This Essex bolthole couldn't help but be a winning combination, blending all that's best about English pubs with some great Italian cooking. Plus it's located in one of southeast England's most attractive and historic villages – Dedham, in the heart of Constable Country on the Essex-Suffolk borders.
What makes a stay at The Sun Inn unique?
Having owned and run The Sun Inn since 2003, The Sun Inn has constantly been improving and extending what it offers. As a fifteenth century, Grade II* coaching inn, it takes a lot of 'tlc'. But it is a wonderful place all year round - cosy with fires in oak panelled lounge in winter, a proper bar with lots of regulars and open dining room with creaking floorboards and exposed beams. In the spring and summer, a large outside area encompassing a sun trapped terrace, courtyard and garden with its own bar (June-August weekends) and boules pit!
What style cuisine is on offer at The Sun Inn?
Italian food is very much the focus of the menu, with a regularly changing monthly menu that uses good quality local produce. You can eat from the same menu in the front bar or in the restaurant behind. There's always pasta and a risotto – homemade pappardelle with lamb ragu, linguini with clams – a choice of meat and fish dishes and a range of good quality steaks that takes in everything from hangar to prime rib-eye. Also served is a simple bar menu at lunchtime, featuring things like bean soup, mussels, salt beef sandwiches and a ploughman's.
Breakfast is part buffet, part cooked to order, and the full English features superb quality bacon and sausages.
What is the signature dish at The Sun Inn?
Wild Sea Bass, Saffron Sauce, Clams, Crab, Samphire, Courgette
Skirt Steak, Sour Cream, Blue Cheese, Asparagus, Pickled Shallot, Potato
Tagliatelle, Brown Shrimp, Broad Beans, Peas, Rocket, Lemon, Crème Fraîche
Set Elderflower Yoghurt, Gooseberries, Raspberries, Honeyed Oats
What are the rooms and facilities on offer at The Sun Inn?
There are seven rooms, each with a name significant in some way to the region – for example Constable (obviously – he went to school across the road) and Boudicca (she and her tribe hailed from East Anglia). The rooms are comfortable and all different, with shapes and bathrooms very much designed around the constraints of the building and furnished with a tasteful mix-and-match of furniture and décor that evokes its heritage, but also adds a contemporary quirkiness that really works. The rooms are of a decent size, and a couple very spacious. Two have en suite baths; the rest good-sized walk-in showers. All come with televisions, tea- and coffee-making facilities, complimentary water and biscuits and good quality bed linen.
What can guests enjoy when staying in the Colchester area?
The Sun Inn is a 1.8 mile walk or 6 mile drive from Flatford Mill, made famous by John Constable's painting, The Hay Wain. The walk takes you out of the village, along and across the river Stour and through the Dedham Vale.
You can hire a boat either from Dedham or Flatford to give you an alternative form of transport through the Vale – the boats are generally available from April and no booking is required. Just a 0.5 mile walk from The Sun Inn, is The Munnings Art Museum. Open form 30 March to 31 October, Wednesday-Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays. A favourite spot is Beth Chatto Gardens, a 7.5 mile drive from The Sun Inn.
