In typically annoying fashion, the day before I was due back at work the sun began to shine. Summer (which has eluded most of us over the past few weeks) returned for a brief sojourn. What to do with a bright early autumn Sunday in Suffolk?

Well, it's got to be a roast, hasn't it? Sliding from salad mode into prime comfort food territory feels slightly wrong, especially considering we've barely had time to feel the kiss of sun on our skin these last two months.

But, I have to admit, I'm not sad about putting away my milky legs and not-been-to-the-gym-in-ages bingo wings! Autumn? Bring it on.

Our location for lunch? The Peacock Inn in Chelsworth, which has received a groundswell of support from foodies, who haven't stopped raving about the place since head chef Sam Clover arrived in the kitchen. In fact, I've lost count of the number of times close friends of ours have gushed about their "amazing" dinner or superlative lunch.

Mushroom raviolo

Sam's ethos towards food is extremely clear from a quick glance at the menu. It's laser focussed on the seasons, on hyper local ingredients (including bits and pieces from the kitchen garden), and on time-honoured, traditional technique. Pickling, fermenting, curing, bread baking. There's a reliance here not on fancy kit, spheres of this, and foams of that, but on extracting the very heart and essence out of every bit of produce that lands on the kitchen counter.

Arriving over Chelsworth's charming (but very tiny) bridge under the mottled light of an early afternoon, we find The Peacock quiet at midday. A few people gathered in the lovely little garden, some happy guests of the pub's accommodation slipping away after settling their bill. 

I've not been for many many years. In fact, unusually for me (I have an almost photographic memory for food - but nothing else) I can't remember what I ate last time I passed over the threshold. 

Inside, The Peacock is very simply designed. Well, I say designed. It's the kind of interior that appears to have naturally unfolded over time, with little intervention, and no 'frilly bits' to detract from the bones of the 14th century building.

What strikes me most is the smell of the place. As if the scent of an ancient inn has been distilled, bottled and spritzed about. Long ago put out fires. Leather. Brick.

The Peacock Inn, Chelsworth

Tables have plenty of elbow room. And glassware is elegant. A wine list waiting on the table proposes lots of interesting options alongside plenty of classics. I dive straight into a glass of buttery Cotes du Rhone, brimming with juicy nectarine and honeysuckle.

Mr J cracks on with a pint of Beavertown Neck Oil, which kind of gives the measure of this place. On the surface it's a quaintly traditional village inn - the kind you'd be happy to take your folks to for a family get together. But the younger, uber-cool crowd have also been tipped off about its existence. We pass some of them later as we leave, bathing in the warmth of the garden over drinks with their pooches.

During the week The Peacock offers a la carte and tasting menus, as well as a set lunch (£24 for two courses and £29 for three). Keeping it simple (for them, and customers) there's a set option only on Sundays, priced at £28 for two courses or £34 for three - very reasonable in the current climate.

Smoked haddock with cucumber gazpacho

To begin, I'm drawn to the sweetly smoky haddock, which is beautifully arranged in a dish with slivers of brackish fermented cucumber and sharp pickled apple. Our server pours over a cool puddle of cucumber gazpacho, which brings a pleasing tang to the fish, elevated with a touch of lovage that enhances its oakiness. The whole thing is finished with a peppery kick from a few carefully positioned nasturtium leaves.

Mr J has gone for a daringly thin, expertly cooked raviolo, with a bolshy, almost meaty mushroom farce. He's a newcomer to mushrooms (I like to think I got him onside) and says it's one of the best things he's eaten in a while, especially with its pops of freshness from slices of fermented turnip (which is much nicer than it sounds).

We leave our starters excited, and hungry for more. Hungry being the operative word here. There's worry, because this place has set its stall out as being 'a bit fancy', that we might trundle home later in need of a round of toast or a bag of chips.

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We needn't have worried, because the main courses are more than ample. I'm a little disappointed that the veg with our roasts isn't more 'out there' (it's some nice lemony cabbage, carrot and parsnips) but I'm sure most chefs would say Sunday is family day, which is basically the code for 'give the people what they want'. And what most usually want is bloody good roasties, decent meat, proper Yorkies, and the kind of vegetables they're used to encountering at home. 

Roast sirloin of beef with trimmings

And so The Peacock delivers. Excellent duck fat spuds with a crackly exterior. A plume of sourdough Yorkshire batter. And gluggable gravy that hasn't been drowned in wine - which I think detracts from a nice roast.

The star on both plates, though, is the meat. For him, two thick cut slices of blushed pink, seared sirloin. And for me a fat wedge of almost herbal-tasting pork loin, still tender, its puffy crackling bubbling away at the outer edge. 

Milk chocolate and pistachio mille-feuille

Two courses down and we are full. But with the carrot of a dessert for just a few quid more dangled in front of us, we'd be fools to resist. Mr J makes the best choice, of a melt-in-the-mouth white chocolate parfait, with juicy caramelised peaches and crumbled almonds.

My own dessert falls a little flat. It's a milk chocolate and pistachio mille-feuille. The pastry is light and flaky. And the smooth, unctuous layer of chocolate ganache is moreish. But the set layer of pistachio (I LOVE pistachio) fails to deliver those heady, gorgeous notes I expect. A bit more pistachio paste in the mix, or perhaps some crushed, toasted pistachio nuts would absolutely give this one a boost.

In all it's a cracking lunch, and as it's not too far from us, somewhere we'll definitely return to…maybe next time for that tasting menu!

Another one to stick on your Suffolk foodie bucket list.

Read more Suffolk Food Stories from Charlotte Smith-Jarvis here...