Cherry Tree Inn, Woodbridge

Cottage style pub, central bar, pine furniture & pine balustrade above the bar, with brick & small stained glass windows & vaulted beams. Interesting enough place with very good beer

A traditional looking pub on the outskirts of Woodbridge, it’s a good size with a more modern extension at the rear, although this does not detract from the cosy ambience. There is also a good sized garden and patio at the rear. Décor wise it’s quite traditional with a mixture of quarry tiling on the floor and the front of the pub and wooden boards at the rear. The snug to the right had some very old, worn carpet, which let the place down a little I thought. The original part of the pub at the front has a low beamed ceiling, whilst it’s a bit higher at the rear with part of the original back wall of the pub being visible. Paintwork was a mixture of cream and maroon, and there were various nic-nacs around such as old bottles, a flat iron, tankards and so on. The snug had an old brick fire-place to one side and a number of old black and white pictures of the locale on the walls. A selection of board games were also available. A “tap and steam” room was off to the left, although we did not investigate this. The food menu consisted of a decent “pub grub” offering, with options such as burger, fish & chips, steak & chips etc., with most main courses somewhere around £11. There was also a decent looking specials board. Our creamy parmesan risotto with garlic king prawns and chorizo was a decent and tasty dish. There was a very good choice of beers on tap, predominantly from Adnams with their Southwold, Broadside, Ghost Ship, Fat Sprat and Juniper Saison and these were joined by Hampshire’s They Think It’s All Over and Fuller’s Quintessential British Pale Ale. An eighth pump appeared to have run out.

Upmarket dining pub on the edge of the small, pretty Suffolk port-town. Not unremitingly foody, there is a “tap and steam room” at the back of the pub which is more pubby, with settles and beer mat décor. The rest of the pub is laid out with tables and chairs in an open plan with a central bar counter, there is space for barflys and vertical drinking. It is a low old building with a beamed ceiling and a newer rear extension, boarded floor, and walls painted in earth colours. There are lots of interesting prints, aviation drawings and old photographs. Staff were good and not too restaurant oriented, unsurprisingly the punters were largely middle aged and middle class, apparently this is the posher end of town. 9 handpumps with beers mainly from Adnams, the pub and the pump handles have their name on, and also from locals Nethergate and Earl Soham, no surprises in the keg line up with the exception of Meantime London IPA. GBG listed since 2003 and accomodation is available in a converted barn next door.