The Bistro on the Quay, Ipswich, Suffolk - Visited 28 February 2013

Well, what a busy few weeks it has been! There have been birthdays, weekends away, meals out and lots of opportunities to indulge my favourite hobbies of eating and drinking.

My parter and I have the same birthday. Lovely on one hand, but also a tiny bit annoying as, come the big day, we both secretly feel that the other should be making a fuss of us! Anyway, this year our birthday celebrations began with dinner at the Bistro on the Quay in Ipswich with my family.

The Bistro is situated on the historic waterfront of Ipswich. The restaurant is housed in a former salt warehouse overlooking the marina and is easily accessible by foot, car or sail. I will say now that this is one of my favourite places to eat in Ipswich. It's not particularly flashy but it does have an interesting menu which is reasonably priced and varied. The wine list is good, and the South African Malbec that we chose went down a treat.

After opening presents and annoying the (super tolerant, friendly and helpful) staff, we ordered. Now, I really like to try new things and I always enter the Bistro with the intention of having the latest seasonal salad or sophisticated pudding, but I always always end up having the same:

• Starter: Bang Bang chicken - chunks of chicken smothered in peanut sauce served with salad. It's basically chicken satay which I adore! There are much smarter things on the menu but I just really like this.
• Main course: Sirloin steak and chips - beautifully cooked (medium for me, well done for my dad), juicy and very large piece of sirloin with tangy green peppercorn sauce, crispy salad and "hand cut chips". The chips are the the only thing that let this dish down unfortunately. In my and my sister's opinion, they were potato wedges masquerading as chips. Wedges in chips' clothing if you will. That's not to say that they weren't perfectly cooked and very tasty, but, chefs please take note, A POTATO WEDGE IS NOT A CHIP! Other than that though, a seriously tasty main course
• Pudding: Malteser cheesecake with dark chocolate ice-cream - wow! This was off the menu for a while but they have now re-introduced it, presumably because whoever took it off in the first place has received treatment for the temporary bout of insanity and realised their error. It's chocolatey, creamy and crunchy all at the same time, and the ice-cream that came with it was superb. It wasn't so much a slice, as a vast wedge of chocolatey deliciousness that I struggled to finish but manfully managed to battle through to the end.

Everyone in our party enjoyed their food. Other dishes consumed included pork and pistachio terrine, bacon and black pudding salad, smoked salmon (starters), English lamb with dauphinois potatoes, some sort of fish which I can't remember (mains), vanilla creme brulee, and Cambridge blue and Suffolk gold with chutney and biscuits (puddings). Everything was utterly delicious and we virtually rolled home afterwards as we were so full.

The service, as has always been my experience there, was excellent. The staff were attentive without being overbearing, and were all smart, knowledgeable and helpful.

We were there in the evening, but the view out over the docks.....sorry.....marina (I'm afraid having grown up in Ipswich and frequented the Malt Kiln just a bit further down the Quay from the Bistro, with other teenage miscreants - you know who you are - it will always be the docks to me, no matter how many gin palaces moor up!) is really pleasant. It's even better on a warm summer's day, as far as I can remember. I think there was one. Once. Many years ago......

I think the thing that I really like about the Bistro is that it's smart enough to feel that you're 'out out', but comfortable enough to feel that you fit in. There is also a distinct lack of foams, smears and poncy crockery which pleases me greatly! The surroundings are elegant and uncomplicated, and there is enough space to be comfortable and not feel like you should be swapping phone numbers with the table next door because you're practically sitting on their lap. The food is well chosen and well cooked, and very reasonably priced in my view. They also have various offers and set menus which mean that you can enjoy a meal out which feels like a real treat but doesn't require a second mortgage to achieve.

Overall, I would always recommend the Bistro on the Quay to anyone looking for a great feed in pleasant surroundings with fantastic service.

http://www.bistroonthequay.co.uk/index.html