The Canteen — Restaurant in East Suffolk

Practically frogmarched here after someone saw it in the "i newspaper ". Short seasonal menu prepared with care and attractively plated. Service was good with obvious interest and pride in the dishes from both waitress (very knowledgeable) and brigade in the kitchen. Mezze plate was generously portioned and was served with bread, oil and Zatar. My pork belly tostada was meltingly soft with a zingy lentils and pickled veg. Overall not the twee experience I was expecting, rather a diverting gastronomic event and as it's a community cafe (one of the only things not owned by Adnams), well worth supporting. Will look forward to another visit (returned Sept) with a great menu again -the Maldon smoked salmon was paired with a beet & horseradish sauce and rocket potato salad. It's great to enjoy the seasons bounty with local ingredients. Consider paying in cash as 3-4% will go to the card company and that's just not fair on a...

Had both lunch and breakfast at this lovely place in Southwold. The outdoor raised beds are a delight - filled with flowers, herbs and veg. Wish we'd had warm enough weather to sit outside. It has a charming mix of painted furniture in a bright airy room. The staff are very pleasant and friendly. Not a vroad menu but plenty to deliberate over! We had tge porchetta and the barley orzotto. Absolutely delicious! Gorgeous herbs in the barley meal, very flavoursome. The porchetta just fell apart. Perfect! The tea was excellent 👌 we followed with house made desserts of lemon tart with roasted rhubarb and meringue with cherries and cream. Wanted to lick the plate. Meringue was perfect combo of crispy & chewy. Yummy! Decided to return for breakfast on the day we were leaving. Good decision 👏 smoked salmon with scrambled egg 🥚 😋 so tasty. I'd recommend those place but book as it gets busy especially at lunch....

We received no acknowledgement or greeting from servers walking past us when waiting to be seated, and little help was given when we were told to find a seat outside, when clearly it was a busy time. Once we finally sat down outside, we were then invited inside despite being told prior that no inside seats were available, when clearly there was just a ten minute wait, which we happily would have accepted. The cheese scones were good, but we had to ask for cutlery to eat them once the tea arrived five minutes later, but the tea was wonderful. Overall, the service was unfortunately poor, considering how lovely of a place it could be. Also, if you want to eat somewhere where you will have a choice of five salads and little else for lunch,...