lz e9
04.01.2025
Fair priced, delicious food !!
Andrew Stone
15.12.2024
First class meal here last night, food and service was amazing.
The restaurant the look and feel of the space is a little disappointing. I get what they are trying to do, but for me it's a little too downscale, some more comfortable chairs and a bit of fish artwork on the walls would perk it up a bit.
We started with half dozen oysters and some grilled mussels. The oysters were the best I've had, soft, delicate, fresh and delicious. The mussels were grilled with garlic breadcrumbs on top, and a great contrast with the oysters.
I then had the skate wing, which was tender, juicy and a lovely taste and consistency, serviced with new potatoes.
My other half had the duo of Dover soles, which were a bit of a disappointment as the fish was over cooked, making it very dry.
They don't do vegetables, apart from the new potatoes. I get they are trying to focus on the fish and seafood, but a few green beans or some broccoli would have been nice.
Molly Wright
13.10.2024
This place makes my best pudding in the whole world! The chocolate truffle torte is to die for.
I have come here with my parents for years and as a vegetarian, it is worth noting you have to preorder food. I love the quiche - it’s always a sizeable portion and delicious. My parents enjoyed the skate wing and cod with parsley sauce.
Part of the success of this place is that it is family run and hasn’t changed for years. It is very authentic, serving good quality food from local people. It is a must do during a stay in Suffolk.
Max Venmore-Rowland
30.09.2024
Wonderful seafood paired with some excellent wines. I liked the simplicity of accompaniments leaving fresh fish to star.
L Martin
28.09.2024
We enjoyed our lunch for two 😋. We ordered different fish dishes and finished with local ice cream 🍦. Interesting atmosphere. Would recommend this restaurant 👌
Ellie Clark
09.09.2024
We took a friend who was visiting. We shared taramoslata which was 'homemade' then each had a main fishy dish and shared desert. With wine, it seemed as if it would be expensive but, with tip, came out at £50/ person. Given the very delicate, home made, fresh fish items our friend was very impressed with his meal in Orford. (And the rest of the day out in the village).
Mark Courtney
28.08.2024
Walk into this restaurant and you expect to hear James Robertson Justice bellowing at a hapless Dirk Bogard and an inanely grinning Lance Percival about some real or imagined faux pas in the kitchen. Joan Simms and Sylvia Simms smile knowingly at each other from the front of house as Margaret Rutherford tucks into a plate of lightly grilled fish, glancing down to read about the latest murder in the village.
Walk into the Butley Oysterage and it's like walking back in the time. The decor is out of the late 50's, ivory walls with bright green accents, and the tables and chairs look like they're out of a traditional British boarding school.
It's fantastic!! The atmosphere is just right and the service is great. The oysters (we had a dozen between us to start) are the freshest, firmest yet most melt in the mouth I have ever had. They were probably taken out of Thier beds just a few hours earlier. Go for the oysters, the service and the atmosphere (and the stories you can tell) if nothing else.
Why a four then? My grilled cod was overcooked and brown on the plate, and the only choice of vegetable was new potatoes. This is, after all, an English restaurant. It is an English restaurant where not only the setting, but the food is still in the 50's. It was an experience and next time I'll try something else. If they smoke their fish as well as they do their oysters, that might be the way to go.
Tobias Gould
28.08.2024
Under-seasoned and Over-priced. I think it's the saddest seafood meal I have ever had. The ingredients you could tell were fresh but cooked so blandly, the oysters in their soup might aswell have been mushrooms, a lot of it lacked any taste. It was also completely over-priced. We shared their medium grilled seafood platter for £20 which came with 1x average sized prawn, 1x mussel, 6x nuggets of squid and 2x sardine fillets. Such a shame as it looks the part, we were really excited beforehand for a delicious feast.
Charlie (Velo-Hire)
25.08.2024
Great fish options
Guy Onely
21.08.2024
One of our party had eaten here before and highly recommended it. We arrived after a three hour drive to be told our table was not ready. OK, OK maybe I am out of touch, the prices here seemed extreme. Local lobster salad was £38. The lobster was fine, not my favourite. The salad pretty standard stuff. The dressing straight out of 50 litre catering pack. At this price you'd expect more. The medium mixed grill at £19.50 contained one prawn, one mussel, two sardines (the cheapest fish in the market) and the best thing on the plate a small serving of very good fried small squid and two slices of bread. Incredible price. The dover sole, consisting of two medium (ish) fish, were nice enough cooked, but needed a crust or some browning. They were ok. The taramosalata meh. We had two puddings. The basque cheesecake was no such thing. Very disappointing. The chocolate and almond cake tasted of almond essence, a crime against cake making if you ask me. £10 for each pudding! The room is pretty basic and the school room chairs uncomfortable. I can see what this place is trying to do, but I was unexcited by it and at these prices I would expect more. Still, it was full and as you'll see from other reviews, "what do I know?"
zap
21.08.2024
It's all about the brilliant fresh produce! A fortuitous call to check directions meant that I grabbed what was probably the last table available for the lunch service. Others have mentioned the decor, but really with food this good I would be happy sitting on a camping chair and eating off my lap. What's more their affiliated shop is a 10 minute wallk away and I treated myself to a good bagfull of delicacies from Pinneys to take home.
Diane Meteyard
16.08.2024
Fabulous. Fresh fish cooked superbly. Amazing!
Bec Doh
15.08.2024
This was a very upsetting experience. I was taken to this restaurant for my birthday. My husband booked a table which was taken by a couple who had not booked, so, no bother, we found another, probably better table, to be honest. We ordered wine and were left some time whilst the order from the unbooked table was taken, and we watched their drinks being delivered as well. Eventually, we got our drinks order. We were asked for our choice, something simple - a baked sea bass. We did not order a starter as we were planning on a dessert. Then we watched as, not only did the unbooked table get their starter first but a table of 4 who arrived later recieved their starters for all 4 people plus drinks. We waited, and by this time, we had nearly drunk our entire bottle of wine. Eventually, we got our order - at exactly the same time as the unbooked table, who had already eaten their starter. We were told our order had not been given into the kitchen but that once it had been, it would be 5 minutes - 'fraid not. We waited over an hour for essentially fish and potatoes. We left after eating and without dessert ( I was ready to go beforehand, to be honest). Our bottle of wine and 2 plates of sea bass and potatoes was just shy of £40 in the end because the restaurant reduced the bill by 50% due to the wait. However, it was humiliating, and my husband was disappointed with the special meal he had planned for my birthday. Not a experience I intend to repeat in that restaurant. As a local person brought up on fresh fish straight from the trawlers, I appreciate nicely cooked fish - but as a restaurant, the experience was upsetting - it was not worth the money. I get the concept. Simple surroundings, simple food served well to the middle classes - but attention to detail makes the difference. Otherwise, it is just an overly expensive restaurant with shitty chairs and tables.
Sarah Carless
06.08.2024
I wanted to order everything on the menu.
Adam Woods
06.06.2022
As always fantastic, fresh fish, beautifully cooked
J J Denton
26.07.2024
Excellent quality specialist fish restaurant, Very good service, however, wheelchair access poor due to stepped entrance.
Geoff Millward
26.07.2024
Hidden gem.
Brilliant 'cheffery' delicious skate wings and a dozen plump
oysters. What's not to like
Thanks
Paul Barber
16.07.2024
Superb on all levels. Nuff said.
Enrico Ricceri
10.07.2024
fantastic oysters and fish
Peter Simmonds
26.05.2024
We went here for dinner.
We both said that the food was ok but not great. The portion size was smaller than we expected as well.
Janie Finch-Noyes
18.05.2024
Delicious oysters and fresh fish
Justin Fahey
09.05.2024
Best fish eatery in Suffolk!
Jacob Spradley
06.05.2024
Absolutely great everything. Will go back
Anonymous
04.05.2024
The food here is always amazing, nothing to fault ever! Just would be so nice if you could invest a alittle on the interior, the chairs are just wood basic and so uncomfy. Chairs with cushions at least, something, end of the meal your back hurts. In the evening you should also try create a bit of ambience turn the lighting lower not on full bright and put a candle on each table would add a lot! Just some ideas anyway !
Romilly Cocking
23.04.2024
Superb seafood and excellent, friendly service. The restaurant is spotless but functional rather than elegant. We went for the food and were delighted.
Hannah Davis
12.04.2024
We were advised to make a reservation, even though the restaurant was pretty empty for lunch. Really lovely an add and the food from the specials board were amazing, slightly sad to see very small Dover sole however they were cooked to perfection. Great wine list, would recommend if you’re looking for locally caught fish in the area.
Simon Clarke
11.03.2024
What lovely little restaurant, focussed mainly on seafood, everything was delicious. A fairly plain interior, and not cheap, but friendly staff and still well worth a visit
Stuart Wigley
10.02.2024
Had a fantastic evening meal on Saturday. Great atmosphere and busy. Service was excellent. The fish was superb. Good wine selection. The chocolate dessert was super tasty.
Raphaelle Hoffman
28.01.2024
Unreal food! Make sure to keep enough space for dessert, they were incredible.
Christina Sarder
20.01.2024
We’ve been going there for years and they’ve never failed to amaze us ! Absolutely stunning and fresh seafood ! My personal favourite are the crab cakes and griddled seafood platter ! Can not fault the service either !
sarah Hunter
17.12.2023
Love this restaurant. Been going there for 40 years. Excellent seafood especially oysters and mussels. Still unspoiled despite popularity.
