The Power of Cake (Victorian Tea rooms, Cromer)

Victorian Tearooms,

Cromer,

Opening times Everyday 9:30-16:30,

Recommended 

After the excitement of cycling in the mountains last week it was back to more standard fare with a ride, albeit a long one, solely contained within Norfolk. I was joined for this by today's cycling guest Big George.

We were going to cycle up to Cromer and also pop into an old favourite on the way back to try out some flapjack in my continuing search for flapjack of the year 2016.

Things didn't start well as on the way to meeting up with BIg George my chain snapped. This was surprising, as after putting it under maximum strain on the way up the extremely steep Monte Zoncolan (see my that's steep) last week I was surprised it went on a very flat road in Norwich. Fortunately I had only gone about a mile so was able to push this bike home and select a different one to go on.

When we did set off we were met by a strong head wind. Big George had told me how he had been doing lots of cycle training since we last rode a fortnight ago and was in a perky mood as he kept putting in little sprints meaning I had to work hard to keep up. History has told me that when Big George rides in this way, especially into the wind, it always ends in tears on the way back so I hoped he would be eating plenty of cake today.

Despite the wind we made good time to our target destination of the Victorian Tea Rooms on the edge of Cromer. 

Outside the Victorian Tearooms.

I didn't tell Big George the name of the cafe before hand as when I took him to the excellent Tally Ho (Victorian themed) Tea room near Bungay a couple of years ago the whole experience, especially the use of china cups, had freaked him out (see a matter of taste) as the photo below shows.

Big George being freaked out by using china tea service at the tally ho tea rooms

However he was fine when he saw there were was no one dressed up as Victorians here and inside it had more the feel of a giant beach hut (in a good way) than a Victorian Coffee shop.

Inside the giant beach hut interior, with added teapots

There was also a sizeable out door seating area, which was a bit too windy for us today, so when added to the very friendly staff it led to a good atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) score.

Outside seating area

There was also a good cake selection with all the big 5 (Chocolate, Coffee, Victoria, Lemon and Carrot) available so I awarded a high effective cake selection (ECS) mark.

Excellent cake selection

I ordered chocolate cake plus flapjack (as part of my flapjack of the year 2016 research) with my hot chocolate and Big George a fried egg sandwich with his coffee. As a fried egg sandwich is clearly not cake Big George played no further part in cake based reviewing in the Victorian tea rooms today. I also feared fried egg sandwich would not give the same energy boost as cake and flapjack.

Cakes and drinks (I refused to photo the fried egg sandwich)

Drinks and cakes were all of a good standard with Big George thinking his coffee was particularly nice. The only disappointment was that the flapjack had been served on the serviette rendering it useless. Remember #Keepcake(andflapjackforthatmatter)offserviettes.

Flapjack severed and serviette, it is so wrong!!

Despite the napkin incident the Victorian Tearooms had proved to be a very nice stop and I recommend a visit.

On the way back we had wind behind but even so we still had over half the ride left so I promised Big George we would also pop into his favourite cafe, the community shop in Itteringham This would also give me a chance to try their flapjack. On the way we got to cycle through the National Trust Property of Felbrigg Hall which reminded me that I still need to check out it's tea room some day.

Cycle route through grounds of Felbrig Hall

We arrived at Itteringham and went inside the cafe shop. As it was not an official rating stop I decided to go off piste and have a cup of tea and sausage roll as I had reviewed Itteringham cafe before (See Black Friday) and knew it to be good. When our pot of tea arrived, in a stylish pot, I asked Big George if I should be mother. I then managed to slop the tea all over the table before getting any into the cups. Apparently, unlike mine, Big Georges mother never did this.

Tea for two

This is a lovely community run facility and according to the sign on the wall there had been a shop here since 1637, which is nearly twenty to five! If you ever are passing its really worth popping in

With extra refreshment stop complete and flapjack purchased, for testing later at home, we set off again. 

Flapjack ready for transporting home

I was worried that over our two stops Big George had not taken on board any cake and would therefore be lacking the energy giving powers it offers. Combined with his over enthusiastic start to our ride it came as no surprise when he ran out of puff and even with a strong wind behind the last few miles were a slow affair.

Cycling guest cycling top tip 47. To avoid running out of energy over the last few miles of a cycle ride always have some cake at every cafe stop.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	7.5	7.5	7.0	7.0	7.00

map of route

Click here to download 61 mile Norwich to Cromer loop gpx file for your GPS