Our food reviewer Mark Heath and his wife Liz went to try the Sunday brunch offerings from the Birdhouse food truck in Fornham All Saints. Here's what they made of it...

Food

Like so many other eateries in the Covid-19 pandemic, the popular All Saints Hotel in Fornham All Saints has had to get creative in a bid to keep serving through the lockdowns.

Head chef Lee Cooper came up with the idea to serve takeaway food from a catering truck in the hotel car park, and it's proved inspired thinking.

My foodie social media timeline has been packed with folks raving about the offerings, so we decided to head along on a Sunday afternoon to give their Sunday brunch menu a whirl.

Ipswich Star: The Birdhouse food truck is situated outside of the All Saints Hotel in Bury St EdmundsThe Birdhouse food truck is situated outside of the All Saints Hotel in Bury St Edmunds (Image: Archant)

First up, ordering - and it's dead simple. Peruse their menu on Facebook, then just give them a call and arrange a pick-up time. They have limited delivery available too.

Aware that we were to pen a review - and out of duty to you, dear readers - we ordered up a storm - the Suffolk breakfast burrito, the steak and eggs brioche, some buttermilk pancakes and a couple of smoothies too, red berry and banoffi.

Upon arrival, we parked in the car park, I strolled over to the truck - facemasks all round, even outside - paid, and went back to the wagon to await delivery.

The food was duly deposited via the passenger-side door, and off we went.

Ipswich Star: The steak and eggs brioche from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All SaintsThe steak and eggs brioche from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints (Image: Archant)

I started with the steak and eggs brioche, and a mighty meal it was too. Absolutely rammed with thickly-sliced, medium rare steak, a huge fried egg and a couple of hash browns, this was the stuff of dreams.

The steak was tender and not at all chewy, while the yolk from the egg mixed well with the hot sauce to coat everything captured betwixt the sweet brioche bun.

And who doesn't like hash browns? In this case, they brought a crunchy, carby edge to proceedings. Delicious.

Ipswich Star: The Suffolk breakfast burrito from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All SaintsThe Suffolk breakfast burrito from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints (Image: Archant)

Liz, meanwhile, had bravely tackled the burrito - an absolute brick of beans and meat, vaguely akin to a Man v Food challenge. Indeed, this was a such a hefty offering, you could easily share it between two, if you're after a lighter brunch bite.

It was crammed with filling too - bacon, those hash browns again, pulled pork, cowboy beans and a fried egg for good measure. Tasty, a real depth of flavours and very filling.

Ipswich Star: The Suffolk breakfast burrito from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints - a mighty bite!The Suffolk breakfast burrito from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints - a mighty bite! (Image: Archant)

Like the heroes we are though, we battled onwards, lifting the lid of our shared pancake dessert and getting stuck in. Side note: We'd brought our own cutlery, and it was needed here - something to bear in mind if you're plumping for pancakes.

The pancakes were fluffy, light and sweet, paired with the classic maple syrup combo, plus a tasty little berry compote, which also worked very well.

All that's left to mention then is our smoothies - and these too were good. My banoffi was, as the name suggests, banana and chocolate goodness, while Liz's red berry was sharp, fruity and creamy.

All in all, an excellent Sunday brunch - tasty, filling and fun.

Ipswich Star: The buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All SaintsThe buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints (Image: Archant)

Eat in car

We decided to eat the food while it was freshest and piping hot, and there are plenty of places to park if you fancy that option.

You could, of course, take it home, but I think this is the sort of food which is going to taste best eaten straight away, rather than re-heated.

Good for the environment

All the packaging for our food was recyclable, which is always good to see.

Even the smoothies were in plastic glasses with paper straws - a nice touch.

Ipswich Star: The red berry (left) and banoffi smoothie from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All SaintsThe red berry (left) and banoffi smoothie from the Birdhouse foodtruck in Fornham All Saints (Image: Archant)

Not just Sunday

We enjoyed the Sunday brunch menu, but there's plenty more to explore at other times - the truck serves between 4pm and 9pm, Thursday to Saturday, and 10am-2pm on Sunday.

The regular menu is packed with classics like fish and chips, mac n' cheese, various wraps, chocolate brownies and loaded chips.

Value

Our meal came to £37, which I'd say was good value.

If we weren't reviewing, we'd probably have held the pancakes (£6) and potentially even shared the breakfast burrito (£10), so you could certainly cut costs if you wanted.

Highlight

I think we'd both agree that my steak and eggs brioche was the stand-out offering. We'll definitely be back for that!

Summary

Fun, filling and tasty - top notch takeaway.

Rating: 8/10

Our food reviews are always independent. They are the opinion of the reviewer based on their experience of the venue when they visited. The establishment is not aware of our visit, is not informed we intend to write a review and bills are paid by the reviewer. The choice of places reviewed is also independent and is not based on venues which do or do not advertise in our publications.