The Mariners Freehouse — Restaurant in East Suffolk

After all the hype what a Christmas Day dissapointment. Arrival 11.55 asking a member of staff on the way in do we go though as lots of people standing talking in the entrance walkway to the back dining area or wait to be seated. Reply back sorry but I really don't know! We walked through and found our table, obviously no take service as everyone was wandering around trying to locate there tables. The bar was virtually out of bounds with groups sitting at the bar making access to get drinks very difficult without getting close while bar staff appeared to prioritise drinks for the regulars. Seated once again starters arrived, Salmon and crab parcel and beets with goat cheese. What no garnish! 3 slices beet while others had a plate full and a small triangle of goats cheese smaller than a dairylea. Excuse me what about our soup Shot? Some 15 minutes later our soup arrives in a white coffee cup while others appear in shot class! The Lemon Granite arrives in the same style coffee cups our soup arrived just three teaspoons (is this fine dining) other customers are asking when the main course will be served as they have children. Games have been played colouring books filled and we are all patiently waiting. Finally the main courses stray to appear and what another large dissapointment. Roast free range turkey it was listed (not in you wildest dreams unless it had been bound and gagged) and so dry, spouts like borders ( hard as Rocks) even the Yorkshire were a big dissapointment and looked like a giant straight from the freezer job (not fresh made as expected from all the advertising hype on the quality of cuicne usally seved) my partner vegetarian had ordered just vegetables. This arrived at the table flooded in gravy, when asked we were informed this was turkey gravy! The plate was taken away and returned saying it was vegetarian gravy although looking identical to my turkey dinner. (why was the gravy not provided in a separate gary boat?) somewhere inbetween we were asked to verify if we were four or seven course we confirmed the 7 courses. Cheese boards were now leaving the kitchen. We are served our Christmas 🍮 a tiny flat pudding used throughout the catering industry and very basic Fayre a thin white sauce that was sadly missing brandy that may have evaporated. The mince pie arrives with the truffle uncermonosusly perched on top with no coffee in sight I ask one of the servers if we can have our coffee. Enough is enough it's 4 oclock and to be honest i have never known a dinner like this Christmas or otherwise we never did get our cheese board one of the staff mentioned some 60 covers for Christmas lunch and we noticed the whole back outside under canvas area empty. Just as well you could not manage those you had. And the quality of food throughout was very poor quality any real chef would have been ashamed Christmas day or not people at paying a lot for something special and you definitely did not deliver....

I don't usually leave reviews but after the experience we had today I must say something.

Firstly the positives,.. This is the first time in about 13 years I last visited this pub. The transformation is good, massive improvements. And the male staff that served us today was very polite and we felt very welcomed. (Sorry but that's it) .

We {3 of us) ordered the Bottomless brunch. You get a breakfast and unlimited drinks, but not much of a choice of drinks. It took almost 15 minutes to receive our first drinks. We were then served with our breakfast. It was like eating reheated food, the mushrooms were ALL curled up they were so dehydrated. The bacon had to be handled with care as if you dropped a piece, the plate will have smashed. The carving knife was unable to cut through the bacon. The eggs were totally the opposite, very under cooked, (snotty as some people say) . Other friends had their food served on a cold plate which meant they had to eat cold food (eggs benedict). We tried getting more drinks which took 10 minutes of waiting at the bar and then another 10 minutes to receive them. At the end we only managed to receive 3 drinks each in the space of 75 minutes. We were then told we were not allowed any more drinks.

It was my partners birthday and I/we did not want to cause a scene, I would have normally complained.

I would not recommend this place to anyone, and i/we would not go back here even if I/we was desperate.

The only thing I would recommend is the management to look after their locals as without them this pub would close.

At the end of the day, our experience here was well below standard, I would go as far as saying it would not be fit for a 'Truck-stop', And one more recommendation, I would change the name of the pub to The Robin...

A delicious menu awaits at this thoughtfully-designed maritime pub in Trimley.

We started with a fruity Romanian Sauvignon Blanc and respectable Côtes du Rhône, as we settled into their cosy dining room. The staff were very polite, professional and knowledgeable, if a little absent in the dining room.

The smoked salmon starter was tasty and generous. This generosity continued into the main courses, where the pie of the day was an enormous chicken and mushroom suet pudding. It was vast. And delicious. And i didn’t want it to end, but was beaten by it. Their plating really is substantial! A shame, as I’d have loved one of their great-sounding desserts, but that was impossible.

The scampi was gorgeous but the triple-cooked chips were on the dark brown side. Not sure what happened there. We overheard genuine praise from other tables too. Notably the BBQ ribs, but mainly the lasagna special, being the best they’d ever tasted. We’ll be back to check on these!

In all, it’s a great location and we overlooked their wide outdoor area that looked perfect for a warm spring or summer day (sadly the weather hadn’t reached that point yet). It’s clean, dog-friendly, and with a high standard that is disarmingly unpretentious.

For a corner of Suffolk that doesn’t have too many quality options, The Mariners Freehouse should definitely be shortlisted as a go-to...