The Black Lion - Babergh

We were at the Black Lion for lunch, and sat in the garden. We ordered our drinks at the bar, set up a tab and carried the drinks to the garden ourselves. We then ordered a roast beef sandwich which came with fries and salad. The beef was delicious, nice and rare and very tender. We ordered two more drinks which were brought to us in the garden. Eating in the garden would have been great, as it was a lovely day, were it not for the chef constantly shouting from the kitchen not once, not twice, but incessantly! When the server came to check if all was OK, I drew her attention to the racket from the chef and she admitted that she had been about to go in and tell him to be quiet herself. For a classy pub, it really wasn't good! And then the bill came. 10% service charge added, which is shown on the menu for food. However, whilst I appreciate that someone had poured our first two drinks, no one had offered to bring them out for us and we'd carried them to the garden ourselves so why did we pay service charge on this? To give her her due, we were about to tip and the server told us that service was included, which was very honest of her, Lesson for the future get your own drinks and pay at the bar! And maybe bring earplugs!

My daughter had her wedding here this weekend. Cyril and the team were fantastic. The staff were so helpful and the food was amazing. We could not fault anything and would thoroughly recommend this hotel for a stay or for lunch or dinner. The location and the decoration are delightful with added bonus of the green for lots of parking and a lovely garden area.

Embarrassed to have taken my friends here for a meal. The service was appalling, we had to ask to order food as we had waited so long yet nobody came back to take our order. We eventually had to get up to order food at the bar and the food itself was very slow to come out and wasn’t anything special for the price we paid. I am so disappointed as I used to love the Black Lion but it has gone way downhill in my estimation and I will not be returning.

Stayed for one night in a snug room, which we were expecting to be quite small and in fact, it was spacious, with a nice bathroom and views of the village green. Everything was clean tidy, I will just mention one small thing I noticed there aren't grab rails over the bath (most places have these, when the shower is over the bath), normally I wouldn't pay much attention but since having Multiple Sclerosis I notice much more. Also, to note that this snug room is on the top floor, not good if you struggle with a lot of stairs. Thankfully, I was having a good week with my MS. Now onto the food, it was very nice good quality with plenty of choice, both for lunch breakfast . Service was polite friendly. If ever there is a wedding in the area again, we wouldn't hesitate to book a room again. Will be back for food, hopefully very soon.

My daughter arranged a family celebration for my 60th birthday at the Black Lion. With four generations in attendance, we were all treated like VIPs. We started with coffee and enjoyed the lovely ambiance before a delicious lunch served with excellent service. The staff were efficient, friendly, and went above and beyond to ensure our three-year-old had a great time along with the rest of us. After our meal, they set up a cozy area for us to unwind, open gifts, and soak in the atmosphere. Thank you for providing us with a perfect venue to celebrate together.