A creative blend of seaside charm and London club style awaits in this newly opened restaurant with rooms on the East Anglian coast

There’s a wonderfully timeless air to the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh. A ship-building port back in Tudor times, it’s a place where fishermen still haul their boats up the steep shingle beach and sell their catch each morning to locals and restaurateurs. With a high street that is a charming blend of country and chic, it’s a browser’s paradise of independent shops, galleries, cafés and delis, as well as two famously good fish and chip shops (but beware of chip-stealing seagulls!).

With picture-postcard pastel cottages for rent along the seafront and a rich cultural calendar of events – from the Benjamin Britten-founded Snape Proms to the food and literary festivals and the must-go August carnival – Aldeburgh has long been a popular escape for Londoners and holiday makers from further afield. So it’s somewhat ironic that its latest jewel in the crown – The Suffolk – has been created by a man who had never even visited the county before the pandemic forced his hand in the summer of 2020.

George Pell was running Soho’s L’Escargot, but as restaurants without outdoor seating were struggling to survive under Covid restrictions, an escape plan was hatched. George and eight staff members hopped on the train to open up a month- long pop-up restaurant in the abandoned premises of the former 152 High Street, Aldeburgh – and have never looked back!

George fell hard for the wide-open skies of Suffolk, not to mention the local produce he now champions, and has since renovated the buildings into a comfortable restaurant with rooms. Entering through the Georgian frontage, there’s a cosy mid-century-styled lounge to the left that’s a great pop-in destination for drinks and bar snacks, and a bustling cocktail bar to the right.

This leads on to the light and airy Sur-Mer restaurant, a haven of scalloped velvet banquettes, Maine-style shiplap walls and woven lampshades reminiscent of lobster pots. All in all, it has a pleasing contemporary coastal feel without being overdone; the intention here is to take the best and do it simply but very well. Naturally, head chef James Jay’s menu focuses on seafood – the main fish supplier lands his boat a mere 200 metres away – and oysters come from Pinney’s of Orford, 20 minutes down the coast.

Despite the menu being relatively short, it’s hard to pick between the tempting options, but eventually I choose plump seared scallops with pickled fennel to start, while my fish-avoidant partner, Pam, enjoys a smoked beetroot tartare with dill dressing. I’ve heard the garlic butter lobster with chips is amazing, but ultimately go for skate with a caper-butter sauce that’s unusually flavoured with vadouvan, a French colonial curry spice blend. Pam is happy to stick to her pithivier of pumpkin, spinach and mushrooms, but can’t resist the chunky rosti chips, nor the sensational chargrilled hispi cabbage that comes blanketed in Parmesan and seaweed salt. 

Our bedroom is one of six on the higgledy-piggledy upper floors, each named for a nearby nature spot and with individualised décor. The rooms share a ‘pantry’ where you can not only make hot drinks but pour a freshly made cocktail from crystal decanters, or help yourself to Suffolk cheeses and charcuterie if you’re feeling peckish.

Breakfast proves to be another smorgasbord of local delights, from the Full Suffolk fry-up to an Omelette Arnold Bennett featuring Pinney’s smoked haddock. All of which sets us up nicely for a blustery walk along the seafront to Thorpeness, via Maggi Hambling’s famous beach sculpture, ‘Scallop’. We head home hoping that the wind soon blows us back Suffolk way.