Bell Inn

The Bell Inn is a Walberswick institution. It’s always loud, busy, and full of families — not everyone’s cup of tea at peak times, but sometimes you just have to grin and bear it!
Inside, there is a variety of rooms/​seating areas to choose from; a back area, a pub garden, a ‘snug’, the main entrance, a section down some stairs… phew. With all this seating, it’s worth having a rekkie around if you don’t think there’s a space for you — there often is, you just can’t see it straight away!
We visited twice on our last trip, and they were both quite different experiences.
The first, for lunch, was a tad underwhelming when it came to food and service. I always eat fish & chips at the Bell, but the chips were slightly flabby and reminded me of chippy chips — sad face! The fish and batter, however, were delicious. Smaller than I remember (sigh) but it still filled the gap! However, it was the service that was sloppy on this occasion; both waiters seemed a bit disconnected, with one even dropping the top part of my other half’s sandwich onto the table — then putting it back on! The sandwich, however, ended up being quite tasty, even with added table.
Our second visit was for an evening meal and went much more smoothly. We were seated in the back area after booking earlier that day; we were shown the table straight away and given some menus. This time, we all shared a starter of baked Camembert; baked in the box and served with bread and a kind of apricot sauce, it was delicious and devoured quickly. For my second course, I tucked into confit duck leg with fondant potato and a sauce of butterbeans and bacon. Again, it was really tasty, perfectly soft and well matched with the different flavours.
I would give 3 stars for the first visit and 4 for the second, and I’m feeling generous today. Sad chips but great duck.