Eating and drinking with sea and style in arty Aldeburgh, Suffolk

Uncover the best places to eat and drink in Aldeburgh, featuring local flavors at the Suffolk and Fishers Gin Distillery. The post Eating and drinking with sea and style in arty Aldeburgh, Suffolk appeared first on The Travel Magazine.

Jun 30, 2026 - 10:05

Eating and drinking with sea and style in arty Aldeburgh, Suffolk

In the midst of the annual Aldeburgh Festival, classical music, exhibitions and more, the Suffolk Coast organisation took over two of the town’s inventive new food and drink hotspots – the Suffolk, a contemporary yet elegant bar and restaurant, and Fishers, a seafront gin distillery – to champion the region’s goodies….

The Suffolk

Contemporary coastal chic… The Suffolk’s dining room

A converted coaching inn dating from 1668 on the High Street, a pebble’s thrown from the pebble beach (from the seaview rooftop terrace). The 2022 revamp is the brainchild of George Pell, longtime director of classy London restaurant L’Escargot. He runs the show here now, a restaurant that brings together seafood, meat and greenery from a host of local fishermen, farms and suppliers for an ever-changing menu with seaside nuances. Starters such as grilled Aldeburgh herring on toast, and mains including whole brill and chips. While far from a pub, there’s also a bar that attracts the locals while the rooftop, non-bookable, is a place for coffee or a cocktail with its own snack menu (seaweed poppadoms with anchovy mayonnaise, or maybe tempura smoked mussels).

The Suffolk has also just extended its urbane charms inland, to the village of Easton, a 25-minute drive, revamping another 17^th-century coaching, the White Horse, serving a gourmet pub menu… oysters, sausage rolls, fish and chips. https://the-suffolk.co.uk/

Fishers Gin

The cool, calm waterfront lounge a Fishers…

Fishers boutique gin has been a tonic for 10 years, thanks to founder Andrew Heald, who grew up close to the shingle and salt marshes, but its seafront distillery is much newer. Sitting at the edge of town, next to the historic Brudenell Hotel, it’s right on the promenade and with panoramic sea views. For now it isn’t a bar; instead it holds regular mini tours with tastings… seeing the copper still, getting up close to the ingredients and sampling the wares, often at the terrace tables.

For Fishers is a gin they call ‘the spirit of the sea’, with many botanicals from close by. I watched Andrew forage for sea purslane, a salty herb (he was the first to use it in gin, a decade ago), and the seaweed-like samphire in the marshy waters along the walkway dividing sea and River Alde, inside the National Trust-protected Orford Ness National Nature Reserve (he has special permission!). Apart from the traditional juniper, its less noted ingredients include bog myrtle, spignel and wood avens – all combining perfectly with tonic and orange slice for a G&T. The regular gin is 44%, there’s a 50% version, Britain’s first London Dry Smoked Gin as well as smaller batches, one including oyster shells.

A major new addition is the timber, barrel-shaped sauna to one side of the terrace with a glass end looking over the sea (which is also perfect for cooling off). And with Fishers confident of getting a drinks licence, and talking about open-air events with local organisation A Passion For Seafood, things are looking good. https://fishersgin.com

Party time at Fishers with a spread from Noble Prawn’s Lily Benbow

Here the gin was cheered on by a meze spread of dishes provided by Noble Prawn, a private dining company run with local produce by Lily Benbow, whose world took in training as a fishmonger at Billingsgate and cooking in Italy and France. Oysters, bass, lamb, even local chicken. https://www.nobleprawn.co

Two Magpies

Two Magpies is tops for cakes Photo: James Crisp

Exceptional bakery and café (awash with posh cakes) with the Aldeburgh High Street setting now being one of 11 branches following its origin in the seaside town of Southwold just up the coast in 2013. A few casual seats on the pavement and endless options to take to the beach several minutes away. https://twomagpiesbakery.co.uk

Alde Cafe

Now you won’t stumble on this one by accident, a hidden favourite of locals and regular visitors. The address – 2 Hall Farm Lane – says it all, a tiny turning on the road out of town, just past the Coop. Then you pass a vintage clothes store in the barn-like setting. It’s proudly a greasy spoon in a vintage setting (gingham tablecloths) but with a modern ethos – pretty much all the food comes from within a 25-mile radius. The full English breakfast comes with bubble and squeak, there’s a bacon and scallop butty, and kippers from Pinney’s, a fish and seafood mecca just down the coast. Breakfast only, but until 2pm, Wednesday-Sunday. https://www.aldecafe.co.uk

Aldeburgh’s other delights

The Scallop, a true taste of Aldeburgh

The town’s mix of art and food is summed up by the giant metal scallop shell sculpture on the beach by renowned artist Maggi Hambling. Just along from it, Dean Fryer’s fishing shack sells the veteran fisherman’s daily catch while Ash Smoked Fishes adds a taste all its own. The town has long been known for its fish and chips, with sister shops Aldeburgh Fish & Chip Shop and the Golden Galleon, at either end of the High Street, seeing customers gather from opening time.

Pinney’s is an institution in Orford, the other side of Orford Ness National Nature Reserve but a 25-minute drive to bypass the marshes. The business started at the end of the Second World War and still has smokehouses. A huge range of created goodies – crab cakes, potted crabs, smoked olives – fill the quayside shop while its Butley Orford Oysterage restaurant, which opened in the 1960s, is the place for oysters and fresh and smoked fish and seafood. Aldeburgh Food Festival each September brings together many elements on the waterside at Snape Maltings, historic buildings turned arts and shopping hub. For 2026 (September 26-27) there are more than 130 local food and drink producers, live demo stages, celebrity chefs, live music and more.

The huts and fishing boats on Aldeburgh beach

Coastal classics

Southwold’s Lord Nelson, right by the sea Photo: Foyers Photography

Suffolk’s food and drink scene extends the length of the coast. In Southwold, the harbour along the River Blyth, is lined with huts selling fish. The Sole Bay Fish Company also has a long-standing restaurant… fish and chips but also grilled lobster and chips along with crab, oysters and much more. Southwold is also home to Adnams brewery whose beer – Ghost Ship, Broadside, Southwold bitter, Blackshore stout – is synonymous with the area. Adnams’ Southwold seafront pub, the Lord Nelson, works hand in hand with Black Dog Pizza Co, serving sourdough pizza into the evening to eat in or enjoy on the prom. It’s part of Black Dog Deli, a small, boutique group of cosy yet cool deli-cafes. One’s in the trendy beach village of Walberswick, across the river from Southwold; the others are slightly inland in Yoxford, Saxmundham, Halesworth and Helmingham.

Where to stay

A room at The Suffolk

Where else but The Suffolk hotel? There are six rooms, a calm world of pale wood panelling and superking beds, two with sea views. Breakfast – using local produce, of course – is included. Guests have access to the pantry, a fridge with cheese and charcuterie… and complimentary house cocktails.