New wheels. (Mere Moments, Diss)

Mere Moments,

Diss,

Opening times Mon-Sat 08:30-16:00,

Recommended 

After returning from Europe I was excited to see that the new wheels I had sent for for my bike had arrived. Ignoring all requests for helping with unpacking or other post holiday related chores I went straight for my tool kit to get the wheels out of the box and on to my bike. Apparently these wheels have been tested in a wind tunnel and go 9 seconds quicker than other wheels over 25 miles. I was therefore keen to try them out so invited today's guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) to join me on a trip to Diss where we would also be able to find a cafe to review.

The ride down went smoothly not just because it was a lovely day with little traffic about but also because of the way my new wheels glided over the road (well I have to tell people that to justify replacing the perfectly good ones I had) so we arrived in Diss in good time.

As we didn't have a cafe in mind I went to tourist information to ask them where I could find a suitable cafe or tearoom. The nice tourist information lady said there was the one next door I had just walked past. As I hadn't spotted it and not wanting to lose face, I agreed, that yes there was that one but I had obviously decided I didn't like the look of it or I wouldn't be in here asking for tourist information, so please tell me about another one.

The nice tourist information lady said there was another one two doors further down. Does it do nice cake I asked. Yes she said. Right I shall head there and I marched confidently out the door with my face still in tact (I think).

The cafe in question was Mere Moments which overlooked Diss's central pond which they call the Mere.

Outside Mere Moments in the European cafe culture based outside seating area

The cafe had a small European cafe culture based outdoor seating area at the front, two rooms of table and chairs inside and an outdoor seating decking area at the back. We were kindly allowed to carry our bikes through the indoor seating areas so we could keep an eye on them while we sat at the back enjoying the view of Diss Mere through the car park

Our table in the decking out door seating area
overlooking the Mere (behind the car park)

With bike security and seating arrangements sorted I went to check out the cakes to award the effective cake selection score (ECS). They were displayed in an elegant glass tower and included 3 nice big sponge cakes. I went for hot chocolate with Victoria sponge and Andrew for a pot of tea and the chocolate cake.

Cake selection in glass tower display unit

As it had been a long time since breakfast I also ordered a Stilton baguette. After placing my order I was expecting the normal question of 'did I want cream on my hot chocolate' so had already got my standard answer of 'no as it comes' prepared and ready to go. However the serving lady asked the wrong question of 'did I want crisps and salad'. Before I had time to react I had blurted out my standard answer. By the time I realised my Stilton baguette would not now have accompaniments it was too late. Again I didn't want to lose face and so explained I had a crisp allergy and had to jealously watch Andrew as he added crisps and salad to his cheese baguette.

Refreshments being guarded by mini penguin chefs 

The hot chocolate was excellent as Mere Momments had got both the hot and chocolate elements of the drink spot on. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) thought his tea was fine but as previously discussed it is hard to get more than a score of 7 for a cup of tea, which this one did.

Both our cakes were also very good and towards the top end of the cake quality scale.

We were told there was a path out the back of the cafe and along the mere which we could take back to the road to save us carrying our bikes though the cafe. However our path was blocked by a herd of wild geese and as neither of us were particularly brave we decided that through the cafe was the safe option.

Gang of extremely frighting looking Geese that only the very brave
 (or the nice little old lady on the table next to us)  would dare go through

Mere Moments was a very nice stop and even Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) agreed it would be worth coming to visit again.

The ride home was a very pleasant ride along some nice country lanes and we clocked up nearly 60 miles. Thanks to my new wheels this meant I got back 21 seconds before he did. Worth every penny.


Scores for Mere Moments

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
9.0	7.0	6.0	8.0	6.0	7.20

Route

Click link to down load 57 mile Diss Loop gpx file to your GPS