Retreat East

"As a local and someone who has been here many times before, sadly the restaurant did not live up to the usual standards. I booked to eat dinner here with my family who were up visiting and was really looking forward to the experience as we have always had great food and service here and sadly this time it was not good. We waited over an hour to receive any food and when mine (the lamb) finally arrived it was very poor. The lamb was tough, didn’t taste like lamb and was very under cooked, the potatoe was dry and the ‘charred’ lettuce was not charred at all.. The whole dish felt like it was rushed and just wasn’t worth £32. The burger was also very dry. We were keen to order a dessert originally but having been there for 2 hours and only been served one course; at 21:40 it was getting late and probably time to go home! It’s such a shame as this place used to be fantastic and it may have been a one off/problem in the kitchen (but looking at the other reviews I think it has gone downhill since the departure of the previous chef in October) so we will give it another chance in the future and hope it has improved! On the plus side the staff were lovely and management very apologetic and did take one lamb dish off the bill for us, so we do appreciate that! Hopefully things will be on the up again soon!"

Retreat East

"As a local and someone who has been here many times before, sadly the restaurant did not live up to the usual standards. I booked to eat dinner here with my family who were up visiting and was really looking forward to the experience as we have always had great food and service here and sadly this time it was not good. We waited over an hour to receive any food and when mine (the lamb) finally arrived it was very poor. The lamb was tough, didn’t taste like lamb and was very under cooked, the potatoe was dry and the ‘charred’ lettuce was not charred at all.. The whole dish felt like it was rushed and just wasn’t worth £32. The burger was also very dry. We were keen to order a dessert originally but having been there for 2 hours and only been served one course; at 21:40 it was getting late and probably time to go home! It’s such a shame as this place used to be fantastic and it may have been a one off/problem in the kitchen (but looking at the other reviews I think it has gone downhill since the departure of the previous chef in October) so we will give it another chance in the future and hope it has improved! On the plus side the staff were lovely and management very apologetic and did take one lamb dish off the bill for us, so we do appreciate that! Hopefully things will be on the up again soon!"

Charming Ipswich Retreat / Cosy stay in a great location