No drizzles or blobs but gutsy, generous dishes; powerful yet simple flavours; a superbly written menu including offbeat ingredients and natural, biodynamic wines. That you won't find anywhere else in East Anglia. Pea Porridge -  It's tough to decide what to eat!

• Bertha grilled sardines, salmoriglio, grilled lime
• Blythburgh pork belly 'Petit Sale aux lentilles', soft polenta, crispy pigs ears
• Tarte tatin, vanilla ice cream
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Here's a very tasty Christmas party menu for you instead of the usual soggy sprouts and insipid catering quality turkey. The Giggling Squid in Bury St Edmunds invited me to try their Christmas menu last week so I went on the opening 'locals night' of the massive annual Christmas Market and Fayre. Feeling all festive and with the town buzzing, the restaurant was full to the brim. I took Mr SuffolkFoodie who loves Thai food and we both ate off the Christmas Evening menu, which priced at £29.95 a head including a glass of Prosecco is great value. By the way, where is all this Prosecco coming from, apparently us Brits drink a third of all produced. I hope it's not going to run out.

• Bags of gold ...crispy spiced chicken parcels
• Prawn satay ... I could just eat the peanut sauce by itself
• Beef rib Massaman ... the highlight of the meal
• Exotic mushrooms ... garlicky and chilli hot
• Prosecco and muddled berry cheesecake
• Molten honeycomb semi-freddo
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An invitation to review Giraffe in Bury St Edmunds solved my Wednesday night supper dilemma last week. It's in a part of town that I don't really go to, by the muliplex cinema. I prefer the Abbeygate Cinema with its' arty films and live streamed National Theatre performances. Anyway, I digress ... Giraffe was extremely quiet and to be honest a little chilly but Ben and Lauren who were serving kept it lively and upbeat and chatted to us, providing a great, without being overbearing, service. Well done to them, because it's hard when you are working in a quiet restaurant to keep some pace going. I'd taken Mr SuffolkFoodie so I thought that a steak would be inevitable; he always hones in on meat, being a South African. I actually think South African food will trend at some point soon, so was hoping that the menu might reflect this part of the world, especially with a name like Giraffe, but no Bunny Chow on this occasion. Mr SF chose a Chilli Beef Burrito, which he enjoyed. I had the Lamb Tagine which was a very generous portion and not shy with the meat. It arrived with some ceremony as the lid of the tagine was lifted, tah dah, revealing the dish scattered with tasty pistachios and pomegranate seeds. The blend of meat, spice and apricot was excellent, with a great depth of flavour and assured by Ben, had been made in house.  For pudding, as I always enjoy something sharp and fruity, I went for the best option which was a white chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake. I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived with a fresh passion fruit drizzled across the top and not a smear of coulis in sight. A good meal, and definitely worth taking a look at if you want to take children out for a meal (kids eat free) or want a good breakfast before noon. I've been hearing good things about their £5 breakfast deal.

• Quite a trayful
• Fresh passion fruit on the cheesecake
• The tagine revealed
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One of the most interesting meals I've had in Bury St Edmunds for a long time. A sushi supper at Kaori and Guy Dawsons house. I'd been invited as part of a family birthday party, so we filled the table for six which overlooks the kitchen and where Kaori cooked our dinner from scratch. While she cooked we watched and chatted to her husband Guy. This is Japanese food at its best, it's light and fresh, Sushi is only served at this supper club on a Wednesday or Saturday when Kaori gets her fresh fish from the market. We ate raw scallops, prawns and tuna. Kaori kept making food and we kept eating. We had Edamane, Renkon Chips, Tofu Salad, Japanese Omelette, Runner Bean Tempura, Nigiri and Hoso-maki sushi with scallops, tuna and prawns. Sashimi scallops and tuna. Miso Soup. Caramel Banana Ice Cream and Tea, not to mention the Sake and Japanese beer. Go!

• Kaori and Guy
• the menu
• the freshest of fish
• we watched the sushi being prepared
• runner bean tempura
• raw tuna
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Go eat doughnuts! It's #NationalDoughnutWeek raising money for The Children's Trust. Here we have (starting at the back) a traditional jam, a lemon meringue, a dulce de leche and a sprinkle covered cherry doughnut, all from The Ice Cook School at Rougham. £1 each. They're mine, so go and get your own; they are available everyday this week. PS...they have gluten free ring doughnuts too!

It's lovely to see a children's menu with mini portions from the main menu and not a breadcrumb, nugget or chip in sight. The Giggling Squid asked me to review their new children's menu which includes a selection of mild curries, finger food, noodles and rice dishes designed especially with "little people" in mind. I found a couple of little people (thank you Grace and Logan) and took them out for supper at the Bury St Edmunds branch. For £5.95 children get to choose two dishes each which come with free plain or sticky rice.  Logan, who declared fussy eater status on arrival went for the Grilled Pork Skewers and Chicken Fried Rice, having first tucked into a bowl of the spicy prawn crackers. Grace with a more adventurous and self assured palate chose Spring Rolls and a Pad Thai with Prawns, which she declared as yummy. Sadly the roti pancakes were not available for pudding (an extra £2.00) but the icecream was, and arrived with some colourful slices of fresh fruit on the side. Portions are very generous, in fact possibly too large for smaller children, but parents can always help out!

• add prawn crackers for £2
• crayons and a colouring competition
• Grace chose Spring Rolls, Pad Thai Noodles with Prawns and Sticky Rice
• Logan chose Grilled Pork on Skewers, Chicken Fried Rice and Plain Rice
• add pudding for £2, ice cream comes with fresh fruit slices
• the restaurant
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What's this all about then? I took 8 friends to the new Northgate in Bury for dinner on Sunday night. We started the evening with excellent cocktails in the bar. The bar staff were great, friendly and charming. Then it all went a bit downhill. My starter was good, main course satisfactory and dessert awful. The dessert wine didn't arrive until after the pudding and the coffee and tea order was eventually taken just before midnight.  As for the faff to make the tea. Do I need to be told to warm the cup, wait for it to brew ( timer supplied for the countdown) in order to get two mouthfuls of English Breakfast brew? The most spectacular thing of the night was the bill.

• Line caught mackerel, beetroot, apple and parsnip (9/10)
• Sidecar of the Orient (10/10)
• Loin of venison, shank, sauerkraut and kale (6/10)
• Roasted pistachio sponge, salted chocolate, burnt apricot (1/10 for the apricot)
• Tea at midnight! Losing the will so ask for the bill.
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This week we had a sneak preview inside Bury's newest restaurant The Giggling Squid. Prosecco was flowing at the opening party and canapes included this delicious salt and pepper squid. We loved the decor. Lots of orchids on a back drop of hand picked drift wood with atmospheric lighting. Upcycled mirrors and a huge bookcase of over 2000 books from the local Oxfam for those that fancy a browse. We are going back to sample the menu which includes seafood, street food and simple rustic Thai food all made in house. We are not sure if all the food is going to be elaborately garnished but loved watching the fruit and veggie carving at the opening party.

• Books galore!
• Orchids and driftwood
• Carving a carnation
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Some of the best street food on Bury market is from Yakitori Suzuki, on a Saturday,usually close to Moyses Hall. Kaori Dawson (pictured above with her daughter) cooks rolled omelettes for breakfast until about 11.15am then it's lunch with delicate little skewers of meat and vegetables, rice and miso soup. I tried the pork rib (supearibu no Nikomo) Japanese meatball (Tsukune) and the pork skewers (Kushiyaki) Kaori runs the Suzuki Supper Club so if you cannot get to the market, go for supper.

• you can sit and eat and watch your food being cooked
• my Japanese lunch
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Who would refuse an invite to visit Green and Blacks stall at the Christmas Fair in Bury? It took a while to find them but we persevered and were more than rewarded by a couple of tastes of the various bars they produce and two bars of their thin Sea Salt chocolate to take home. Really nice guys on the stall too. This company were the fore-runners of the chocolate trend that has now made it possible to try specialist chocolate from all over the world - and this is still some of the best.