The Bell Hotel’s bar area in Mildenhall receives visit from SuffolkNews' Secret Drinker

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 weeks of waiting (and fantasy football prepping), Premier League action returned last weekend and l felt it was simply an injustice to the beautiful game if I didn’t enjoy at least one fixture with a freshly served pint.

However, I thought I’d mix it up a bit and keep all you readers on your toes (not literally), so instead of a pub, I found myself spending my afternoon in the Bell Hotel’s bar area in Mildenhall.

Set in a converted coaching inn and facing St Mary’s church, the high street building looked rather lovely in the sunlight as I arrived through the rear courtyard.

For people who wish to park at the hotel, there are a good number of free parking spots available and the courtyard itself is a nice area to sit outside if you so wish.

Making my way inside, I liked the layout of the seating in the bar area and also thought the lounge was a good spacious spot to relax in too.

However, I was hit with my first setback when I discovered the kitchen was closed which was a shame but thankfully I’d had a fat lunch earlier - shout out Ambrosia Rice Pudding, they are elite.

Anyway, I had been lining up a Madri to begin my experience in the Bell but that was replaced instead with a Pravha, which I had never had before.

Like the cool breeze of a passing train while on the London Underground, the lighter tasting pilsner was very refreshing and it had a light fresh malt sweetness which meant I was fairly satisfied that I had spent a fiver on it.

This was later followed up by a Thatchers Gold cider that I decided to try as it’s one of my favourite ciders I’ve come across.

It was medium dry and smooth as expected and I certainly enjoyed it for £4.40. It also tasted better as the pint went down. I would recommend.

I was delighted to see there was a pool table and also a darts board downstairs with a view of a small TV, which was showing Tottenham against Brentford.

On the other hand, I was beginning to get slightly concerned as there were only a couple of small TVs downstairs and I was worried watching Chelsea face-off against Liverpool would be a bit of a strain on the eyeballs.

I then experienced a moment where I, not for the first time in my life, began to question my sanity.

After finishing my Pravha, I popped off to the loo pondering the TV issue and I must’ve done my thinking out loud like Ed Sheeran, as when I returned a projector screen showing build-up to Chelsea versus Liverpool had appeared out of nowhere.

Had I been losing my marbles? Not quite. It had just been sorted while I was in the toilet. Panic not.

Briefly talking about the toilet, it was clean and well-spaced out yet there was just one cubicle but that’s not exactly the end of the world.

While watching the clash between the two teams (I don’t support either of them for the record), there was a good atmosphere around the bar with around 30 people downstairs and a handful more in the courtyard.

To go off on a quick tangent I’d like to state a prediction that Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez will be in the Premier League team of the season in May.

The Argentinian is absolutely brilliant to watch and like literally any Leonardo Di Caprio performance, he had me mesmerised. If you haven’t watched Inception, Titanic or The Revenant, what on earth are you doing?

Rounding off the review, I’d like to give a mention to the music that was playing before the football came on.

There were some seriously good tunes playing out of the speakers especially an underrated and catchy banger Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit by Gina G.

Also, the volume was perfect in that it was loud enough to hear but didn’t even come close to being too loud where you couldn’t have a conversation without being overshadowed by it.

So, after several hours in the high street building, I left the Bell Hotel in good spirits and was very happy with my time there.

The scores out of five:

Decor: I liked it a lot I must say. Clean and simple with some bright colours from the several fruit machines. Would be appreciate some more paintings or posters maybe. 3.5/5

Drink: I enjoyed both the Pravha and the Thatchers and would certainly have them again. Shame the kitchen was closed as the drink may have tasted better with the food. 4/5

Price: No real issues here, I can imagine the hotel may have struggled in the pandemic and so I wasn’t put off from the prices to be honest. 3/5

Atmosphere: As mentioned, I appreciated the music and then also felt there was a general good vibe downstairs in the area around the bar. Nice number of people as well. 3.5/5

Staff: I was served by two different members of staff and both were smiling, they poured well and just generally did their job well too. All good here. 3.5/5