The Dove — Restaurant in West Suffolk

The Dove is a pub where time seems to have stopped in 1948 or maybe 1973. It is wooden tables, stone washed walls, wooden floors and cable knit jumpers. The priciest pint is £2.65. The landlord sports a wild mane of white hair along with a beard, steel spectacles and (yes) a heavy duty white cable knit jumper. Cash is the only means of transaction here; plastic - Apple or card- is literally waived away. On our visit we had no cash- nothing. As I shrugged on a coat to schlep to an ATM, the proprietor stopped me with a hand on shoulder and a benevolent gaze. “no no, says he. I’ll get the book.” And sure enough he left and returned with a thick red book, pages marked with about a hundred rubber bands. He asked my name and I began the legal description. He cut me off with “Joe’s fine” and notched a debt of £5.25 for two pints in the ledger. “Just come by anytime. No hurry. We don’t open till 5 during the week so just pop it in the letterbox and let us know it’s you.” Last call sounded with a ship’s bell and the pub slowly emptied. As we left in a haze of good feeling I reflected on this extraordinary place: no television, no food and no car park; just good pints to be enjoyed with good people. The Dove is an oasis of calm; a standing riposte to sameness of modern life. Long may...

Love the beer, the prices and friendlyness of the staff, our Boxer Max loves the pork scratchings! Nice to be able to take him in the pub with us :)

Since my original posting, have to say we loved the pub and the atmosphere (when we could get in) and really enjoyed taking our Max there, but Roger the Landlord seemed to have a real issue with our dog Max, more than likely because of his size, yet Max was no trouble at all, even with the yapping little dogs. For us overhearing him warning the bar staff about our boy really left a sour taste in our mouth. Dog friendly the pub is..... but only if you have...

The best real ale pub for miles, with a friendly atmosphere and caters for serious beer enthusiasts or just those looking for a decent drink in traditional surroundings. It's always buzzing, with all demographics welcomed. The pork scratchings and pies are outstanding - and do ask what they have on the shelf in jugs 'breathing' behind the bar, I've discovered some dark ales gems this way!

We stumbled upon a Morris-off in the carpark when we arrived, and got a locally baked loaf on the way out - a quintessential...