Saddle Sore.(Connaught's Coffee House, Attleborough)

Connaught’s Coffee House,

Attleborough,

Open Mon-Fri 8.30-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 10-1,

Highly Recommended

Followers of my Facebook Cake Crusader Page (https://www.facebook.com/Cafecycletour/) will know that I'm about to go cycling crazy over the summer months. I have recently been concentrating on endurance running which sadly involves no cafe stops or cake. But this is about to change. I have a number of recommendations for cafes to visit that I need to follow up on. Then I have another trip on a National cycle route followed by the search for the best cake along the River Danube. If that's not enough, September sees me travel to the French Alps to see if they do better croissants than the Pyrenees offered up last year. There is also the climax to my sofa to sportive project and the continuing hunt for fruit scone of the year #FSOTY. 

But where to start? Well obviously with a ride to Attleborough with Mrs Crusader of course.

At this point you have a choice. If you want to know all about bicycle saddles and seatpost adjustments then read on. If however, like most people, you just want to know if the cafe was any good then I suggest you skip the next couple of paragraphs.

Mrs Crusader had been having saddle issues. The saddle itself is apparently super comfy but if the bike goes over a large bump a saddle rail pops out of the seatpost clamp causing it to slope backwards. On further analysis it became apparent the rails were oversized oval ones whereas the clamp was for a normal round rail. Because there are no standards in the world of seatposts then it's not possible to just replace the clamp so a new seat post had to be purchased.

Despite it being a very fiddly job I was very pleased to have joined the new saddle with the post for its maiden voyage yesterday. However before we had got down the street Mrs Crusader was complaining that the saddle was too far back, and as she only has little arms, could no longer reach the handlebars. So we stopped while undertook the first adjustment of the day. Unfortunately the saddle couldn't be moved far enough to completely rectify the problem so after a few more miles it was time to stop again. I suggested the old trick of turning the post round so it sloped forward meaning the saddle would be further forward too.

One of many seatpost and saddle adjustments to Mrs Crusaders bike on the ride

This meant a longer stop but I was very pleased to successfully make the switch. Although it was a further improvement I was informed that it was still not right. It took a total of six stops until I eventually got approval that the saddle was now back in the correct place. I was relieved to get it sorted today as Mrs Crusader is a key component in my summer cycling plans.

Much later than planned we arrived at Connaught's Coffee House on the outskirts of Attleborough town centre which I had been recommended to go to as the scones were meant to be very good. 

Outside Connaught's Coffee House

After locking our bikes up against the nearby railings we went inside to check out the cake selection. As well as the scones there was the largest chocolate cake I had ever seen. In fact, however tempting, it looked too large for even me to try so I went for the more manageable lime and blueberry cake and Mrs Crusader a fresh cream strawberry sponge cake. It was a fine selection so got a high effective cake selection (ECS) score. 

Cake selection featuring an enormous chocolate cake

We sat down and, expecting congratulations on my saddle adjustment skills, I foolishly asked if the saddle was really ok. Like the Princess in the Princess and the Pea Fairytale would have been if she had a bike then Mrs Crusader told me that it now needed to slope forward by a further one or two degrees to be properly comfy again. So back outside I went to retrieve the saddle seatpost combination from the bike and returned to try and undertake this precision alteration.

Our cakes and drinks arrived and I was very pleased with the hot chocolate offering which had a proper strong chocolate taste and got a deserved high Hot Chocolate Quality (HCQ) mark. Mrs Crusader thought her black Americano was a good one too. As for the cakes they were fabulous, in fact Mrs Crusader felt her strawberry sponge cake could have been the best she had ever had, especially when she discovered the odd piece of white chocolate in it as well.

Todays drinks and half eaten cakes

On adding up the scores it was clear that Connaught's was a top rated cafe and the best I had visited this year so I highly recommend a visit. 

To avoid any further opportunity for future saddle adjustments then I insisted that Mrs Crusader formally signed off the new saddle position as being 100% correct.

With saddle now officially 100% correct and the wind behind we flew back, that is until I noticed that my seat post had not been properly tightened and had slipped down as I sheepishly requested we stop while I adjusted it. 

The focus now moves on to taking my sofa to sportive team on their next two 'training rides' before undertaking a trip from Dover to Norwich on NCR1 so watch this space.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.75	8	7.7	9	6.75	8.04

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

Revisited. (The Nest Egg Cafe, Wymondham)

The Nest Egg Cafe,

Wymondham,

Mon-Sat 9:00-3:30 (closed Wed),

Sun 10:00-3:00

Recommended

After last weeks gales the weather seems to have settled down in time for some cafe cycling opportunities this week. I therefore persuaded Mrs Crusader to join me on a trip to the newly opened Nest Egg cafe in Wymondham.

I have now been doing this blog for over 5 years and in this time this is the 3rd change of ownership (and name) of this cafe. Just after it had opened in its previous incantation (as the Garden tearooms) I took Mrs Crusader there as a treat for forgetting our 25th wedding anniversary the day before (I even bought her a fruit scone and let her try my chocolate cake) see Marital Bliss.This time I needed no such excuse (although I did recently forget our 29th anniversary) as we repeated the route from that trip via Attleborough 

On arrival at the Nest Egg we were pleased to find that they still let you take your bicycle round the back to a secure garden area.

Outside the Nest Egg Cafe

Inside not too much had changed and the library style indoor seating area was still there and was empty so we decided to treat ourselves and sit on  comfy sofas. 

Opted for the comfy sofa library style indoor seating area

Learning from my mistake when I last bought Mrs Crusader here I let her have a fruit scone AND chocolate cake. I went for the coffee cake and also a fruit scone to try out in my fruit scone of the year search #FSOTY.

Todays cakes and drinks

The cakes were proper homemade ones and very good. My hot chocolate was of Cadburys type so didn't score too well but Mrs Crusaders black americano coffee was a good solid effort. The scones were the largest and tastiest to date this year, if a bit on the crumbly side.

Excellent fruit scone

After totting up the scores then the Nest Egg Cafe had scored 0.1 higher than its predecessor so if you liked the Garden Tea rooms you should like here as well, by 0.1 more in fact.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5	7	6.1	7.87	7.2	6.63

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

Where are the Cake Based Bargains? (Four Seasons Coffee Shop, Wymondham)

Four Seasons Coffee Shop,

Wymondham,

Opening times Mon-Sat 09:00-16:00, Sun 10:00-15:00,

Recommended 

Todays cycling guest, Big George, nearly always introduces a time constraint on our rides, normally for urgent housework, which results in having to cycle to a strict deadline that inevitably leads to panic towards the end of a trip. However today he had managed to have his urgent appointment, this time the dentist, before we set off so we would not be leaving until mid morning. To avoid any issues from the short daylight hours I had opted for a quick ride to the newly opened Four Seasons Coffee shop at the Wymondham garden centre.

As I waited patiently for Big George to appear I received one of his normal excuses texts to inform me that the dentist was running 15 minutes and therefore so was he. After a further hour I was beginning to worry that something had cropped up as there was still no sign of him. It is not uncommon for some urgent hoovering or dusting to distract him, but when he did eventually arrive he blamed the traffic although there was a tell tale smell of Mr Sheen in the air.

Today was also Black Friday, despite the sun being out and a clear blue sky, so I was hoping for some excellent cake based bargains (CBBs) on this special day. I worried in case there would be ugly scenes at Wymondham Garden centre as people battle for the last piece of Victoria sponge on special offer, although I felt that with Big George delaying our start all the best CBB's would have gone anyway. 

As it was a shortish ride and we had the wind with us most of the way we made good progress to our target destination

outside Wymondham Garden centre wher the Four Seasons cafe can be found

The four seasons coffee shop is not only a nice cafe but has an educational name as well helping you remember how many seasons there are during the year. By the look of things at the Wymondham garden centre one of the years longest seasons is Christmas. Most of the indoor area was dedicated to it and it took all my powers of persuasion to get Big George past Mechanical Santa who was currently reading a story. I promised to give him a sweet if he came straight to the coffee shop and handed over a humbug from my pocket.

Mechanical Santa reading a story to an empty audience

The Four Seasons coffee house is located on the side of the garden centre but only has an indoor seating area although I suspect they may have outdoor seating in the three warmer seasons.

As I suspected we had arrived too late in the day and must have missed any CBBs that may have been available as there was no sign of any special offers however there was an excellent cake selections with some exciting looking offerings so I awarded a high effective cake selection (ECS) score. 

Very good cake selection

I choose Walnut Latte cake as I didn't know that Walnut Latte was a thing until now. Big George had an americano coffee and a scone. In the queue he told me he couldn't decide between cheese or fruit scone but then out of left field at the last second went for the cherry ones.

Our food and drinks soon arrived and were a mixed bunch. All of it good but my hot chocolate was a bit too weak for top marks and we didn't get the hit of cherry we were expecting from the scone. However Big George thought his coffee was top notch as I did with my cake. As an aside the sausage roll and cheese sandwich we had for our lunch were both excellent although as a sausage roll and cheese sandwich are clearly not cake they played no part in the overall cafe rating.

Cakes and drinks

The Four Seasons coffee house was a very good stop especially if you wanted some lunch or christmas decorations as well, so I recommend a visit.

As we left I craftily went a different way out of the shop so that Big George wouldn't be distracted by Mechanical Santa and we set off back home. This time we were into a strong wind which fortunately meant I couldn't really hear anything as Big George shared news of his Black Friday Vacuum cleaner research.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	8.0	7.5	8.0	6.0	7.10

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

What no rain. (Marchelles, Wymondham)

Marchelles,

Wymondham,

Opening times Mon-Sat from 09:30-16:00

It was raining heavily when Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) arrived at Crusader Towers for today's potential cafe cycle ride. I was already changed and ready to go but he was still in his civvies and wanted to know if we were still going as he had just had his hair done and didn't want to mess it up.

Speaking as a man with virtual no hair I didn't understand what the problem was and anyway my weather app, Inaccuweather, assured me there was a dry window for the next 2 to 3 hours. He reluctantly agreed and dashed to the car to retrieve his cycle kit while trying to avoid getting his hair wet.

Cycling guest top cycling tip no 52. If you want to avoid being forced to go on a cycle ride in the rain (and potential mess up your new hair do) then send a text saying you are not coming as once you turn up in person you will be going.

By the time he was changed and had stopped faffing about then, as predicted, it had stopped raining and we set off to Wymondham via Attleborough. Despite it being a dark threatening sky the rain stayed away and we made it to Marchelles in Wymondham still dry.

Outside Marchelles by the outdoor seating area

There were a couple of tables available in the outdoor seating alley area but despite my no rain prediction we decided to play it safe and sit in the dimly lit indoor seating area. 

I checked the cakes on the counter which was a rather small section although on further questioning there was also some carrot and lemon cake available but not out on display, which was a shame as they were probably good looking cakes. With the inclusion of these cakes I awarded a reasonable effective cake selection (ECS) mark.

Cake selection minus the two missing ones in the kitchen

I ordered the as yet unseen carrot cake and Andrew chocolate cake to go with his cappuccino. Our drinks arrived first and were both reasonable offerings.

Reasonable drinks

Our cakes then arrived. Mine on an oval plate but Andrew's chocolate cake had come on a triangular plate. 

Cakes arrived on different shaped plates

This was fine when his cake was placed on it in its upright triangle slice way up. However when placed on its side then elementary geometry teaches us that the cake now becomes rectangular and will therefore no longer fit on a triangular plate. 

Chocolate cake the way it fits on the plate

Andrew was frozen with indecision and just stared at his cake for some time unable to decide how to over come his geometric challenge. In the end I took the the plunge for him and pushed it over knocking the ill fitting piece off which, fortunately, he caught on his fork before it hit the table and the issue was averted. 

Cake no longer fitting on plate when on its side

I now had yet another cake serving challenge (CSC) to add to the list of such issues that I keep a log of (ref CSC 7.2.1). Obviously CSC 7.2.1 pales into insignificance when compared with the #keepcakeoffserviettes problem which fortunately wasn't in play here.

Despite the presence of CSC 7.2.1 the cakes were actually really, really good; moist and nicely iced, and we both agreed they should get a very high cake taste quality (CTQ) mark.

All in all Marchelles proved a good solid stop with decent drinks and very good cake, if only a small selection of it.

As we had covered most of the route on the way out and it still wasn't raining, I was confident we would get home dry, which we did. However as Andrew loaded his bike back into his car ready for the return trip to Hard to Please House he complained about how dirty his bike now was and would need to decide if to wash it before his next ride. It was turning into a very stressful, if dry, day for him. 

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	6.0	5.0	8.25	6.0	6.25

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS

Result. (The Courtyard Tearoom, Attleborough)

Courtyard Tearoom,

Attleborough,

Opening times Mon-Sat 08:00-17:00,

Sun 09:00-15:00

Recommended

August has proved to be a frustrating month for this cafe cycle reviewer. I had wanted to make the most of my recent media exposure by doing lots of new rides in order to follow up on the numerous cafe recommendations I have been receiving. This plan has been foiled by first a family holiday (where I was only allowed to go on a bike ride twice!), and now a lack of availability of anyone from my panel of cycling guests. To add to the stress next week is the start of my 500 mile journey from the Welsh coast to East coast (in order to find the best cafe anywhere across Great Britain, literally) and I need to put in some extra cycling miles to get in shape.

Seeing first hand how the lack of cycling was impacting my performance level as both a husband and father then Chris (Mrs Crusader) agreed to step in, at short notice, to be today's cycling guest. The one caveat was that due to an urgent haircut appointment she was only available for a morning trip. Fortunately my mother had recently given me a cutting from the local paper about a new cafe that had opened in Attleborough and as this is about a 30 mile round trip it would work perfectly.

I decided to also use it as an opportunity to test out my luggage strategy for next weeks trip so put all the potential panniers I would be taking, albeit empty, on to the bike.

Bike with empty bags

Under grey sky's and with some drizzle in the air we set off. To add to the drama it was also A'level results day so our route down to Attleborough was interspersed with numerous stops to check the latest texts as we heard the results of our own, friends and families children. 

Fortunately we only seemed to know (or hear from) parents of clever children so arrived in Attleborough with only good news as we went in search of the newly opened Courtyard Tearoom which we found down a wide alley off the high street. If you do a search on Google then you will find numerous Courtyard tearooms and cafes however I can't find a single establishment named Wide Alley Tearoom so maybe they have missed a trick here.

The wide alley was plenty wide enough for a good sized outside seating area so, despite the rain in the air, we decided we would sit out. Inside there are a similar number of neat wooden tables and chairs plus a comfy sofa. 

In the outdoor seating area of The Courtyard Tearoom

As always I first had to check out the cakes to award the effective cake selection (ECS) rating which I was glad to see had all the key requirements that a cake selection needs. There were proper sponge cakes covering all the classics (chocolate, lemon, carrot, coffee and victoria) plus brownies, muffins and scones (cheese and fruit). So a very good performing ECS. 

Very solid classic cake selection

Instead of a standard cheese scone Mrs Courtyard gave me the sell for a savoury cream tea, which was a cheese scone with cream cheese and chutney, plus hot drink, served on fancy plates. As a lover of good marketing I went for one of these plus some chocolate cake and a white hot chocolate as my drink. Chris went Mocha and lemon drizzle.

I suspected that Mr and Mrs Courtyard were familiar with my cafe reviewing work, especially when I started to randomly photograph cakes, plates, chairs etc but they seemed happy enough to humour me in my pursuit. I clearly haven't reached  Egon Ronay status yet.

Drinks and food including savoury cream tea on fancy plates

The scone (correctly warmed) was very nice and I have added it to possible contenders for cheese scone of the year. In terms of drinks my white hot chocolate was good but Chris would have preferred her Mocha quite a bit stronger. Both our cakes were very tasty and moist giving them a high cake taste quality (CTQ) score.

While we were enjoying our food and drinks Mr Courtyard explained why there were brightly coloured bikes dotted around Attleborough. Apparently the tour of Britain was coming to town soon so Attleborough had put together their very own dragon style trail (like in Norwich) only with less dragon and more bike. The Courtyard Tearoom bike example looked very good although I immediacy noted the tyres needed more air, the saddle should be higher and a bit less cutlery in the tyres would make it go faster.

Courtyard cafe tour of Britain bike

We enjoyed our visit to the Courtyard tearoom and wish them every success with their new venture. As an added bonus I took a courtyard tearoom loyalty card to add to my loyalty card picture library collection and it immediately set a new stamps per free drink (SPFD) record requiring only 5 SPFD and thus beating the previous record of 6 SPFD held by the Brown Sugar cafe in Long Stratton.

Despite the way home being into the wind and more stops to check texts about more clever children getting into university we made it back with 15 minutes to spare before haircut time. I was also happy that my luggage carrying strategy for next week had worked well, even if it was all empty, so confidence is now high for another successful mission.

Scores based on 2 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.25	6	6.75	8.00	6.75	6.75

Map of route

Click here to download 31 mile Norwich Attleborough loop gpx file for your GPS