Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour Sportive 2. (28 miles via Tabnabs Tearoom Mattishall)

Sportive 2,
Tabnabs,

Mattishall,

Open Mon-Sat 9-4.00,

Highly Recommended
Last visited October 2017

Saturday saw the second Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour Sportive. This is a group ride to one of the current top 10 rated cafes or tearooms. Collectively the group act as my guest rater to help keep the scores up to date and make sure top 10 standards are being maintained. 

Today's choice was Tabnabs tearoom in Mattishall. The sportive had had an original entry of 8 but due to illness and teenager apathy this had been reduced by half. However despite the drizzly conditions the group set off in high spirits.

Setting GPS and cycle computers before setting off from race HQ.

The ride out took longer than planned as we had a high puncture count. I foolishly felt very smug when we stopped for Ali's early puncture as I had just purchased new 'bomb proof' tyres. They may have been 'bomb proof' but certainly were not puncture proof as I managed to get a front and back wheel puncture before we arrived eventually at Tabnabs tearoom.

Mending first of the 4 punctures got on the ride.

Last time I visited Tabnabs my review (Going up the league) said I was disappointed that there was no outside seating area and that there had been a lot of local chit-a-chatter in the inside seating area. Mrs Tabnabs had contacted me to kindly point out that they do have outside seating in the summer (when people actually use it) and if I wanted to then they would happily supply me with a table and chair to take outside. She also asked if I had noticed they have a more relaxed upstairs seating area available for those to use who like less natter with their refresments. I had to confess I had not noticed it which was very poor reviewing on my part. Today was an opportunity to test these things out

Outside Tabnabs holding wheel with latest puncture

On arrival I went inside and checked out the relaxed upstairs area, which looked very relaxing and also had comfy sofas. However despite my warning of potential village gossiping the rest of the group wanted to sit downstairs and it was therefore our group that generated the majority of chatter. I also checked up on the outside seating area and Mrs Tabnabs confirmed I could take a table and chair outside if I wanted. The rest of the group seemed rather keen for me to fully test this out and sit in the courtyard by myself. I appreciated their keenness to help me avoid any further reviewing errors but was happy to accept a theoretic outdoor seating possibility and decided to stay in the warmth so they could enjoy my company.

As before the cake selection was excellent and it was very difficult to make a choice. There were 3 different root vegtable based cakes alone (carrot, beetroot and chocolate, and parsnip and ginger). Collectively we went for beetroot and chocolate cake, carrot cake and a honeycomb type cheesecake thing. A very high effective cake selection (ECS) score was awarded. 

Cakes and coffees ready for rating. All were exceptional

In terms of drinks we had hot chocolate, skinny mocha and lattes. Everyone thought their drinks were very good and I can't remember having a better hot chocolate. As for the cakes they were superb and all got an unprecedented 9.5 out of 10. 

Tabnabs tearoom had not disappointed the sportive crew and improved its ratings further and I look forward to my next visit. 

Despite getting my 3rd puncture on the way home the sportive was a great success and hopefully we will have even more riders for the next one at the end of the month.

Ratings for Tabnabs tearoom based on last 3 visits of 4

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.50	8.67	8.585	8.83	7	8.32

Map of route

Download GPX file of route to load onto a GPS 28 mile Norwich - Mattishall loop