5 Best Restaurants in East Anglia, England

The villages of England are awash with cream tea cafés, but none are as quaint and cute as the Lavenham Blue Vintage Tea Rooms. Having converted the ground floor of the 15th-century timber-framed cottage into a café, the proprietor set about making a name for the place with the best cream teas and door-stop sandwiches this side of the Broads. And if you can't manage another cream tea then indulge in a classic ploughman's lunch, a quintessential country lunch of cheeses, cold meats, pickles, and bread. 

Part of a Scottish chain that harvests its own oysters, this airy, casual place across from the Fitzwilliam Museum is deservedly popular. The seafood is fresh and well prepared, served in a traditional setting with a modern charm. The menu changes seasonally, but the occasionally offered Bradan Rost smoked salmon is a real treat; served cold, it's flavored with Scotch whiskey, giving it a uniquely malty, rich taste. The restaurant is also open for breakfast.

A prime location looking out over the town square adds an extra incentive to dine in this charming, independent café and coffeehouse. Sandwiches, artisan coffee, cakes, and pancakes are the order here, and you can't go wrong with a classic cream tea, which is, ahem, really rather good.

This is the perfect antidote to all those meat-heavy English breakfasts—waffles, waffles, and more waffles on an imaginative menu. Breakfast choices include toppings like bacon and bananas, while later in the day you can order them with anything from hummus and avocado to free-range sausage. Or, skip to dessert and order yours topped with chocolate and honeycomb mousse, or "banoffee" sauce (a heavenly mix of banana and toffee)—sugar rush heaven.

This pub-café-restaurant serves everything from breakfast to full evening meals in its old-fashioned dining room. The produce comes from the local markets; expect dishes such as rib eye with triple-cooked chips (thick-cut fries) or sea bass and crab risotto.