Review: The Linden Tree is back in Bury - here's what we made of the food

If, like me, you grew up in beautiful Bury in the 90's/early noughties, you'll share a lot of the same memories.

Days out at Rollerbury, Bury Bowl and Pot Black, the sticky floors and tiny dancefloor at Brazilia nightclub, and trying to get served with your dodgy fake ID in The Wolf public house, among others.

Paul Bailey and Ashley Stock who are re-opening The Linden Tree in Bury St Edmunds (Image: CHARLOTTE BOND)

You'll also recall The Linden Tree pub - an iconic food destination of that era, and one of the places to eat in the town. I personally remember many meals in there to mark exam results and celebrate family success.

Sadly, The Linden Tree vanished a few years back, replaced by The Station, and Bury lost another icon.

But now it's back. Caterers and restaurateurs Paul Bailey and Ashley Stock of Stock & Bailey, who operate an eponymous restaurant in Colchester, The Greyhound in Lavenham and The Shoulder of Mutton in Assington, have spent nearly £200,000 since taking over the pub last year, finally re-opening its famous doors last week.

We braved the winds and rain of Storm Eunice to head there just a few days after that re-opening, and I was hit by a wave of nostalgia walking back into the building.

The new-look Linden Tree pub in Bury St Edmunds (Image: CHARLOTTE BOND)

First things first. The Linden Tree looks great - very modern and stylish, but welcoming all at the same time. Lots of wood, cool tiling and comfy seating with a large bar area, plus plenty of separate dining space.

We chose the cosy, carpeted conservatory, which looks out onto a huge garden - a project for the spring/summer, according to Paul - and settled in to peruse the new Linden Tree menu, pints of Peroni in hand, of course.

Like The Greyhound, The Linden Tree offers tapas-style dining, with lots of sharing plates to choose from, as well as some marquee sharing dishes - think Chateaubriand, moules mariniere and chicken skewers.

Inside the new-look Linden Tree pub in Bury St Edmunds (Image: CHARLOTTE BOND)

This is a clever move from the management team as there's really nothing else like it in Bury, apart from the excellent CASA in the town centre.

Unsure how much to order, we asked our smiling and friendly waitress. She suggested four to five dishes total, adding 'you can always order more.' Indeed! A rule to live by, I reckon.

Thus, we opted for five. They were - deep breath - pan-fried chorizo in red wine, lamb meatballs in tomato and rosemary sauce, tiger prawns with chilli and garlic, potatas bravas (so we could say we had some vegetables) and garlic butter-poached lobster, potato fondant and shellfish mayo.

The delicious chorizo in red wine at The Linden Tree (Image: Liz Heath)

Here's another rule to live by - if there's lobster, order it. You're worth it.

The dishes came out quickly and with a smile. After the traditional photo shoot - always thinking of you, dear readers - we got stuck in.

For us, the chorizo was the star of the show. Rich and meaty, with that lovely smoky flavour running throughout. A plentiful portion too, although I reckon I could have eaten five plates of that on my own. Wonderful stuff.

L-R: Lamb meatballs and garlic and chill prawns at The Linden Tree (Image: Liz Heath)

The lamb meatballs were good too, large and well-flavoured, not dry and with plenty of sauce to keep them company. A touch more seasoning would have lifted things, but no dramas.

The potatas bravas, meanwhile, were something of a talking point. To the eye, they looked like a bowl of chips - but as I pondered enquiring if they'd got the order wrong, I plunged my fork past the first layer and discovered that tomato sauce one expects.

L-R: The chorizo in red wine and potatas bravas at The Linden Tree (Image: Liz Heath)

Once uncovered and mixed in with the rest of the potatoes, this was a cracking little dish - smoky flavours again, well-cooked potato cubes, plenty to share.

The prawns were swimming in a sea of garlic butter and chilli, and they packed a real garlic-bomb of flavour. In a good way, I might add - I suspect vampires are still giving me a wide berth! The prawns themselves were a little overcooked but, again, we're talking minor details.

Finally, the lobster. Meaty, soft and well-cooked, the trademark sweetness worked really well with an impressively soft, smooth and buttery fondant, plus the savoury, slightly fishy mayo.

The garlic butter poached lobster at The Linden Tree (Image: Liz Heath)

Five dishes down then, and we were nicely satiated. Like heroes, we braved the dessert menu.

I went for the vanilla creme brulee, while Liz opted for the sticky toffee pudding with banoffee sauce and caramelised banana.

In truth, both were a little underwhelming. My brulee was served in what appeared to be a soup bowl instead of the traditional ramekin - by far the biggest brulee I've ever done battle with.

The gigantic vanilla creme brulee at The Linden Tree (Image: Mark Heath)

The caramelised top was crunchy and sweet, but the brulee was a little less set than I'd expect - perhaps a side effect of the sheer size of the portion.

Liz's STP was more banana-flavoured than anything else - and the banana slices themselves were more charred than they were caramelised. A nice enough dish, but in need of refining.

The sticky toffee pudding with banoffee sauce and caramelised banana at The Linden Tree (Image: Liz Heath)

All told, that would be my overall observation of the reborn Linden Tree.

A lovely interior, a clever, varied and enticing menu - our meal came to just over £60, by the way - and generally a lot to like, but a few little wrinkles which need to be ironed out.

They will be, I'm sure - this is a team who have had success everywhere else, remember, and we visited just two days after the official re-opening.

Instead, focus on this undisputed fact. The Linden Tree is back - and Bury is better for it.

Inside the new-look Linden Tree pub in Bury St Edmunds (Image: CHARLOTTE BOND)