Nicola Warren celebrates a special occasion with afternoon tea at one of the top pubs in the county.

East Anglian Daily Times: The tea was brought out on beach hut-style cake standsThe tea was brought out on beach hut-style cake stands (Image: Archant)

Food

One sunny Saturday, after dropping our daughter off to stay with her grandparents, my husband Phil and I headed for afternoon tea to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.

We made the drive to north Suffolk, as we'd booked in for the treat at The Randolph in Reydon, near Southwold.

East Anglian Daily Times: The bar at the Ranolph, ReydonThe bar at the Ranolph, Reydon (Image: Archant)

This family-run pub, which is also a hotel, was recently named one of the top 15 inns in Suffolk in AA Publishing's The Pub Guide 2020: 2,000 Pubs for Great Beer and Good Food.

I'd seen a picture of their afternoon tea on their Facebook page, and just had to give it a try.

We'd booked a table for 2pm, but arrived early and planned to have a drink in the bar while we waited.

But we were offered our table and asked if we'd like the chef to start preparing the tea to which we said yes please!

East Anglian Daily Times: The scones, jam and whipped cream completed the teaThe scones, jam and whipped cream completed the tea (Image: Archant)

We had a soft drink while we waited and admired the nautical décor, with navy and soft blue paint and ship's lights on the walls.

Phil spotted a plate of fish and chips coming out of the kitchen being taken to one of the parties on the other side of the pub who had ordered lunch and said it looked "fantastic".

Our pots of tea - mine with decaf in - were soon brought out, and Phil then popped to the bar to order two proseccos to toast the occasion.

Two mini bottles of Adnams prosecco were brought to the table, opened and poured and we said "cheers" to 10 years of marriage.

We were both wowed when the beach hut style tea stand was brought out, filled with sandwiches, sausage rolls and sweet treats. The sultana scones were so huge they had to be carried out on their own plate along with jam and whipped cream.

When Phil had booked he'd told them I didn't eat meat so I had a selection of sandwiches filled with smoked salmon and cucumber, egg mayonnaise and cress and cheese and tomato chutney. Phil had the same, with the addition of ham, as well as two sausage rolls.

I thought perhaps they could have offered a vegetarian alternative to the sausage roll for me, but then again I wouldn't have needed it!

I managed to eat all of my sandwiches, which were lovely and fresh and on soft white and brown bread.

Phil thought he better leave a few as he'd eaten both homemade sausage rolls as they were so good. He said the ham in his sandwich was of good quality too.

The lemon mousse had caught my eye out of all of the desserts, so we tried those next.

I nearly had a When Harry Met Sally moment over this divine dish, of lemon mousse, meringue and lemon curd.

We then decided to halve the rest of the sweet treats, leaving one of each, to see how we got on.

We went for the strawberry shortcake next - a crunchy, buttery shortbread biscuit topped with sweet crème patissiere and a fresh strawberry. Lovely.

Next the light Victoria sponge, sandwiched together with strawberry jam and whipped cream.

The carrot cake was nicely spiced, but I felt it could have done with a thin topping of cream cheese icing.

Finally for the desserts was the rich, fudgy chocolate brownie, topped with a quenelle of chocolate ganache.

I was glad we'd split them as we just about had room for half a scone each. We covered these freshly baked, still warm from the oven, treats with strawberry jam and cream.

We were absolutely full to the brim after all of that loveliness and asked to take the rest home with us.

When I'd seen the price of the tea online, I couldn't quite believe it, but when presented with the bill, there it was, £12.50 a head, plus £6 each for the prosecco. A total steal for a top quality afternoon tea.

Service

Welcoming and friendly, nothing was too much trouble.

Drinks

As expected of a pub in this area of Suffolk, there are plenty of Adnams ales behind the bar as well as its spirits and even prosecco.

Price

The afternoon tea offered really good value for money. In fact, I told our server they could charge more it seemed such a steal!

Parking

There's a large car park.

Family friendly

Although we didn't have our daughter with us, we couldn't help but notice the children's menu on the bar and the garden outside. The garden includes a climbing frame and ground level trampoline, which little ones must love.

Highlight

That lemon dessert! Zingy, sweet lemon curd, melt in the mouth meringue and creamy mousse. Need I say more?