With an abundance of award winning restaurants in and around Ipswich, it’s fast becoming a foodie paradise and hotspot for food lovers in East Anglia, drawing in more visitors each year.
Suffolk is One of The Best for Food Connoisseurs
The prestigious AA restaurants guide has included more than 30 Suffolk restaurants in this year’s guide. Among those entries in and around Ipswich are:
- Hintlesham Hall, Hintlesham, 4 miles west of Ipswich
- Salthouse Harbour Hotel, Ipswich
- The Peacock Inn, Ipswich, 7 miles from Ipswich
What Can You Expect From These Award Winning Restaurants?
Hintlesham Hall
Seasonal menus filled with rich flavours, locally sourced produce and ingredients, Carrier’s Restaurant uses fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs grown on the grounds in Robert’s old herb garden and vegetable patch.
Choose from three dining rooms, all available for private use whatever the celebration – dinner parties, birthday meals, anniversaries, festive dining, and wedding receptions. Whatever the occasion, there’s the perfect spot to dine.
Salthouse Harbour Hotel
Earthy but elegant. The menu encompasses locally sourced fresh produce for a perfect Suffolk culinary experience.
The Peacock Inn
Traditional pub classics showcasing the best of Suffolk’s local produce that are unfussy and unpretentious.
What is an AA Rosette Restaurant Award?
The AA Rosette award scheme was introduced in 1958 and, at the time, was the first national scheme for assessing the quality of food and service served by both restaurants and hotels across the UK. The idea being that the rosettes would help diners to recognise culinary excellence.
Awards are made based on inspector visits to the establishments. This may be made by one or more hotel and restaurant inspectors who are knowledgeable and experienced in assessing quality.
How Did Hintlesham Hall Achieve its AA Rosette Restaurant Award?
Hintlesham Hall was awarded its AA Rosette restaurant award based on its outstanding food. External influences from hotels, restaurants or other guides, are not accounted for when awarding Rosette restaurant awards; they are solely awarded by AA hotel and restaurant inspectors.
When an AA inspector is assessing a restaurant it is absolutely about the food; the precision in cooking along with attention to the selection of quality ingredients and above all else it’s the taste of the dish that counts the most.
Hintlesham Hall achieved it’s 2 Rosettes Restaurant Award by:
- Head Chef Jon Cole’s ability to demonstrate and apply advanced techniques while
incorporating maximum flavour and assuming an “appropriate quality of sourced ingredients” - High standards
- Consistency
- Great precision in his cooking
- Attention to selecting the best quality ingredients for his dishes.
A Brief History About Carrier’s Award Winning Restaurant Ipswich
Carrier’s restaurant is named after Robert Carrier – the grandfather of our modern day celebrity chefs.
Robert purchased Hintlesham Hall in 1971, and after extensive renovations the hotel and restaurant was opened in 1972 as a luxurious hotel with a Michelin-star restaurant, herb garden and cookery school. In 1983 he sold the Hintlesham Hall to hotelier Ruth Watson.
Today you can still find subtle signs of Carrier’s influence including some of his old menus and cookbooks in a glass cabinet.
What Can You Expect When Dining in the Carrier’s Restaurant
Carrier’s Restaurant is set in the magnificent grandeur of Hintlesham Hall. The hotel has maintained its long established reputation for exquisite cuisine and fine dining.
Guests at Carrier’s restaurant can expect and enjoy a taste of history and passion through carefully crafted seasonal menus which infuse rich flavours and local Suffolk produce with those home grown in the grounds in Robert’s herb and vegetable garden.
The restaurant offers a full a la carte menu in the evening, however, if you are looking for something a little less formal, the hotel also offers a lounge menu (available to guests from 10.00 to 10.00pm). Here you can enjoy lighter bites in one of Hintlesham Hall’s many lounges, bedrooms or within the beautiful gardens. Or maybe if you are visiting Ipswich you might like to visit and enjoy an afternoon tea!
Hintlesham Hall Award Winning Head Chef Jon Cole
Jonathan Cole is the mastermind and 2 Rosette, award winning head chef at Hintlesham Hall. Following his training at the Colchester Institute, Jon worked his way up from Junior Sous Chef, to Sous Chef and Head chef. He has been the Head Chef at Hintlesham Hall since 2018.
Jon’s passion for cooking and menu development shines through in his beautiful and technical plate arrangements – his style is one of French-English with a contemporary twist.
It’s vitally important for Jon that the Hintlesham kitchen uses fresh local Suffolk produce, and you can’t get much fresher than the vegetables and herbs which are selected from the hotel’s garden. Which is why, the menus are frequently changed and adapted to complement British seasonal growing trends.
Has Hintlesham Hall Won Any Other Awards?
Hintlesham Hall is truly an award-winning hotel restaurant in Ipswich, and holds many prestigious awards including:
4 Red Star Inspectors Choice Hotel 2023
Hitlesham Hall is one of 153 red star hotels in the UK. Red Star hotels stand out as the very best in the UK, regardless of style. They are recognised on outstanding levels of hospitality and service and are seen as ‘exceptional’.
Green Tourism Award – Silver
Hintlesham Hall has been recognised for its commitment to become sustainable. This award acknowledges Hintlesham is a good environmentally-friendly hotel.
Travellers Choice – 2020
Tripadvisor Travellers Choice Awards honour travellers’ favourite destinations. Hintlesham Hall has been recognised as among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor Travellers.
If you are visiting Ipswich and the surrounding area, why not visit Hintlesham Hall and its award-winning restaurant. Located four miles west of Ipswich, a warm welcome awaits you.
Hintlesham Hall Hotel, Hintlesham, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP8 3NS
reservations@hintlesham
+44(0)1473 652334
