Cromer Restaurant Guide

This “excellent fish venue with locally sourced produce” is owned by Galton Blackiston, chef-patron of Norfolk’s grand Morston Hall, and operates both as a seaside chippie for eat-in or takeaway and as a bookable restaurant upstairs, with views of the pier and fancier dishes such as king prawn Goan curry with roti and coconut rice. Sauces and ice creams are all produced in-house.

“Set in the deer-filled grounds of a stately home” and owned by Chelsea art dealer Ivor Braka, this much commented-on pub-with-rooms “shows more contemporary art on its walls than the average West End gallery” (Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Damien Hirst, Anthony Caro and co.). Mark Hix alumni Stuart & Simone Tattersall oversee the victuals: mostly “meat and game from local estates” (“some cooked on the open fire”), but the “broad and inventive” menu isn’t just for carnivores. “Top Menu Tip – the whole shared-chicken Sunday Roast is beautifully done and excellent value”.

This “thoroughly reliable pub” is “just a short stroll from the coast” with views across the salt marshes. “Everything works well despite the casual, almost laid-back approach”, while “the imaginative menu is definitely a notch above the pub norm”.

“Holt in Norfolk is a jewel of a market town, and Meadowsweet is a little jewel of a restaurant with rooms” that’s won acclaim as “a superb addition to the county” since its 2021 launch by Greg Anderson and Rebecca Williams. “Service is personal and spot on” and “the house and dining room feel warm and friendly without trying to be bleeding edge”. When it comes to the “ambitious” ten-course menu for £130 per person – “every dish is thoughtful and delicious” with “chefs all working out of a tiny space and involved in introducing the courses”. “Prices seem to have risen sharply since they got their Michelin star, but we think it’s worth it!” – “worth the journey… bravo!”

Overlooking the green, this village pub-with-rooms was acquired by East Anglia’s Chestnut Group in 2022. Some reports this year suggest that “things have started to slip” under the new regime, and that what “used to be a favourite” is “no longer quite as special as it once was”, but “at its best, the food is excellent” still (and, despite the critiques, its locally sourced pub classics have so far retained their Bib Gourmand).

A “great-value” menu featuring plenty of fresh fish, along with local meat and game, has attracted a loyal following for this “very friendly” family-run North Norfolk venue over more than 20 years. Co-chef/founder Angela Long has ensured that standards remain high since the loss of her husband, Richard, two years ago.

“You can’t get fresher than the beautiful seafood” at this clifftop perch “in a wonderful setting overlooking the sea”, run by local lobster and crab fisherman Richard Matthews and his wife Ali. “The freshly caught crab is delicious”, and last year they added a range of vegan options to the menu.

Relaunched in 2021, this “genuine gastropub” opposite Gunton station is the second local boozer to be reimagined by London art dealer Ivor Braka, after its sister the Gunton Arms, a mile up the road. It “specialises in tapas” (of “excellent variety and quality”) and do “try the upstairs saloon which serves amazing cocktails in a setting that resembles a madame’s boudoir!” (The rest of the building isn’t far behind, with a whole page of the website dedicated to the hip artists on its walls, not least Michael Landy and Diane Arbus, who are both situated in the bogs, so to speak.)