Tales from the East. (Bramleys Cafe and Cakery, Norwich)

Bramley’s Café and Cakery,

Norwich,

Wednesday-Sunday 10:00-15:30,

Highly Recommended

It's been a difficult time in the world of cycle cafe riding. Not only has the weather been dreadful but two of my regular cycling guests have been out of the country. One of them, Big George, has been in the Far East for a month but yesterday he was back, the weather set fair and a new cafe was on the agenda so he agreed to join me on a welcome home ride.

I decided to keep it to a fairly short one and was hoping to distract Big George with General Election based chat so I wouldn't have to hear too much about his trip. Unfortunately there was no stopping him as he set forth on a plethora of tales. Sadly I can't pass on any of his amusing stories and anecdotes on as I wasn't actually listening but he seemed to have had a good time.

Our route today went round west of Norwich and as far North as Weston Longville before returning back to Norwich. Unfortunately as well as being very cold then after a few miles it started to rain and before long we were both wet and frozen. Apparently this was worse for Big George as he had got used to the high temperatures he had enjoyed in Vietnam, yabba, yabba, yawn, yawn, zzzzzzzzzz.

While Big George regaled his stories I had entered a cryogenic zen like state so it felt we had got to the cafe in no time at all. We found it, Bramleys Cakery, at Hellesdon Barns near the Marriotts way cycle path.

Cold and wet standing in the outdoor seating area at Bramleys cakery

There was one table in a mini outdoor seating area but despite it being free we decided the heavy rain and our near hypothmic bodies meant inside would be a better option.

Inside had a cosy mountain log cabin feel (minus the mountains) where we selected a suitable table from where to start the drying off and warming up process.

Cosy wood cabin feel to the indoor seating area

The cake selection looked excellent and I had difficulty deciding which one to go for making it a very effective one. In the end I opted for the toffee apple cake and Big George had a cheese scone to go with his Latte. 

Today's extremely effective cake selection

There were also some excellent looking fruit scones which I took away to test out for Fruit Scone of the Year #FSOTY. It will be the final one I check out before deciding which scones to put forward for finals day. I will be announcing the finalists in the next couple of days.

Our drinks and cakes soon arrived and we both thought our drinks were very good and deserved high hots drinks marks. Big George doesn't normally have a milky coffee so was impressed with the latte's strength while my hot chocolate was nice and chocolaty too.

Good hot drinks

I had not come across the word cakery before but according to Professor Google it is a word so I was expecting good things from the cakes. Fortunately I was not disappointed as they were excellent with my toffee apple cake sponge being nice and moist while also featuring real apple and toffee. Big George has an interesting relationship with cheese scones. He often orders one before later remembering he doesn't really like them that much and regretting his choice but today he claimed this was one of the best ones he could remember and had no such regrets.

Excellent cake and scones

Despite being cold and wet then Bramleys Cakery had re motivated us for the rest of our ride and with their excellent drinks and cakes I highly recommend a visit.

Fortunately it was only a short ride across Norwich to the warmth of Crusader Towers. Big George still had time to tell me about the excellent full body massage he had had when in the Far East. Although I was impressed when he described the bending and pummeling he had undergone, especially the bit when the masseur walked up and down his back, he then let himself down badly by confessing he had finished with a cucumber based moisturising facial. It was therefore no surprise when he said he would be getting out the scented candles and having a hot bath once he got home. He did look worried when I said that I was so cold and wet I might join him, until I clarified "in my own bath".

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.7	7.5	8.2	8.5	7.0	7.78

Route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Weston Longville loop gpx file for your gps