, and booked a cottage in Theberton as a result of having excellent meals in The Lion last year.(See my review of 20/11/21), which meant that we could walk to an evening meal. Oh how things have changed. The first meal we had was your average Pub meal, so we booked for the Curry night. What a disaster. The worst Curry we have ever eaten ! My 'Malaysian Beef in Coconut with ? consisted of large chunks of Beef, complete with fat in a watery sauce with a few bits of vegetable thrown in, boiled rice, a COLD Naan, all on a COLD dish. My wife's 'Chicken Bhuna' was much the same. Cold Dish, cold Naan. The best part of the meal was the Mango Chutney and the Raita! Both these meals were priced at £14.95 each !! They had no chilled Chardonnay, and so a bottle of poor Pino Grigio was brought up from the cellar. The total Bill was £48.00. Ever been ripped off?

We discovered this diamond on a recent trip to Suffolk. A curry night was on offer, very reasonable price, so we went for it. A traditional pub, Ben made us welcome straight away, his customer service was faultless, then the food arrived, lovingly prepared by Jonathan, our table agreed that this was one of the best curry’s we have ever had and all gluten free……delicious. We managed to devour a pudding of crumble and ice cream which was perfect. I would thoroughly recommend this gem. Jonathan and Ben should have a star rating. Tell your friends

Booked a Sunday lunch table for 2.00pm, arrived early and was told that the order could not be taken as they were busy. I thought that as we were early that was fair enough. Our order was taken at around 2.00pm or just after. The food arrived at 3.10. Frankly it wasn’t even worth waiting for. It was dry and very tasteless. The landlady did ask if everything was ok but turned to the barman before getting my answer - I’ve said it here for you! One saving grace was the barman. He was pretty rushed off his feet and very apologetic for the wait. An hour to wait for any Sunday lunch is poor, but to wait that long for a poor lunch is worse. Hardly saw the landlady and the landlord was absent it seems. I’m guessing this as the landlady needed to contact him as leaflets stated a band was booked but she knew nothing. Says it all really. Utter shambles!

Visited this lovely country pub whilst staying in the area for food The pub was small but very friendly and welcoming, the dog was very welcome with treats behind the bar. The food was lovely, a nice selection. The bar staff had a good knowledge alof the craft beers on tap Would recommend .