Some like it hot. (Three willows cafe, Bungay)

Willows Cafe,

Bungay,

Under new management since post
See Taining plan for latest review

It was good to be back on traditional Great British cafe cycle reviewing after my week looking for the best cafe or tea room in the whole of Europe. Although the facilities and infrastructure are much better on la continent you can't beat the excitement of being on a narrow country lane when a car zooms round the corner and nearly knocks you off (a bit like today).

So it was with such excitement in mind when I joined up with today's guest, Big George, for a 50 mile ride down to the Three Willows cafe at the Three Willows garden centre just outside Bungay.

Being the hottest day of the year so far, but with a cooling breeze, these were ideal cycling conditions as we set off at speed. Due to my over enthusiasm Big George eventually had to ask me to slow down worried that at this speed we would both (or mainly him) have a heart attack. The time flew past as we discussed our forth coming London to Paris ride. I told him about the training I had done and planned to do and he told me why he hadn't had time to do any training yet. Apparently this was not going to be a problem as even though he was about to go away to Portugal for two weeks there was still plenty of time to fit in lots of training in the week before we go.

Apart from the odd near miss with cars on narrow lanes we soon arrived at the Three Willows Garden centre near Bungay where coincidently there was also the Three Willows Cafe.

Out side Three Willows Cafe.
Big George assured me that for once there was none of his finger in the shot. He was wrong.

There was a very nice outdoor seating area with tables and umbrellas to provide some much needed shade. Inside was more cafe looking but it was too hot to stay indoors on such a lovely day. The cake selection was disappointing as there were just a few cake loafs and scones so I awarded a suitable effective cake selection score (ECS) and chose the banana and cinnamon loaf to accompany my hot chocolate. Big George went for a cappuccino and a cheese and pickle sandwich. As a cheese and pickle sandwich is clearly not a cake he would play no further part in any cake reviewing this day.

The rather sparse looking cake selection.
I imagine cake is less popular on very hot days.

We waited outside in the warm sunshine for our refreshments and continued to plan our Paris trip. Apparently Big George had been doing a lot of research on the internet about routes, surfaces, things to see etc. Just a shame there had not been the same enthusiasm for doing any pre Paris cycle training.

Our drinks arrived and my hot chocolate was very hot. Not the sort of drink you want on such a hot day but this is the sort of sacrifice you have to make as the county's self appointed leading cafe cycle reviewer. However it was one of the best hot chocolates I have had so far in my cafe cycle reviewing. It was very chocolatey and nice and thick. Big George also thought his coffee very good. 

Our drinks which were both really good if inappropriate for a very hot day

Unfortunately the banana and cinnamon cake wasn't as good and a little dry. Although not relevant to the cafe rankings it should be noted that the toastie and sandwich we had for our lunch were both very good. Shame about the cakes because everything else, especially the drinks, make the Three Willows cafe worth a visit.

I tried to encourage Big George to some cycle training cramming on the way home by going extra fast but as he started to fade I started to fear that we might not make it to Paris in time to get our train home on next months trip. 

Next week I set off abroad again to continue my search for the best cafe in the whole of Europe (as long it is fairly near where we are staying).

Ratings for Three Willows Cafe

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
9.5	7.5	5	5.5	6.0	6.70

Map of route

Click here to download 49 mile Norwich Bungay loop GPX file for your GPS