Andy Rudd, of Sutherland House, in High Street, Southwold, expresses joy at being named among the best in the country by OpenTable

A Suffolk restaurateur has revealed his surprise and joy at his venue being ranked amongst the best in the country.

Andy Rudd runs Sutherland House, in High Street, Southwold, alongside his wife Kinga, which was recently rated in the top 100 in the UK by booking service OpenTable UK for 2023.

The ranking meant his premises was listed alongside famous restaurants including the Michelin starred Le Gavroche by Michel Roux Jr and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

The list compiles over 1.2 million diner reviews as well as using diner metrics including ratings, percentage of reservations made in advance and the number of five-star reviews.

Andy said: “We’re really over the moon; it’s nice to be recognised.

“Obviously that’s from customer reviews as well which is really nice.”

Sutherland House offers a unique dining experience, consisting of almost solely tables of two, with only one table of four.

Andy said the team aims to offer an intimate dining experience, something which was recognised by TripAdvisor as it was rated in the top 10 in the UK for a date night.

He continued: “We only do one table of four; the whole point is it’s an intimate dining experience, that’s the whole feel of everything we do.

“We don’t do parties or anything like that – it’s all cooked to order, everything you eat we make.”

Sutherland House predominantly serves seafood and plant-based dishes, with Andy’s wife Kinga running the roost in the kitchen.

He is in awe of what his wife does with the food, given she creates all the dishes herself as well as putting everything together during service.

But he was also quick to pay tribute to the team at his restaurant, saying: “We have a great team, my wife is the chef and she creates all the dishes herself; how she does all that in the kitchen I don’t know.

“It’s really like a little family, the staff we’ve got here – we’ve been together for years.”

The OpenTable list features many of the UK’s biggest industry names, with the aforementioned Le Gavroche and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay; Ramsay has four of his London venues included on the list.

Closer to home, Midsummer House in Cambridgeshire makes the cut, whilst in Norfolk The Assembly House in Norwich features, as well as another big industry name in Delia Smith’s Restaurant and Bar.

“We’re blown away, gobsmacked – you sort of have to pinch yourself really,” Andy said of being ranked amongst the hospitality big hitters.

“To be recognised alongside names like that is crazy, we’re so proud.”

But Andy has said that the team’s feet will remain firmly on the ground, and the recognition will not be going to their heads; nor will they use it as an opportunity to scale up operations, which Andy said would take away from the atmosphere they’re trying to provide.

“We could change our model and double what we do, but then it wouldn’t be the intimate thing we want,” he said.