The Weeping Willow

Bury Road, Barrow,

Bury St Edmunds

IP29 5AB

Email: hello@theweepingwillow.co.uk

Reservations: 01284 771881

Website: www.theweepingwillow.co.uk

Privately Owned
High Quality English Restaurant Food

It was Gladys’s birthday recently so we decided to have a family Sunday lunch out for a treat. The group of 7 comprised of our son and his partner, our daughter, son in law and 4 year old grandson. We arrived with our daughter’s cocker poo but she hadn’t booked a table in the bar where dogs are allowed so we had to leave little Bertie outside but it was not a problem.

We had heard very good reports about the Weeping Willow following its recent refurbishment and were looking forward very much in anticipation to our meal and we weren’t disappointed!

Although set in a traditional looking English village pub from the outside, inside is quite different refurbished in a very modern style. Although it has a bar area for bar meals, it really is a “restaurant first” in our view. There were plenty of friendly attentive staff and the overall service was excellent. We arrived at 12.30, quite early for us for Sunday lunch, and the pub and restaurant filled up quite quickly after which generated a nice buzzy atmosphere.

We were seated in the restaurant area on what I can only describe as high bar stools on a table of some height, so high I thought I might get a nose bleed. I don’t really think that this was ideal for a 4 year old, there were many other tables at a more suitable level but we just went with it.

We were greeted with a pre-ordered bottle of Prosecco Extra Dry DOC, Sant’Orsola, Veneto, Italy (£27.50) to celebrate Gladys’s birthday.

Firstly, the waiter asked if our grandson would like to order first so he had his meal as our starters arrived which worked very well, as everyone knows, keeping a 4 year old quiet and happy takes some skill. He was able to order a “Kids 2 Course meal (£7.90)” with a main course of Fish Goujons, Chips and Steamed Broccoli followed by Chocolate Brownie and Vanilla Ice Cream.

Four of us had starters, three having the Chicken Liver Parfait fig & apple chutney, watercress, toasted brioche (£6.90) which was very nice. Our son in law raved about the Crayfish Salad, Sweet Chilli coriander & lime, citrus labne (£7.90). It did look good.

For our main courses, our sons’ partner no longer eats meat and as with a number of restaurants the options are now far greater than they used to be. Suzanne was able to enjoy a delightful veggie dish of Roasted Artichoke & Olive Pappardelle with salsa verde, candied walnuts, watercress & feta

Two of us had the Hake on a bed of various vegetables with additional buttered new potatoes (£17.90 +£3.00) . I wouldn’t have the side dish of potatoes again although they were lovely, probably not necessary, for me anyway.

Gladys had the Roast Beef £17.90 which looked a spectacularly pretty plate whilst our son in law had the Roast Pork £16.90 which looked equally as impressive as the Beef. Our son chose a extremely tasty Linguine £13.90 which he thoroughly enjoyed. There is an extensive sweet menu but none of us could quite cope with another course so we all shared our grandsons Chocolate Brownie and Ice cream.

Throughout our meal we had a selection of soft drinks, real ales, wine and water. There is a good choice of Real Ales, Lagers and cider available. The wine list although extensive is priced more for a Central London restaurant and in my view is overpriced for a restaurant in a small Suffolk village. The Cheapest bottle of very average Red or White comes in at £20 per bottle whilst a 250ml glass of Sauvinon Blanc from New Zealand costs £9.80. At the top end of the scale there is Grand Cru Batard Montrachet 2012 at £275.

Our bill came in at around £200 which included a reasonable tip.