Without a doubt the service was a highlight at our #Veganuary outing to the Cosy Club in Ipswich on Thursday night. What a delight Roxana was. Romanian and hard working in the UK for the last three years, I hope we don't lose little gems like this to Brexit.  We weren't really sure what to expect, arriving at an eerily deserted Ipswich town centre and heading for the soulless Buttermaket shopping centre. But it's a bit of a surpise when you get inside. A slightly quirky mix of Colonial Gentlemans Club crossed with US laid back speakeasy, if that's possible.  Invited to sample the vegan menu which I was delighted to do, Mr SFoodie not so keen, but since converted to the idea that a meal of only plants is actually very good. We shared a Mediterranean Plate of hummus, carrot tapenade, pickled red cabbage and heirloom tomatoes and also Garlic Mushrooms on Sourdough, both very good although varying in size given that they are both £4.95 Tapas dishes. The hummus was nicely course which I like and the carrot tapenade well flavoured and seasoned with a hint of cumin. Thai Green Vegetable Curry was excellent declared Mr SF and kept him quiet while I ate my Thai Burger, made of quinoa and served with a fat slice of roasted red pepper in the sourdough bun and layered with vibrant green edamame and pak choi. Crispy fries and a nice chunky house slaw were on the side. I confess to ordering vegan bacon purely out of interest but think I can live without that again. There's wine suitable for vegans, I drank an Argentinian Malbec called Benjamin (fresh and fruity) and one dessert of Chocolate and Orange Torte served with a refreshing and light raspberry sauce.  You know what, with this current trend of veganism any fast casual dining restaurant not having a suitable menu is way out of touch. The Cosy Club is well worth a visit.

• Cosy Club Ipswich
• Meditteranean Plate
• Garlic Mushrooms on Sourdough
• Thai Green Vegetable Curry
• Thai Burger
• Don't you love this shield?
• Chocolate and Orange Torte for pudding
•  

We told you eggs were trendy. Well here we have Eggslut, due to announce its first London location very soon. Signature dish is a coddled egg on top of smooth potato puree, poached in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives, served with slices of baguette. There's also scrambled eggs, chives, cheese and honey mustard aioli served in a warm brioche bun. Dunno what the vegans will eat ... awful name for a restaurant too.

I'll bang on the glass 'till I get one. Apart from my own of course, these are some of the best sausage rolls in West Suffolk. Just as I took this snap someone came along and bought them both so Scarlett and I ate an excellent Chicken Caesar salad and the daily special sandwich of Battered Smoked Haddock, Mushy Peas, Tartare Sauce with Cos lettuce. Ice Cafe I'll be back for a sausage roll...

• our lunch
•  

Love it or hate it the chances are a Christmas Pudding will be making an appearance on your festive table. I was intrigued to try a Bunty's Christmas pudding created to win over the haters amongst you. The hand-made Waveney Valley pudding arrived so beautifully presented it was a shame to cut off the ribbons and bows from the muslin wrapped Mason Cash bowl. Steamed for one and half hours according to the instructions, the waft of fruit and spice was noticable when I cut the string and removed the paper to turn it out.The texture was quite different from any pudding I've tried before; soft and light without the whole fruits and crumbly texture of a traditional pud but a rich and dark colour, yet not stodgy. The balance of fruit and alcohol is excellent, with more than a hint of prune and raisins enhanced with Pedro Ximenez sherry. In fact this is a pudding where you might possibly manage seconds. Check out Bunty's website to find your local stockist.

• Smoother and not crumbly like a traditonal pud
• Traditionally wrapped in muslin for steaming
•  

Top find at Alderburgh Food and Drink Festival yesterday was raw honey from Simon at Bracey's Bees.  A beautiful dark amber, raw Chestnut Honey with soft, bitter caramel flavours which I took straight home and drizzled over some Fielding Cottage Ellingham goats cheese. The slightly brighter, amber and fruity citrus Sea Lavender Honey I ate with my breakfast yoghurt this morning. An exciting find!  Bracey's Bees does not have a website but you can email Simon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 07876 274060. Slate Cheese and Provisions in Aldeburgh are also stockists.

There's something about the low sun and the cooler days that tempts me to get out the last of my 2017 green tomato chutney to dollop on a generous portion of game pate and crisp, warm buttered toast. I tried Wild and Game Grouse Brandy and Herb Pate and also their very nice Pheasant, Pistachio and Port Pate. A rather lovely late lunch. Pheasant season starts soon. Whoop!

These little botanical and fruit pockets arrived in the SuffolkFoodie mail box last week and proved to be the perfect excuse to get the gin bottle out and experiment a little. The infusion pockets are fully biodegradable and plastic free (round of applause for that) and have been created by Dominic Limbrey of D.J. Limbrey Distilling to add an additional dimension to a drink. As Dominic suggests, add a different dynamic to your favourite cocktail, pimp up your prosecco or simply add the botanical bags to your tonic. We dangled the cold infusions bags into all manner of mixes and came out with top marks for the Stirring Botanicals in our gin. (elderberries, burdock root, juniper berries, liquorice root, coriander seeds, dandelion leaves, honeybush, elderflower, allspice berry, cardamom, hibiscus, apple, fermented lemon peel, rosehip, orange peel) The Summer Equinox (hibiscus, apple,rosehip,lemon verbena, freeze dried raspberry, freeze dried strawberry) mixed with a plain tonic scored well in our Drinks for Drivers category. Of course Mr S.Foodie enjoyed the lekker flavours of South Africa in his Rooibos Spice infused lemonade. DJ's Cold Infusion Pockets retail at £9.99 for a box of 10 and you'll get a free stirring spoon if you buy a box before 31st December 2018. That's a Christmas present sorted then.

• orange osmosis
• rooibos spice
• stirring botanicals
•