Review on The Swan, Gallery Restaurant
Lavenham is a showpiece medieval market town and once-great centre of the East Anglian wool trade. It's now an immaculately preserved tourist honeypot, with the fifteenth-century Swan as one of its focal points. The striking, timber-framed hotel is made up of a collection of charming old listed buildings, and the interior is still awash with reminders of the past, from mighty weathered beams and panelled walls to leaded lights and great inglenooks.
The suitably titled Gallery Restaurant is housed in what was the original great hall, a vast raftered space with its own minstrels' gallery. It makes a lordly setting for food with a strong Anglo-European slant. Starters of carpaccio of Denham Estate venison with radish salsa or spicy chorizo risotto could give way to main courses ranging from warm soured mackerel fillet with polenta cake to Blythburgh pork fillet with celeriac purée, cherry tomatoes and grain mustard cream. Desserts keep it simple with the likes of tiramisu or chocolate and orange mousse.
The Swan is also famed for its traditional Sunday lunches and afternoon teas. Simpler food is in the rustic Old Bar and the Garden Brasserie.
The Swan, Gallery Restaurant is also featured in: Michelin Guide, AA Guide
Rate this RestaurantCuisine
Modern British / European
Chef
Justin Kett
Restaurant Opening Times
Breakfast: 7.00 - 10.00am (8.00 - 11.00am Sat, Sun & B.H's)
Lunch: 12.00 - 2.30pm (12.00 - 5.00pm Mon-Sat Afternoon Tea)
Dinner: 7.00 - 9.30pm Mon-Sun
Accepted credit cards
Visa, Master Card, American Express