Displaying items by tag: Bury St Edmunds

His name is Ben Hutton. His restaurant is called Ben's. He has just opened in Bury St Edmunds and here is the link to his story. The food is all locally sourced, with pork reared by Ben himself to create his own recipe Ben's Bangers. The bangers come served on pancetta mash with shredded cabbage, buttered carrots and onion gravy. They were very good indeed. You can't beat bangers and mash on a cold winters night. We also tried the Trio of Jacob lamb prime cuts, which were shoulder, a lamb cutlet and liver. I would argue that liver is not a prime cut and is in fact offal, but I like offal and was happy to order it. It was served with boulangere potatoes, rosemary jus, root veg and savoy cabbage. The lamb was sourced from the local Culford flock and was tender, with plenty of it. I would have liked more gravy. Yes, I call it gravy. Puddings we tried included a selection of the local Alder Carr ice creams ...heaven.. and a cheesecake of the day which was stem ginger and honey. Light, not cloying and very well flavoured. A homemade tuile biscuit perched on the top, some lovely citrussy honey sauce drizzled over and unnecessary squeezy chocolate sauce garnish on the plate. It is good to see a new independent restaurant open in a town which is over run with chains.

• Stem ginger and honey cheesecake
• Trio of Jacob prime cuts
• Bens Restaurant
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We nipped into Bury St Edmunds last weekend to the Christmas Fair which was running throughout the town. Fancying a little street food, it turned out that we were too late at 7.30pm, with many outlets sold out. So the second plan was to nip to Bury's latest fine dining opening on Angel Hill called 1921(the one that used to be Graze)to try their bar canapes. Chef Patron is Zack Deakins, formerly from The Bildeston Crown and now heading up his own business.Canapes are £1 each but we went for the offer of all eight for £6.What a bargain!All were delicious and we played Canape Roulette. Spin the pen to see which canape to eat next. That kept us amused as did coming up with a cocktail. We tried for an Aperol Spritz, sorry no can't do that, Margarita? No, don't have the ingredients. So,we bought a bottle of Prosecco, a shot of Cognac and asked for a bowl of sugar lumps, all happily provided and made our own Prosecco Cocktails. A fun night out.

• The canape menu
• A lovely vase of fresh orchids
• Prosecco cocktails
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A charity dinner last month in the training restaurant Zest, at West Suffolk College saw the return of former student Des Artiss who worked with the current students(pictured) to create a fabulous dinner.  Des recently won the Restaurant Associates Award for Culinary Excellence and came back to thank the college for his firm grounding in the industry. We ate:

Salmon. Cured Loch Duart Salmon, Miso Creme Fraiche, Cucumber and Salmon Crackling

Goats Curd. Goats curd, Heritage Beetroot, Chicory, Golden Raisin and Toasted Walnut Dressing

Beef. Slow Roast Fillet of English Beef, Braised Cheek, Salt Baked Carrots, Horseradish Mash and Braising Juices

Rhubarb Cheesecake. Vanilla Fromage Blanc, Poached Yorkshire Rhubarb, Rhubarb Sorbet, Ginger Crumb

I was invited to the West Suffolk College this week to speak to the 1st year BTEC students in the morning and the Introduction to Catering students in the afternoon.  Which meant lunch at Zest Restaurant and a tour of the kitchens in the middle.  It never ceases to amaze me of the high standards and professionalism achieved by both the students and the lecturers in the Catering and Hospitalty Faculty. Bury definitely has got talent!

Benson Blakes in Bury St Edmunds has just taken over a country pub; not  to make it into a burger bar but for a very exciting project. The pub is owned by the local farmer who will be supplying the pub with rare breed pork (Oxford Sandy & Black) with beef, lamb, free range turkey, wild venison and local game. There will be a small holding established early next year for herbs, salads and vegetables. The farmer will also be growing wheat, barley & hops for a microbrewery that will be established in the farm. They are also setting up a smokery and doing a full range of charcuterie meats and chutneys... Real Suffolk food !!

Why have we been eating so many burgers? Suddenly everyone in Bury St Edmunds has burgers on the menu so we have been out to try some.

Benson Blakes were the first on the scene and are the established burger and cocktail bar in the town. They have won many awards ( deservedly so) for their offerings and we tried the Caprese (£7.85) a dirty great burger with sweet potato fries. Cocktails are damn good too.  Staff are very friendly and the atmosphere lively and fun, especially when a band is playing.

More sedate is Graze Kitchen and Bar, known for their small plate, informal dining and established in the town for high quality, mix and match plates. But now big plates have arrived and include a Graze burger, pickles and chips. (£9.) We drank a bottle of Chenin Blanc from South Africa which was very good and added some small plates to our late evening meal.  Service was slick, but annoyingly we were reminded throughout the meal that the kitchen closed at 10pm. 

Third up is The Picturehouse cinema in Hatter Street. They serve a build your own burger.  Choose a bun, a burger, a side and salad.(£8.80).  Note pads and pens are placed on the table for you to write, then place your order at the bar and the burger is delivered to the table. Service is cheerful but it gets a bit busy when a film is about to start, so allow plenty of time to eat first. 

• Benson Blakes
• Graze
• Picturehouse
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Maria Crick has always wanted to run her own restaurant and now her dream has come true.  The new Cafe del Mar in Bury St Edmunds offers a tapas/meze menu with 3 dishes for £10.  At the moment it is BYO wine, allowing for a very affordable night out.

• inside the cafe
• greek salad
• panna cotta with blackberries
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A late arrival got us both in for a fiver (you have to pay for this one...) but most of the food people were still there. What a proliferation of pickles! Lots of the same thing (of the chili jelly/home-made tomato ketchup variety) with one or two interesting exceptions - home made drinks and hot food, and lots of suppliers from Essex. But we love Abroad, and of course Essex gave us Jamie Oliver. We tried ice-cream, crisps, chocolate, strawberry and raspberry vodkas (although they weren't keen on Inspector X's horseradish vodka suggestion...) rhubarb and ginger cordial, fresh lemonade (so easy, so nice) and a shark kebab (very close to my Caribbean heart...shark kebabs...)

The Wingspan Bar is open! This new bar at The Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds has been created in the vaults; the secret tunnels providing the perfect intimate spaces to enjoy a drink. The Angel (in Bury) isn't shy when it comes to decor, and the decadent finish - complete with aircraft engine bar, tables from  airplane wings, bespoke furniture, interesting artefacts and curiosities, is stunning. Chef Jay Scrimshaw pulled out all the stops for the opening party on Thursday.  Fellow foodies enjoyed a fabulous selection of canapes, including these Quail Scotch Eggs with Black Pudding crust, Bacon and Maple syrup doughnuts and Oysters from Pinneys - served with buttermilk .

 The bar is open daily from 5pm - just allow time to try the new afternoon tea from 2.30pm before hand!

Wow!  I just ate Plaice Florentine at Zest; the training restaurant attached to West Suffolk College. It was absolutely perfect.  They have a sweet trolley too, and today it featured a Malted Chocolate Tart, Strawberry Bavarois, Rose scented Creme Brulee and a hot option of Sticky Toffee Pudding.  You can't buy the ingredients for the £9.50 charged for 3 courses. Book a table and see for yourself.  They also do a fabulous new takeaway menu.