Back to business. (Natural Surroundings, Glandford)

Natural Surroundings,

Glandford,

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

Recommended 

It had been a long time since I had been able to get back to business and review a new venue on a cafe cycle ride. I had been thwarted by a lack of cycling guests, poor weather and the limitations of cafe Christmas opening times. Fortunately, all these things were in alignment today so I just needed to decide where to go.

A friend Jeremy (Eco Warrior) had suggested I go to Natural Surroundings in Glandford near Holt which had a cafe at the entrance to the wildlife gardens based there. I believe this is the sort of place Eco Warriors like to hang out at so was interested to see what it was like. 

To make the ride more doable on a winters day, I had arranged to meet up at Hard to Please House in Aylsham with today's Cycling guest, Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) as it was a lot nearer to Glandford than my house.

As we set off on the route it was clear that Andrew was in one of his most hard to please moods as he claimed he had been to Natural Surroundings 20 years ago and didn't remember the cafe serving good coffee.

It was only a 16 mile ride out to the cafe but it took sometime as we were cycling into a strong wind. This made any conversations hard to hear which had Andrew in an even crosser mood as he had to repeat many of his rants to make sure I had heard them properly.

When we arrived at Natural Surroundings Andrew took one look at the cafe and had to admit the reason he didn't remember the cafe serving good coffee on his last visit was because, in hindsight, he didn't remember there being a cafe there so had never actually had a drink in it.

Outside the Natural Surroundings Cafe which wasn't here
 last time Andrew thought he had a coffee there

The cafe is surrounded by woodland and its wooden construction slots nicely into the natural surroundings (see what I did there). There is a one bench outdoor seating area but we opted to go inside where sadly we didn't spot any Eco Warriors unless they were disguised as members of the public.

Outdoor seating areas with birdfeeders fully stocked

I went to check out the cakes at the counter, there seemed to be a bias towards scones, flapjack and slices but there was still a couple of good looking sponge cakes so I awarded a reasonable effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Cake selection with sausage rolls at the front

Normally the presence of a sausage roll would pass me by but since announcing that this year I would be searching for sausage roll of the year 2017 I was excited to be testing the first contestant.

I have to admit that I have opened up a schism in the cafe cycle ride with the controversial choice of sausage roll as thing of the year. Admittedly sausage roll is clearly not cake and will continue to play no part in cycle cafe rating but be a completely stand alone contest. More details on the rules and scoring system will be published shortly.

Along with my sausage roll I had Victoria sponge cake to go with my Hot Chocolate while Andrew had a cappuccino and millionaire shortbread. 

We opted to sit in the wood burner area and as we looked out the window to watch the local birds nibbling on a series of bird feeders we both agreed it was both cosy and relaxing so deserved a high atmosphere and ambiance score.

Cosy seating area 

Despite this when the drinks and cakes arrived Andrew was still in a full scale notoriously hard to please mood. First he was unhappy that the cappuccino had come in a mug claiming that if the Italians had intended it to be served in a mug it would be called a Muguccino and he didn't like his millionaire shortbread either. I felt the mugs were appropriate especially as I have never seen an Eco Warrior use a cup. I thought my hot chocolate and Victoria sponge were both good although today it was really the sausage roll I was most interested in.

Drinks and cakes

As the first sausage roll in the competition I thought it set a good standard with the sausage filling being a particularly good one so I updated my newly prepared sausage roll spreadsheet with the ratings and the search for Sausage roll of the year 2017 was underway

First entry in Sausage Roll of the year 2017 

Natural Surroundings cafe has a fabulous setting and worth a visit especially if you like wildlife gardens, sausage rolls or are in Eco Warrior.

The way back was a lot quicker as the wind had now become our friend but sadly I could now hear Andrews ranting more clearly so got a sore neck with all the feigned nodding in agreement I had to do.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	5.0	6.0	7.0	9.0	6.70

Route

Click here to download 37 mile Alysham Wiveton loop gpx file for your GPS

Closing time. (Artemis cafe, Cley Next the sea)

Artemis Cafe,

Cley Next The Sea,

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

Sun 11:00-16:00  

Highly Recommended 

Looking at my cafe locations map I have noticed that the North Norfolk area appears to be a hotspot for top rated cafes. So as today was time for a ride from Hard to Please House in Alysham it seemed like a good opportunity to visit a new cafe in that vicinity. To spice things up a bit I had given today's cycling guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) three possible destinations to choose from and put him in charge of the route so where we would be going would be a mystery to me.

I was a little late setting off to the start point as my normal bike had developed a last minute fault and I had to get my reserve bike prepared instead. My reserve bike is the only bike I own that has a name, thanks to an ill judged naming competition I organised on my Twitter feed last year. So with Bikey Mcbikeface finally loaded in the back of the car I set off to Hard to Please House ready to find out where we would be going.

On arrival Andrew said he would like to keep me guessing as to our final destination before leaping on his bike and charging off towards the Norfolk Coast with me struggling behind as I got used to riding Bikey Mcbikeface once more. Andrew explained we would have to ride quickly as according to the cafe website it shuts at 1pm today.

I was worried that Andrew had not stuck to the brief and would be taking us to Holt, his default destination, so I was mighty relieved when we went past there and out to Cley next the Sea where we found  one of my options, Artemis Cafe.

Artemis Cafe in Cley Next the Sea

We had pedalled hard and arrived at about 12:30, well before the potential closing time. On arrival I was instantly impressed by the outdoor seating area that over looks the marshes. There were even some outdoor sofas.

Outdoor seating area

It was a bit chilly so we went inside to the cosy indoor tables. The whole set up plus the very friendly welcome gave an extremely high atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) rating.

I checked out the cake selection which had a good range but fairly small leading to a reasonable effective cake selection (ECS) score. 

Good solid selection of cakes

I ordered some zucchini and lime cake to go with my hot chocolate and Andrew had a cappuccino and millionaire style shortbread. As it was lunchtime, and although it isn't cake, I also treated myself to a sausage roll, which was super.

Our food and drinks soon arrived and we were both very impressed with our drinks especially when, as a nice touch, the chocolate sprinkles were added at the table to our personal taste, a bit like the pepper at a posh pizza restaurant. It was an excellent hot chocolate with a really good chocolate taste and Andrew thought his coffee was top draw too although he would have liked it to be slightly hotter.

Driks just after chocolate sprinkles were added

Andrew had started his biscuit early and already said it was very good. I tried my cake and which was superb and the best zucchini and lime cake I could remember having (and I have tried several). For a second opinion I asked Andrew(who is notoriously hard to please) if he would like to taste some. He wasn't sure if he would like zucchini in his cake and wondered if it would be better to make it using courgette instead. However once he had had a piece he was blown away and thought it was one of the best cakes ever.

Great cakes

All in all Artemis cafe had proved another North Norfolk winner and went straight into my current top five. With a larger cake selection it could easily have gone to number one and I highly recommend a visit and look forward to returning soon.

View from outdoor seating area over the marshes

It was now gone one o'clock so I was impressed they were still open and seemed in no hurry to throw us out. I asked the owner if he was looking forward to closing early today for Easter. He looked at me like I was an idiot with a 'why would I close early over the busy Easter period' expression. I explained that Andrew had seen they were closing early on their website. He was unaware of this and said that today was the day they switched to summer opening times. He was now worried that there would be no customers this afternoon so went off to contact the Artemis Cafe IT Director, who was also the barista, to find out what was going on. Andrew suggested he may have made a mistake so we quickly left before we started any more rumours..

Now I had re established my riding relationship with Bikey Mcbikeface we made good progress on the return ride home. Once back at Crusader Towers I checked out the Artemis cafe website where there was no sign of there ever being an early closing time today. Either the IT director had quickly corrected things or more likely, Andrew had looked at another of today's possible cafes websites and got confused, again.

Scores based on 3 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8.6	8.17	6.35	8.92	8.58	8.12

route

Click here to download 37 mile Alysham Wiveton loop gpx file for your GPS

100 not out (Art Cafe, Glandford)

Art Cafe

Glandford, North Norfolk

Open Mon-Sun 10-4

Highly Recommended

Today was a red letter day for the Cake Crusader as I planned to review my 100th cafe. For such an occasion I had chosen Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) to be my 100th cafe reviewed celebration cycling guest as he was also my first. Last year he had proved to be a very poor guest on my special 1st anniversary cafe cycle ride as he had not bought a card, balloons or candles (see Special anniversary ride). Unfortunately today he again turned out to be an equally useless and grumpy 100th cafe reviewed celebration cycling guest.

When I checked the weather forecast this morning it did not look good as it showed heavy rain. I was therefore not surprised to receive a text from Andrew saying that he would rather stay dry than go on today's ride. I decided the best approach was to ignore the text and just turn up on his door step at the allotted meeting time, which I did. On arrival I pointed out what a momentous ride this was and that if he had read the forecast in detail, and not just looked at the pictures, he would have known that it actually said there would be some showers between dry spells which didn't sound too bad. Added to this today's venue was the Art cafe at Glandford which, like Andrew, is vegetarian based. He therefore reluctantly agreed to come along and as a compromise I said we could go the direct route rather than the pretty way.

The weather forecast proved to be 50% correct as it got the rain part right but the bit about dry spells in between appeared inaccurate. This wasn't altogether surprising as I had made that bit up in order to encourage Andrew to come along so we soon found ourselves extremely wet.

Things got no better when Andrew got a puncture, which by the time he had finished fixing meant he could no longer feel his fingers. From here there was no more cheerful banter exchanged for the rest of the way out to the Art cafe.

Andrew fixing puncture whilst losing the feeling in his hands

The roads were now starting to turn into rivers and we even met some bloke called Noah who was out in the rain building what can only be described as a sort of ark. 

Roads turning into rivers

However as we approached Glandford things started to look up as I pointed out that the cows in the adjacent field were now standing up so they obviously knew it was going to shortly stop raining. Andrew didn't seem convinced as we arrived at the Art Cafe.

Out side the Art cafe looking warm and happy

With one of those weird coincidences the Art cafe is next door to an actual Art gallery! It has a nice outdoor seating area but despite the positive sign from the cows Andrew was keen that we went inside. This was a good plan as we were quickly directed to a table by the log burner to warm up and dry off. The Art cafe has a crafty type shop bit at the front and a large seating area at the back. There is also a selection of Art on the walls. The staff were extremely friendly so overall I awarded a very high atmosphere and ambiance (AAA) score.

Inside the Art Cafe

I then went to check out the cake selection. It had a good, if not massive, selection of cakes but they were extremely effective as there were a number of ones I would have chosen to try. I therefore awarded a good effective cake selection (ECS) rating. I choose Brooklyn Blackout (chocolate cake) and Andrew a date slice flapjack. I also had a mandatory cheese scone as part of my scone serving temperature research. For the first time this year I was asked if I wanted it warm or cold rather than just being presented with a temperature outcome of the cafes choice. As I hope you all know by now it has to be warmed so full marks.

Very effective cake selection

It was now on to drinks, I ordered my hot chocolate and was given a choice of sweetness, another first. I like a stronger bitter drink so plumped for the dark hot chocolate. Andrew was given a choice of 4 different coffee beans to choose from plus a choice of ways it could be brewed. This was the Art cafe's only mistake of the day as Andrew is not only notoriously hard to please but does not respond well to being given choices. It sent him into options meltdown and he was unable to function. I had to step in and randomly order Nicaragua beans aero pressed or we would still be there now.

The choice of coffee beans available

While we waited for the cakes and drinks I asked Andrew if he had brought me a card, balloons or candles to mark the 100th cafe review occasion. He had not and even came up with the rather pathetic excuse that he didn't know as I hadn't told him. Typical lack of pre ride research I thought, so I made a note to look for a better guest for my next special occasion ride.

When the drinks and cakes arrived I must say we were blown away. First we thought both our drinks were superb with excellent strength and flavour. My chocolate cake was the best this year and Andrew, who is not only notoriously hard to please but considers himself a bit of a date slice expert, said he couldn't find any fault with his flapjack. The only slight disappointment was the cheese scone which was nice but I thought needed to be a bit more cheesy. However I still awarded a very high cake taste quality (CTQ) score and added both cakes to the 2015 cake of the year short list.

Excellent cakes ready for tasting

With such good scores I excitedly entered the ratings into my cafe rating spreadsheet only to find that my 100th cafe was also one of the best ones. I suspect it will prove very hard to dislodge from near the top of my table and I highly recommend a visit.

Still shaking with excitement I paid the bill and helped myself to an Art Cafe loyalty card to add to my loyalty card picture library section on the blog.

We went outside to discover that the local cows clearly didn't know what they were mooing about as it was still pouring with rain. I popped my helmet back on and got a nasty soaking from the soggy comfort sponges inside. On the return ride to Alysham we continued to get wetter in the persistent rain however there was still time to round the ride off nicely with one last puncture until it eventually stopped raining just as we arrived back at Hard to Please House. 

Fixing one last puncture this time on my bike

Before I left after this tremendous day Andrew gave me his cycling guest cycling top tip.

Cycling guest cycling top tip no. 17. If you want to avoid getting soaking wet and freezing cold on a bike ride then don't ignore the weather forecast when it includes words like heavy, persistent, down pour and rain.

Fortunately we hadn't followed this tip or I wouldn't have a new top rated cafe.

Scores for Art Cafe based on last 3 visits (last visit March 2022)

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.23	8.67	7.5	8.50	8.42	8.06

Route

Click here to download 37 mile Alysham Wiveton loop gpx file for your GPS

Pizza oven envy. (Wiveton Hall Cafe, Wiveton)

Wiveton Hall Café,

Wiveton,

Everyday 09:30-16:30 (March to November),

Highly Recommended

This week I had planned for 3 consecutive days of Cafe Cycle reviewing, each with a different set of guests, as part of the 1st Annual Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour June Cafe Cycle Reviewing (ANCCTJCCR) festival. Unfortunately due to rain yesterdays ride with Barry and Helen and their tandem was cancelled meaning this years ANCCTJCCR festival would only be a two day event. However with better weather today, I drove out to Aylsham to meet Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) for a ride out to Wiveton Hall cafe.

I had previously been there before with each of my regular guests but not since starting the blog, so it was time for a proper review. As it was a regular ride even Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) with his poor track record of route planning guided us smoothly to Wiveton Hall Cafe. 

Outside Wiveton Hall Cafe

Using Alarmio I locked our bikes and we headed straight to the counter to check out the cakes and award the effective cake selection (ECS) score. However before I could complete this task a lady rushed in frantically asking who's bike was beeping. I went to investigate foolishly leaving Andrew alone at the counter. Unfortunately Alarmio had been disturbed by a strong wind and had gone off. Disappointingly I hadn't heard its loud car type alarm but the people in the undercover outside seating area had and it now became a major talking point for the Wiveton Hall cafe clientèle. I reset it before sheepishly going back inside.

On returning to the cakes I was distressed to find that Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had ordered a cappuccino plus a beetroot hummus and carrot sandwich but no cake. As a beetroot hummus and carrot sandwich isn't a cake he could play no further part in the cake rating part of our visit. Stepping up to the plate I was now forced to order two cakes to rate myself. The cake selection was excellent and a high ECS was awarded. I went for the chocolate flapjack and a scone with jam.

Cake selection is excellent leading to a high ECS rating

As well as the undercover outdoor seating area there is an outdoor seating area overlooking the marsh with the sea in the distance. As it was a bit cold we decided to forgo the view and sit inside.

Outdoor seating area. With furniture appearing to be decorated
with random left over paint

The Drinks and cakes quickly arrived but there had been controversy over Andrew's sandwich. Despite it clearly stating that lunch was available from 12:00, Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had broken all the rules and attempted to order his sandwich at 11:53. Quite rightly he was refused as clearly an early sandwich would cause chaos in the Wiveton Hall Cafe kitchen. Andrew protested and after some negotiation, lasting just over 7 minutes, it was agreed he could have his beetroot hummus and carrot sandwich after all.

Drinks and cakes midway through being reviewed

On my previous visits to Wiveton Hall Cafe both the drinks and cakes had scored highly and today was no exception. The flapjack was particularly good plus there was a lot of it which always goes down well with me. Andrew even liked his cappuccino. In fact I was still eating my flapjack when Andrews beetroot hummus and carrot early sandwich arrived. Not a colour combination I would go for but he thought it tasted jolly nice.

Andrew's (who is notoriously hard to please) colourful
beetroot hummus and carrot sandwich

On the way out I noticed the Wiveton Hall Cafe had built a pizza oven. Last summer I suddenly got the urge to build a pizza oven in our garden, so I did. I was therefore interested in see how they had gone about their oven design and construction. What a good idea, I thought, to knock a hole in the wall and build the pizza oven up against the house. I wish I had done that. I decided with a little work and a sledge hammer I could recreate the same approach at home.

Wiveton Hall Cafe Pizza oven brilliantly built against the side of the cafe.

Wiveton Hall Cafe has scored well in every category on each of the three visits I've made there and has gone straight into my top 3 rated cafes. I highly recommend a visit.

The return ride went smoothly as I was distracted trying to decide which wall would be best to knock a hole in to put my pizza oven against.

My pizza oven before I move it against the house

Ratings based on 3 visits to Wiveton Hall Cafe

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
8	8	8.5	7.8	7.7	8.00

Map of route

route

Click here to download 37 mile Alysham Wiveton loop gpx file for your GPS

The fry up inspector has been here too. Click here for his review