The Butt & Oyster Dog Friendly Review

The Butt and Oyster is a waterfront Adnams pub, and part of the Deben Inns group, which enjoy a great local reputation for good food and beer.  The pub is very popular, and can get extremely busy during high season weekends.  The car park can get full early on and the owners have therefore restricted parking to visitors whilst they remain on the premises.  Dogs are made welcome in the bar and in the large seating area outside.  Although, hungry visitors coming with children and dogs on a less clement day may find themselves in a bit a pickle, as whilst dogs cannot go in the restaurant, children are not allowed in the bar.  Hubby’s solution to this quandary was to leave the kids in the car but I just thought that was taking the dogs needs a bit too far. 

The menu is extensive and echoes the pub’s location with its focus on local fish dishes.  It also offers a good selection of options for those on special diets – gluten free and vegetarian included.  The portion sizes are generous and the service is refreshingly quick for such a busy pub. Mains average at around £12 and “lite bites” and breakfast butties start around £5.

Over the years that we have visited the pub, we have seen the investment that the owners have made in the original 17^th Century building and the surroundings.  Likewise, the pub has grown increasingly popular.  However, with that popularity the hubbub can lead to impression that the pub is little lacking in soul.   During high spring tides, yachtsmen can be served their drinks from the windows of the pub whilst still aboard their boats.  And a visit out of season or late in day is when visitors and their dogs can enjoy the local character of this pub at its bygone best.

There are many miles of walks around the pub, including footpaths, bridleways, and cycle paths. We have reviewed one of the shorter walks (around 2 miles) starting at the public car park and circling round to the pub a couple of hundred yards from your starting point.

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