Maltings in Mid Suffolk

Lovely location, good selection of food and great coffee, different from the usual cafe fare.

Went to the cafe for lunch and had a delicious meal. Would absolutely go back again.

we arrived at 4:30pm on a sunnny midweek afternoon, half an hour before closing to be told that there was no food available (including the cakes which had been 'put away'). We ordered two hot chocolates which were served without the advertised cream and marshmallows. Whilst we drank them it was clear the staff were 'packing up' for the day. A disappointing experience in the cafe of one of Suffolks premier tourist hotspots and music venue.

We had a very pleasant walk around the reeds and called in for a coffee and excellent carrot cake, the service was good polite and welcoming. The coffee is very good. Why the bad reviews I don't understand, and James byatt what a load of pompous tripe. I half expected Hercule Poirot to make an entrance in his novel... in a middle class way ofcourse keeping it simple.

This used to have food self service. What has happened to this? Tepe closed so no options .

Lovely view over the reedbeds. Friendly service, things arrived quickly enough. We ordered sausage rolls with side orders of "Skin-on fries". Our fries are shown in the attached photo. Do these look like "Skin-on fries"? I mentioned this to the server and he made no comment.The sausage rolls were okay.

Snape maltings. History, architecture, art, photography, music, and nature. Appetizing. We apprehensively walked up the stairs to the River View Restaurant, each step promising a higher view. We passed through the River View Café, where the quiche and tea people sat in their anoraks, to exhalt to the higher floor of Suffolk gastronomy. A promising start, with peaceful views of the sunsetting over river Alde, reed beds swaying uniformly in the breeze, a church steeple peaking out from the treetops, and birds mustering flocks for migration. Pure serenity. An older gentleman in dockers with frameless glasses and reassuringly long legs greeted us, and we were seated.The restaurant wasn’t full, the modern floor looked and echoed like that of a community hall, looking up I saw spearmint painted exposed metal beams and pine wood detailing; a little like a 1990s school gym, and perhaps the only modern annex in the maltings. The décor was of a luxury café at best. The views compensated for everything. Peering among the seated guests, I wondered is that David Starkey sitting there? Oh its Lesley Lawson and Jonathan Pryce.. and maybe the cast from “the good life” in the corner, and Germain Greer? No, that’s a thistle table decoration.The staff are kind, in a subdued English way, a warmth in their smiles and a calm expedience. I was having mixed feelings, however. Looking out, we spotted the “TeePee” nestled in the bushes, selling street food and alcohol in plastic cups, middle class families with their dogs ‘keeping it simple’. The sun warming their faces, they all emanated a satisfying glow.The menu is hearteningly small; they must get it ‘just right’? English in parts with Cromer crab, and pork belly; Italian in others with Burata, tortellini, and ravioli. Most of the wines were new world, which unnerved me, and some of the wines branded with the world “English”. What to do? My party went Italian for the food, against my better judgement I opted for pork belly, black pudding and gravy. A bit heavy for a summer dish, but we were risking it with the wine too.The starters arrived; The Cromer crab was acceptable. The burrata was actually just one quarter of a Burata. It stimulated a conversation about what constitutes a burrata, and we concluded this was not it. Is it possible to get a Burrata wrong? Yes, it seems so. For the mains, the pork belly was tasty:- although certainly a winter dish, an unusual proposition but enjoyable. My party had seafood ravioli, it arrived slightly dried out and with a piece of wilted watercresss placed on the top for presentation perhaps. I glanced accusingly up at the florescent strip lighting caged on the spearmint roof beams. Unconvinced by this, my guests asked for some olive oil; it was provided. Reaching for the seasoning before tasting the food, I could see that they were unimpressed.We ate the food, pushing it around our plates alittle; all of us stared longingly at the TeePee, wondering if perhaps a more honest Suffolk burger and a pint of cider would have been a better choice. The English rose was tart, but one could only appreciate just how rhubarby it was after ordering the Cotes de Provence. There was restricted offering of puddings. Eccles cake, shortbread, chocolate mousse. We shared the Mousse, it was good.The concert in the hall beckoned, and all the grey haired guests were leaving the restaurant, in a timely fashion. Waddling hastily out, it looked as it they had been called up to leave purgatory. The sun was setting on the tepee too.What can be said? It your tastebuds are on their way out, if you love a view, if you’re prepared to smile and say that the “food’s lovely” when it clearly isn’t that great (in an oh so British way), then the river view restaurant will do. In my opinion however, Snape Maltings sets a wonderfully high bar; excellence in every way; except the gastronomy.

The food was very insubstantial for the price. And neither of our dishes had much flavour. Somehow my cheese was tasteless on my hasstleback, and the rarebit was too thinly sliced and had no composition beyond cheese. The coffee was very weak, and the stainless steel teapot dirty. There appeared to be plenty of staff, but once seated we received no attention and had to ask for the bill. Not great in getting throughput on a busy day. Odd, as a great location, but should be better for the price. Generally poor quality ingredients were used.

Woefully inadequate.The setting is beautiful, the staff are friendly but the food, drink and service all have a long way to go.The food: A small triangle of the simplest style of flapjack for £3.50!!The drink: A cappuccino with froth that had collapsed to nothing! We called for a replacement which had an attempt at foamed milk made by someone ill-trained. £2.50 (I think)A tea which arrived with no milk!The service: We ordered a large cappuccino but received a small one.They didn't look very busy but we waited 20 to 30 minutes to be served. I think other people there were experiencing similar issues.At these high prices it's just not acceptable.