Ipswich Star Pub of the Week: The Falcon in Falcon Street

This week, on a cold, wet and windy Friday night, just after Storm Goretti hit the county, my friends and I took a trip to The Falcon Pub and Kitchen in Falcon Street.

I have enjoyed coming to this pub for a number of years, with it having a lot of history and character to it.

The pub dates back to the 18th century, with news reports from as early as 1800. From the mid-19th century, it served as a brewery tap for the Falcon Brewery until the brewery closed in 1925, becoming a car park.

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

For most of its history, it has been known as The Falcon, but since the turn of the century the pub has been operated as the Tonic Bar and Lounge and Pl@tinum, before it was re-named Bowman's in 2010.

It changed its name back to The Falcon in 2018 after Bowman's Club and Bar went into liquidation in 2017.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson - when we went to the pub, it was a quiet evening, probably due to the weather and it being January.

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

However, the pub was gearing up for one of its karaoke nights, with the pub becoming one of the go-to places for people to belt out their favourite tunes to.

Karaoke is held at The Falcon every evening except for Monday, from 8pm, meaning people are able to head there, have a drink and enjoy what some of the voices of Ipswich have to offer.

While I love a sing-song, I did not do karaoke the evening we were there.

On entering, there is a lovely welcome from staff and a range of drinks on offer including one of my favourite beers Cruzcampo, so I had to go for that.

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

My Cruzcampo cost £5.95, which despite not being cheap, is what you expect to pay for a drink these days, with pubs needing to raise prices.

It's a big bar area, meaning less queueing on busy days, and there is plenty of seating around the pub.

The outside area is small, but that's to be expected with a town centre location, but they do have a nice upstairs area with further outdoor seating and a tiki themed room which opened in 2024.From there, they serve cocktails, spirits and bottles and it is a hireable space.

The tiki themed area (Image: The Falcon Pub)

This week's pub of the week is The Falcon in Ipswich (Image: Tom Cann)

There is actually a tiki theme throughout the pub, which is a little confusing but it makes the pub more colourful.

They also have plenty of Ipswich Town memorabilia and flags in the windows, being so close to Portman Road stadium, and have held special events to celebrate big matches for the men and women's team over the last couple of years.

Overall, I am a big fan of this pub. I have been for years. It feels homely, spacious and a nice place to have a drink or two - or belt out a song of your choosing.