milsoms

Never let it be said that Dedham only caters for the upper end of the eating-out market. Now those with shallower pockets can enjoy themselves at milsoms which, in itself has two approaches, one with scrubbed wooden tables, the other, a raised area with classy leather seats.

milsoms is a Victorian house built in 1850 and was bought by Dorothy and Arthur Milsom in 1959. They ran it until 1981 when their late son, Gerald, transformed it into the terrace restaurant and rooms. It was then sold to the Royal Insurance Company who built onto it and ran it as a training centre. In February 2001, the family bought it back and transformed it into milsoms, which is now run by Gerald's son Paul, milsoms, together with the nearby Maison Talbooth, brings a total of 24 rooms in the Dedham area. Their bedrooms are stylish en-suite, thoroughly comfortable rooms, with crisp white linen, duvets and fluffy towels. All are equipped with a mini bar, satellite television and tea making facilities.

The busy bar and brasserie is very much the heartbeat of milsoms. Its informal environment, contemporary design, good cooking and sensible prices ensure an enviable local following. As one of their customers put it, "This is just what we have been waiting for." milsoms is open throughout the day; making it an ideal venue to meet friends or entertain business clients for breakfast, lunch, dinner or maybe just a relaxing glass of wine at the end of a busy day.

They have adopted an interesting approach to the menu, traditional dishes have been preserved (as well as uplifted) so fish and chips appears alongside more sophisticated offerings, great pain is taken to ensure that ingredients are fresh and sound. Their starters are innovative and could include the likes of wok fried pork with water chestnuts and crisp leaves, stuffed cow horn pepper with aubergine biryani, cucumber and nut yoghurt and open baked mussels with spinach, bacon and parmesan.

They have a novel section, entitled 'caught in the middle', where many of them - labelled ample or generous - can be taken as a starter or main course, for instance, corn fed chicken breast with forester sauce, garlic and parsley mash or the tasty Greek lamb burger with hummus, tzatziki and skinny fries. Do look out for the slow braised British lamb shank with butterbeans, garlic and rosemary or even the pave of farm assured norwegian cod, woked chorizo, leek and olive.

However, you have to save room for their appealing puddings. It is good to see banana split deluxe, baileys ice cream and crème Chantilly on the menu in these egalitarian days, with other desserts including triple chocolate brownie, honeycomb ice cream and fudge sauce; orange pannacotta, rhubarb compote and ginger tuille biscuit.

A sensible and appealing wine list offers a large choice for reasonable prices and an impressive number of wines across the range are available by the glass. If you are looking for more details of their private dining room, bedrooms, menus and wine list, it is all to be found on their Website.