Where to eat in Southwold: harbour, pub and High Street

Southwold eats better than a town of under a thousand people has any right to, and it does it across three quite separate registers: the harbour, the pubs, and the High Street. Knowing which is which saves a lot of wandering.

The harbour

Blackshore, on the north bank of the Blyth about a mile from the town centre, is where the fish actually lands. The Sole Bay Fish Company started here in 2001 as a hut selling the day's catch and is now a fishmonger, restaurant and takeaway supplied by its own two boats, Our Carol II and Suzie P. The fishmonger counter runs Sunday to Thursday 8.00 to 16.30 and Friday and Saturday 8.00 to 17.00. The restaurant takes bookings by phone between 11.45 and 15.00 on 07469 676435; there is no online booking, so ring. The takeaway runs later, to 20.00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

One thing to know before making a special trip: a serious fire at Blackshore Quay in May 2023 damaged this site and its neighbours, and the business has rebuilt in stages since. What is there now is not the shape long-time visitors remember. Ring first.

Next door, the Harbour Inn is a proper fisherman's pub on the water's edge among the tarred huts, with a daily menu built around whatever local seafood is available. All tables are first come, first served, with no bookings taken at all, so on a warm weekend the outside benches go early. It is also where the Adnams 10k starts every November.

The pubs

The beer is good in all of them, so the difference is in the room.

The Sole Bay Inn on East Green is the Adnams brewery tap, tucked into the corner directly beneath the lighthouse. It carries the widest cask range in town plus a longer keg and bottle list, and the kitchen runs a seaside menu of local seafood, pub classics and sandwiches with a daily specials board. It is open noon to close every day, with food Monday to Saturday 12.00 to 14.30 and 18.00 to 20.30, and Sundays 12.00 to 16.00. No bookings.

The Lord Nelson on East Street, universally the Nellie, is explicit that it is the drinking pub rather than the eating one. You grab a table or a bar stool when one comes free, indoors, in the courtyard garden or on the benches out front, which are the most contested seats in Southwold on a warm evening. Pizza rather than a full menu, on days published on the pub's own page.

The Red Lion faces Gun Hill across South Green, in a Grade II listed building the pub dates back more than five hundred years, and it is the only pub in town that works differently: you fill in a request form on its own site or ring, and it calls back to confirm with a five pounds per person deposit. Food runs daily 12.00 to 14.30 and 18.00 to 20.00, Sundays 12.00 to 14.30, and the restaurant is closed on Thursday and Sunday evenings. Out of season those hours shift, so call.

The Crown on the High Street, built in 1740, sits between pub and restaurant: dark wood, mismatched chairs, a seasonal menu that changes often, and a drinks list that goes well past the brewery's own beers. It books online through its own system.

The High Street

Sutherland House at number 56 is the most serious kitchen in Southwold and the one that needs the most planning. The menu is predominantly seafood and plant-based, the restaurant is adults only, and every table starts at either 6.30pm or 7pm with nothing later. Opening days move with the season: Tuesday to Saturday from March to October, Thursday to Saturday plus Sunday lunch from November to February. Only tables of two are bookable online; the single table of four on the early sitting has to be arranged by email. Dress code is smart casual and no dogs, inside or out.

The Swan's Still Room on the Market Place is the other fine-dining room, sitting inside a hotel that was among the first in Britain to be given a Michelin Key. The Key is a hotel award rather than a restaurant one: Adnams' own announcement cites the hotel's decor, its design and its service, and says nothing about the kitchen. The room is named for the distilling operation on the same block. There is a less formal Tap Room in the same building for anyone who wants a pint and a plate instead of a full dinner, and afternoon tea, which needs booking.

For anything before ten in the morning, Two Magpies at number 88 is the answer. The bakery began here in 2013 and has since spread along the coast, but this is the original and still the busiest counter in town, open 8.00 to 17.00 every day. Queues onto the pavement on summer weekends are normal and the pastry case thins well before closing, so go early.

Chips

The Little Fish and Chip Shop at 2 East Street is Sole Bay Fish Company's town-centre sister, takeaway only, opened in 2015, frying in beef dripping. Cod, haddock, plaice and skate, plus their own tartare sauce and mushy peas. There is a small amount of perching space at the front but it is not a restaurant and cannot be booked, and they do not take pre-orders during the school holidays. In August, expect to queue.