Huge subs and burger ‘mountains’ feature on the new menu at this Bury St Edmunds bar and grill.
This bar and restaurant in Bury St Edmunds looks innocent enough. From the outside peeking in you might catch friends playing ping-pong. A gaggle of ladies sinking down espresso martinis. Dogs lapping fresh water from bowls at their owners’ feet.
But one look at the menu will confirm Queen’s Bar and Grill is anything but your run-of-the-mill Suffolk pub…because it’s home to some of the county’s most daring and behemoth food challenges, to be mounted only by those with jaws of steel, bottomless pit stomachs, and enhanced metabolisms.
Are you man (or woman) enough to take on Miss Piggy? A towering ode to meat, comprising 36oz (12) of beef patties, cheese and bacon? How about the Her Majesty Burger Challenge? For this, the kitchen loads two 12oz homemade beef patties alongside three cheese and jalapeno hash browns, four fried eggs, fried chicken strips and barbecue sauce onto an extra large homemade bun. But they don’t stop there- oh no. In addition, the burger is plated with onion rings and double chilli fries and served with a litre of Oreo flavoured milkshake! It’s free if you finish it (on your own) in 45 minutes. Gulp.
If sharing’s more your thing, but you don’t want to miss out on the big eats, you can pre-order the Big Foot with 24 hours notice. Measuring in at around 2ft long, the homemade sub roll is laden with slow-cooked brisket, barbecue pulled pork, fried chicken, homemade gherkins and burger sauce, and served with fries. It will comfortably feed four to five people. Now that’s a ‘bar snack’ you can’t say no to.
Queen’s is the latest foodie offering in the town from young award-winning restaurateur Ben Hutton, who owns his eponymous field-to-fork eatery, Ben’s just moments away. He took the keys to the pub last June, opening in August. “For the last couple of years I’d been waiting for the right opportunity,” Ben says. “And the Queen had been shut for a while. I had the idea to turn it into a modern bar and grill, had a look around and took it from there really. It was one of those things where the timing felt right.”
Ben describes the kitchen’s offering as ‘dirty food’ – “But clean dirty food. It’s street food and big grub that’s tasty, homemade and authentic.”
The bar’s mantra is to bring casual dining to the customer, with real attention to detail. There aren’t many burger joints in the area going to the level of care that Queen’s does. They make their own bread and buns, their own sauces, all the dry rubs – everything that can be homemade, is and, contrary to what it might seem, there’s plenty for vegetarians too, and children.
From the latest menu, aside from whopping challenges, diners will find the Woolly Lamboth – a spiced lamb burger with onion bhaji, pickled ginge and mint yoghurt.
Where’ve You Bean packs a homemade mixed bean patty, grilled pepper, black olive tapenade, feta, rocket and hummus into a bun. There’s The Prince – the bar’s take on a cheesesteak – piling high featherbalde steak, Philli cheese sauce, green peppers, mushrooms and onion into a homemade sub with tater tots.
And the loaded cheesecakes (which change regularly) are super Instagrammable.
Look out this summer for hog roasts in the garden, and for the introduction of an outdoor smoker and pizza oven. Plus, you can take advantage of some pretty decent special offers on a Wednesday (these have included cheesecake and a cocktail for a tenner) and two for one cocktails on a Thursday. Cheers.
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