Unique Places to Eat in Bury St Edmunds

The Folk Cafe is your new favourite breakfast spot, boasting speciality coffee and artisan bread as well as delicious cakes and sweet treats.

The breakfast menu offers a range of options to suit all tastes from the traditional folk fry up to avocado toast with pea shoots, pomegranate and feta. You can enjoy the lighter option of house granola with honey roasted peaches and greek yogurt or mushrooms and spinach on toast with whipped garlic ricotta.

The lunch menu is worth hanging around for with a choice of sandwiches and toasties with a contemporary twist; why not try the courgette, pea and mint hummus open sandwich with pumpkin seeds, or the spicy coronation chicken with mango chutney on sourdough. The cafe itself is light, airy and quirky, with space indoors or out to sit and enjoy the atmosphere.

Damson and Wilde is a stunning social place, the perfect place to gather with friends and share food and conversation. Whether you choose to sit in their beautiful courtyard garden or elegant and contemporary restaurant space, you’ll find a convivial atmosphere of relaxation and fun.

By day you can choose from a menu of brunch- think smashed avocado, potato and chorizo hash and eggs Benedict- sharing boards for lunch, as well as indulgent salads and sandwiches; the roasted squash salad has harissa roasted pumpkin, walnuts, pomegranate and a burnt orange dressing.

By night, sharing plates are plentiful and varied, with crispy tempura squid, sharing boards of cured meats with freshly made focaccia, sticky Korean tofu and oozing burrata with balsamic pearls. Big plates include good old fashioned fish and chips, pan-fried gnocchi and even the well-named ‘posh kebab’ with fresh tabbouleh and your choice of filling. Even the desserts come big enough to share with waffles, chocolate sauce, brownies, raspberries, cream and ice cream served up for everyone to dig in and build their own.

Adorned with awards, including Michelin's Sommelier award and featured in the top 100 Places to Eat in the UK, Maison Bleue offers a refined a la carte menu using fresh, seasonal produce. Pascal Canevet of Maison Bleue was named Restaurant Chef of the Year at the 'Oscars' of the food world - the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards in 2019. Previous winners of the accolade have included Marco Pierre White, Alain Ducasse and James Martin.

Choose from starters such as beetroot cured smoked salmon carpaccio and pan-fried lamb belly; Roasted beef blade steak and roasted breast and leg gateau of free range Sutton Hoo chicken for main; and for dessert there's green apple “Mousse”, cocoa butter, salted butter caramel and hazelnuts; Apricot and raspberry delice and sweet pastry tartlet, hazelnut praline, rhubarb, crême anglaise espuma, soft meringue.

The wine list is equally as impressive; boasting a selection of the restaurant's handpicked wines along with fine wines, sparking wines and Champagne.

A unique place to stop for a spot of lunch, the Greene King Beer Cafe is a rare opportunity to dine in a working brewery, which brews a range of beers from traditional ales to modern style beers. Choose from the menu of traditional fayre including breakfasts, lunches and snacks, all accompanied of course, by one of the beers on tap.

Choose from sausage, egg, chips and peas, honey roasted ham with a free range egg, or a steak and Ruddles Ale pie. For something lighter, there are sandwiches and jacket potatoes with a range of delicious fillings and a range of snacks to go with your beverage. A special shout out must go to the excellent hangover special breakfast wrap with bacon, sausage, egg and a hash brown!

After eating, be sure to visit the shop where you can purchase cases of beer to take home, and why not book onto the brewery tour to find out more about how the beer is brewed on the premises.

Aviation geeks will love to visit the wine and coffee house at No5 Angel Hill where the artwork and furniture is skillfully constructed from former aircraft parts. This lends the place a cool and eclectic vibe; a brilliant talking point. It also boasts one of the best views in Bury St Edmunds, situated on historic Angel Hill with views of the Abbey Gate, St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Abbey Gardens.

Visitors rave about the Suffolk artisan roasted coffee and homemade sausage rolls and scones. For something sweet, look no further than the daily selection of sweets and pastries. For a more substantial snack, choose from the sweet chilli chicken wrap, bacon pretzel buns or the runny-yolked scotch egg with homemade coleslaw.

Pea Porridge offers a cosy, homely ambience and understated excellence, as well as boasting Suffolk’s first and only Michelin star! There is a daily changing menu of North African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes cooked primarily in a ‘Grizzly’ oven over charcoal, beech, oak, birch or pine cones.

The dishes are unfussy but pack a punch with bold flavours and intriguing textures, exquisitely executed. Offerings from the menu include Lowestoft wild bass fillet, courgette, monks beard, tomato, caper, basil & saffron dressing, crispy mussels, and Norfolk “Jolly” asparagus, Cantabrian tuna ventresca, capers, tarragon. There is an excellent list of new and interesting wines, sourced with care and enthusiasm and focused on natural and biodynamic wines- which you won’t be able to find on a supermarket shelf.

Follow in the footsteps of the many pilgrims who have visited Bury St Edmunds for over 1000 years and stop off in the Pilgrims Kitchen - a unique restaurant alongside the cloisters of St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Pay a visit to the Cathedral, touring the magnificent towers and learning about the interesting history of this special building. Be sure to stop off at the ancient library with its incredible book collection, housed in the crypt of the Cathedral.

Settle down for refreshments in the Pilgrims’ kitchen and choose from scones, cakes and tasty lunches as well as hot or cold drinks. Book ahead and enjoy an indulgent afternoon tea, perfect for a special occasion.

A stylish AA rosette-winning establishment, The Angel Eaterie is located within the historic and iconic Angel Hotel; specialising in creating inspirational and exciting new dishes, which you can enjoy with a unique view of the Abbey Gate as the backdrop to your meal.

The chef selects locally sourced ingredients and uses them to create dishes that representing the best of Suffolk’s home grown produce. Highlights of the A la carte menu include pan-fried scallops with cauliflower, black pudding and apple, roast loin of salt marsh lamb served with spring vegetables and rosemary poached potato and the Abbey garden house cocktail; a refreshing mix of Suffolk gin, elderflower cucumber and apple.

1921 Angel Hill offers elegant, comfortable and award-winning dining in relaxing surroundings. The menu is sumptuous and carefully curated, offering lunch, dinner or a seven course tasting menu- a great event for foodies, combining unique flavours and textures, each course more intriguing than the last with something for every palate- a great opportunity to try new things.

Begin with a chilled pea soup with goats curd and mint followed by Mersea crab and pickled wasabi. The next course is a rich ham hock and fois gras terrine with pineapple and pistachio followed by a fish course of butter-poached Norfolk lobster and crispy chicken wing. Then, venison loin with black pudding, fennel and plum and for dessert, raspberry parfait, elderflower and tarragon. This is followed by a chocolate, coffee and praline and rounded off with a cheeseboard. An accompanying wine flight can be added, with each wine chosen to perfectly complement the meal.

ICE is one of Bury St Edmunds’ hidden culinary secret, located in the middle of the Rougham Industrial Estate in a converted warehouse, this cool cafe offers mouthwatering food and amazing drinks with the menu boasting everything from mac n cheese and monster burgers to a delicious superfood salad and the famous ICE full English breakfast.

Portion sizes are generous without being overfacing and there are plenty of gluten free and plant based options available too!

The interior of the restaurant was created using recycled items and features a cleverly designed bar made from Victorian railway sleepers and a Dekton worktop made from 80% recyclable material. A huge wall mural featuring Slash, Aretha Franklin and Freddie Mercury takes centre stage!