Weather warning. (The Sitting Room, Sheringham)

The Sitting Room,

Sheringham,

Opening times Mon-Sat 9:30-5, Sun 9:30-4,

Highly Recommended 

Yesterday morning I waited patiently for Andrew's (who is notoriously hard to please) text to arrive which would call off our planned ride due to the wind, sleet and snow being forecast, but it never arrived. Last time he called off it was on the basis that there might be a light shower (there wasn't). 

When setting off time had arrived and with no text forthcoming I was forced to leave for Hard to Please House in the rain. Maybe it wasn't so bad in Aylsham I thought.

When I arrived (in heavy rain) Andrew claimed he wouldn't dare call off another ride after the stick I gave him last time so with neither of us wanting to be the one to wimp out we were forced to go. The plan remained to head to Sheringham but at least we agreed to go the direct way.

As we left the the heavy rain turned to sleet which turn to hail which turned to snow all within the 12 mile ride to the cafe.

Our destination was The Sitting room which is next to an Art Gallery on the edge of Sheringham town centre.

Outside the Sitting Room

Inside was nicely appointed, although it may also have been because we were pleased to find somewhere dry that we both agreed it deserved a high atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) score.

Good AAA as Andrew attemots to warm up

It was an interesting if not huge cake selection with some posh looking individual cakes available as well as traditional style sponge cakes. I went for cranberry and orange cake but Andrew went for a croissant which doesn't count as a cake (although keen followers of Cake Crusader rules know that it would before 9.00am).

Cake selection including croissants which aren't cakes

We squelched over to our seats to warm up. Andrew liked his cappuccino and croissant but my hot chocolate was much more what was required on a day like this and was excellent. The real bits of grated chocolate on the top were a nice touch. My cake was also very nice so good refreshment marks all round.

Excellent refreshments espically the hot chocolate

The sitting room had turned out to be a very good stop on such a wintery day and I highly recommend a visit.

We were not keen to leave but then the waitress suggested that we go. She was not being rude but said a storm was on it's way so felt we needed to make most of the current lull. As coastal folk know about these things we dashed back to our bikes and set off in the dry. At least, that is, until we got to the top of the road when the rain and snow started again and we got very cold and wet on our return to Hard to Please House. 

Arctic conditions as we set off from the Sitting Room

Cycling guest cycling top tip No. 64. To avoid getting frostbite and hypothermia on your cafe cycle ride be prepared to postpone it when arctic conditions are forecast.

Next time I plan to follow Cycling guest cycling top tip No. 64. 

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8	6	6.5	7.82	8.5	7.31

Route

Click here to download 36 mile Aylsham to Sheringham loop Gpx file for your GPS

Stick to the brief (The Black Apollo Coffee House, Holt)

Black Apollo Coffee House,

Holt,

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

Sun 09:00-16:00

Highly Recommended 
Last Visited Oct 2017

After the success of cheese scone of the year 2015 this year I'm searching for flapjack of the year 2016. As well as trying flapjack, whenever I find it on cafe cycle rides, I'm also returning to other places where I know good flapjack can be found. 

As yesterday's ride would be hosted by Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) then a week ago I sent him the brief for this trip. I wanted a 30 mile ride calling in at the Funky Mackerel in Sheringham, to collect some flapjack, and then on to Holt to try out a new cafe, The Black Apollo Coffee House. Simples.

I was therefore a little disappointed when myself and Chris (Mrs Crusader) arrived at Hard to Please House to find that no planning had been undertaken and that Andrew would be "hoping to organically map out a 30 mile ride as we went along". I wasn't convinced this would deliver the outcome I was after and when, on more than one occasion, we looped round in mini circles whilst he decided if left or right was the best option I knew things would not work out as I had requested.

I do have to admit we cycled on some pretty nice roads before arriving in Sheringham where it was good to see the Bunting had been put out to celebrate the collection of the Sheringham flapjack.

Sheringhams flapjack collection bunting

The Funky Mackerel has a sign outside saying it is famous for flapjack and I wasn't disappointed when I saw the large squares of this oat based snack on offer, there were even four varieties to choose from. I purchased some black cherry and apple and raisin for testing at home after the ride.

Outside Funky Mackerel with flapjack successfully purchased

Chris asked if she could have some plain flapjack now as she was a bit peckish. I, of course, provided this although had to put my foot down when she asked for a coffee as well. I nipped the request in the bud by the expert use of sarcasm; "I don't remember seeing two drinks stops on the itinerary" I said.

Unscheduled consumption of flapjack

Flapjack of the year 2016 rules state that the ten cafes with the best pieces of flapjack found during the year will be revisited in December (by bike of course) and flapjack repurchased for a final flapjack off to be held at Crusader Towers. I was pleased my trip had not been wasted as Funky Mackerel's flapjack was excellent and its hard to see how it won't be in the flapjack off.

Funky Mackerel flapjack

However I was soon to find out that there was much more flapjack controversy ahead of us as we set off for the main event at Holt.

When we arrived at the Black Apollo coffee house in Holt High Street we had already clocked up 22 of the 30 miles I had allocated Andrew for the ride so I was more than a little worried he would not be able to deliver to the stated brief.

Outside the Black Apollo Coffee House

We parked our bikes and went inside. Black Apollo focuses on being a proper coffee house with a dark wood interior, there was also a two table outdoor seating area but with sharp showers forecast for the day we chose to sit inside. The staff were incredibly friendly and, for the first time I can remember, we were even introduced to our cup or mug which we would be drinking from today so we could give it our approval. As a result I gave a good atmosphere and ambience (AAA) score.

Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) checking out the coffee info
inside the Black Apollo Coffee House

On the counter was an interesting set of cakes. None of the big 5 sponges but some good alternative offerings of which we choose sticky lemon cake, orange cake and Bakewell tart. As this was Holt there was Granola bar rather than flapjack.

Cake selection

As the Black Apollo Coffee House had lots of coffee based information on display we had high hopes for our drinks which were, in fact, exceeded. My Hot Chocolate had an excellent bitter chocolate taste, like the drink should be, so I awarded a high hot chocolate quality (HCQ) mark. Things got even better when I was offered a top up as there was still some Hot Chocolate left in the Hot Chocolate preparation jug. Andrews Cappuccino and Chris's Mocha also got a big thumbs up and a high guest hot drink quality (GHDQ) rating resulted.

Cakes and drinks in our pre introduced mugs and cups
although it was the first time we had met the plates and saucers

Our cakes were also very good too. Beautifully moist with an excellent flavour. Again high marks, this time in the cake taste quality (CTQ) category. 

The black Apollo coffee shop was a very fine stop with top quality cakes and drinks. It makes it into my current top 10 cafes and I highly recommend a visit. I even got a loyalty card to add to my loyalty card picture library.

As we were leaving Chris queried why I hadn't brought any flapjack. I pointed out it wasn't flapjack but granola bar which was not the same thing at all. Everyone knows that a granola bar has its oats prebaked whereas a flapjack uses rolled oats plus they are spelt differently. She felt this was nonsense and purchased some for testing alongside my funky mackerel flapjack.   

As you can see from the photo I'm clearly right and flapjack and granola bar are quite different so I took no part in this unnecessary tasting (although I'm told it was very tasty).

Granola bar and flapjack which are NOT the same thing

As we left Holt the sky's had began to darken and I wasn't confident we would make it back without a soaking. Andrew was still developing the route and as we passed the the 30 mile point it was clear he would not be hitting the correct distance that I had requested. Round the next corner the cows were starting to sit down and it was therefore no surprise that soon after this the sky's opened and we got a proper soaking.

Cow's starting to sit down ready for the rain

Dead American president (Benjamin Franklin) cycling Top tip no 1. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

If only Andrew had followed dead American president cycling top tip no 1. Then we wouldn't have cycled over 35 miles, we would have got back earlier avoiding the soaking, not missing the start of the England v Wales match and he could have got the washing in. When will he ever learn? 

Scores based on 3 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8..42	9.125	6.69	8.75	7.75	8.15

Route

Click here to download 36 mile Alysham to Sheringham loop Gpx file for your GPS

Flapjack, cake or not cake? (Funky Mackerel Cafe, Sheringham)

Funky Mackerel Cafe,

Sheringham,

Opening times Mon-Sun 10:00-17:00,

Recommended 

Last week I had arranged to go on a ride with Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) from his house in Alysham so we could head up to the North Norfolk coastal area. Unfortunately, just as I was about to set off, I received a text informing me that he had fallen over the day before and was now too stiff to ride (bless). We therefore had to rearrange until today while he loosened up. I had assumed he must have fallen off his bike and had been impressed but it transpired that, due to reasons he was unprepared to share, he had actually tripped over and fallen into a nettle patch getting stung from head to toe, less impressive. The pain, itching and numbness lasted for several days so today would be his first ride he had been on for a couple of weeks.

I had requested we head for Sheringham where I currently had 3 different cafe recommendations from blog readers. However as Andrew was leading the way it came as no surprise that we found ourselves in Holt, again, which you may remember is Andrews destination of choice whenever we ride from his house. He was keen to cafe here but I insisted we continue North to the seaside.

Holt high street which is clearly not the Sheringham destination I had requested

Although Norfolk is famous for being flat it does have a feature called the Cromer ridge which is a steep ridge that runs parallel to the coast. You have to go over this to reach Sheringham. Heading North the climb is long and gentle before a steep decent towards the sea. On leaving Holt we climbed up to the top and then sped down the other side. Andrew was clearly still upset that we had not stopped in Holt so to my surprise, at the next junction, instead of heading along the flat coast road to Sheringham we turned the other way to climb back up another steep section of the ridge. Apparently this was his way of punishing me for insisting we went to the planned destination. At the summit we rode along the top and then back down the hill to Sheringham. As Andrew had been off the bike for a couple of weeks he was knackered so decided I had been 'punished' enough for not stopping at his beloved Holt and was now happy to proceed to our cafe stop.

One of the roads up Cromer ridge, with Andrew in the distance.

We headed straight to the Beach where I had been recommended to try the Funky Mackerel Beach cafe. I was a bit nervous as to date I have never found a good beach caff. I suspect this is because they have a captive audience of holiday makers so your beach caff doesn't have to try very hard and they all seem to have a quantity versus quality approach to catering. However it had been recommended to me by an actual journalist, Kate, who writes about cycling so I had high hopes.

Outside the Funky Mackerel Cafe on the prom at Sheringham

One thing all beach caffs have in common are fantastic seaside views and the Funky Mackerel was no exception. The view from the small outdoor seating breakfast bar area was tremendous even if I couldn't persuade Andrew to sit outside today.

View of sea from outdoor breakfast bar area

Inside was a little strange as it was full of 70 retro clothes and toys. Andrew very much liked the decor and was keen to award a high atmosphere and ambiance score. I wasn't quite as keen but it made a change from plastic tables and cheap beach goods plus with the great view I had to admit it had a good feel.

Inside has a 70's retro feel

As always I went to check out the cake selection which was different from most I have come across. There was: a cookie, which is a biscuit so doesn't count, Eccles cake, which although it has the word cake in it is actually a raisin pie so doesn't count either, carrot cake, which is cake and 5 different types of flapjack, which is barely cake. Fortunately I'm a big fan of flapjack so always count it as part of a cake selection but despite this I couldn't really give a high effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Cake selection featuring 5 types of flapjack

There were also a number of hot chocolates available on the hot chocolate menu board but in these circumstances I always go for standard hot chocolate to maintain cross cafe hot chocolate reviewing consistency. Andrew ordered a cappuccino and we then selected banana and date flap jack, respectively, from the multitude of flap jack options.

Selection of hot choclates available

We chose a seat that took in the view and tried our food and drink.

Sea view from indoor seating area

The hot chocolate was quite good and if my body wasn't such a temple I would have liked to try a specialist hot chocolate but it is so I didn't. I made a note to have one on a future visit when I'm off cake crusader reviewing duties. Still on the drinks front Andrew also thought his cappuccino performed well. 

Drinks and flapjacks

The flapjacks were excellent and I was especially impressed by the consistency as often a flapjack can be either a tooth breaker or crumbles in your hand before it reaches your mouth but these were spot on. We debated if there needed to be a cake taste quality (CTQ) score ceiling (in the same way there is for a guest hot drink cup of tea) as flapjack isn't really cake. We eventually decided there should be so awarded theses the maximum available flapjack score which we set at 8. I have update cycle cafe reviewing rules accordingly with the new flapjack ruling (see there must be rules).

We found it very relaxing as we sat admiring the view whilst enjoying our drinks and flapjacks and could have stayed there all day but blogs don't write themselves so we eventually had to leave.

I thought the Funky Mackerel cafe was a very good stop, especially if you like flapjack, and was the best example of a beach caff I have encountered to date. I will definitely be coming back again.

The return ride meant climbing the Cromer ridge for the 3rd time but as this was clearly wearing out Andrew more than me it forced him to take us the quick way back to Alysham successfully bypassing Holt for once.

Ratings for Funky Mackerel Cafe

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	6.5	5.5	8.0	8.5	7.00

Route

Click here to download 36 mile Alysham to Sheringham loop Gpx file for your GPS