Restaurant review, The Last Anchor, Ipswich: “Super tasty food, filled with flavour”

Restaurant review, The Last Anchor Ipswich. Confit duck leg with sweet potatoes and a mango and chilli salsa. (Image: Archant)

Food

My friend and I rocked up to this, one of Ipswich’s mainstays, for an early summer dinner – lured by the price tag - just shy of £21 for three courses.

For that we were expecting small portions, and average food. But we couldn’t have been more wrong.

We were both disappointed there wasn’t any bread to start (especially as the restaurant has a bakery next door), but suppose at the price that’s not really factored in. We’d have paid an extra quid or so each though for a nice slice of white and a bit of butter while we waited.

To start I had a decent sized roasted Romano pepper, filled with plump pieces of chestnut mushroom and feta in a herby dressing. It’s the kind of thing I imagine myself making for dinner when I get home from work (but never do). Super tasty and filled with flavour.

Lisa’s jerk marinated pork medallions set over herby cous cous could have been chewy as a pair of leather footie boots, but each piece was instead rip apart tender, and subtly ‘jerky’ with a punch of lime. I was glad they hadn’t overindulged on scotch bonnet chillies – Lisa thinks black pepper is hot enough. They played it safe on the spicing, but rightly so – don’t expect to have your chops set ablaze by this one.

MORE: Award-winning fresh food at The Galley in Woodbridge.

In the middle, my confit duck leg was divine – if only a touch too salty for my delicate palate. Its accompaniments of almost caramelized sweet potato and a perky mango and chilli salsa took a pinch of the salinity out of the whole thing though. And the sauce was nommy.

Lisa tucked happily into her rump steak, which had a superb fresh tomato and tarragon salsa and didn’t come with a supplement charge (a rarity these days).

We shared a tasting plate to finish of white chocolate blondie, mango semi freddo, homemade cookie, chocolate and coffee mousse and pavlova. It was all good, but nothing really really special. The brownie and mousse were our favourites, while the semi freddo could have done with a bit more zing, and the meringue for the pavlova didn’t seem homemade and missed that lovely squidgy centre that takes the sucrose confection to the next level.

This could be our new favourite pre-cinema spot (It’s cheaper than those all those chains – and better quality too).

Drinks

There were a few people at the bar enjoying some bevvies when we arrived and seemed to be a good range of beers. The wine list doesn’t have too many by the glass and the house chardonnay I tried was okay but nothing to write home about.

Ambiance

You know what? For a Monday night this place was pretty busy and several tables were reserved. The terrace and waterfront dining conservatory give birds eye views over to the jumble of boats bobbing along the marina (lovely at night when all the fairy lights go on). And the main part of the restaurant is smart with a simple, almost generic bistro style.

Service

Friendly, quick and efficient.

Price

The set menu was a very fair price considering the portion sizes and work put into the food. As I said earlier on, it would cost you more to eat three courses in a chain restaurant, so you just can’t go wrong here.

Parking

There’s a little bit of parking outside but not a great deal. You’d have to park up at the cinema and walk over if you are arriving for a later booking.

Highlight

The duck was rammed with flavour and every mouthful offered a different texture and bitter, salty, savoury or sweet element, which kept it interesting.

Summary

If you want to eat reasonably priced, sensibly portioned bistro food with a bit of a twist, The Last Anchor could fit the bill – the views are worth it alone.

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