This, was a ruddy wonderful place. Came here with friends after a show, the staff were friendly and…read moreaccommodating, and the bouncers were Lovely, but with a no nonsense approach. I never once felt nervous. There's a long bar at the front, and a little cocktail bar at the back, which is impressive for a petite venue. I was walked over to the cocktail bar, and told I could order anything I wanted, any cocktail off the top of my head, or just say what I liked and they'd match it. I listed of floral, sour and gin, and was presented with a super tasty gin based jade princess. The music was great, areas to sit and dance too. Cocktails are not cheap, but they're very much worth it. A lot of people do seem to come here on the pull, which isn't my scene, and those who approached never pestered, which is wonderful. An all round nice environment!

Just ate an amazing meal at the Brook Inn! Great menu - lots of meat and fish options, but…read moreincredibly accommodating to vegetarian/vegan/gluten free diets. Pleasant atmosphere and friendly staff. Nice beer garden too. Highly recommended!

We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant. Very friendly staff, food was terrific and a view of the…read moremarina! It was a beautiful evening!

Great location - on the dock road, which is extremely quiet - and has a lovely view of Ipswich…read moremarina. The Bistro is an old, tastefull converted dock building that was one of the first in the renovation of the Ipswich dock area. The food is modern british with continental overtones. There is plenty of choice of both fish, meat and veggie dishes so there should be something to please most palettes. There is also an extensive wine list. My wife has a particular liking for their pint of shell-on prawns served with garlic mayo and thick, crusty brown bread - as a starter. The prices are not too expensive, but the food is very good and I think it represents good value. A word of warning - the one downside of the Bistro is that you have to book well in advance. This is even more true in summer when the yachties tend to be in town. Overall very nice place, good food - can be very romantic (if you are that way inclined) especially if you can get a sunset booking in summer.

zero if I could. I was wearing heels that were too big for me and understandably I struggled to…read morewalk in them. I was accused of being 'smashed' and that I was not allowed in. I then explained that the shoes were too big but then was accused of attitude and was told I wasn't allowed in at all.

Sooo the happy hour deal is amazing here but other than that a little lackluster!! The food…read moreportions were crazy small for the price, and the service was not good. Bartenders were very rude and wouldn't even acknowledge you. Two men came to sit at the bar who were next to me and when asking someone who looked like the manager who would serve them after waiting forever he said "I'm not serving tonight I can't do anything about it" Maybe part of this was that there was only 3-4 bartenders for about 50 people including bachelorette parties, but the staff's bad attitude killed the vibe a lot. Great drinks for a decent price if you're pre-gaming but not a place I'd stay all night

Great ambiance and splendid views of the water. Staff are super nice and accommodated my auntie who…read moreis elderly in a perfect table by the window. Delicious food and very reasonable prices. Très bonne ambiance et une vue spectaculaire de l'eau comme arrière fond. Les employés sont très sympa et ils ont tout fait pour rendre ma vieille tante confortable avec une table à côté de la fenêtre. Délicieuse nourriture avec des prix très raisonnables. May buen ambiente y una vista espléndida del agua. Los empleados muy amables e hicieron todo lo posible para hacer sentir cómoda a mi tía que es viejecita y nos dieron una mesa cerca de la ventana. Comida deliciosa y precios muy razonables.

I first heard of the Butt and Oyster when I read Arthur Ransome's "We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea" as…read morea teenager. In recent years, various members of my family have moved to the Stour valley area and so I was very excited to finally have the opportunity to go here, having just re-read the book to my own sons. The Butt and Oyster certainly lived up to my expectations. Although, like many country pubs have become over the past ten years, it's really more like a restaurant with beer, the interior is still clearly old, with terrific character. Its situation in the village of Pinmill is everything you could wish for as a Ransome fan, with a host of boats new and old lining the 'Hard', a scattering of well-preserved cottages and sailboats drifting by on the Orwell. The food here was very tasty with some local themes - seafood in particular. I had a delicious Lowestoft skate with capers and roasted tomatoes. Plus, they sell Adnams ales which instantly gives it at least four stars on my scale. A couple of pints of Broadside washed the food down a treat. After lunch we also had a great walk through meadows upstream along the river. A real English country experience that feels like it hasn't changed much since Ransome's day. Except that it takes credit cards.

When friends from out of town are visiting, Issacs always ends up featuring on my "Tour of…read moreIpswich". It's in a cool location on the quay - great for sitting outside and people watching in summer and the tables upstairs are great for looking out over the water and all the boats. It's a really versatile venue ... perfect for a quick & not too expensive lunch (hellooooo fish & chips!) but also fab at weekends for drinks to get the night started before heading into town to the other bars and clubs. Big high-5 to whoever decided to put so many patio heaters up in the outside area ... absolute God-Send and makes all the difference. Parking around that area can be a bit of a pain at busy times but definitely worth a walk if you can't park nearby.

Poor service & rude staff. After waiting over forty minutes for our food I complained explaining…read morewe had tickets for a show and I was told the food was being put on plate and would two minutes. Nearly quarter of an hour later I want to complain again and the same member of of staff said to his colleague I was speaking "yeah I know - I just spoke to her & it's on it's way". I asked for a refund as we would not have had time to eat it! It's a massive venue but we had ordered early (around 6.30) and not many people were eating so I can't understand the delay.

A nice location on St.Nicolas street close to the other bars like Keo's ect. The down stairs bar…read morearea is a popular watering hole for after work drinks for the working man/woman in Ipswich. I have not eaten here but they do have a nice house white wine. I have recently been to a going away party where the host hired the upstairs area for private hire, that turned out amazing. They allowed her to supply her own snacks and they even opened a mini bar upstairs so that we do not have to go down stairs. It was really nice!!!!!

My very first English Pub. I was not disappointed. The food was good, I had the English Breakfast,…read morealso a first for me, and totally enjoyed it. I also loved my Strongbow. I'm so glad my friend suggested it. If I'm ever back in Ipswich, I'll definitely return to this pub.

Best place to go to if you wanna get bang on it with the gear . Highly recommend it for all the…read moreyoungsters who wanna spend the night getting smashed.

Typical pub food with very friendly staff, the minute steak was perfectly cooked! Fun to eat local…read morefood!

One of the best pubs in town. A favourite for me, as they allow my two dogs in. The beer is always…read moreexcellent, although I normally only drink Guinness, although a little on the pricey side. But then, you get what you pay for. The food really good, they don't have an enormaous selection, but it's always excellent quality. There's a range from the simple, to the more exotic. Not for me, but most people rave about their curries. Everyone seems to be very friendly, and if you're in town on your own, then you'll quite likely find someone here to strike up a conversation with. There's a large outside seating area, with around 6 or 7 long picnic tables, and it really traps the sun during the summer months.

Beautiful pub. Fair took me breath away when I walked in. I didn't even go in for a drink, I went…read morein for information! But the sheer age of the place, the heavy dark timbers, the utterly *English* vibe of the place (despite being an Irish pub) made me want to go up to the bartender and say "Barkeep, pour me a pint!" The information I went in for WAS beer related though. You see, for Christmas they has this most excellent window display that really caught my eye. It was a nativity scene. But not just any nativity scene, it was created out of Guinness bottles. The Joseph Guinness had a little shepherd hat on and everything...but the kicker, the real "win" in this whole thing was the baby Jesus. Baby Jesus was being played by a tiny eensy weensy Guinness bottle in a little manger.....it was freakin' AWESOME! So anyhow, I walk in and ask the bartender if I can get a baby Jesus to go. (Mind you, the window display was not up anymore since it was January when I went in to ask this) And she didn't bat an eyelash, she knew just what I was talking about and was super friendly and chatty with me telling me all about how the owner brought the baby Jesus back from Ireland and that they didn't have any to sell unfortunately. But she was one of the nicest people I met in all of Ipswich and I wish now that I had indeed asked for that pint. By the by, I rated this as pricey, but then everything in the UK seemed pretty pricey to me....so I may be biased in my opinion.

Okay for a drink or two on a night out but not nice enough to visit on the regular.read more