The Marlborough Head is slightly out of place with its location. To me, Dedham conjures up fancy afternoon teas and high end gastro pub food, which is why this place is a refreshing change.

It’s a beautiful, historic old inn with wooden beams and cosy bars, and in some ways that makes it more of a traditional pub than a restaurant.

The majority of the menu is in keeping with this, with the likes of steak and ale pudding and traditional fish and chips, although there is the occasional nod to its posh surroundings.

Starters of nachos appeared slightly out of place, as did the Thai fishcake, but my friend and I decided to give them a go.

My nachos were plentiful, but the accompanying soured cream could have done with some salsa as well. My friend’s fishcake, however, was delicious, with a nice sweet chilli dip.

For mains I went traditional, and safe, with ham, egg and chips. Again there was rather a lot and bearing in mind it was lunch, I would have preferred a little less on the plate and maybe a drop in the price, which at £10.95 was quite pricey. The local Suffolk ham was very good, though.

My friend’s lamb kebab was equally large and looked great. Just enough of a spicy kick and lots of lamb to tuck into, and he looked happy with it.

Again it was a slightly odd thing to have on a pub lunch menu, but it was on the specials board, and we had got used to the idiosyncrasies of the Marlborough Head by then.

It’s not the kind of thing you would expect in Dedham but that’s why I like it.

Neil D'Arcy-Jones

What we ate

Fishcake: £5.55

Nachos: £5.95

Spicy lamb kebab: £8.95

Ham, egg and chips: £10.95

Our verdict

Atmosphere ***

Food ***

Decor ****

Value ***

Service ****