Layering. (Old Hall Farm, Woodton)

Old Hall Farm,

Woodton,

Everyday 09:00-17:30,

Highly Recommended

Yesterday I continued my mission to try and get 250 visited and reviewed cafe on my locations map. Unfortunately the last couple of weeks have gone badly as it has been too cold and wet to visit any new ones and as part of my ongoing cafe audit I had found some more closed down cafes that I have had to remove from the map. My mother did say she had recently heard of a new cafe but on further questioning it transpired it was from reading my last blog post so didn't really help take my mission forward. 

However the good news was that although yesterday was rather cold the roads were frost free and there was no rain so I was able to arrange a trip. I was joined by Mrs Crusader, regular cycling guest Alastair and renowned trouble maker Jenny on a ride down to Old Hall Farm near Woodton.

Due to a poorly arranged dental appointment then renowned trouble maker Jenny could only cycle for an hour before she would have to return home. After an hour we were only 3 miles from the target cafe but she decided not to risk being late and to avoid causing trouble at the dentist she turned round as the rest of us continued for the last few miles to the farm.

The cafe is part of diary complex selling milk based products although we didn't get to see any cows today.

Outside Old Hall farm but no sign of any cows

There is an outdoor patio seating area be we opted for an indoor window seat with lovely views across the fields. The decor inside is rather functional in nature and not particularly bovine themed but still very pleasant on a cold day.

The indoor seating area in action

There was a good cake selection with the biggest, creamiest victoria sponge I've ever seen but none of us stepped up to the monster cake challenge as I went for carrot cake, Mrs Crusader had a Brownie and Alastair Cherry and Chocolate Cheesecake. (Note: Despite having the word cake in it I struggle to think of cheesecake as proper cake so his input would not have a big influence on today's cake taste mark). 

A fine cake selection featuring a huge Victoria Sponge

As well as the excellent looking cake selection there were fruits scones available which I took away for taste testing in my secret underground bicycle worksop back at Crusader Towers (Note they were extremely nice and could yet make it into fruit scone of the year finals day at the end of the month).

Mrs Crusader had a very nice americano, Alastair found it hard to find anything bad about his flat white so a high guest drinks score was awarded. I was initially delighted to see my hot chocolate was twice as big as their coffees but as a result it was a little on the weak side although still a good offering. The cakes were right up at the top end of my cake rating continuum even if Mrs Crusader thought her triple chocolate brownie was too chocolatey. As being too chocolaty is not a real thing I ignored her input.

Great cakes and drinks including my supersized hot chocolate

All in all Old Hall Farm cafe had really delivered on the refreshments front and the staff were very helpful and friendly too so I highly recommend a visit.

On the way back my cycling guests spent a lot of time stopping and faffing as layers started to come off as the temperature warmed up. This lead to today's Cycling Guest cycling top tip.

Cycling Guest Cycling Top Tip No. 71. To avoid spending your winter cycle ride putting on or taking off layers, whilst annoying your cycling host, then just wear a really good base layer and winter cycle jacket as with modern fabric technology this will regulate your temperature much more effectively. (Multi layering is so old school).

As I had followed cycling guest cycling top tip No. 71 I was toasty warm, without overheating, for the whole ride back home.

Scores based on 2 ratings

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	8	7.5	8.3	7.0	7.86

Map of route

Click on link to download 31 mile Norwich Hedenham loop GPX file for your GPS