Nicola Warren tries breakfast at this popular spot

East Anglian Daily Times: Riverside full English breakfast Picture: Philip WarrenRiverside full English breakfast Picture: Philip Warren (Image: Archant)

Food

Last Monday, in between a drop-in gymnastics session and a hospital appointment for my daughter, we decided to take her for lunch at the Maybush in Waldringfield.

The weather had been so nice the previous days, and the pub's riverside location makes it an ideal spot to visit when the sun is shining.

East Anglian Daily Times: Belgian chocolate brownie Picture: Nicola WarrenBelgian chocolate brownie Picture: Nicola Warren (Image: Archant)

Jessica was snoozing in her car seat after bouncing around at gymnastics, so I was planning to have a drink with Phil while she continued her nap in the buggy before we'd order lunch.

But once we'd parked in the pub's car park and were about to transfer her to the buggy she woke up.

So when we'd taken a window seat inside (it had clouded over a bit by the time we arrived), my husband Phil went to ask about the breakfast menu.

You can order breakfast until 11.30am, and lunch from 12noon, so rather than waiting a further 40 minutes until we could order we decided to try out the breakfasts.

East Anglian Daily Times: Strawberry pavlova Picture: Nicola WarrenStrawberry pavlova Picture: Nicola Warren (Image: Archant)

A decision I was soon pleased about as Jessica didn't want to sit still for very long - she was keen to see the dogs in the beer garden and to splash her feet in the River Deben beyond.

The breakfast menu includes a Riverside full English, plus veggie alternative, a children's breakfast, as well as breakfast baps, eggs to your liking with toast, smashed avocado and scrambled eggs on toast and scrambled egg and smoked salmon on toast, as well as toast with butter with the option to add jam or honey.

We decided to go for a full English, or a version of it, all round, with the vegetarian breakfast for me and the children's version for Jessica. We all had a soft drink too.

The breakfasts arrived while Jessica was splashing in the edge of the river (with me gripping her hand tightly so that she didn't go any further in), so that gave Phil a chance to cut her food up.

When we came back in, we put Jessica in the wooden high chair (there were plenty of these available inside as well as plastic ones outside), and tucked in.

Jessica happily scooped up her beans with a teaspoon, then munched on a bit of sausage and nibbled the toast which Phil had buttered and cut for her. She dipped her finger into the runny egg yolk and gave it a try but just prodded the "'mato!" (tomato) and ignored the hash brown. She had a chew of bacon and spat it out. Toddlers! By this time there was another family with a toddler sitting in the same area of the pub, so I didn't feel too embarrassed!

Phil doesn't like tomatoes so he had extra local bacon in its place. He didn't stop to say much between mouthfuls so I take this to mean it went down well! He also had two local Procter's sausages, a free range fried egg, two flat mushrooms, two hash browns and a slice of toast.

My vegetarian breakfast came with a fried egg with a perfectly runny yolk, two hash browns, two grilled flat mushrooms and a tomato and toast. According to the menu the sausages were Quorn ones but they weren't like any I've tried before and I wasn't keen on the flavour - I think they were overdone as the colour on the outside didn't look quite right either. I think I would have preferred something like a Glamorgan (leek and cheese) sausage instead.

I think if we returned at breakfast time we'd order some extra toast to mop up the egg yolk too.

But it was a good thing we hadn't on that day, as by the time we finished it was after 12noon and we had a little space left for a dessert.

I'd noticed another family was offered a small activity pack so I asked for one of those when our plates were cleared. There were puzzles and colouring to do with a double ended crayon and that kept Jessica amused for, well okay probably only for a few minutes but it saved us one walk down to the river and back!

Desserts included Belgian chocolate brownie and strawberry pavlova (both with children's sizes available), cheesecake, lemon tart, crème brulee and a selection of ice creams, including a dairy free ice cream, and sorbets.

Jessica loves "dawberries", so I chose the strawberry pavlova for her, and Phil wanted the same, while I couldn't resist the chocolate brownie. Phil had another soft drink too.

The pavlovas, when they were brought out, looked really impressive! Phil had two individual meringues, with Chantilly cream, fresh strawberries and a strawberry coulis. I had to have a try, just for review purposes obviously, and the meringue was light and crisp on the outside and lovely and chewy inside and the coulis wasn't too sweet which was nice.

Jessica's plate had one of the meringues with all of the toppings and she was delighted with how it looked. "Cake!" she exclaimed and, once I'd cut it up a bit for her, she took handfuls of meringue to chew on.

My warm chocolate brownie was perfect, just a bit crisp on the outside and fudgy throughout and served with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. There wasn't a crumb left on my plate.

As we had a little while before we were due at our appointment I ordered a latte for Phil and a peppermint tea for me, which we each enjoyed while the other took turns taking Jessica for a wander back down to the water.

Despite the amount of times she got up and down it was a very relaxed meal - the Maybush is a laidback place and staff are very patient with children. I think we got in the way of a few people taking food out for customers (sorry!) but this was no problem at all. I'm glad we visited on a weekday too as it was a little quieter - it gets very busy at weekends - and I felt at ease because other families with young children were dining near us so I didn't feel on edge about the possibility of a toddler tantrum at any given moment…

Being a riverside venue, I had planned to try a fish dish, so that's what I'll be ordering when we come back. And the brownie too of course…

Price

Three breakfasts, three desserts, four soft drinks and two hot drinks came to just over £55, which I thought was really good value for money considering the quality of the food and ingredients and the setting of the pub.

Baby changing

There was baby changing available in the disabled toilet.

Location and parking

The Maybush is right beside the River Deben in Waldringfield. There's a free car park for pub-goers next to it, and a pay and display option if that one is full.

Ambience

The riverside pub, which is welcoming to families, feels very laidback. Quite a few people were sitting outside when we visited so inside was quite quiet except for a bit of music playing which was at a nice level and not intrusive. You can enjoy the beautiful view from the terrace or inside, we managed to get a seat by the window which seemed to frame the scene of the river beyond.

Summary

Laidback, family friendly pub with good food featuring locally sourced ingredients which can be enjoyed while admiring the picturesque view.