Finding best cafe across Great Britain (literally) and Sportive 14 (Hen House Wymodham).

Sportive 14,

Hen House,

Wymondham,

Tue-Sat 10:00-2:00,

Highly Recommended

I have two big Cafe Cycle challenges coming up in August and September 2015. The first is my attempt to find the best cafe (or Tearoom/shop) across Great Britain (literally) which will be followed in September by my world record attempt to visit 20 cafes in one day on a calorie neutral bike ride but more on that one another day.

My approach to finding the best cafe across Great Britain (literally) is simple. I will attempt to cycle across the widest part of our island (St David's lifeboat station in Wales to Lowestoft Lifeboat Station) over a week and stop to review some cafes on the way in order to crown the best one. The route is a little under 500 miles (subject to getting lost) and I hope to find 10-15 cafes or tearooms/shops to visit during the trip.

As I will be following my normal UK cycle cafe rules I will need to pack a cycling guest to review the guest hot drink. As it is quite a long way I have decided I need a back up cycling guest as well in case of issues so Big George and Dom (old school cyclist) have kindly agreed to fulfil the cycling guest role for the ride.

We will be setting off on Monday 17th August 2015 by train to Haverfordwest for a 22 mile prologue stage out to St David's lifeboat station before the first proper 90 mile stage through the welsh mountains to Swansea the next day. I'm sure that cafes and tearooms are, probably, nervously preparing to put themselves to the test so it should be an exciting week.

As part of my preparation, on Saturday, I organised the Cake Crusaders 14th Sportive in order to check up on how Dom's training was going.

A field of 8 gathered at Race HQ for normally pre ride faffing about including two newbies Mick and Andy on their shiny newish bikes. However Mick blotted his copy book straight away by claiming he had picked up a puncture en-route which needed to be fixed before we could set off. 

New Boy Mick looking far too happy about his pre ride puncture

The ride was delayed further as as the puncture had happened before we set off I needed time to decide if this counted as a guest puncture or not. After much deliberation I ruled that it would not and could put my cycle ride data spreadsheet away un-updated and line up for the pre Sportive photo.

Riders shambolically lining up for the ride

The route was a 36 mile loop through Attleborough with a stop at old favourite the Hen House near Wymondham.

I asked team doctor Dr Hans to carefully monitor Dom to check for any potential weakness. He gave him a quick glance and said if he took a few of his special pills he would be fine. The only drama on the ride was an official guest puncture, courtesy of team doctor Dr Hans. When we arrived at the Hen House everyone was in need of a refreshing drink on a hot day but I obviously insisted they all had a hot drink to make sure standards were still being maintained at one of my top10 cafe locations. 

Dr Hans having his puncture repaired

There was not a large selection of cakes available today but everyone thought the orange cake, macaroons and cheese scones (sadly served cold) where top drawer. I enjoyed my scone so much I have added it to the contenders for cheese scone of the year.

Excellent cakes and drinks as always

The whole Peleton, who had mainly not been to the Hen House before, agreed it was a worthy top 10 venue and Andy even brought some eggs, although I'm not sure if he got them home safely in his tiny saddle bag.

Peleton enjoying the Hen House

I was pleased to see Dom preformed well throughout which gives me some confidence he will at least complete the 22 mile prologue on the across Great Britain trip. Although Dr Hans has given my a good supply of his special pills just in case.

To find out if we ever did find the best cafe across Great Britain go to Day1

Map of route we took.

Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS

Mind the gap. (The Coffee lounge, Attleborough)

The Coffee Lounge,

Attleborough,

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

Sat 08:30-16:00

Recommended 

Looking at the cafe locations map there is an obvious gap to the South West of Norwich. With the wind blowing from that direction then yesterday was the day to start plugging that gap. It was also the last Friday that Big George could be a guest for a month so it was an ideal one stone, two dead birds sort of day. I therefore decided we should head to the wilds of Attleborough where we would hopefully find a cafe to review.

The weather forecast said that the remains of the weather bomb would pass over this morning but that it would still be windy and cold. 

The disadvantage of a strong headwind is that not only does it slow you down but you cant hear what your cycling guest might be saying. This headwind, combined with Big George's strong Scottish accent meant I had no idea what he was waffling on about so I just shouted yes a lot as we rode along.

Unfortunately I did not learn from my previous overheating experience and despite heading into the wind I had soon over heated again and needed a hot top stop. During the hot top stop I was able to ask Big George for today's cycling guest top cycling tip. He told me it covers riding efficiency.

Cycling guests top cycling tip No. 6. Get more from your core. Shorten your stem, relax your shoulders and engage your core for a more efficient riding position.

It was the first top tip that comes with a strap line (Get more from your core) so I'm hoping that future cycling guests will now start to include strap lines with their top tips.

We battled on into the wind until we arrived  in Attleborough where we found the Coffee Lounge on the high street.

Outside the coffee Lounge.
We parked bikes by the sign making it clear we could only leave them there two hours (or is that cars)

Outside was possible the smallest outside seating area I have found to date, 2 chairs and a table on the pavement. We decided not to use it as we would be likely to block the pavement and cause total gridlock on the street's of Attleborough.

Rather small outside seating area on the busy high street

The Coffee Lounge provides both a front and back room inside seating area which were both busy giving a good buzz to the atmosphere. We managed to find a table by the drinks fridge before studying the cake selection.

There was a very good selection of big cakes available and I found it hard to chose so gave a very high effective cake selection (ECS) rating.

Good selection of cakes in photo proof display unit

With such a good cake selection I was disappointed when Big George decided to have a bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce). As a bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce) is clearly not a cake then Big George would take no further part in any cake related reviewing today. He ordered a Latte to go with his bacon sandwich (on white, no sauce).

Cakes and drinks photographed before
Big George's Bacon sandwich (white, no sauce) arrived.

My hot chocolate was a very very hot drink but when it had cooled enough for me to drink it was quite good. Big George also though his Latte was quite good. For my cake I had chosen the last slice of layer sparkle sponge but I couldn't decide if I really liked it or not. I liked the cake bit but not the sparkly bits on the icing. In the end there was only one thing to do; award a middling cake taste quality (CTQ) score to cover both options.

Overall I liked the Coffee Lounge and it has nicely filled the cafe gap on my locations map opening up more route options in a south westerly direction.

The way back was with wind behind so I could now make out what Big George was talking to me about. I decided I preferred it when we were cycling into the wind.

Ratings 

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	6.5	8.0	6.5	6.25	6.75

Map of route we took.

Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS

Cake Crusader Sportive 3. (36 Miles via the Hen House Wymondham)

Sportive 3,

Hen House,

Wymondham,

Tue-Sat 10:00-2:00,

Highly Recommended

Today saw the 3rd Cake Crusader Sportive. A nice day attracted 8 people to Race HQ for registration with two more joining on route. The route would be a 36 mile trip down to Old Buckingham, returning via Attleborough and Wymondham. Today's stop would be at the Hen House cafe (see Eggcellent find), currently rated in my top 10 cafes and tearooms. Hopefully it will live up to its previous positive comments and cope with a large group of cyclists.

Registered sportive cyclists about to set off from race HQ.

Sportive newbies Rachel and Steve had asked for a slightly shorter route as they had been off their bikes for a while. Demonstrating the flexibility of a Cake Crusader Sportive it was agreed they could meet the group at Hethel and leave again after the cafe stop thus eliminating the need to come to Race HQ and also knock a few miles off the route.

Flexible sportive riders waiting for remaining entrants to join the peloton

The ride went smoothly for the first few miles but then Rachel's lack of practice caught up with her and she started to flag. Unfortunately due to a miscommunication she believed we were going the other way round the route. i.e. 5 miles to cafe stop for her then 25 miles home for everyone else not the other way round. Fortunately Chris (Mrs Crusader) solved the problem by offering to share her drink and lying about how much further it was to the Hen House Cafe. This worked for a few miles until the lies wore off as the miles clocked up. 

The Peleton charging towards Old Buckingham
whilst convincing Rachel we were nearly at the Hen House Cafe

Like all good cycle groups we then each took our turn at lying to Rachel, with a continually more convincing 'we really are nearly there now' honest', until we safely arrived at the Hen House cafe. At this point Rachel sent husband Steve cycling home to pick up the car so Rachel could complete the journey in comfort, and have coffee and cake with the rest of the group.

Outside Hen House Cafe

On arrival I went to see if there was a wider selection of cakes than last time and was pleased to see there was. They were now not only in the box on the blue welsh dresser display unit but the counter as well.

3 varieties of cake in the box on the blue Welsh dresser display unit.

We had caused a bit of a queue at the counter and the barista serving explained she was new and only just getting up to speed with the coffee machine so it took a little time for all the sportive (except Steve as he was still fetching the car) to be served.

As well as a table inside, The Hen House Cafe provides an outdoor shed based seating area for you to sit in. Unfortunately all the sheds were in use so we used the outside picnic bench seating section instead, which was very pleasant.

The full sportive (except Steve) in the outdoor picnic bench seating area

Cafe rating had never been done on this scale before. To make matters worse I had to apply the "first time reviewer''s" coefficient to a number of the party plus include the 'notoriously hard to please Andrew' (NHTPA) factor, to come up with the right algorithm for rating the guest drink. The conclusion was that the coffees were good but needed to be a bit stronger. 

Drinks, cakes and macaroons on a tiny tray ready for reviewing

The cakes also proved hard to agree on as the orange and lemon cake was very good, the macaroons superb but the coffee, walnut and cardamom cake was not such a success. We all decided there was no place for cardamom in a sponge cake (except the banana and cardamom cake I had last time I was here which was very nice). Despite this the cakes were still rated highly.

Overall The Hen House moved its rating up very slightly and we all agreed it was a very nice stop, I only hope they will be able to cope with their growing popularity.

The ride home went smoothly and I believe Steve successfully rescued Rachel in their support car. 

Ratings of Hen House cafe based on two visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.25	8.25	6	7.75	8.75	7.80

Todays route

View 36 miles Norwich Attleborough loop in a larger map

Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS 

Eggcellent find. (Hen House Cafe, Wymondham)

Hen House Cafe,

Wymondham,

Tue-Sat 10:00-2:00,

Highly Recommended

After returning from running the Barcelona Marathon at the weekend I was still having difficulty walking as I hopped on to my bike for some cafe cycle reviewing.  On my previous running race (the Wymondham 20 mile) I had noticed a sign for the Hen House Cafe which I had not spotted before. It looked interesting so I decided it would be worth a visit at the next suitable opportunity. 

So with achy thighs I gingerly set off with today's cycling guest Chris (wife). There was a strong south easterly wind so we struggled for the first part of the ride down to Attleborough, which was about half way and usual distance for having a stop. Unfortunately to date I haven't found or been recommended a good cafe or teashop in the Attleborough region so we cycled straight through. (Note :Since I wrote this I have been to the Coffee Lounge  and Baileys cafe in Attleborough which are both very nice so please ignore the last comment).

Attleborough where I am yet to see or hear of a cafe needing reviewing

With the wind now behind us we made good time on the rest of the ride to the Hen House Cafe which can be found up a little drive off the road near Wymondham Abbey. On arrival it was good to see that there was not only an outdoor seating area but also a shed based seating option (which was a first).

Outside the Hen House Cafe in the outdoor and shed based seating area.

We went inside and immediately came face to face with the cake selection displayed on a blue welsh dresser. There was a small but tempting cake selection plus a fresh batch of coconut and almond macaroons being baked behind the counter. The very friendly owner suggested we try a freshly baked coconut and almond macaroon and were glad we did as they were delicious.

Small but tempting cake selection including freshly
 baked coconut and almond macaroons in the tin.

At the drinks counter I was offered a choice of 4 different hot chocolate options (HCOs). This was a HCO record beating the previous best HCO from any cafe of 3. I went for a double chocolate which was half normal and half white chocolate. Chris opted for a semi skinny mocha.

In terms of cake I went for banana and cardamom and Chris choose the lemon drizzle. The Hen House cafe has a small and cosy indoor seating area but we took our drinks, cakes and macaroons outside so we could pick a shed to try in the outside shed based seating area.

Sitting in one of the shed based seating areas, although
I was slightly uncomfortable with the amount of soft furnishings in a shed.

I found the shed based seating area feature a master stroke as, like all men, there is nothing I like better than pottering about in a shed. My only criticism was that the decor was not quite to my tastes with too many soft furnishings and wall decorations (tea towels, posters etc) and not enough useless mechanical things to tinker with. I would rather have less cushions and more cogs, wheels, bits of string, random length screws, broken power tools etc. I'm not sure Chris necessarily agreed with my view as she was flickering through a magazine about chocolate and curtains from the magazine pile. 

Drinks and cakes (plus a half eaten very tasty macaroon)
 ready for reviewing.

Once settled in our shed we got down to reviewing business and found our drinks were eggtremely good and both got high scores. We also both very much enjoyed our cakes which were properly moist and came in nice big pieces.

Despite the small effective cake selection the Hen House cafe scored eggceptionally well and has gone straight into my top 5 reviewed cafes. It has only been open since October (same as my blog) and I really hope it is a big success (same as my blog) as I'm sure I will be making return visits. 

After a little while we reluctantly left our shed and got back on our bikes. Re-energised with our cake and with wind behind we made it home in an eggtraordinarily good time.

Ratings for the Hen House Cafe based on last 3 visits of many. Last Visited April 2022

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.93	8.00	5.83	8.18	8.67	7.72

Map of route we took.


Click link to download 36 mile Norwich Attleborough loop GPX for your GPS