Independent and neighbourhood restaurant in Bury St Edmunds
Pea Porridge opened in 2009, is run by Justin Sharp (head chef) and his wife Jurga (front-of-house), the head chef earning its Michelin star in 2022. Both owners deliver a charming experience in a homely environment and an extremely reasonable menu for the quality (£38 for three courses from essentially an a la carte menu rather than limited set lunch options). The food itself is ‘nose to tail’ orientated, using as much ofal and left parts as possible with a twist of International spices in parts, mixed in to British ingredients. This was a lovely meal and if you are lucky enough to have a light aircraft or friend that can fly you from Greater London or wherever you happen to be (as I luckily was on this occasion!) you can land at the very near Rougham Airfield which is literally a 5 min taxi to the restaurant. Irrespective of your mode of transport, this is a very pleasant and creative option, within a cimfortable setting and I’m pleased it has gained its place on the Michelin starred map as well.
Snacks of a pleasant (but quite thick) smoked cods roe taramsalata, pigs ears with a saffron toum (emulsion) and very good, oily flatbread were enjoyed albeit, in what turned out to be a stodgy selection altogether. A starters of lamb sweetbreads (in marsala with girolles, English peas and tarragon) was shared which was a very pleasant and warming starter, the tarragon really working in the sauce, complementing the sweetbreads.
The mains were shared and included Pyrenean duck trio, summer squash, beetroot tops, feneos beans with a very good and deep date sauce; but the stand out star of the whole visit was the utterly superb Black pudding from Normandy served with Cornish cuttlefish ragú, chickpeas, gremolata. This was essentially steamed and far less ‘heavy’ than traditionally fried blackpudding, but chiefly the quality of this was better than any I have ever had and that includes at any of the fabled meat venues of St John, including the briefly opened hotel.
Desserts included a good ice cream selection (cinnamon and honey was especially good) and an indulgent “Tosier” (70% Maya Mountain, Belize) chocolate mousse with nibs, Greek cherries and another star of the show in the fabulous pistachio custard. In fact, I could have simply had a bowl of that superb custard on its own and I think I would have been extremely happy.
Out of respect for my BA pilot (of ‘Brian Airways’), I didn’t indulge in the wine list much at all, but I did try the sparkling Cavendish” Ridgeview, Sparkling Brut from East Sussex and this was very rounded as an English sparkling wine and even more so at the very reasonable £13 per glass. This was a lovely lunch overall and I heartily recommmend.
Food Grade: 77%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
Leave a Review of this Restaurant