No.36 - The Cock Inn, Clare, Suffolk

Friday 22nd April, 2011
You can't beat a bit of Bank Holiday Blogging, so it was about midday that we arrived in the beautiful village of Clare near Sudbury. The Cock Inn Clare (classic !) is a Grade II listed building which dates back to the early 15th century with it's first reference being in 1636. The houses next door to the pub once formed part of the overall property, but over the hundreds of years these have been sold off and now some lucky family lives next door to a beautiful Adnams pub. One other little fact is that where the restaurant is now situated there once stood an old butchers and slaughterhouse serving Clare and its surrounding villages. That's it, lesson over.

We had intentionally starved ourselves that morning so all 3 of us were very much looking forward to a spot of lunch, and what made it more intriguing was the fact that The Cock Inn had won the 2008 Adnams pub of the year award, so expectations were high. We didn't hang around ordering as it was clear with the beautiful weather it was going to get busy. I ordered our food and got the drinks in. Only Explorer, Broadside and Bitter available, but that wasn't a problem. On a warm sunny day like this, it's got to be Explorer. Clare, that's my wife not the village, also had a half. Flo ? She just stuck to her juice and bowl!

We took our drinks and found a picnic table outside in the very well kept garden. There were plenty of tables to chose from, so we managed to get a good spot in the shade. Flo was straight off making friends and was almost reluctant to come and sit down once her food arrived. The food arrived and didn't disappoint! Between us we polished everything off including all the chunky chips and Flo's cheese on toast. The service was great, friendly and very quick, all credit to the young girl serving us. Spot on. In fact the whole trip to the pub was very much perfect. It was child friendly, a lovely garden, welcoming hosts who greeted us in the bar when we arrived, and an all round very chilled out atmosphere throughout. Another pub we'll certainly be re-visiting.

Just before we left - an ideal picture moment!