Food review for five outlets at Felixstowe Food Festival

The Felixstowe Food Festival returned to Beach Street once again for what was the "best food festival" since the owners started hosting them.

Thousands attended the two-day event, including myself and our photographer, Charlotte Bond.

When we arrived, we were immediately hit by the smell. It was amazing.

We decided we would do one main meal each, one drink each, one dessert each and share a chip bucket.

The Bar Rumba owners. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Our first stop was for a drink at Bar Rumba Events, a Sudbury-based bar that travels to cover events in Suffolk and Essex.

Since it was midday on a Friday, and we had both driven to Felixstowe, we went for a mocktail each.

I went for a blue lagoon, which was a mix of blue syrup, lemonade and pineapple juice. It was nice – the effect when you stirred the drink was cool with the syrup mixing with the juice. However, it did turn out more as a 'green' lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon and the Passion Fruit mocktail (Image: Charlotte Bond)

My colleague went for the passion fruit mocktail, which came presented with edible pink petals on top. 

She described the drink as a nice take on the classic pornstar martini, and it was very summery.

The price, however, was rather on the steep side for what it was. We paid £4.50 each, and we were expecting the cups to be bigger than they were, but I guess that's festival prices... and this will be a running theme throughout the review.

The service was lovely though, and we were given our drinks really quickly.

MORE: Why Ipswich's Bistro on the Quay is home to a tasty roast

The Yorkshire pudding wrap, filled with carrot, green beans, stuffing, beef and gravy (Image: Tom Cann)

Moving on to the main, I had a Yorkshire pudding wrap from Gourmet Yorkshire Wraps.

I went for the roast beef and horseradish one, which was also filled with sage and onion stuffing, carrots, green beans, roast potatoes and gravy.

It was really nice. If you like a roast dinner, these wraps were excellent. They might just about be the messiest thing I have eaten in a long time though, so definitely get lots of napkins.

The Gourmet Yorkshire Wraps (Image: Charlotte Bond)

The beef was a little on the tougher side though.

For £8, at a food festival, I thought the price wasn't outrageous, and the service was quick and friendly.

MORE: Food review and pictures: The Dog in Norton, near Bury St Edmunds

My colleague went to Salt and Pepper and got a £12 chicken box, which came with crispy chicken, teriyaki sauce, noodles, rice, chips and slaw.

The Chicken box from Salt & Pepper (Image: Charlotte Bond)

The chicken box being created (Image: Charlotte Bond)

She said it was very colourful and well presented, and she was left very full, rating it a 7/10, thinking there could have been a bit more chicken for the price.

We then shared a chip bucket from The Bucket List, a north Norfolk company operating in Hunstanton and Cromer.

We got the BBQ, mozzarella and aioli sauce bucket, which was £8.50.

The chip bucket with bbq sauce, aioli sauce, mozzarella and crispy onions (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Chips were absolutely loaded into the bucket, and the amount of toppings was great.

We both really enjoyed it and thought it was our favourite dish we tried. It's a large portion so I wouldn't get one on your own.

For £8.50, I thought it was an okay price tag, given it was a festival and the quantity we were given.

The chip bucket from The Bucket List (Image: Charlotte Bond)

To finish, we thought we would get a chocolate bar each from a company based in Maldon called Temprd.

It had a big selection on offer for people to buy, with small bars, large bars and gift boxes available.

I got the honeycomb and popping candy small bar, and Charlotte got the sea salt and caramel small bar.

The bars we bought to try from the Maldon based company (Image: Charlotte Bond)

It was okay chocolate – the bars were very thick – but at £3.95 per small bar, we thought it was a little on the expensive side.

The atmosphere was great, the smell was great, the toilets and facilities were clean and the event staff kept the area tidy.

A very good event, with food that didn't disappoint.

The food festival was well attended with thousands visiting over the two days (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Our food reviews are always independent. They are the opinion of the reviewer based on their experience of the venue when they visited. The establishment is not aware of our visit, is not informed we intend to write a review and bills are paid by the reviewer.

The choice of places reviewed is also independent and is not based on venues which do or do not advertise in our publications.