The Suffolk is a restaurant with rooms in the delightfully laid-back seaside town of Aldeburgh
It has quickly established itself as the town’s – if not the entire county’s – standout dining option since opening in 2022. Founder George Pell first came down to Aldeburgh between Covid-era lockdowns, decamping the staff of Soho’s L’Escargot (where he was working at the time) to the seaside for a very successful pop-up. With that going so well and the building up for grabs he decided to stay for good, renovating the old 17th century coaching inn where the pop-up had taken place into what we now have as The Suffolk.
Above the restaurant are six rooms, each taking a name from the surrounding area, like Orford Ness or The Butley. The rooms, and the rest of the property, were refurbished by local interior designer Kate Fulford who’s given the place a smart, almost New England-style coastal makeover. There’s whitewashed clapboard walls, bright blue banquettes, rattan lampshades in the dining room, and each of the six unique rooms has a mix of vintage and antique furnishings, soft green tones, occasional pops of colour in a lampshade or splash of wallpaper, and big luxurious beds.
We were in The Havergate, which had a lovely old period fireplace and an excellent bay window with seating looking directly out to sea just a few yards away. All rooms have access to a small pantry on the landing too, where you can pick up not just teas and coffee, but also pre-mixed cocktails and local charcuterie and cheese such as the famed Baron Bigod. A perfect little afternoon pick me up.
The Suffolk also added a small outdoor roof terrace during its renovations, which has great views over the pebble beach and sea. We headed there for a pre-dinner drink, the obligatory Sur-Mertini – Gin, Oyster Liquor, Martini Bianco, Lemon Bitters – and some bar snacks, including lamb croquettes and seaweed poppadoms.
The main restaurant and bar downstairs is headed up by Luke Truelove and, given its location mere seconds from the sea, fish is of course the big focus here. Fresh fish comes in daily either directly from the fish shacks on the beach, or just down the road from places like Lowestoft or the legendary Pinney’s of Orford (another highlight of our trip).
We began of course with fresh oysters, served simply with red wine vinaigrette and lemon, plus hand dived scallops coated with lardon and pickled apple. It was nice to also see escargots with garlic butter on the menu too, a little nod to the original L’Escargot pop-up.
Next was a ridiculously-good langoustine bisque that we could have drank a gallon of, served with a little crab palmier biscuit on the side. There was also dressed crab with pickled cucumber and avocado cream, and a leafy garden salad (the vegetables on offer in Suffolk are also next level).
The main event was a grilled lobster drenched in garlic butter and served with excellent fries. Lobster can be so often disappointing but this was properly flavourful and perfectly cooked. Then, one of the restaurants’s signatures and a must-order, the whole brill topped with dill, parsley, chives and smoked sea salt, and served with homemade tartare sauce. There was just about room for dessert – a solo Pump Street dark chocolate mousse for the win, before the short hop upstairs to bed.
Breakfast is included in all room rates so the next morning before checking out, we got stuck into a full English made from all-local Suffolk produce, from the sausage, bacon and black pudding to the eggs, tomato and beans. Ok maybe not the beans, but you don’t want to be messing about with posh beans on a fry-up anyway.
After all that we needed a walk and there’s a huge stretch of coastline to explore right on The Suffolk’s doorstep (though we did wimp out from actually getting in the sea). Around town there are lots of great antique shops and delis to stock up on produce, as well as fish shacks and smokehouses on the beach – don’t miss the noon pies with haddock and cheese.
And further afield there is so much to do in Suffolk that you could easily make Aldeburgh your base for a whole week of exploring and eating, which is exactly what we did. Check out our full guide to the best of Suffolk here.
152 High St, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, IP15 5AQ
the-suffolk.co.uk
