6 of the Best Award-Winning Restaurants

The historic town of Bury St Edmunds is a culinary hotspot! - make sure you book a table at one of these fabulous award-winning restaurants on your next visit to Suffolk's foodie town...

1. Pea Porridge

Pea Porridge restaurant in Bury St Edmunds is the first and only restaurant in Suffolk to be awarded one Michelin star award as well as the coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand award for the past seven years running. Pea Porridge is also only 143 in the UK to be granted the world’s oldest restaurant guide’s accolade for establishments offering good food at reasonable prices.

Head Chef and Owner Justin Sharp (head chef-proprietor) and his wife Jurga (front-of-house), serve dishes they themselves love to cook and eat, prioritising local, seasonal produce. Starters include asparagus & wild garlic soup, sauté of snails & bacon on toast and “Bertha” grilled quail. For your main, choose from “Bertha” grilled English rose veal loin chop, ricotta & rocket malfatti, asparagus, Aylesbury duck breast with wild garlic mash and Breckland venison haunch. To compliment your meal, choose bottle from the extensive, handpicked wine menu.

2. Maison Bleue

Recently awarded Michelin's Sommelier award, featured in the top 100 Places to Eat in the UK, the regional winner in the fine dining cuisine category and the coveted Global Winner for Haute Cuisine in the 2018 World Luxury Restaurant Awards, Maison Bleue offers a refined a la carte menu using fresh, seasonal produce. Pascal Canevet of Maison Bleue was named Restaurant Chef of the Year at the 'Oscars' of the food world - the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards in 2019. Previous winners of the accolade have included Marco Pierre White, Alain Ducasse and James Martin. In 2020, the restaurant was named for the fifth time as one of the best 10 fine dining restaurants in the UK by the Trip Advisor 2020 Traveller’s Choice Restaurant Award.

Choose from Orkney Island king scallop, Norfolk quail, Jersey oyster and langoustine with salmon to start followed by wild sea Bass, halibut, Creedy Carver Duck, Aberdeen Angus reef or rabbit. For dessert there's bramble apple tartlet with Aspall cider jelly, hazelnut and chestnut dacquoise and Coffee and Azelia Grand Cru chocolate soft ganache.

The wine list is equally as impressive; boasting a selection of the restaurant's handpicked wines along with fine wines, sparking wines and Champagne.

3. The Weeping Willow

This listed Suffolk Pub is one of the oldest buildings in Barrow and dates from the early sixteenth century. The Weeping Willow has been lovingly restored and expanded to create Suffolk’s first modern country pub.

There is something for everyone on the menu, which features produce sourced locally from East Anglia. The menu features mains such as rib eye steak with triple-cooked hand cut chips, Willow burger, Willow halloumi burger; Paella mixta; Oyster mushroom risotto; Duck egg carbonara; Fillet of seabass and beer battered fish & chips.

Finish your meal with a mouthwatering dessert; White chocolate crémeux with honeycomb, raspberries; Sticky toffee pudding, 'Willow Mess'; Lemon posset and chocolate brownie.

4. The Northgate

The Northgate was awarded the Diners Choice Award in 2018 and with a 5 star A Gold Award for their sumptuous rooms, you can enjoy a foodie weekend at The Northgate in Bury St Edmunds. The Northgate is home to the only Chef's Table in the town; here 12 guests have the chance to see first-hand a busy kitchen team in action and the opportunity to choose from a specially prepared tasting menu which uses the finest local ingredients combined with the most up to date cooking techniques.

The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with the 'Tastes of Anglia' dining experience. The dinner menu includes dishes such as Baron Bigod, marinated summer vegetables and spelt toast, beef carpaccio and Devon crab to start, followed by main courses of Denham Estate lamb, Old Spot pork chop, roast courgette with Norfolk quail eggs, rare breed 50-day aged rib-eye and pan roast hake.

Make sire you leave room for dessert; lemon tart, raspberry mousse with fresh elder flower, raspberry jelly and elder flower petal ice cream and English strawberries with lemon possett.

5. 1921

Winner of the 'Best Restaurant' award at the 2017 Suffolk Food & Drink Awards, 1921 is a fine dining restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere in the heart of historic Bury St Edmunds.

Start your meal with canapés and an aperitif in the lounge before moving into the restaurant and choosing from the exciting menu featuring some of the region's top produce.

For your starter, choose from curried parsnip veloute, Mersea crab, smoked mackrel fishcake, White Nancy's goat's cheese fondant or langoustine bouillabaisse.

For your main, there's sirloin of local beef with braised shin, pommes dauphine, snails and parsley, pan fried skate, confit duck leg, wild mushroom risotto and locally shot hare, rack, loin and leg with truffle dumplings.

Finish your meal with a dessert of dark chocolate fondant, apple tartin, carrot cake with orange sorbet, lemon curd parfait and a selection of British cheeses, followed by Bury’s own Butterworth’s coffee and a selection of hand-crafted petit fours.

6. The Angel Eaterie

The award-winning, elegant eaterie at The Angel has been awarded an AA rosette, and serves a menu of superb modern British cuisine.

The historic hotel in the centre of Bury St Edmunds has recently undergone a stylish refurbishment, whilst retaining it's historic features. The menu features British classics with a modern twist including 48-hour slow cooked beef with Parmesan and truffle chips; Butter and thyme roasted chicken; Pan-roasted hake; Beer battered haddock with triple cooked chips and Artichoke slow roasted linguine.

Desserts include warm carrot cake with cream cheese and cinnamon ice cream; strawberry and Pimms delice; Passion fruit tart with coconut sorbet; White chocolate and raspberry terrine and a cheese board.