Aylsham, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “An excellent breakfast” is the top tip at Hannah Springham and Andrew Jones’s good-looking, Georgian restaurant with rooms: sibling to Norwich’s Farmyard. For other occasions, feedback on its straightforward, brasserie-style fare (fish pie, côte de boeuf, burger) is still too limited for a rating.

“A north Norfolk staple” from brilliant chef Galton Blackiston of Morston Hall fame – with the choice of “great traditional fish ’n’ chips” (“the best we’ve ever eaten”) downstairs, or upstairs a “fabulous fish restaurant with a great range of freshly cooked local seafood” accompanied by “lovely views overlooking Cromer beach and out to sea”. “Deservedly very popular with families, you will need to book at high season”.

“A triumph!” – “Exquisite food, meticulously prepared and as stunning to look at as it is to taste”, all alongside “delightfully attentive but unpretentious service and interesting wines too”, are the key strengths of Greg Anderson and Rebecca Williams’s “exceptional” three-year-old. “We loved Rebecca and Greg when they were at Morston Hall, and their talents truly shine in their own restaurant”. “Greg has a lightness of touch that many chefs don’t achieve” and “working out of a small kitchen, he uses local produce wherever possible to produce delightful food. He is ably partnered by Rebecca, who charmingly runs the three delightful rooms and front of house as well as being an excellent sommelier. The wine flight that she organises is a delicious adventure every time”. Most reporters also like the “minimalist” decor, and think “it’s a great touch having the cutlery cunningly concealed in a drawer in the table”. A large number of top gastronomic experiences are reported here. “We will definitely be back next time we’re in Norfolk”.

“Great local Norfolk ingredients are used to good effect” at Richard Bainbridge’s inviting if simply decorated destination that’s “probably still the joint best restaurant in Norwich”, and as such “well worth a visit” for its “consistently good” cooking from a series of set menus that are pleasantly ambitious but without the excessive flummery of a classic tasting menu format.

“French-inspired fine dining in a cosy room” – using “high-quality ingredients” and “intricately presented” to showcase “the skills of the chef” – has won a national reputation for this long-running fixture “in one of the well-preserved historic quarters of the city”. The ratings slipped a touch this year, accompanied by a couple of reports from erstwhile local fans who bemoaned staff turnover post-Covid and an experience that was “disappointing” compared with past years. But they are still outweighed by those who say: “We have dined a good few times over the years and the high standards have remained consistent”.

This village boozer-with-rooms par excellence overlooking the green was taken over by the Chestnut Group in 2022. While there are those for whom the “favourite” pitstop “has actually been improved since the takeover” and is now a “top-end gastropub”, there are also critics, for whom “the change of ownership has led to a diminution of standards”.

2021 Review: Fans are “happy to report the continued success and popularity of owner Desmond’s venture on the north Norfolk coast” – lionised in a BBC TV series, and combining “really good freshly cooked” farm food with “lots of outside space to run around in”.

“Superb locally sourced seafood” is the highlight of the menu at this family-run operation founded by Angela Long and her late husband Richard, which has a “carefully built and locally supported reputation over many years” – “value for money and a great attention to detail is a special combination” that “attracts both locals and the many visitors to the North Norfolk coast”.

This “gorgeous 14th-century inn” is now a “lovely restaurant-with-rooms” – “one of the best places to eat in this part of Norfolk” – with “excellent” food from chef-patron Daniel Smith, who got his first break as a teenager working for Le Gavroche: he marked its closure last year by treating diners to Michel Roux Jr’s signature dish, soufflé suissesse.

Excellent feedback this year for ex-Alimentum chef Mark Poynton’s dining room in a country-house hotel a ten-minute drive from Norwich. The odd reporter feels that “the venue doesn’t match the food just yet”, but all agree that “you’re made to feel special as soon as you enter the restaurant” and that the food – which is exclusively from a tasting menu – is “fantastic”. At six courses for £49.50 per person, the entry-level option is particularly affordable.