Eggcellent find. (Hen House Cafe, Wymondham)

Hen House Cafe,

Wymondham,

Tue-Sat 10:00-2:00,

Highly Recommended

After returning from running the Barcelona Marathon at the weekend I was still having difficulty walking as I hopped on to my bike for some cafe cycle reviewing.  On my previous running race (the Wymondham 20 mile) I had noticed a sign for the Hen House Cafe which I had not spotted before. It looked interesting so I decided it would be worth a visit at the next suitable opportunity. 

So with achy thighs I gingerly set off with today's cycling guest Chris (wife). There was a strong south easterly wind so we struggled for the first part of the ride down to Attleborough, which was about half way and usual distance for having a stop. Unfortunately to date I haven't found or been recommended a good cafe or teashop in the Attleborough region so we cycled straight through. (Note :Since I wrote this I have been to the Coffee Lounge  and Baileys cafe in Attleborough which are both very nice so please ignore the last comment).

Attleborough where I am yet to see or hear of a cafe needing reviewing

With the wind now behind us we made good time on the rest of the ride to the Hen House Cafe which can be found up a little drive off the road near Wymondham Abbey. On arrival it was good to see that there was not only an outdoor seating area but also a shed based seating option (which was a first).

Outside the Hen House Cafe in the outdoor and shed based seating area.

We went inside and immediately came face to face with the cake selection displayed on a blue welsh dresser. There was a small but tempting cake selection plus a fresh batch of coconut and almond macaroons being baked behind the counter. The very friendly owner suggested we try a freshly baked coconut and almond macaroon and were glad we did as they were delicious.

Small but tempting cake selection including freshly
 baked coconut and almond macaroons in the tin.

At the drinks counter I was offered a choice of 4 different hot chocolate options (HCOs). This was a HCO record beating the previous best HCO from any cafe of 3. I went for a double chocolate which was half normal and half white chocolate. Chris opted for a semi skinny mocha.

In terms of cake I went for banana and cardamom and Chris choose the lemon drizzle. The Hen House cafe has a small and cosy indoor seating area but we took our drinks, cakes and macaroons outside so we could pick a shed to try in the outside shed based seating area.

Sitting in one of the shed based seating areas, although
I was slightly uncomfortable with the amount of soft furnishings in a shed.

I found the shed based seating area feature a master stroke as, like all men, there is nothing I like better than pottering about in a shed. My only criticism was that the decor was not quite to my tastes with too many soft furnishings and wall decorations (tea towels, posters etc) and not enough useless mechanical things to tinker with. I would rather have less cushions and more cogs, wheels, bits of string, random length screws, broken power tools etc. I'm not sure Chris necessarily agreed with my view as she was flickering through a magazine about chocolate and curtains from the magazine pile. 

Drinks and cakes (plus a half eaten very tasty macaroon)
 ready for reviewing.

Once settled in our shed we got down to reviewing business and found our drinks were eggtremely good and both got high scores. We also both very much enjoyed our cakes which were properly moist and came in nice big pieces.

Despite the small effective cake selection the Hen House cafe scored eggceptionally well and has gone straight into my top 5 reviewed cafes. It has only been open since October (same as my blog) and I really hope it is a big success (same as my blog) as I'm sure I will be making return visits. 

After a little while we reluctantly left our shed and got back on our bikes. Re-energised with our cake and with wind behind we made it home in an eggtraordinarily good time.

Ratings for the Hen House Cafe based on last 3 visits of many. Last Visited April 2022

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.93	8.00	5.83	8.18	8.67	7.72

Map of route we took.


Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS