The Station Hotel sits in the heart of Suffolk’s countryside, giving us access to a natural larder. Good quality meat, fish and dairy all sit on the doorstep of the pub.
Under the current owners we have relied on this local produce, prepared simply and honestly, to deliver quality and consistency. By using blackboards to write our menus we can promise you all our dishes make the most of the local produce on offer to us.
Our chefs have the confidence and ability to make sure that nothing interferes with the quality of these ingredients. Here at the Station you won’t find any deep fat fryers. We believe all you should smell is the stock pot simmering or the rosemary and garlic with the lamb on the table next to you.
Our lunch menu offers everything from simple pub fare that might include sausage and mash, steak and ale suet puddings or a ham and chicory gratin. Our soup of the day is always homemade, in the winter this might be a warming carrot and coriander or mushroom and roasted garlic. In the summer perhaps a chilled courgette and mint or gazpachio. We also offer quick and simple lunch dishes such as a crayfish Caesar, bacon baps and a three cheese ploughmans.
Our lunch menu also offers a selection of more substantial meals from our main menu that might include fish delivered that morning or pigeon breasts from a local shoot with bubble and squeak.
Our main bar has a warm friendly country charm.
The Station Hotel comes into it’s own during the evenings, with a dinner menu of around eight starters and ten mains. This will always include our soup of the day and a bowl of olives with crusty bread and balsamic glaze for dipping, perfect for sharing while you choose your main meal. During the summer our starters will often include a selection of fish and shellfish fresh from Aldeburgh and Orford. Some of our regular dishes are grilled sardines, served simply with coarse sea salt, zested lemon, garlic and parsley. A half pint of smoked prawns from Pinney’s with home made aioli and granary bread.
Whilst in season fresh asparagus served with a little butter or maybe hollandaise. A raw carpaccio of beef with artichokes, parmesan and soy dressing is often available.
During the summer our main courses may include freshly caught fish from the coast, such as a skate wing with lemon and capers, whole plaice with shrimps and cucumbers or whole lemon sole with tarragon butter. These are always served with some roast new potatoes and green veg.
Our mains often include a Mediterranean influence, such as roast chicken breast with chickpeas and chorizo, or a rump of local lamb served with spiced aubergine and a yoghurt dressing.
Vegetarian options may include a simple goats cheese, pea and mint risotto, or a wild mushroom and spinach tart.
Intimate meals with close friends and family.
In the winter months our menu relies more on locally sourced game. This may include a roast partridge with creamed savoy cabbage, and juniper jus, or pigeon breast with champ. The red meat that features more in the winter may include pan fried calf liver with mash and Alsace bacon. Red Poll Sirloin steak is sourced locally, from Laxfield, and duck confit is prepared from scratch and served, perhaps with braised red cabbage.
It is with these dishes that our chefs take advantage of what the bar has to offer, with Real Ale and onion gravy featuring regularly alongside a steak and Ale suet pudding or local rabbit braised in mustard and cyder sauce.
White meat includes the ever popular pork belly, slow roasted, or perhaps a grilled pork fillet with mustard mash. All the pork we buy comes from the Dingley Dell farm just down the road.
Over the winter, the fish we serve may be a line caught cod fillet with pea puree or a whole John Dory with a chive cream sauce.
Our starters often include homemade terrines, coarse pork and chicken liver, ham hock and parsley or foie gras and chicken liver. Served with some toast and pickles, this is often a popular light lunch, and is always served with a homemade chutney.
It’s over the winter that it makes sense for us to supplement our menu with produce sourced from a little further afield. This means we will often have Irish oysters and Scottish mussels alongside the rest of our menu. Oysters we leave natural and serve with a little shallot vinaigrette, Tabasco and lemon. Our mussels are served in a variety of ways that may include a fragrant Asian broth of chilli, lime, ginger, garlic and coriander, or a simple white wine and cream sauce.
All of our desserts are homemade. Chocolate tarts and cakes feature regularly, other desserts may include a vanilla panacotta with fresh strawberries, or rice pudding with cardamom and Armagnac prunes.
If you don’t have a sweet tooth then our cheese board provides a good alternative and is perfect for sharing around the table. All our cheeses are bought from Hamish Johnston’s Fine Cheeses and there is always an interesting selection available.
Below are some example menus to give you a little taste of the variety we offer!
| STARTERS | |
| Stuffed olives with bread | £4.50 |
| Carrot & fennel soup | £4.00 |
| Grilled Sardines, pesto & lemon | £6.00 |
| 1/2 pt. Smoked prawns with aioli | £6.00 |
| Anti Pasti: Parma ham Napoli +Milano salami & pickles | £6.00 |
| Devilled kidneys on toast | £6.00 |
| Smoked mackerel terrine, beetroot & horseradish | £6.00 |
| Herring roe with nutty butter | £5,50 |
| MAINS | |
| 8oz Sirloin steak, with caramelised shallots | £15.50 |
| Pan fried chicken breast with fennel risotto | £11.50 |
| Grilled fillet of salmon, lobster sauce & green beans | £10.50 |
| Spinach & goats cheese tart & mixed leaf salad | £8.50 |
| Rump of lamb, courgette, potatoes & mint | £14.95 |
| Roast pork belly, black pudding, apple sauce | £11.50 |
| Pigeon breasts, warm puy lentil & green bean salad | £9.50 |
| Grilled Mackerel fillets, warm potato salad & creme fraiche | £10.50 |
| Calf liver, mash, green beans & bacon | £13.50 |
| Alde valley leg of lamb steak, olive & paprika butter | £10.00 |
| Pan fried skate wing, samphire & caper butter | £11.00 |
Prices correct as of 2007
Book early to reserve your table.