Upstairs at the Mill

One of Suffolk’s most luxurious boutique hotels and restaurants, Tuddenham Mill enjoys a peaceful and bucolic location. The 18th-century mill, augmented in the Victorian era by a steam engine and towering brick chimney, may have ended its grinding days in the 1950s, but its period features make what is now a unique boutique hotel. The ceiling is crossed by the same oak beams under which generations of hardworking corn millers once laboured centuries ago, and parts of the mechanism which turned the huge grindstones can also be spotted within the iron supports. For one thing, the fast-flowing stream that turned its waterwheel has been dredged of centuries of silt and is now a thriving wildlife habitat, while the majestic cast-iron wheel itself forms a diverting centrepiece to the first-floor restaurant. During the day, light floods in through the large windows that overlook a serene millpond, and at night gentle lamps and spotlights create a relaxed ambience. It’s an original and fashionable place, very popular and busy, and a setting that demands cooking with plenty of personality. Fortunately head chef Lee Bye, has that well in hand. Seasonal menus feature contemporary and stylish dishes – maybe starting with beautifully seared Isle of Mull scallops with kaffir lime and coconut or Taleggio arancini, sorrel mayonnaise and wild cresses. A main course might bring fillet of tender Hereford beef with creamy potato purée, roasted celeriac, meltingly succulent oxtail and bone marrow, or super-fresh Felixstowe line-caught bass, guanciale, wild leeks and agretti. To finish, choose between vanilla millefeuille with lemon verbena or chocolate marquise, meadowsweet and sesame. That’s if the Courtyard Dairy cheeses with Garibaldi biscuits and home-made chutney doesn’t tempt you. And if tasting menus are your thing, there is a set six-course option with matching wines.

Awards, accolades & Welcome Schemes

4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

AA Notable Wine List