The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers
Melville and Sons
We assessed Melville and Sons in October 2026 and this review is based on the food menu and wine list at the time of the review. As menus and wine lists change, we name styles in order for the information to remain more useful as menus change. If things have slipped you can use the Vinealto Dining app including accessing an up to date reading using 'At the Table' from the wine list in front of you in the restaurant. How we assess
Melville and Sons is a wine bar on Tombland in Norwich serving dry aged steaks, oysters and charcuterie. Its list pours 39 wines by the glass and is at its best in sparkling wine and Champagne, though it prints no vintages and little detail. It suits groups who want a glass or two of fizz with oysters before a steak.
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Bishop's Dining Room and Wine Bar
Norwich, East of England
Modern British with Italian wine-bar identity
Bishop's is a two-rosette modern-British dining room and wine bar in central Norwich whose list reaches unusually deep for its size, from local Norfolk sparkling by the glass to a fine-wine tier of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Super-Tuscan bottles. The programme's strengths are genuinely serious buying, an excellent sparkling and Champagne offer and premium reds poured by the glass, held back only by the absence of any printed pairing guidance and of a fortified glass for the cheese and dessert. It will suit a drinker who enjoys a deep, well-chosen list and is happy to steer their own course, or to draw on the floor team, more than one who wants the pairing decided for them.
Read the assessmentThe Bishop's Cave
Bishop's Stortford, East of England
Wine, cheese and charcuterie bar
The Bishop's Cave is a wine, cheese and charcuterie bar in Bishop's Stortford where the food is kept simple and the list does the talking. Its wine programme pairs a collector's range (broad, characterful and generous by the glass) to the boards in front of you, with a Tawny for the blue cheese and a botrytis white for the sweet end both poured by the glass. It will most reward the curious drinker who wants to graze cheese and charcuterie while working through a genuinely personal list a glass at a time.
Read the assessmentThe Lighthouse Restaurant
Aldeburgh, East of England
Modern British, seafood-led
The Lighthouse is a long-standing, seafood-led Modern British restaurant on Aldeburgh's high street. Its wine programme punches well above the setting (a wide, keenly-priced everyday list with generous by-the-glass choice, a deep sparkling and English bench, and an aged Secret Cellar), let down only by the absence of a dry Sherry for its cured-fish plates and of any pairing guidance on the page. It will most reward the curious drinker who wants a coastal white with the seafood but enjoys knowing there is real depth, and a sommelier-worthy cellar, waiting behind it.
Read the assessmentDamson and Wilde
Bury St Edmunds, East of England
Mediterranean small plates and brasserie
Damson and Wilde is an all day European brasserie in the centre of Bury St Edmunds. Its list of 41 mostly European wines is fairly priced, clearly written and pours 25 wines by the glass. It suits anyone looking for a reliable glass with classic brasserie cooking at any hour of the day.
Read the assessmentThe Hoste Arms
Burnham Market, East of England
British gastropub, seasonal Norfolk
The Hoste Arms is a long-standing north-Norfolk inn and gastropub on the green at Burnham Market, cooking a seasonal, produce-led British menu over a charcoal grill. Its wine list is broad, generously offered by the glass and unusually well described, doing its best work with high-acid whites and local English sparkling for the seafood and structured reds for the grill, even if it leaves the dessert menu without a sweet wine to match. It will most reward an easygoing wine lover who values by-the-glass choice, a deep Provence rosé selection and a genuinely local fizz over a specialist's cellar.
Read the assessmentFancett's
Cambridge, East of England
French-inspired bistro
Fancett's is a small French bistro on Mill Road in Cambridge serving short set menus that change with the seasons. Its list pours 35 wines by the glass and carafe, from French classics to Etna, Macedonia and Georgia, with eight sweet and fortified wines to finish. It suits diners who like to try a different glass with each course at fair prices.
Read the assessmentThe One Bull
Bury St Edmunds, East of England
British gastropub
The One Bull is a Bury St Edmunds pub with a seasonal British menu of pub classics and fish. Its short wine list is clearly arranged by style and poured entirely by the glass in several measures, with tasting flights that make it easy to explore. It will suit a drinker who likes to try a few wines by the glass rather than commit to a bottle.
Read the assessmentThe Suffolk
Aldeburgh, East of England
Modern British brasserie, seafood-led
The Suffolk is a seafood-led modern brasserie on Aldeburgh's high street, cooking to the season and the day's catch. Its wine list is short but assembled with real care (every bottle labelled with region, vintage and strength, the everyday bottles offered by the glass, and a spread that runs from honest everyday whites to a local Suffolk Pinot and a handful of trophy bottles), held back only by the absence of a dry Sherry for the cured fish and of any pairing guidance on the page. It will suit the drinker who values a well-chosen, informative short list and the freedom to explore it a glass at a time.
Read the assessment