Kings Head — Restaurant in Babergh

We've visited the King's Head several times and our experiences have ranged from very good to distinctly underwhelming. We went again yesterday evening and were looking forward to a good meal in pleasant surroundings. We were seated and served drinks efficiently... the staff are great! Sadly, there was a group of very loud people next to us... which we accept the venue couldn't really do anything about... nothing outrageous or rude just disturbing. So much so that when that group left, ourselves and four of the remaining tables all commented with wry smiles what a relief that was and how much quieter it had suddenly become! Anyway, on to the food, we had starters which were fine, mains of trout and Aberdeen Angus Sirloin steak. The trout came without sauté potatoes, boiled being substituted without telling us. The 'buttered greens' consisted of three small sprigs of tenderstem brocoli. My steak, whilst well cooked as I ordered to medium-rare, was thin, underseasoned and lacking in flavour. I was expecting rather more from a dish costing £31! As mentioned before, this does fit with a pattern of some inconsistency in the food quality. We do so want to love and support the King's Head, it isn't easy to run a good local restaurant these days, but we do hope that all the food could be elevated to the standard that we know the kitchen can produce at times. We will be back but this can't be our 'go to' place, as we would like it to be, until the consistency improves. We really...

The King's Head is a fine asset to Hadleigh under Tara's leadership & it was great to see the place buzzing today (Sunday 230 lunch booking). We enjoy visiting & eating here.

Therefore sorry & disappointed they dropped the ball today with the cooking & service we received. our first drinks (a glass of water & a bottle of beer) arrived nearly 15 minutes after we ordered them. about ten minutes later we had to prompt our waitress (very pleasant young lady) to take our food order. after another long wait we had to ask the waitress when our food was going to arrive. It turned up at around 1515 - 45mins after we sat down. they'd run out of roast beef (!) so I ordered the short rib - far too tough & only about three mouthfuls. The side of pigs in blankets was undercooked, as were the peas in their shells. the greens with my wife's trout (well cooked) were swimming in way too much butter. The dish was meant to come with prawns, but didn't.

I mentioned this to the manageress who apologised & explained that our waitress was new & they'd had far more covers than expected. Maybe the extra numbers shouldn't have been a surprise on a half-term Sunday lunchtime?

We'll give the place another try & hope things...

The pub itself is lovely with smart decor and a great selection of beers. The £19 roast beef on the other hand was incredibly disappointing and certainly not worth the hefty price tag. The only saving grace was the beef was at least pink - when you go out for a roast you expect it to be on par with what you cook at home and if I'd served this roast to guests visiting my house, I'd be ashamed. 3 roasties, a scattering of veg and a mediocre Yorkshire and £3.50 extra for a Cauliflower cheese that wasn't even on par with the frozen stuff you get from aldi - although it had been overly seasoned with garlic powder which is more than can be said for the roast, which was lukewarm and hardly seasoned at all. On the plus side, there was plenty of gravy, which had the consistency of bisto. If this roast had been £12 or £13 I wouldn't be complaining, but for £19 there is a lot of room for...