Southwold's Sutherland House is the place for top date night

So as my boyfriend and I near our third anniversary so the opportunity arose for an early celebration travelling to Sutherland House, in Southwold’s High Street. 

The restaurant recently received a Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice award for being one of the best UK restaurants for date nights and was ranked fourth in the website’s list of best dining spots in the country. 

The first thing you will notice about the restaurant is its intimate setting, nearly all of the tables are for two guests but even when packed with diners there is still enough space to keep your date night as romantic or relaxed as you want.

Sutherland House was our destination. (Image: Nick Butcher) The restaurant's team have everything down pat and one way is through the way their service is ran.

Guests arrive for a set dining time to allow for the kitchen to deliver the dishes without any backlog. 

The menu is certainly a fish lovers paradise, with cod, monkfish and hake offered for the main course as well as crab and prawn, mackerel and tuna among the starter dishes. 

The monkfish wellington, butternut squash and cumin puree, oyster mushroom, lobster bisque sauce (Image: Clarissa Place)

As we opted not to have starters, we were told it would be around 30 minutes for the mains to allow for the preparation of the monkfish wellington (£27.50).

That allowed us to enjoy some time chatting about the day and the time flew and when the dishes arrived they were beautifully presented and the aromas very enticing.  

The wellington pastry was crisp, this was helped by a thin layer of spinach spread along the pastry to ensure the succulent monkfish did not turn it soggy. Both wellington pieces were sizeable and married well with everything on the plate. 

We chose the crushed potatoes as our accompanying dish to share. (Image: Newsquest) The oyster mushroom was juicy without being rubbery and the side of crushed new potatoes was the perfect accompaniment I felt for the dish as it meant you could soak up the lobster bisque. 

I enjoyed the butternut squash puree, with the cumin it gave you an autumnal warmth as we watched the sunlight fade quickly and left with the light of our candle.  

8 hour slow roasted pork belly, pig cheek croquette, celeriac remoulade, black pudding & crackling crumb, apple rich jus (Image: Clarissa Place)

My boyfriend ventured for the slow cooked pork (£22.50) and said his favourite part was the pork cheek croquette which gave the dish a delicious crunch and lots of flavour.

Slow cooked pork is among the top roast meat choices in our household and it is a meat where getting the right levels of fattiness is not to everyone’s taste. 

And while the dish was not perfect for my boyfriend, he praised it as it is certainly an upgrade from our usual dinner. 

Once our mains were cleared away, time to choose dessert. I was torn between the Affogato and the Baklava cheesecake (£9), but then thought, two desserts in one. 

When it arrived, I knew I had made the right choice.  

The baklava cheesecake was the perfect way to enjoy two desserts in one. (Image: Clarissa Place)

You do not need much pouring cream as the cheesecake part is creamy enough and is really boosted by the nuts below and above.  

My boyfriend was pleasantly surprised when he leaned the chocolate brownie with black treacle ice cream (£9) was indeed among the vegan options.

It’s all marked up on the menu that it is vegan, dairy free and gluten free friendly but that did not catch his attention.  

I think there is no higher compliment when something is made out of an alternative and you cannot tell the difference.  

The chocolate brownie with black treacle ice cream. (Image: Clarissa Place)

The black treacle ice cream we learnt was made with coconut milk and I was reliably told the brownie was rich and dark.

One of the stars for me was being able to try the delicious sparkling wine from Gifford Hall in Long Melford. It was crisp without being to sweet and something that went well with all of my courses. 

I certainly will be keeping an eye out for a bottle of that for a special occasion. 

Now a night at Sutherland House is certainly a special treat but when you pay for a special occasion you want to come away with several feelings, high quality food, brilliant service and a smile because you’ve spent the evening with someone you enjoy.  

All of those boxes were ticked very vigorously.  

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