Delays. (Fairland Diner, Wymondham)

Fairland Diner,

Wymondham,

Open Mon - Sat 08:00-18:00,

Sun 10:00 - 14:00

I'm meant to be mainly resting (or tapering as we like to call it) this week in preparation for my Ironman triathlon at the weekend but as it was such a beautiful morning I thought I would sneak in a quick ride and hope that my Ironman training plan didn't notice.

I felt it would probably be best to limit the event to a 25 mile loop via Wymondham and asked today's cycling guest, Big George, to promise to keep things to a leisurely pace, although in his case that shouldn't be a problem.

This is one of my favourite short routes and although you don't go far it still takes you down lots of quiet lanes. see map route map at bottom post.

One of many little lanes covered on route

It had been a day of delay's. First Big George texted me to tell me he had over slept so would be late. I said it was fine but then had to text him back as I had run out of hay-fever pills, on a very hay-fevery sort of day, to delay things further as I had to pop out to buy some more. When we finally set off we saw the traffic jams as people were getting delayed in the Royal Norfolk show traffic. 

Traffic jams on A47 on way to Norfolk show

Fortunately we were not delayed by Royal Norfolk show traffic and laughed at the poor people stuck in the cars while we were out in the sunshine on our way to the Bridewell museum tearoom in Wymondham. 

We arrived into Wymondham with no further delays only to discover we should not have been so quick to laugh at people delayed by the Royal Norfolk show traffic as the Bridewell Museum tearoom was shut due to it being Royal Norfolk show day. Not really sure what the connection is but apparently there is one.

Although I still have a very long list of cafes or tea rooms that need visiting my Ironman training plan would be furious if it discovered I had gone on an even longer ride so we racked our brains for an alternative. Big George remembered that he used to go to the Fairland Diner on his bike rides until he had a falling out over a fried egg sandwich (which was ordered twice, never turned up and then got charged for) and had not returned since. However as he believed they were now under new management he was prepared to lift his lifetime ban for this emergency.

Outside the Fairland Diner

The Fairland Diner was only 2 minutes away and on arrival I was pleased to see there was an outside seating area, which is always a good sign, creating that continental cafe feel. Inside was more cafe than tearoom in style but it was all shiny furniture and the staff were friendly so I felt a reasonable atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) score was appropriate.

You could have been in France with the sunshine and continental style outdoor seating area.
 But we were in Wymondham

The cake selection was rather small with a choice of scones or rocky road as the only qualifying offerings so it had to be a low effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Small cake selection

I ordered hot chocolate, always a good choice in temperatures of 30c plus, and a cheese scone as part of my cheese scone serving temperature research. Big George went for cappuccino and a bacon roll (no sauce), which I thought was high risk after his previous fried egg sandwich incident. We decided to share a piece of the rocky road.

Drinks and cakes 

Our drinks both got top marks for heat and my hot chocolate was a good drink but Big George found his coffee rather on the weak side. I had been offered the option of cheese scone hot or not and obviously went hot. Despite this it only had cheese on top (none inside) and wasn't the best so I was pleasantly surprised when the rocky road turned out to be excellent and was disappointed we hadn't gone for a piece each.

With all the delays experienced so far today it was with much relief when Big George's Bacon sandwich (no sauce) arrived so that another sandwich incident could be avoided and his lifetime ban could be fully revoked.

Big George's Bacon sandwich (no sauce) which is clearly not cake 

All in all the Fairlands Diner had done well, stepping in at short notice while the Bridewell Museum tea ladies sunned themselves at the Royal Norfolk show. 

The short way home was even hotter. When I got back I explained to my triathlon training plan I was just doing some heat acclimatisation ready for the hot temperatures in Germany at the weekend so I think I got away with it.

Ratings

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.50	5.0	3.50	7.0	5.5	5.50

Route

Ckick here to down load 25 mile Norwich Wymondham loop GPX file for your gps.