Blustery (The Apiary Cake and Coffee House, Harleston)

The Apiary Cake and Coffee House,

Harleston,

Opening times Mon-Sat 08:30-16:30 

The weather forecast suggested that wind might be an issue today but this warning was quickly forgotten as I looked up to a clear blue Norfolk sky during preparation for todays cafe cycle ride. It looked like perfect conditions to me.

Blue sky like the one above Norfolk today

I was to be joined by Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) as today's cycling guest for a ride down to The Apiary Cake and Coffee House in Harleston which was a new cafe I had heard about.

As we set off Andrew told me he had already been on a ride this week and gone to his current favourite cafe, the highly rated Black Apollo, which can be found, not surprisingly, in Holt. Whilst there he had had a nice chat with Mrs Apollo which caused her to ask why he was notoriously hard to please. He claimed not to know the reason but if she had spent the morning with me listening to him rant on a serious of obscure topics she would have soon known.

With some wind assistance, and plenty of hot air, we soon arrived at Harleston and found The Apiary Cake and Coffee House on the high street. Andrew took some time taking the cafe photo as there was a lot of traffic, both motorised and pedestrian, that got in the way and he was not pleased.

Eventual photo from today's stop

The Apiary Cake and Coffee House had some cleverly designed outdoor seats but due to the wind we felt it would be safer to go inside. The decor obviously had a bee and honey theme because as everyone knows an apiary is a collection of beehives (at least thats what google said). 

I headed to the counter to check out the cake selection and it looked a good one. I was also pleased to see sausage rolls available, which I would check out later on my search for sausage roll of the year #SROTY.

Good cake selection

To keep with the bee theme I choose to have some honey and cherry cake with my hot chocolate. Andrew was less on message and must have thought the cafe was called 'The Warren' as he opted for carrot cake and a cappuccino.

Cakes and drinks, one on message one not

My hot chocolate was nice but could have been hotter while Andrews cappuccino was hot but could have been nicer once again showing how notoriously hard to please he is, especially when it comes to coffee. 

On the way home not only were we now into the wind but it had picked up in strength as well. This made it a real struggle and at times we seemed to be pedaling to stand still. I took a photo to show how strong the wind was although in hindsight, the wind can't really be seen, what with it being invisible. 

Just look at the strength of the wind

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.25	5.5	7.5	6	6	6.45

Map of route

Click here to down load 43 mile Norwich Harleston loop GPX file for your GPS