A Case of You

Joni Mitchell – The Case Restaurant with Rooms, Assignton

Val enjoyed a ‘significant’ birthday last year and amongst her gifts was a voucher, from a group of friends, to be spent at ‘The Case Restaurant with Rooms’ in Sudbury.

Several friends had visited before and had spoken highly of it.

We’d booked a ‘premium’ room for the night of our (34th) wedding anniversary, but sadly Val passed away before we could enjoy the stay, so I rescheduled for the spring of 2017.

It was to be a poignant visit.

‘The Case’ is located at Assignton, about seven miles from Colchester on the Sudbury Road, three miles shy of Sudbury, on the edge of Dedham Vale. Just over an hour’s drive for me, after a busy Saturday, I had spent the afternoon waiting for a delivery that arrived three hours late.

I arrived a tad after eight and was greeted warmly by Linda – the menu states that “Linda and Barry established The Case 32 years ago now. Barry still cooks in the kitchen whilst Linda keeps the customers happy at the front of house.”

I was shown to my room (3/burgundy) by Ruby – the waitress – and after dropping my bag off  I headed back to the restaurant. The other guests had dined early so I was the only diner, but both Linda and Ruby were attentive, avoiding any ‘billy no-mates’ awkwardness.

As a starter, I ordered the “Ham Hock Terrine’ – the terrine was firm, well textured, tasty and meaty, served with a home-made piccalilli and some artfully charred toast. The piccalilli was piquant, possibly the nicest I’ve ever tasted.

For my main course I ordered the sirloin steak, again artfully charred, but thick and juicy, with garlic field mushrooms, ‘cajun’ wedges and a hot/sweet chilli sauce. Val would probably have ordered the ham, (duck) eggs and chips.

I skipped dessert and can’t comment on the wine list, I stuck to draught Peroni, but the whole meal was delicious and a friendly experience.

The accommodation was clean and comfortable with some nice homely touches.

There are six rooms in what might once have been a stable block, but what was probably custom built.

There’s a 32″ flat screen TV and the most comprehensive selection of (as Sheldon Cooper would put it) hot  beverages, with delicious home-made biscuits. And an ‘honesty’ basket of chocolate goodies.

There’s wi-fi but it’s painfully slow, 0.8Mb/s  in the restaurant, up to 1.61Mb/s in my room – first world problems.

Breakfast on Sunday morning was freshly cooked tasty and plentiful – sausages, eggs, bacon, black pudding, field mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, fried new potatoes, fried home-made bread, toast, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. I couldn’t finish it.

I left with a selection of home-made  sauces and chutneys from their deli-counter, including the piccalilli and chilli sauce I’d enjoyed the night before.

All in all a very pleasant visit if, as I said earlier, poignant.

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