Orford Food - Part 1

There are famous eateries in Orford including the Butley Orford Oysterage, Richardson's Smokehouse and now Pump Street Bakery. The commitment to local, seasonal and quality ingredients are natural elements of country living, “sustainability” isn’t a trendy buzz-word, it’s just what you do. I’ve always thought that the village isn’t behind the times but far ahead of the times. The village is also teeming with history and an appreciation for crafts, more of that to come in future posts. Although I haven’t spent my entire life in the village it has influenced my entire life and all the decisions that I have made.

On my recent trip I was very excited to stop into Pump Street Bakery as I have been tweeting with them for quite awhile now (@pumpstbakery) and hearing from everyone how amazing their baked goods are. They offer real bread and slow food and are open Wed-Sat 9-4, Sun 10-4.
My cousins, Auntie Chrissie and I stopped in to have a coffee and fresh apple juice. The bakery looks and smells amazing and it was so nice to put a face to the tweets. We were very pleased and grateful for the jam donuts that were kindly given to us and I can honestly say that they were the best donuts I can recall eating for some time. They were fresh, filled with delicious jam, light, with a hint of citrus and sugary. All too often donuts can be stodgy, jam-deficient and a bit of a let down, but these were heavenly, thanks again!


We ended up getting some baguettes and meringues to have with our tea later on and I couldn't resist a photo of the baguettes resting on the grass with their lovely packaging.

The meringues were delicious and we topped them with blueberreis, raspberries, strawberries and oh yeah - lashings and lashings of cream.

We ended up going back for some loaves of bread for Sunday's sandwiches. I will definitely be back and I hear the eccles cakes are very tasty and popular. I almost forgot to mention that the cafe latte that I had was outstanding as well. It's so good to see such a well thought out bakery and cafe operating in one of the most beautiful buildings in the village. I know that for ages people had been saying that it would make a great this or that but it's great that Jo and her family have had such a positive impact on the village and beyond with what is best summed up by their tagline - real bread and slow food, all of which is very good.


Next up is the Butley Orford Oysterage which is pretty much a world-famous restaurant offering locally caught seafood. There is also a shop on the Quay that has all sorts of delicious food for sale.

Last but not least is Richard's Smokehouse which offers delicious smoked seafood, meat, game, cheese, pates and more. It has an outstanding reputation is as renowned as it's neighbour the Oysterage.




Steve let me have a peek inside, unfortunately nothing was in the process of being smoked but the smoker is fascinating and I loved the textured layers of smoke that over 18 years of use has created.

I also love the Richardson's Smokehouse bicycle which is used for deliveries. It makes me think I should brand up my bicycle a bit better than the stickers that I have on there now.


There are many more shops and pubs in the village that I will feature in future. There are also amazing events going on throughout the summer that will be featured as well. You can find out more information by clicking on the links or checking Well Associates who have details of activities going in and around Orford, such as the Jazz at the Pavillion Picnic which will be held on Sunday 24 July. It should be a great day and all the proceeds go to local charities.

and remember...
it's not your chutney...
it's Smy Chutney.