Review: The Bildeston Crown is back
By Charlotte Smith-Jarvis
8th Jun 2023 | Opinion
I think it's fair to say the residents of Bildeston have been worried about the fate of one of their most famous assets - the Crown - for a while.
The village had a strong position on the region's culinary map for many years while the pub was under the auspices of Chris and Hayley Lee.
But with Chris and Hayley now moved onto other projects…what would the future hold? Could the Crown end up being floated on the property market in the face of debilitating hikes in staffing, energy and food costs?
The answer, thankfully, is no.
And a chipper young team, keen to impress, has been assembled to bring back the Crown's sparkle.
In the kitchen, executive chef Freddie Fallon is using as much Nedging Estate-grown produce as possible, supplementing it with locally-harvested ingredients, and Suffolk meat and game, with everything from bread to ice cream made in the Crown's kitchen.
Front of house is new GM George Bonwick, whose CV has taken him from Tom Kerridge's The Hand & Flowers, to his own father's Michelin-starred eatery, The Crown at Burchetts Green, where, as manager, he led the team to a Michelin Service Award.
George is keen to entice locals back through the door. To build a real community around the pub's offering. He tells us about a recent barbecue hosted for residents, at £12 a head, and says he hopes to see more walkers and cyclists stopping in, especially as food is served seven days a week, with breakfast (7am to 10am) open to everyone, not just hotel guests.
It's nice to see a selection of Mauldons beers at the bar - Silver Adder being one of the best for summer, with its citrussy sharpness, tropical notes of banana and light bitter finish.
Drivers will be pleased to find Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% on draught.
While wine aficionados will continue to find interesting bottles on the list, sourced by Hallgarten, which are set to launch the Crown's new house bubbly (Duval-Leroy) with a Champagne dinner in a couple of weeks.
The set up of the pub's restaurant is just right. Tables far enough apart to engage in gossip. Bags of elbow room. And, crucially for this journo, a spotlight over each one for those all-important Insta snaps.
At a glance the menu is seasonal, filled with interest, and on par price-wise with most of Suffolk's other gastropubs. Three courses come in at between £40-50 per head, and wine around £6-£10 by the glass…though you could up the ante with a bottle of Condrieu or Montrachet if you're really feeling flush.
We start with a warm housemade bread. Whirly tomato and basil, and granary, with a softened pat of salted butter. Could we resist a few nibbles? Not on your nelly. A duo of spanking fresh, pebble-coloured Maldon oysters arrive on ice, slick with their own brackish, minerally juices, and with a bottle of Tabasco, and pot of shallot vinaigrette to fire up the sinuses.
We swoon over a plump toasted brioche roll, filled with pieces of lobster turned in a light dill mayonnaise, and finished with pops of caviar. With a handful of chips it'd make a gorgeously indulgent summer lunch.
By now I've moved from a fruity house Sauvignon, to a Muscadet, golden with pineapple and candied peel on the nose, and bursting with creamy lemon and amaretti biscuits.
It's a bright foil for my starter, and my dish of the night, a trio of lobster arancini.
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This bowl hints to what was one of the Crown's star plates under Chris Lee's patronage - his lobster Caesar salad.
It is beautiful, both in flavour and presentation…and far from playing 'hunt the crustacean', there's more lobster than I could hope to expect.
Nuggets of it are delicately positioned next to crunchy, expertly seasoned balls of rice, in which the grains have held their texture. There are Parma ham crisps, slippery marinated anchovies with a kick of brine, and wedges of charred baby gem, all tied together with a salty Parmesan foam. Really memorable.
Our beef fillet tartare is as good a version as we've had anywhere. The meat is hand cut, preventing it from veering into slime territory. It's tossed in a mustardy vinaigrette with capers, and has a cheery bright yellow confit yolk on top, to burst and turn into the meat, bringing silkiness to every bite. Nothing is left on my husband's plate. I like the touch of a slice of toast arriving on the side, slipped into a cloth. It's the small things.
Both our main courses, while really quite good, very very slightly miss the mark for me.
Crisp battered monkfish is still juicy, has a superb crunch, and has the softest, most buttery saffron turned potatoes on the side. If only the buttered lettuce, peas and mint underneath had been given more salt and pepper.
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My twice-baked cheese souffle rises, cloud-like, from the plate. I can tell it's going to be excellent, sight seen. And I'm right. It is an ethereal cheese pillow. A masterclass in souffle. Pickled walnut puree, though scant, brings something exciting to the party. But I feel the other garnishes need a bit of work. The confit leeks are a tad too hard, and though the confit leek jam is delicious, it is sweet, and there's too much of it. Something more is needed to balance the plate. Something herbaceous or umami. Perhaps Parmesan in the truffle crumb that's spooned over the leeks?
It's worth leaving room for puds, which are so pretty, and come from a clearly accomplished section of the kitchen.
My pointy cone of iced nougat parfait is surprisingly creamy, and takes me off to Montelimar with its nibs of pistachio, boozy cherries, chewy nuggets of apricot, and artful dots of pistachio paste and apricot gel.
The award for second best plate of the night however, goes to my husband's poached rhubarb. We're coming into strawberry season, and poor old rhubarb often gets left behind as June arrives, even though it still makes for very good eating.
Whoever created this dessert knows what they're doing. The rhubarb retains a bit of bite, and has just the right amount of mouth-puckering sherbetiness. It's woven between spoonfuls of whipped mascarpone, the most headily lemony slivers of candied peel, kitsch little crown shortbreads, and meringue cylinders. A proper spoon-licker.
We've not eaten at The Bildeston Crown for a few years now, but it's clear to see loads of effort is going into restoring it to its former glory.
Is it 100% perfect yet? Not quite, but it really is getting there. I'm excited to see where George and Freddie can take the business. They're absolutely pushing it in the right direction, and with a few nudges I don't think it'll be long before it's back under the noses of Suffolk's foodie community.
The Bildeston Crown is open for food seven days a week. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the bar, and there are disabled access ramps to navigate the dining rooms (just let them know in advance).
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