Glasswells of Bury St Edmunds

Another lovely day, and we decided to drive over to Bury St Edmunds and have a look at Glasswells furniture store before looking for somewhere in Bury to have lunch. Glasswells is an out-of-town warehouse-style super-store and the last place you might expect to find an eatery; and a good one at that. So after drooling over the fabulous furniture department, and the trendy kitchen department, and the curtains, bedding, and fabrics, we made our weary way to The Place to Eat - within the store itself on the ground floor.

A sign asked us to wait to be seated, and when the waitress came to show us to a table, I asked if we could sit at one of the tables outside: once we were in position and acquainted with the contents of the menu, the waitress returned to take our order (so nice not to have to trawl back to the counter).

The menu offered brunches, sandwiches, and jacket potato lunches ( about 25 choices ranging from about £5 to £6) together with ‘proper’ lunches including vegetarian option. My companion chose a seafood pancake that contained smoked hake, salmon, prawns, and Pollock in white sauce together with a decent sized serving of mixed salad. I had Stuffed Peppers; half a red one, half a yellow, filled with mince and onion mix made to a Bolognese recipe, topped with melted cheese; this was accompanied by brown rice with assorted vegetables mixed in with it. My friend’s pancake disappeared before I had a chance to taste it, but it was pronounced perfect. My peppers were fabulous, and quite filling, and I loved the brown rice for a change from white – so much more taste.

For pudding we considered some of the tempting cakes and gateaux that we had spotted on the way through to our table, but I succumbed to ice cream again (three scoops, on vanilla, one strawberry and one chocolate) and my friend chose peach and almond tart with custard.
Both came beautifully served – indeed the whole meal was elegant without being pretentious: good honest professional food. I drank a medium sized white wine, and my friend chose freshly squeezed orange which again was a generous serving.

We both followed this with an espresso coffee that came with a long tubular crispy biscuit and a glass of water – perfect! We could have chosen from an extensive range of coffees and teas, including Darjeeling or Assam, both of which are rare to see, or even a ‘Bambinochino’ for the children which appeared to have no coffee in it, but was just sweet frothy milk with a dusting of cocoa. When parents are having all sorts of coffee treats it’s good of them to offer something similar for the children.

Service was brisk and unobtrusive, and the restaurant was decently busy with people of all ages. The shop itself has wheelchairs to borrow, and cars may drive right up to the entrance before going to park. There are lifts in the shop, and very spacious layout, and the loos are wonderful including a special disabled one.

And of course I fell in love with some furniture I can’t afford!

seafood Pancake £ 7.75
Stuffed peppers £ 7.95
Peach and almond tart £ 4.25
Ice cream £ 3.75
2 espressos £ 3.00
Wine £ 3.99
Orange juice £ 2.20
£ 32.89

Glasswells of Bury St Edmunds
Dettingham Way, Newmarket Road (A 1302), Bury St Edmunds