Sick note. (Art House Cafe, Cromer)

Art House Cafe,

Cromer,

Opening times Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00

Recommended 

You may remember that Mrs Crusader had recently got a new bike. Sadly it still hasn't made it out on to the road as she is yet to find a cycling outfit that matches it's colour. However today looked like being the day that the rubber would finally hit the tarmac as I had arranged a ride with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) to visit Cromer which is one of her favourite destinations.

Unfortunately when we awoke this morning it was a bit rainy. After peering out of the window Mrs Crusader didn't look keen on coming along in these conditions and I was soon presented with a note from her mother saying she had tummy ache and should be let off cycling today. I was a little suspicious but before I could remind her that her mother lived over 200 miles away and had actually died several years ago she had headed back to bed. 

I decided it was best to leave her there while I headed off to meet Andrew at Hard to Please House for the start of the ride.

It was a dull and raining day and after we had cycled for a few miles we were a bit cold and wet. I decided to take a photo to show blog readers the tough conditions I'm prepared to battle through in the search for cake. 

Cold and wet conditions

I looked at the photo and decided it would be better if I was in it, so I passed my phone to Andrew and asked if he could take the picture for me. I got into position and waited to be snapped. Andrew lifted the phone to his eye before turning white as he froze whilst staring at the screen. I asked him what was wrong and he said I had become invisible. This seemed unlikely so I asked him to have another go. He tried again but apparently I was still missing from the screen when he pointed the phone at me. I then realised he was actually looking at the photo I had just taken and hadn't put the phone into camera mode yet, which was a great disappointment as I had always hoped that I had some wizard blood in me.

Cold and wet conditions plus me

We set off again and continued to pedal through the drizzly rain until we arrived at the Art House Cafe in Cromer where we locked our bikes and went inside to the gallery style coffee shop. 

Inside the Art House cafe featuring an Art installation called 'wet cycling old man'

There was a nice selection of cakes so I awarded a good effective cake selection (ECS) mark. Andrew asked if there was any savoury offerings but there was only toasted crumpet with marmite available in that department so he went for a portuguese tart instead. I stayed traditional with my choice of Victoria sponge.

Good cake selection

As this was only a cake and coffee outlet there were no sausage rolls available so I couldn't add to my search for Sausage Roll of the Year or SROTY (pronounced sroty).

We sat by the window surrounded by very pleasant local seaside based art in the driftwood and seagulls corner. Our drinks and cakes soon arrived and were of a high quality leading to good cake and drinks marks. Andrew thought his portuguese tart was nice but wasn't as good as the one he had had on a recent trip to Lisbon, which I think he only said so he could remind me about his recent trip to Lisbon. 

Good quality cakes and drinks

The Art House Cafe was a good stop with nice cakes and drinks and just what we needed to refuel us on such a cold and wet day (unlike the weather you get in Lisbon, I was informed). I recommend a visit, especially for fans of seaside based art.

I was still disappointed not to have a new entry for SROTY but fortunately the rules of the competition say that a sausage roll can come from any establishment that I was either visiting or had previously visited meaning that I was able to pop into the nearby Rocket House cafe to pick a couple of sausage rolls up which I could review when I got home.

Outside Rocket House cafe

It was raining a bit harder on the return trip so we spent most of the time trying not to get wet. Much to Andrews excitement we agreed that our next ride would be to his favourite destination, Holt, where we would not only try a new cafe but hover up the local sausage rolls from all my previously visited cafes there. 

On my return home Mrs Crusader suddenly made a miraculous recovery as she volunteered to help with SROTY judging of the Rocket House cafe's offering.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.25	7.0	6.5	7.0	7.5	7.05

Route

Click here to download 27 mile Alysham Cromer loop GPX file for your gps

Warm hands. (North Lodge Park Tea Rooms, Cromer)

North Lodge Park Tea Rooms,

Cromer,

Opening times Tues-Sun 10:00-16:00,

Highly Recommended 

Back in September Lizzie (barista and baker) wrote to me about the recently opened North Lodge Park community run tea room in Cromer. She promised great cakes and I promised to come on a cycle ride at the earliest possibility. Four months is about as good as my earliest possibility gets so today I drove to Hard to Please House in Alysham to met Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) who would be today's cycling guest.

I had noticed that recently my cycling guests had stopped coming up with any useful Cycling Guests Cycling Top Tips for me to share. I had planned to raise this with Andrew on the ride but before I left to meet him he had texted me an excellent top tip he had stumbled across when preparing for a ride at the weekend.

Cycling Guest Cycling Top Tip No 41. To keep your hands warm on a cold winters day leave your gloves on the Aga for a few minutes before you set off.

Gloves being warmed on Aga

Here is the science behind this tip. Normally it takes a little while for the heat from your hands to warm up your gloves making your fingers cold during the early stages of your ride. This method makes sure the gloves are already warmed inside and your hands heat just keeps them topped up and warm throughout.

WARNING: Cycling Guest Cycling Top Tip No 39 only works for country folk who own a posh Aga cooker. Do not try the tip on your gas hob as this will only set your gloves on fire, make them useless for the forthcoming ride and upset Mrs Crusader.

With his toastie warm hands and my freezing cold ones we soon made it to today's seaside destination. North Lodge Park is just behind the old lifeboat station on Cromer seafront. 

Cromer showing location of  today's tearoom

There is a small outdoor seating area in front of the tea room building which both over look the boating pond. Sadly no one was boating today.

Outside North Loadge Park Tea Rooms

Lizzie (barista and baker) had told me that "We have home baked cakes daily and lemon/sugar, chocolate or cheddar crepes plus a "proper" coffee machine. Plenty of room to park bikes in the park as well."

There was indeed plenty of room for your bikes in the park although I'm not sure why you would want to leave your bike at the far side of the park and then walk back to the tearoom so we locked ours up by the boating pond and went inside to the busy indoor seating area.

As Lizzie (barista and baker) had promised I spied a number of good looking cakes on the counter. I thought it looked a good selection but then spotted another table with some large and excellent looking sponge cakes on it moving the effective cake selection (ECS) rating up to the next level.

They also had flapjack which I would be separately rating as part of my search for Flapjack of the year 2016.

Small part of the excellent cake selection

I chose ginger cake and Andrew the virgin slice from the coffee and walnut sponge to go with his cappuccino.

Once our drinks and cakes arrived I first rated the flapjack against the three T's of flapjack quality (Taste, Texture and Topology) and it scored very highly making it an early contender to qualify for the Flapjack off at the end of the year.

Cakes, flapjack and drinks

Both my hot chocolate and his coffee were reasonably good and warmed us up nicely, however the cake was something else. It was without question the finest ginger cake I have had with the right amount of ginger and a great icing. I was worried that Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) would not like his coffee and walnut sponge but nothing could have been further from the truth as he too thought his cake was superb being nice and moist. It is rare when all cakes and slices perform well on a visit so it was a high 9 out of 10 for cake taste quality (CTQ).

I totted up the scores to find North Lodge Park tea room had made it into my current coveted cafe top 10 and I highly recommend a visit.

I also noticed that it was a community cafe run by volunteers with all profits going into maintaining and improving the park. At only £8.00 for our drinks, cakes and flapjack I'm not sure they are maximising their profit making potential.

Before we left, Andrew asked if he could warm his gloves on their Aga and was puzzled to find that they, like most people, didn't have one. Unfortunately Cycling Guest Cycling Top Tip No 39 therefore didn't help him on the return ride.

As we set off I noticed I had ripped my cycling trousers. This was good as it gave me another cycling shoportunity to go with the order to replace my fire damaged cycling gloves.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.50	6.50	8.50	9.00	8.00	7.70

Route

Click here to download 27 mile Alysham Cromer loop GPX file for your gps