The best restaurants serving British food in Fornham St Edmundsbury East of England

We went there to celebrate 2 birthdays and regretted it It seems like the waiter was avoiding us, food was average. The ordered the salmon taglaitelle and thought it would be a piece of Salmon but it was few pieces of salmon mixed in the pasta. Ordered beef but it was dry with no sauce. We only ate half of our food and asked the waiter if we can have the left over in boxes he said yes and then threw everything in the bin. I asked for a coffee, never got it but it was counted on the bill. Ordered ice cream as it was in the children meal, at the end it was counted as separate adults ice cream And this is just to name a few negative points from our evening of birthdays celebration …

We arrived on Saturday, 6th July, around 10:30/11am. The queue was long as expected. It was raining outside, and we saw a group of people queuing under cover, so we joined, asking if this was the correct queue, and they confirmed it was. It wasn't until we got closer to the front that we saw a sign indicating we needed to see the person inside for seating. Overall, we waited nearly 50 minutes for a table for two. The queuing system was quite bizarre, and it would have been helpful to have a sign at the beginning of the queue indicating the need to speak to someone inside for a table. We weren’t the only ones confused. At no point did any staff member come out to clarify the process, but they did seem to usher in people behind us, and then we wondered what was going on. In retrospect, I'm not sure why we waited so long, but perhaps hunger made us persevere. While the coffee was lovely, we noticed several empty tables inside which would have seated two, as you can't book and a lack of urgency from the staff member checking in. My husband noted that his sausages were cold. When we paid, nobody asked about our experience, which felt like a missed opportunity for feedback. The queuing system needs significant improvement, particularly with better signage or staff guidance. The service lacked attentiveness. I won't be rushing back.

A while since our last visit, great to find the car park relaid and the place spruced up. Fantastic place for fish&chips (they let me substitute fries too), for £11 wasn’t expecting a giant fresh perfectly battered cod - best had in ages. Bumped into some neighbours who’d also made the journey to seek it out. Lovely decor and welcoming landlord and staff! We will be back and not leave it so long!