Southwold:
Another Southwold Adnams pub, and a familiar thing: here, though the food is provided by a local pizza co (we didn’t try them).
Our first visit here resulted in us sitting just down the street on the seafront: this pub was busy.
Inside, it’s quite traditional but similar to the other Adnams houses in town. Similarly, it’s cashless and has the same beer range. Pleasant place, though.
Beccles:
It’s a ‘spoons. A hotel ‘spoons. You know the drill.
It’s quite a nice ‘spoons, though. Obviously a pub/hotel for a long time, and it did provide the contrast in pricing to the Southwold pubs.
Beccles:
This was pushing itself much more as a restaurant, hence the “Graze at” but the origins are a pub, and the bar felt pubby. Clearly very old, inside’s a bit stripped out, but by no means featureless.
Really pleasant welcome from the staff, great food, and ABK Hell on draught :-). Outside but under cover seating available too.
Beccles:
We should have liked this, really. From outside it looks typical well-looked-after rural town pub, like it’s been there for ever, and it probably has.
It didn’t hit the spot though: inside had pubco-catalogue furniture that was too modern, and the toilets, jarringly, felt like, while clean, they hadn’t changed since the eighties. The menu didn’t appeal to us either: lunchtime sandwiches were only ciabatta, no other choice.
There wasn’t anything actually terribly wrong, it just didn’t hit the mark. The licensees are clearly working hard, it just didn’t suit us.
Aldeburgh:
We only went in here because I needed a slash (curse my medication!), and I had a diet coke (driving) but what a nice pub. Single-roomed, wood panelled. Lovely traditonal interior, friendly staff. Adnams beer, Pizza available at times, or you could eat stuff from the nearby chippy in the garden if you bought a drink (reasonable prices, given Aldeburgh is, if anything, posher than Southwold).
Lowestoft:
From the outside, this didn’t look that inspiring, on Lowestoft’s South Pier (which is more of a jetty, really) but The Harbour Inn nearby was shut, and we needed lunch, so we dropped in.
Inside, it was pretty pleasant, with great views over the seafront. The food was decent, and prices were good too, especially after Southwold.
Southwold:
Another refurbed Adnams pub, and similar inside to the others. This one is right next to Southwold’s lighthouse.
A story that is becoming familiar: card payments only, stripped-wood furniture, nice staff, good beer, pub food menu that seems a bit poncy and pricey (and we suspect, may have been the cause of a dodgy tummy for my better half, sadly). The outside space was nice- only onto the street, but it’s a nice quiet street.
Southwold:
Whatpub Link
Pub Heritage Link
Website
This is a hotel, but it has a back bar that feels very old-fashioned pub. There’s a restaurant at the front, too, which wasn’t cheap, but was excellent.
It’s another part of the Adnams empire, and again, cashless.
Great staff, the usual selection of Adnams beer, nice atmosphere. Nice outside space at the front on to the High Street.
Southwold:
Our first visit to one of the several Adnams-operated pubs in town. This is one of the ones that is just a pub, not far from the seafront, just south of the High St.
In common with the others, this is cashless.
Inside is tradional, a little modern stripped wood, maybe. Staff pleasant, usual choice of Adnams beer, including a very nice couple of lagers. Great outside space in the sunshine. There’s food- from snacks including some excellent sausage rolls to a full meal.
Southwold:
A hotel, but it’s in Whatpub and the bar feels pubby.
Originally The Station Hotel, this is a fine Edwardian building, opposite where the railway used to terminate, and is seemingly one of the few licenced premises in Southwold not operated by Adnams (though they apparently retain the freehold).
Outside looks a little bit faded magnificence, inside has clearly seen a fair bit of work and is pleasant, light, and bright. This could be fabulous, but clearly costs a lot of money.
Friendly staff, decent beer choice (Adnams, unsurprisingly!). It did have a bit of an air of struggling to me, which was a shame: the restaurant opening was sporadic and the phone went to voicemail, though email was answered promptly.