Superb summer lunch from Southwold's renowned Crown hotel

The Crown is one of Adnams' own hotels and we were invited there to sample this summer's menu as guests of the company.

We visited for lunch - where there is a choice of nine main dishes and five "Lunch Specials" which are designed as lighter meals, but are still very substantial for most people.

That's a big plus. I'd much rather have a menu with a handful of dishes rather than something that runs for pages and pages - you know everything will be created from scratch for you in the kitchen.

Tempting as they were, we skipped the starters to allow us the chance to enjoy a main course and a pudding.

I had a roast Blythburgh Pork Chop served with roast cauliflower puree, tender stem broccoli. pork scrumpet served with an Adnams cider and mustard sauce from the main menu (£26). I had a bowl of truffle oil and Parmesan fries on the side (£6).

The best pork chop I've ever tasted in my life! (Image: Paul Geater)

The chop was a very good size and quite thick - and it was absolutely cooked to perfection. Seared well on the outside. Just enough moisture inside to really let the flavour tingle the tastebuds. I've never had such perfectly-cooked pork in my life!

The rest of the flavours complemented it perfectly - they didn't taste too mucked about with and really provided a fantastic overall experience.

Judy chose the baked devilled Cromer Crab, breadcrumb topping, seaweed seasoned fries and samphire from the Lunch Specials menu (£23).

The CromerCrab at the Southwold Crown (Image: Paul Geater)

She said the devilled crab was moderately spicy and very tasty. It was placed on top of a generous helping of samphire, which was well-complemented by the seaweed seasoned fries, an unusual item that added an extra tang to the dish. The whole meal was a great combination of flavours. 

Looking at our fellow diners, it was clear that other choices also looked delicious - Mr Barrett's honey glazed Blythburgh ham, fried Low Farm egg, and chunky chips from the Lunch Special menu looked like a mighty plateful for £16.50.

And the FLT - fish goujons, lettuce, tomato with tartare sauce in a brioche bun - looked very attractive for £12. Add a £5.50 portion of chunky chips or the parmesan fries that I had and you'd have had a very hearty meal.

To be honest we really didn't need puddings after such a filling main course - but we felt we had to give them a try.

I had the glazed lemon tart with fennel seed ice cream (£10).

The lemon tart at the Southwold Crown (Image: Paul Geater)

This was a delicious and extremely light pudding that complemented the main course superbly - as well as the tart itself there was scattering of summer fruits that helped to really add some special extra flavours.

Judy had new season Suffolk strawberries, strawberry meringue, Fen Farm cultured cream and mango sorbet (£10). Strawberries and cream - Southwold Crown style. (Image: Paul Geater)

She said this looked almost too pretty to eat. The mango sorbet was just slightly less sweet than the rest of the dessert and set off the berries, cream and crunchy mini meringues perfectly.

One of the benefits of being an Adnams Hotel is that The Crown has a superb wine list and is also directly linked to the brewery producing the world's finest beer just behind it.

As I was driving and Judy had a work meeting in the afternoon we weren't able to sample them - but at least I was able to wash down my meal with a low alcohol Ghost Ship, the finest low alcohol beer you can buy.

The building itself dates from the 18th century and has a fantastic atmosphere for a relaxed meal.

The service was discreet but very attentive. People were being served quite promptly and there wasn't a lot of waiting to order.

It is certainly advisable to book a table if you want to eat at The Crown in August - you can do that on its webpage.

We were invited to The Crown as guests of Adnams - but on the basis of this visit we shall certainly return. I've got my eye on a couple of other items on the menu that look well worth a try!