The Kings Arms pub in Bury St Edmunds receives visit from SuffolkNews' Secret Drinker for food and drink

Welcome back to a fresh series of pub reviews by SuffolkNews’ own Secret Drinker, who will make their way round the county’s watering holes and give you their honest opinion.

After a recent revamp, the team at the Kings Arms in Bury St Edmunds have moved away from being a sports bar, with hopes that it will become a destination pub where young professionals can socialise.

Well, being young and also professional, (though one of those things could be debated), it only made sense for me to go along and see what the town centre pub had to serve up for me - and a very good menu it did serve up indeed.

Looking at the menu, there were 18 meal options with quite a few possibilities that were seriously tempting me and I must admit I was feeling torn - and I’m not talking about Natalie Imbruglia.

Quickly moving off on a slight tangent, I’d like to shout out her performance in the comedy action spy film Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson. A truly brilliant watch and I would highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.

Anyway, back to the food.

Despite some heavy competition from the beef lasagne and the southern fried chicken burger, I opted for one of my favourite meals - macaroni cheese.

For those of you who are fans of the dish, I hope you’d agree with me that the best part is if there’s a cheesy, crispy bit at the top of the pasta, because that stuff is heavenly, majestic even.

At a price of £11.95, I was just about satisfied with the size of the meal when it did arrive, with the sizes also respectable for my fellow pub companions.

A big thing I have when I order cheesy pasta dishes, whether that be a carbonara or a macaroni, is that it can be too overwhelmingly cheesy, rich or creamy, and so I did have some fears about my order.

However, I must say I was pleasantly surprised while tucking into my meal. The balance was there. I wasn’t overpowered and there was a slight crispy part at the top of the pasta, but there could’ve been a lot more.

The ciabatta was delicious and a welcome addition too, I would say I ate all the salad but I would be completely lying. Not because I didn’t like it, it’s just I’m not a salad person, apart from the croutons you sometimes get with it…

In the pub it felt warm and cosy while eating, and I don’t claim to be a connoisseur here, but I felt the lighting was very nice too and it made a really comfortable setting overall.

Moving onto the alcoholic beverages, purely out of instinct I ordered a Pravha, which is something I’ve been getting into recently and in hindsight, I should’ve ordered something different.

Either way, for the price of £5, the lighter tasting pilsner did its job as it was refreshing and it had that light fresh malt sweetness I was looking for.

This was followed by a Cruzcampo which is the most popular draught beer in Spain. I had never had it before and for £6 I was wondering if it would be worth it.

Thankfully one of my companions paid for it as the silly fool lost a bet to me.

I can confirm it was actually very good - light, smooth, crisp and it went down a treat.

If you have read my last few reviews, you’d know I am a big music fan and the Kings Arms did not let me down here.

The fact that it was at the perfect volume, where you can hear it still but still perfectly hear the companions on the table, was exactly what I wanted.

I’d say the best song that came on was Naive by The Kooks. If you haven't heard it, load up your Spotify now and get it on (if you have Apple Music also do that, but Spotify is comfortably better).

The atmosphere in the pub for a Friday night was good and was fairly busy at about 7pm, it was nice to have the rugby on as well - New Zealand smacked up Italy 96-17 for those of you that care.

Although we didn’t go outside, I do know there’s a nice area with benches which is a great spot to spend time in the summer.

I would also like to praise the staff who served us at the table and also the bar staff, who were all helpful, good at their job and had a smile on their face.

A little fun fact - the Kings Arms became a sister pub to popular watering-hole, the Masons Arms also in Bury St Edmunds, two months ago.

The Kings Arms is now run by Sean Driscoll, who is in charge at The Masons and The Macebearer.

What a lovely nugget of knowledge to leave you readers with.

The scores out of five:

Decor: I liked it to be fair, it wasn’t over the top and there was enough there but I felt something was missing, but I’m not sure what. Although I appreciated the lighting and how spacious the area was. 3.5/5

Drink: I greatly enjoyed my debut pint of Cruzcampo which I can’t recall seeing before and also the Pravha. Both were very good and I would happily have them again. 3/5

Price: A touch on the pricier side of things maybe but not too bad really. The meal and drinks were good so there can’t be too many complaints. 2.5/5

Atmosphere: Loved the music as well as the general vibe and feel of the place. Felt right at home and I did very much like my time in the pub. 4/5

Staff: Honestly I felt all the staff members were really good and I felt they came across really well. 4/5