1921 Angel Hill
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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This is an unruffled and lovely place. The calm persona of chef-patron Zack Deakins filters through to a small but exemplary team, and graces the peaceful, cool and comfortable dining room; it even lays a restraining hand on the pricing, especially at lunch – £24 for three courses, with choice. You realise it's a steal, as plates arrive that are just as exquisitely and thoughtfully composed as those from the tasting menu or the evening carte. A flight of canapés sets the tone – endearing, appetite-pricking mouthfuls such as vodka-cured cod with wasabi and a cube of soy gel, or beef tartare in crisp brik pastry dotted with smoked egg yolk. Chalk stream trout, crisp-skinned but peachily smooth of flesh, is surrounded by limpid kohlrabi ‘water’ split vividly with chive oil. Goat's curd punctuates the sweetness of a summery pea soup, while a little pea/quail's Scotch egg provides crunch. Thankfully, some of the dill and caraway bread remains to swipe through both dishes. There’s the merest hint of lavender in a robust main of duck, an all-the-pinks plate of beautifully rested meat, young beets and their crimson-veined leaves, with inky-black garlic purée for molasses-like depth, and a sherry jus to tie it all together. A ditsy spring roll is a tasty bonus. Milk-white hake is jewelled with salmon roe and tiny cucumber pearls, while a bowl of creamy ‘fish pie’ is generously savoury with brown shrimps. To finish? Caramelised pineapple, flecked with pricking red chilli and served with mini coconut arancini and the brightest lime sorbet, ends things on a zippy high, though chocolate-lovers will sink headily into a crémeux with griottine cherry ice cream. Wines roam familiar territories, making a detour to Japan’s Yamanashi province for Grace Wine’s ‘fresh, textured’ white made from the indigenous Koshu grape, before topping out at £115 for a 2015 Margaux (Château Cantenac-Brown).
