Francela - Carte

Edmunds

➤ Out Risbygate, IP33 3RL, St Edmundsbury, United Kingdom

Carte • Cafés • Seafood • British • European

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"Eating in a restaurant attached to a catering college is an intriguing prospect. So, too, was their once-a-week themed night which promised a platter of Thai dishes on the night we visited. The first thing to say is that everyone was extremely friendly, which translated to service that was a little unpolished. The second thing to point out is that the dining room is large, a little canteen-like, although with well-separated tables, and packed to the rafters with customers evidently eager to experience a cut-price dinner. The menu included both standard and vegan options, although I suspect we, as vegetarians, were in the minority. The starter of corn and chilli fritters were served quickly but there wasn't a trace of chilli to be tasted. One of the waiters attending our table admitted that he'd been responsible for making the fritters and seemed remarkably blase about his omission. It then took 45 minutes for a platter of four dishes to be served. The vegetable green curry had some depth of flavour, but there was a hint of nam pla (fish sauce) in the background, which clearly is neither vegetarian nor vegan. Nam pla was even more evident in the pad thai noodles, which was almost cold and, quite simply, dreadful. Satay tofu skewers were much more successful and vegetable spring rolls were passable, although the pastry was thick and chewy. The desserts had no resemblance to anything Thai and someone had turned a singular custard into plural ones. Overall, the meal was a curate's egg and we thought more effort should have been made in creating the dishes in the first place and ensuring that service could cope with the number of covers. As a training experience, Edmunds need to do more to help their students learn from their mistakes."

Amigos Mexican Bury St Edmunds

➤ First Floor, 35-36Brentgovel St, Bury St Edmunds, IP331EA, IP33 1EA, bury-st-edmunds, United Kingdom

Carte • Kebab • Pizza • Steak • Mexican

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"Was excited to visit for the first time after seeing the award wins for best Mexican in the local news. Looking online the menu looked good so made a booking for 17:30 on a Thursday. On arrival we were seated quickly. The ambiance in the venue is very nice, with real lit candles on each table and twinkly lights up in the beams of the ceiling. I did need to move the candle to the side however as I couldn’t see my partner past it as it was in our eye line. The candle holder is also an old tequila bottle, which is a nice touch but takes a lot of space up on the table. On opening the menu, I noticed it was sticky. Which wasn’t the nicest. As the room is relatively dark I was unable to tell if this was old food or if they’d wiped the menu’s down, but it does make you a little wary. It took a while for the waitress assigned to our section to then come around to take our order. So we ordered drinks and our food at the same time. While waiting for the food to arrive my partner who has type one diabetes was trying to access the internet to look up carb info, unfortunately we noticed that we couldn’t get any signal so asked for the Wi-Fi code. We were brought around the password from the actual Wi-Fi router which contained password but it has been badly scratched so we couldn’t get it to work. Only a small thing to note should you need access to the internet at all during your visit. When the starters arrived I had the taquitos, pork. I have a gluten allergy and stipulated this when ordering but when the starters were brought out there was no indication on the plating that it was gluten free or any second mentioning from the waiting staff. Nether the less, they looked like corn being a yellow colour so proceeded to eat them, and I have to say they were delicious and I would have happily had a new more as a main course. The calamari my partner described as “umm, good, tasty”. Not long after we finished our starters the mains were brought out. I’m my opinion there wasn’t a big enough gap between the starter and the main. As soon as one plate was cleared, the next arrived. My partner ordered the prawn burrito and described it burrito as “Far too big, Far too cheesy, the prawns lacked something. Because it was so cheesy it was quite fatty and greasy and needed something to cut through it all.” He only ate half of it and on clearing the plates away we were offered to take it home but we declined, we made a point on the large portion and the waiter said “yeah, we feed a lot of Americans here”. My dads American and he wouldn’t have eaten the whole burrito. I ordered the chicken and steak fajitas. The steak was cooked nicely but I found it quite tough. The chicken was over cooked and a little dry. However again the portion size was huge and I was unable to eat it all. There was also not enough room on the table for all of the bits, so I had to rest the foiled wraps on my leg. Again I ordered a gluten free option but there was no mention of this when it arrived and this time the wraps were a lighter whiter colour, which caused me concern. In the end I didn’t eat the wraps because they were the same colour as the burrito wrap and as no indication they were gluten free it caused me some anxiety. Getting attention if the waiting staff to double check was difficult so I just left them to the side and ate the meat veg on their own. The couple wraps I did eat I have to say we’re not the nicest. They were quite tough and at the same time tasted undercooked, like there was some raw taste to them. I wouldn’t order it again. Drink wise I ordered the pina colada and again probably wouldn’t order it again. Though there was nothing overly wrong with it, I’ve just had better. Overall, it was just over £60 for two starters, two mains and two alcoholic drinks. I don’t think that’s particularly bad value given the absolute huge portion sizes. It might be worth Amigos offering a small medium large option at different price points so those who don’t want giant burritos fajitas can get the smaller options at a lower value. Amigos might also end up taking more as there was no chance we’d have been able to eat a desert, however if the main had been more appropriately portioned then we likely would have had one. However, in terms of the allergens. It’s great that they offer gluten free alternatives, however please introduce a GF sticker for the plates or get waiting staff to say “Gluten free Fajitas” when serving. It just helps to eliminate any fear that there may have been a mistake in the kitchen and helps diners with allergies to relax and feel more comfortable. As things stand. We wouldn’t return for what we had above. However, there was a good atmosphere in there and I’d possibly return as a place to have a few drinks and share some nachos, just not for a sit down meal."

The Northgate

➤ Northgate Street, St Edmundsbury, United Kingdom

Carte • Vegan • Mexican • British • European

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"Well I have to say the owners must be trying to save money Bedroom had 3 lights only one working bathroom had no ceiling light had to wall lights one not working amd the other one the bulb must of been for a dolls house unbelievable Might of well of used my torch on my phone Bed mattress is sloaping one way uneven No service here at all So you would think all amenietes like a couple of biscuits would be availble Kettle you have to hold switch down till it boils This place needs some money Walkability: Close to town"

1921 Angel Hill

➤ 19-21 Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds IP33 1UZ, United Kingdom

Carte • Sushi • Mexican • Seafood • Fast Food

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"This is probably the best restaurant in East Anglia. Exceptional quality of food, cooking, and wine. Very creative dishes which are crafted with great skill and passion from top quality ingredients. Lunch set menue is £29 (as of Nov 2023) for three courses, and is great value for money. More expensive a la carte menu and excellent tasting menu available in the evening (also at lunchtime). Awesome canapé selection go for the full platter as a sharer. This is where we go if we want a 'fancy ' meal. Would have a Michelin star if they had a sommelier. Service: Dine in Meal type: Lunch Price per person: £50–60 Food: 5 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 Recommended dishes: Tikka Frog 's Legs Mint Yoghurt, Chocolate Orange, Canapés"

Beehive Pub

➤ The Street, St Edmundsbury, United Kingdom

Carte • Pub • Steak • British • Vegetarian

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"very recommended of the beeenstock, horringer. fortunately we arrived on Wednesday night and we are unknown it is pizza evening. because I'm not a lover of pizzas, we told the renter we'd go somewhere else. but the renter has been excellent and could not have been more helpful. she offered to cook us chili con carne, to which we accepted. so glad we made it was delicious. after that she kindly offered us apple cake and custard. we are so glad that we have decided to try this. it was so delicious. the best I tasted in a long time. I really can't thank the renter for their helpfulness, ease and ease that has been shown to us. She certainly surpassed herself and nothing was much more annoying for her, although she was pretty busy. I really can't judge this pub very well enough. I'm sure it's worth staring. we hope that we will have the pleasure to visit again in the near future."