please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Been taken over by the former landlord of the Grinning Rat pub, will be a gay friendly venue for the town
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Still open and recently underwent a bit of a refurb without damaging its character. Some (over-priced) artwork for sale displayed on the walls. Also displayed are a huge number of pumpclip badges as testimony to their interesting and varied range of beers mostly from local micro-breweries. Above average foods at above average prices. Friendly staff. Well worth a vist.
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The restaurant/gastro-pub has gone out of business. Is this place jinxed?
It has re-opened, but they have left the signage untouched, hence the confusion detailed below.
Even the menu remains up.
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Closed on a saturday afternnon despite sign saying 11-11....disappointing.
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We love this pub. The bar staff are very friendly, the food is excellent and the beers, wine, cider and real ale is very good - especially the Peroni and Calvors. Five pints on a Sunday afternoon is highly recommended and it's a safe roll down the hill to the town centre.
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I went in on Sunday with the GF and found the food to be fantastic. Restaurant quality and then some. Hearty portions of local and well cooked fresh fodder with everything made in house. The price reflects this though I guess this depends on the context as it�s not Wetherspoons and you get what you pay for. My repast on Sunday was immense and cooked to perfection. We went again on the Monday for a snack and Even a simple cheese and chutney sandwich is poetry. Home baked crusty bread, sweet chutney made on the premises and really high quality cheese. I would have welcomed a big plate of proper chunky chips with this but they don�t do them at lunch time for some strange reason.
Don�t get me wrong, this is a welcoming place with friendly staff, the manager is an ausy but I can forgive him this as his cask ale policy is top notch in all ways. 3 local micro brews plus a national depending on his mood and good prices means that this place should be counted on any good Ipswich crawl along with the Woolpack, Spread Eagle, Dove and fat Cat. Do give it a try and support this independentfree house.
Oh, the guide-dogs were provided for also with no questions asked and water was offered as soon as we had ourdrinks. Perfect.
They lose a mark because of a lack of chips at lunch time.
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I paid another visit this week to The Arboretum. I must say the windows and door that have the frosted stained glass may affect people entering. I visit many pubs and do like to be able to see in before I enter a pub. There is now a fourth hand pump which has a revolving guest ale. The guest is currently St Peters Organic as well as the usual three Adnams Bitter, Woodfordes Wherry and Earl Soham Victoria. The beer prices seem to have increased since last time at �3.00 for the St Peters Organic. I noticed the Aspalls Suffolk Cider pump is now present as well as Calvors Suffolk Lager. It is good to see the pub supporting local products across the bar. The blackboard to the left of the bar shows the lunch and evening menus. The pub provides a number of daily newspapers for customers to read. I hope local people are using the pub as the owners are trying hard.
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Spent a Friday night here with friends and was very impressed. It has closed and re-opened in November-December 2008 which leaves some of the reveiws and the photos a bit out of date. There were three local ales on: Adnams Bitter, Woodfordes Wherry and Earl Soham Victoria. All were in fine form. Not the biggest of pubs and about half of it is given over to diners. We ate and were very impressed by the food - it was restaurant quality rather than pub quality. Pleasant atmosphere, attentive staff, good food and good ale.
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I was told by some mates that the pub was open again last Friday so I thought I would take a look. They also love good ale so I heard they have some. I noticed the signs on the end nearest town letting potential customers know they are now open. I also noticed the new windows which seemed personalised and stained with a pattern. The windows and door seemed frosted glass as well so I could not peer in before entering. Three hand pumped ales are available Woodfordes Wherry, Earl Soham Victoria and Adnams Bitter. The staff are friendly and I was served immediately and it was served in a handled beer glass. I use them occasionally and was happy to receive it in one, much better than getting it in a Guinness, John Smiths or Magners glass. The real ale's are a reasonable �2.60 and I also noticed some of the other drinks were competitively priced. The pub is a free house which is why they have some room to manoeuvre on prices. I enquired how long had they been opened and was handed last nights Evening Star which had an article about the pub inside. I was told that they may have personalised ale soon but they would not reveal who may be brewing it. It was also mentioned that they will also soon have Aspalls Suffolk Cider.
The pub seems to specialise in food and it does have a bit of a restaurant flavour about the place. To the left of the bar on blackboards are all the available food selections. The menu was pretty varied and not to badly priced. I understand the upstairs living accommodation has been taken out and there will soon be a further thirty seat restaurant up there. It was mentioned that they hope to turn food orders around in 15 minutes so workers who only have an hour don't have a problem. I must say that I hope that the pub does not become totally restaurant influenced and that drinkers will be allowed also to use the seating. In order for this to succeed I think it needs to have a balance between the eating and drinking customers.
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There are posters in the window saying that this pub will reopen late Autumn as a 'traditional public house' serving 'contemporary British food'. The first part sounds reassuring- the latter suggests some kind of gastropub experience may be on offer, which isn't my personal preference. Anyway it's great news that the Arboretum is to rise again- hopefully the traditional bit means there'll be a selection of real ales- I'd like to wish the new owners good luck with their enterprise.
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CLOSED!
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Great reviews, but before whizzing down there it would be wise to check this pub is still open. I walk past each morning around 8.30am and recently there have been no signs of human habitation. Menus etc have disappeared from the windows- the only visible poster advertises the Woodforde's ale trail for 2007. Perhaps someone can confirm that I'm wrong, but I reckon there's nobody home.
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Lovely pub. Really friendly staff, non-intrusive but good music. Good beer. Spent several evenings here earlier in the year when my Dad was in hospital and was consistently impressed.
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The new owners have done a great job. The changes are essentially cosmetic. Three Adnams ales on handpump. An international range of bottled beers.
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The Arboretum is a great pub for a midweek or quiet drink. The staff are always friendly and the food is very nice (they do stone-baked pizzas and some antipasti). It has a free juke box with some good tunes on and it was decorated really nice at Christmas this year! I'd definitely recommend it.
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Friendly small single-bar local with a good kitchen and between one and three real ales during the winter. The real ales are all guests that change frequently. Projector television available for big TV events. Monthly tapas nights with Spanish guitar.
Theo - 1 Nov 2004 16:10 |
