Wrong way round (Past and Present Tearoom, Long Stratton)

Past and Present Vintage Tea Room,

Long Stratton,

Mon-Fri 9:00-4:00, Sat 9:00-3:00 

On one of my earliest rides as The Cake Crusader I took Big George to a Victorian based tearoom near Bungay. This was a mistake. I remember Big George sitting in his Lycra while talking (to himself) about Rugby, as he failed to blend into the 19th century theme. He got so confused he even ordered tea as he didn't think they had cappuccino back then. By the time we left he was quite pale and, although the tearoom was very nice, Big George made it clear that I was never to take him to such a venue again. (see A matter of taste).

However that was nearly 5 years ago and today I had planned a visit to the Past and Present vintage tea room in Long Stratton. I hoped Big George had recovered from the previous experience as I had invited him to be my cycling guest.

Recently the weather had turned rather chilly so we kept today's ride to a comfortable 35 miles on a route to Long Stratton via Pulham Market.

I was expecting the refreshment stop to come after about two thirds of the ride so was surprised when we approached Long Stratton after only 15 miles. I realised I had been following the route on my cycling GPS the wrong way round. I wasn't ready for a stop yet and so had to go off piste and make up a new route which I managed to do without Big George spotting the change, although he was surprised how often we appeared to be crossing the A140.

After the correct miles had been achieved we were ready to stop at the Past and Present Vintage Tea Room which was also on the A140 and required yet another crossing.

Outside Tea room on A140

Inside we hadn't gone so far back in time as before as the decor and staff were more 1940's which Big George seemed happier with. It was rather packed inside as there was a big mother and baby group in but we were found the last table for two available. The outdoor seating area on the pavement seemed a bit cold and wet today.

There was a large cake display cabinet with some of the biggest sponge cakes I have ever seen. However I opted for the more manageable sized farmhouse slice. Big George had a flat white with a sausage roll (as he continued his cake boycott which has now been going on for several years although neither of us can now remember why).

Cake display cabinet with some very large cakes

My hot chocolate was nice but Big George felt his flat white was too white and not strong enough. I enjoyed the farmhouse slice and would guess that the unfeasibly large sponge cakes would be good to.

Cake and drinks 

With the mother and baby group starting to discuss their plans for Christmas we decided it was time to leave what had been a pleasant stop. Our next challenge was to cross the A140 again.

I was relieved Big George had survived his latest trip back in time and therefore happily agreed to another ride in a couple of weeks where I promised that less A road crossing would be involved.
Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.6	5.6	6.8	7.2	6	6.44

Route (we should have done) to be published shortly

View 37 Miles Pulham st Mary in a larger map
Click link to download 37 mile Norwich Pulham St Mary loop GPX file for your GPS

Cake Crusader Sportive 4. (37 miles via Pennoyer Centre, Pulham St Mary)

Sportive 4,

Pennoyer Centre,

Pulham St Mary,

Opening times Mon-Sat 09:30-03:30,

 Highly Recommended

Yesterday saw the 4th Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour Sportive of the year with a visit to the Pennoyer Centre at Pulham St Mary (see a long way round for previous visit). It was an incident packed ride of punctures, wrong turnings, crashes and cake selection controversy.

A massive field of 7 had gathered for this ride and after the usual pre sportive faffing about the riders set off from race HQ and headed south.

Sportive riders about to get on bikes to set off.
 Hans's new bike and Chris's new bike shoes took pride of place.

It wasn't long before the first drama of the day as a GPS malfunction put the route into reverse causing great confusion and a wrong turning to be taken. Fortunately George got a puncture and while repairs were undertaken their was time to get navigation back under control, or so we thought.

George admiring my puncher repair skills

We had two GPS's today so I foolishly let deputy navigator Ali take the front so that I could perform lead rider duties by making sure I chatted with all the participants while pretending to be interested in what they had been up to in the last week. Unfortunately whilst chatting to Jodie I saw Ali miss the correct turning. I naturally yelled 'wrong way' and slammed on my breaks. Unfortunately Jodie wasn't expecting this and crashed into the back of me tipping herself straight into the nettle rich ditch. As she was being stung she started to squeal that her foot was stuck in the pedal. Although I acted as quickly as I could I was not able to get my phone out before she had managed to free herself so there is sadly no picture of Jodie in the ditch for the blog.

Jodie's nettle rash leg

Although covered in stings she bravely got back on the bike and we continued down to the Pennoyer Centre at Pulham St Mary.

Riders bikes filling the available bike parking facilities at the Pennoyer Centre

I headed straight for the cafe area to check out the cake selection while others headed to the shops to buy creams and tablets to help Jodie's nettle based discomfort. I thought the cake selection was good with a number of cakes and scones available. However Ali (who is becoming increasingly hard to please) complained that for such a hot day he would like a lighter cake selection and felt it had not been adequately seasonally adjusted. Despite the lack of a fluffy sponge or lemon sorbet I still awarded a good effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Cake selection, although it had not been seasonally adjusted for a hot day

This was the first time I had rated a cafe or tearoom for the 4th time and as all cafe cycle reviewers know that for currency purposes only the last 3 visits count in the scores (see their must be rules). So as the Pennoyer Centre would be losing it's first, and currently best set of ratings, the pressure was on for a good performance to maintain it's place in my current top 10 rated cafe and tearooms.

A varied selection of drinks and cakes were ordered and delivered to our table on a number of trays by the self proclaimed Mrs Overall. Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) had ordered tea and a sandwich, as a sandwich is not cake he would play no further part in any cake related reviewing. Everyone except Ali (who is becoming increasingly hard to please) thought their cakes were excellent with the apple and caramel cake coming in for particular praise. Ali had had the fruit scone and asked for it to be warmed thus breaking the golden rule 'cheese scone hot, fruit scone not' so only had himself to blame.

The particular good apple and caramel cake about to be reviewed

After much debate on cake and drink quality, whilst ignoring the rantings of certain hard to please individuals, it was generally agreed the standard of cakes and drinks was still high at the Pennoyer centre and it managed to keep it's place in the top 10 rated cafes and tearooms.

Tasting and debating cake and drink quality

The Pennoyer centre is one of 3 cafes that I currently have a loyalty card for (see loyalty card photo library feature on side of blog), so I was pleased to collect 7 more stamps leaving only two more before I am entitled to a free drink.

There was one last bit of drama on the return back when Jodie again decided to have an unscheduled lie down on the side of the road after attempting to ride through a ford. Once again I missed the photo opportunity as I had been keeping my distance and got too far ahead of the incident.

Cycling up one of Norfolks famous hill climbs on the way back to Norwich

Despite all drama it was agreed, by me, that it had been another successful Cake Crusader Sportive.

Scores for Pennoyer Centre based on last 3 visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.67	7.67	6.67	8.17	7.00	7.23

Map of route

View 37 Miles Pulham st Mary in a larger map

Click link to download 37 mile Norwich Pulham St Mary loop GPX file for your GPS

A long way round. (The Pennoyer Centre Cafe. Pulham St Mary.)

Pennoyer Centre,

Pulham St Mary,

Opening times Mon-Sat 09:30-03:30,

 Highly Recommended

For yesterday's ride myself and guest Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) decided to head south to an old favourite the Pennoyer centre cafe in Pulham St Mary. It was one of the first cafes I found when I first started cafe rating but on my last visit in late summer it had not been up to its previously very high standard so I was keen to see if normal service had been resumed.

The ride got off to a bad start as all my attention was absorbed by Andrew's latest rant and I missed the turning we should have taken. After a couple of hundred yards I realised my mistake. The option to turn back was not open to us, because as proper men we can never admit we have gone wrong and must continue to confidently cycle in the direction we are going. Knowing the roads in the area quite well we agreed a possible alternative route that would get us back on the track without turning round. So in the end instead of going back 200 yards we added 5 miles, into the wind, onto our journey. After much muttering and whinging from 'notoriously hard to please' Andrew we continued down to Pulham St Mary.

Outside The Pennoyer Centre in Pulham St Mary.
 In summer a small outdoor seating area is provide right where I'm standing.

The Pennoyer Centre Cafe is in The Pennoyer Centre which is like a posh village hall and provides a centre for Pulham St Mary community activity. On arrival I activated Alarmio to secure our bikes and we went straight through to the Kitchen area to make our cake selection.

Today's cakes selection including Ruth's invisible cheese scones.

The cakes all seem to be made by the ladies of the village and are labelled with their names. From previous experience the cakes can sell out by the end of the day so due to our little detour the selection had already gone down. However all the remaining cakes looked very tasty so I awarded a good effective cake selection rating.

I ordered hot chocolate and chocolate cake and Andrew a cappuccino and Spanish orange cake. On a previous visit I had had one of my best hot chocolates ever and although this one was still very good it didn't get back to that level. Andrew had also previously had one of his best coffees ever here but today his cappuccino fell short of that exceptional high standard. Being notoriously hard to please this seemed to cheer him up and he got over the extra 5 mile slog I had added to the route.

The chocolate cake was about as good as chocolate cake gets, however I have realised that there is a ceiling as to how good a chocolate cake can be and it can never be as good as the best carrot cake or cheese scone. I got to try the Spanish orange cake which I thought was even nicer than the chocolate cake and helped support my chocolate cake ceiling theory but true to form Andrew found it a touch sweet. I, however, awarded a high cake quality rating.

As the ladies of the Pennoyer Centre Cafe seem to see me as a regular (I last came in August) I was invited to have a loyalty card. It will be another 8 times before I can claim my free drink but I have put a date in the diary for July 2016 when I expect to have completed the requisite number of visits. The Pennoyer Centre Cafe remains one of my favourite destinations and with the added loyalty card incentive I will be back soon, but before then I have lots more cafes I need to review.

On the way back we had the wind behind and didn't get lost so Andrew turned his attention to rants about pilates and the water industry instead. 

I have been asked to find a good cafe in the North Walsham area so if anyone has any suggestions then please let me know and I'll head out that way.

Cafe ratings for the Pennoyer Centre cafe based on latest 3 of 9 visits are

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.83	7.5	7.63	8.3	7.0	7.45

This is the route we took:

View 37 Miles Pulham st Mary in a larger map
Click link to download 37 mile Norwich Pulham St Mary loop GPX file for your GPS