The Black Horse

On the 15/10/24 I had my wedding reception at the Black Horse Sudbury. All I can say is wow, what a wonderful day. The staff reserves a space for use. Service was excellent, and the food outstanding. Totally recommended this establishment. Thank you to all the staff. Malcolm and Angelita

It is disappointing to have to write this. As a family we have been coming here for years for all celebrations and a cheeky lunch now and then. It is a firm favourite of my grandparents so has also been their first choice. Last night there was 9 of us celebrating my nans 88th birthday. Food was ordered by myself at the bar, which I had written down for ease (luckily I did) the food started to come out and a few things were wrong. My daughter’s sausage and mash came out as sausage and chips, we had to send it away twice as it kept coming back as sausage and chips. My son got his main before her starter. Nachos had to be returned as they were stale. Please note our family have never sent back food, we are not those people usually. The steak came out and was unfortunately not edible. When it came to paying the bill (luckily opened a tab) the lady in charge kindly advised she would remove the steak, and we decided to cancel the desserts. She also offered us 10% off for the inconvenience. The bill came and was wrong as she hadn’t added that 4 of us had the evening set menu. After over an hour helping her and using my written down order to get the right bill, the lady in charge became very frustrated. She gave us the bill with no 10% as promised. When we questioned her she laughed and said no, you have made this too complicated and it’s your fault for not staying the order was from the evening set menu (even though we 100% did and I showed her the order I had written down to prove it) we paid the bill and just expressed we were really disappointed. The mains came out an hour after kids food and starters. She said that was my fault as I didn’t tell them we were ready. Drinks ordered on the QR code took over 20minutes and it was empty. I’d rather leave no review than a bad one, but the way we were treated was honestly terrible. Will not be returning and that manager really shouldn’t be doing that role.

Surprising good!! Staff and service very good. Food excellent.

Really good service. Very polite made to feel welcome. Was look after vary well by Kristine.
Look forward to returning soon.

Ordered 2 course with chocolate dessert and the salad with additional apricot fafal....delicious.
Thank you for your service Kristine.

I am sad to write this. The Black Horse has been our go to place for a casual bite with family or friends for over 5 years now. While we have had good visits in the past (although service has never been welcoming), on this occasion we visited for Father's Day. We waited for nearly an hour for starters to come to the table (these tasted fine) then our mains came out after a substantial delay. My father, who is diabetic, was not feeling the best after he had waited so long for the food. Dishes that we chose, were not available (grilled sea bass, chicken and leek pie, no cod for the fish and chips) and no one bothered to apologise for the food being late once it eventually came. My parents both ordered fish and chips but the fish batter was so overdone that they were basically eating batter! I ordered a grilled chicken burger (asked for no bacon) and, while the chicken was juicy, the burger was constructed in such a poor way with only the tiniest but of lettuce and cheese. We understand that it was Father's Day but the pub was not heaving with customers. It was also the night of the first England game of the Euros. The pub may have been short staffed. If they knew was going to take ages to come out, they should have warned us when we arrived (we booked a table for 6pm). On top of that, there was no apology or any courtesy from staff when we clearly voiced that we had been waiting for a long time.
I am disappointed, as I feel the Black Horse has been better than this. It is a shame that when people come out for a special occasion, they have to contend with poor service and very late food. We will now think twice about bringing family or friends here for a significant celebrations, such as Father's or Mother's Day or any other national holiday.

Extremely enjoyable time and meal in here. Plenty of choices on the menu that are not your "typical" pub food dishes. We ordered four different mains and all were very tasty!
Good range of draft beers, and a decently priced wine list.
Service was prompt and friendly, atmosphere was super, sound travel from neighbouring tables was zero. Huge outdoor seating area with some wooden booths, hopefully we'll try one of those out next time!