Meal at The Anchor Inn, Sutton Bridge was a lovely way to round off a super weekend

After a great weekend where we’d been to Newmarket Races and visited friends in Norwich, my wife and I were looking to complete our fun by eating out on a recent Sunday evening

I’d not been to the Anchor Inn at Sutton Bridge for a few years, but judging from the number of cars always outside the Bridge Road pub, restaurant and guest house, it has retained its popularity, so that’s where we plumped for.

When I phoned to book in the afternoon, my favoured 7.30pm slot was not available – always a good sign – but we were squeezed in at 6.45pm.

The Anchor is still very much a pub, with lots of noise and laughter as we entered, and we were greeted by a friendly member of bar staff and introduced to a waitress who showed us to our seats in the snug and welcoming dining area.

We quickly chose our drinks – a pint of Stella Artois lager for me (£4.80) and a Pinot Grigio for Josi (£4.90) – while looking through the menu. We were pretty hungry so decided to go for starters, with a choice of dishes, plus some sharing platters and specials.

I went for the potato dippers from the specials board (£6.95), while Josi chose the Mississippi chicken strips (£7.50), which were served with a side salad and garlic mayo dip. My starter was really lovely, with the roasted potatoes topped with parmesan and served with a mayo dip, and Josi was also pleased with her dish.

There was also a decent choice of mains, with steaks, burgers, pasta, salads and a variety of classic pub dishes, plus more specials choices. I went for the vegetarian lasagne (£14.950), which also came as a meat dish and a gluten-free choice. It was absolutely delicious and fresh, coming with generous portions of chips, garlic bread and salad.

Josi was delighted to find sea bass on the menu and it was served to her pan-fried, with sauteed potatoes and vegetables in a lemon and garlic sauce (£17.95) which she said was lovely.

We’d already ordered the same drinks again with our mains and were pretty full. In fact, I’d had to leave my garlic bread. So we didn’t have room for desserts, right? Wrong! We saw the choice available and had to try at least one of the tempting sweet treats, which were all priced at £6.95.

I went for the homemade biscoff cheesecake and I'm glad I made room as it was melt-in-the-mouth wonderful. Josi had her favourite sticky toffee pudding and was equally impressed.

We'd already had a wonderful weekend and this trip to The Ancor really rounded it off in style.

Ratings out of five:

Food: Lovely fresh ingredients and tasty dishes. ****

Drink: We went for quite boring choices but the variety was decent. ***

Price: The bill was £80.95 (£61.55) which was reasonable for three very nice courses. ***

Decor: Cosy and welcoming.****

Staff: Polite, attentive and friendly. ****