Tour de Gateaux stage 2 to Hunstanton (Apple Cafe, West Acre)

Apple Cafe,

West Acre,

Tue-Sun 9.30-4.30

Highly Recommended

After the excitement of the first part of the Tour de Gateaux at the start of May (see Tour de Gateaux stages 1 and 2) it was time for part 2 of the race.

This time we went from Norwich to near Hunstanton and back. It was a chance to visit some old favourites plus try out a new cafe. 

The day started with worried faces on the driveway of Crusader Towers as the weather forecast predicted heavy showers all day. Despite making me look like a dork (can I say dork or does that get me cancelled, to be honest I don’t even know what one is) I decided to start with my waterproof over trousers on to save time for when the inevitable drenching started. Everyone else donned their waterproof jackets.

Worried faces preparing for a soaking

However shortly into the ride it was clear it was actually quite warm so jackets were removed again although I kept my trousers on. I knew that the rain gods won’t waste their effort trying to penetrate my smart trousers.

Still dry we pushed on to our first stop at the excellent Guist Post Office.

Outside Guist Cafe still in my waterproof trousers and still no rain

Sadly there is no longer any outdoor seating area but there was a nice indoor table that could accommodate all 6 riders on todays stage. As you may recall you not only get points for winning a stage but for cake eating too. Four of us caked today each getting a point but I now moved into a 2 point lead over everyone else.

Some excellent cake at Guist

With the Sun now shining, but still in my waterproof trousers, we headed off to our next planned stop at Walsingham. On the way we passed a big gatehouse in the middle of nowhere. It is the sort of place you wouldn’t want to knock on the door of if your car (or bike) had broken down at night in a heavy rain storm. But ours hadn't, so we didn't.

Once at Little Walsingham we went to Nortons cafe at the shrine of our lady who is famous for downing miracles and stuff. We ordered tea for 3 but they just filled the teapots up with hot water. However when we poured them into the cups the hot water had turned to tea. 

Excellent tea stop at Nortons in Little Walsingham

Now refreshed and still dry it was the final push over some lumpy ground to our final destination.

It was starting to cloud over as we approached our Hotel

When we got to the hotel, still dry I had a dilemma as if to remove my magic water proof trousers or not. One of our party, Mike, had got the date of the trip wrong and once he had realised then there was no room at our inn. He had managed to secure lodgings in a stable at Hunstanton 5 miles away. However if I was to remove my trousers before he got there then the no rain spell would be broken and he would obviously get a proper soaking. On the other hand I wanted to shower and relax so it was trousers off and once removed we were treated to a huge thunderstorm. I think Mike will be checking the tour dates more carefully in future.

The heavens opened once I had removed my water proof trousers at our Hotel

In terms of the stage I obviously won as I forgot to mention the finish line was just past the hotel. The other competitors couldn't understand why I had cycled past our accommodation when they had stopped. My how they didn't care when I explained their error as they looked at me like I was some mad bloke having his own fantasy cycle race.

Day two would take in a new cafe, the Apple at West Acre which was the main purpose of the trip. I was hoping it won’t disappoint 

With forecast promising a dry day I decided to keep waterproof trousers off, but would this obviously caused us to get wet later in the day.

Pedals down was at an ambitious 9:15 but as always breakfast was over leisurely followed by pre ride faffing meaning we were lucky to get away by 9:30. Today was a longer day and would be my first 100km Grand Fondo since my knee op (which I may have mentioned in previous posts, a lot). 

About to set off after much faffing

The ride started with a trip past Sandringham to see the Queen. Apparently she was too busy for a chat as she was preparing for her Jubilee thing the next day. So we set off again over a few bumpy bits as we sailed through North West Norfolk on the way to the Apple Cafe at West Acre.

The Queen was a bit busy for a chat

When we arrived fellow Tour de Gateaux competitors Barry and Helen and their tandem were already here drinking coffee and eating cake. You may remember they had been disqualified for mechanical doping in the first stages of the race. They would be disqualified again today for taking a 10 mile shortcut, I'm not sure if they are taking my event seriously.

Outside the Apple Cafe

The Apple Cafe is in the garden centre but has a very nice setting with a pleasant outdoor seating area.

Outdoor seating area

The cake selection was also good and the drinks scored well (except for Andrews tea which apparently didn't have enough tanning being a too posh a brand, although he is notoriously hard to please).

A good cake selection at the Apple Cafe

On the other hand he thought his chocolate and raspberry brownie was fantastic and defiantly the star cake although the others were good too. This was the stop most people caked on so no changes in the tour cake points competition.

Excellent cakes encouraging much caking by the group

The Apple cafe didn't disappoint and I highly recommend a visit.

From here we had wind behind for the final push back to the finish line. There was still time for a quick stop at Tabnabs cafe in Mattishall for a bit more cake and then heads down for the finishing line. Obviously without my water proof trousers on it did rain on us during this section, but that was only to be expected.

Final push back to Norwich

The finish came at the top of Col de Cellar House slip road which was a tricky ramp at the end of a long day but no one was going to beat me today, especially as they weren't bothered, as I made a final effort to the top and another stage win under my belt.

The next stage will be at the end of June as we head to Newmarket where the route is sure to favour the sprint teams.

Scores 

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
7.3	7.5	7.7	7.8	7.0	7.46

Route

Click here to download 121 mile Norwich Hunstanton loop gpx file for your gps

Is Lavender cake really a thing? (Norfolk Lavender Cafe)

Norfolk Lavender Cafe,

Heacham,

Opening times Every day 9-5,

Recommended 

Yesterday myself and Mrs Crusader drove up to Great Massingham to meet up with Cycling guests Barry and Helen and their New Tandem for some cafe cycle action in North West Norfolk.

Our first stop was the Norfolk Lavender Cafe near Heacham. 

In the outdoor seating area at Norfolk Lavender Cafe

It is a very large cafe with an outdoor seating area, sofa based seating area and larger standard indoor seating area able to cope with coach parties. We choose to sit outside and admire the gardens and lavender bushes. It was very pleasant so we awarded a good atmosphere and ambiance score.

As usual Barry refused to have anything to eat or drink claiming he was still full after his large breakfast although I knew it was really because he didn't want to get involved in any cake reviewing nonsense.

There was an excellent cake selection which covered all the bases. Not surprisingly there were also cakes and scones that included Lavender. I awarded a high effective cake selection (ECS) mark.

Part of a substantial cake selection

Chris insisted that I had the Lavender sponge cake to go with my hot chocolate while she had coffee cake as accompaniment for her americano. There were also sausage rolls which I took away to check out later as part of my sausage roll of the year hunt. #SROTY

Sausage rolls to take back to Crusader towers for tasting

Note: they were excellent sausage rolls and made it into my current top 10 for the end of year sausage roll off. It could mean a very long bike ride from Norwich to collect them in December.

My hot chocolate could have been a bit stronger but Chris thought her coffee was very good. The pink lavender cake was definitely a marmite experience as we all tried a bit and it wasn't to everyone's taste. The coffee cake was very nice so I based the cake taste quality (CTQ) mark on that alone as I don't think Lavender cake is really a thing.

Cakes and drinks including the Lavender cake

The Norfolk Lavender cafe was a good stop especially for one that is part of an attraction. I would definitely recommend a visit, especially for fans of Lavender.

Sandpit action from stop at Creake abbey cafe

On the next part of the ride we returned to the Creake Abbey cafe to collect some sausage rolls for #SROTY. I also updated my ratings table and it still ranked very highly. Check out my original review with updated scores (Ruined Abbey Off).

It was another successful cafe cycle ride and helped to fill in an empty part of my cafe locations map. While on the route I spotted several more cafes that need to be checked out so my work is still far from done.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6	8	7.5	7.25	8.0	7.35

Route

Click here to download 48 mile Great Massingham Hunstanton loop GPX file for your gps

Madness. (Norfolk Deli, Hunstanton)

Norfolk Deli,

Hunstanton,

Mon- Sat 08:30-5:00, Sun 10:00- 4:00,

Recommended 

I felt it was time I visited some tea rooms up in North West Norfolk as it is a bit of a hole on my locations map. To do this I have two options as it is a long way to go from Norwich. Option 1 is to drive part of the way while option 2 is do it as a two day ride. I had plumped for option 2 and when word got out another eight cycling guests asked if they could come along too. It was pure madness but I was up for the challenge so a large group of lycra clad cyclists descended on Crusader Towers ready for the 120 mile round trip.

Ready for the off

On the way I planned to visit some other cafes I had previously been to so that I could recheck their ratings as part of my on going cafe ratings audit program.

We left a few minutes late and collected the rest of the peloton at a couple of meeting points en-route. The last of these was Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) but he kept everyone waiting for nearly a minute until he eventually turned up at the Fox and Hounds pub at Lyng. 

With all 9 of the team now on board it was on to our first stop which was Hamptons at Stanfield. I have been here before (see Is it really there?) and knew that it was good stop.

First stop at Hamptons

There would only be time for two stops today, this one at about 11:00 and one in the Hunstanton area mid afternoon. Regular readers will know I like my meal times correctly segregated into their proper breakfast, lunch and supper slots, with only cake to be consumed between. As we would not be stopping in the requisite 12-2pm lunch period I reluctantly agreed that my cycling guest could select from the breakfast or brunch menu available, which they did. 

The cake options which were primarily rejected in favour of fried things

I obviously focused my meal choice on hot chocolate and cake, which on this occasion was a brownie. Mrs Crusader is well trained in these matters and also had some cake (coffee) but of the remaining seven only Tom had cake as well. It is sad to see the way breakfast creep is destroying the tradition of elevenses that helped make this country great.

Excellent hot drinks a Hamptons

As Cake Crusader rules dictate, Hamptons was rerated and it's mark averaged with the scores from the previous visit. We were all very impressed with the hot drinks which helped increase its overall mark moving it up my ratings table. Despite not being interested everyone insisted on telling me that their breakfasts and brunch items were excellent (all but Andrew that is, but he is notoriously hard to please so this was only to be expected).

From here we headed north west for another 30 miles towards the seaside town of Hunstanton with the only drama being our only puncture of the day. 

First puncture of the trip

I had a few options recommended to me in the area but as my punters were starting to whinge about needing a stop we decided to go for the earliest choice which was the Norfolk Deli.

I lined up for the traditional pre cafe photo only to find Barry and Helens new Tandem photo bombed the picture. This was appalling behaviour and something their old Tandem would never have done. I have asked that it be giving a good talking to but I suspect Barry had encouraged it in the first place.

Barry 'trying' to stop his new Tandem photo bombing the traditional cafe picture but it was too late

An advantage of this venue choice was that we could buy take away drinks and cakes before taking them to the seafront to enjoy. This negated the need for bicycle security as not everyone had come prepared with a lock.

Part of a large take away cake selection at The Norfolk Deli

Once again my cycling guest's disappointed me with their reviewing participation. This morning had been lack of cake, as they wanted to eat fried things and now it was lack of hot drinks as they claimed to be thirsty after cycling for nearly sixty miles and wanted a cold drink. I made a note to only invite committed cycling guest on future long distance rides. Fortunately regular cycling guest Andrew knew the drill and ordered a fancy coffee and Portuguese tart. Mrs Crusader also understands what's good for her so had a mocha and scone, although this may have been because I was in charge of getting her refreshments whilst she minded the bikes. 

Trying drinks and cakes on Hunstanton sea front

We went down to the seafront to have our refreshments where I started with an excellent looking sausage roll to test for #SROTY. I have to admit it was one of the best so far this year and could well make it into the sausage roll off at the end of the year. 

One of the best sausage rolls so far this year #SROTY

Chris and Andrew thought their coffees very good although the short walk to the seafront meant they were not super hot like they prefer. Sadly my hot chocolate was of the Cadbury variety and although it was very well made could not score well as Cadbury's hot chocolate barely tastes of chocolate at all.

The cakes were good with the brownie and Portuguese tart being the stars. I was still too cross to pay any attention to the other cake feedback I received as I didn't want to encourage my cycling guests in thinking they could mix and match what they fed back on. I believe that you should either do a proper hot drink and cake job (like me) or just don't bother.

The Norfolk Deli does have an indoor seating area as well and I would definitely recommend a visit, especially for sausage roll fans.

Cycling out of Hunstanton along the prom

From here we had another twenty miles, via Sandringham, to our overnight stop at the luxurious Kings Lynn Premier inn. The highlight of this part of the trip was passing some sheep dog trials. I felt the dog should have got off but the jury found him guilty. (boom tish)

Sheep dog action

After a good nights sleep the party regrouped for a 50 mile return trip to Norwich but this time with the added challenge of a 20 mph head wind for the whole journey.

Ready for the off on day 2

I had hoped for an uneventful, one cafe stop ride but the strong wind and several punctures made it into a very long day with the peloton stretched out over several miles of Norfolk lanes.

Some of my cycling guests riding through Norfolk

So there was much relief when I allowed us to stop at Penny's tearoom in Saham Toney which I last visited 18 months ago (see Back on track). The staff today were some of the friendliest I can remember which was a plus as my cycling guests helped me with the ratings audit.

A selection of the items being scored today

After a good rest we then struggled on further towards home. It was not long before Barry and Helen's Tandem got its first ever puncture which I felt was justice for yesterday's photo bombing incident. 

Barry trying to mend his new tandems puncture while I tried to put them off by tickling it

Once on the way again my cycling guests demanded an extra stop as they didn't think they could make it back without another break.It was a chance for me to prove how valuable my cafe research has been as I consulted my list of the 208 cafes I have now reviewed and suggested that the four seasons coffee shop at the Wymondham Garden centre (see Where are the cake based bargains) would be the best option.

Preparing to enter our final tea room

The scones here looked very good and proved a popular choice. They were just what was needed although the cheese scone was served cold (remember it's cheese scone hot, fruit scone not). 

It was mainly tea and scones for our final stop

On the road again there was just time for one last puncture before we made it home. Back at Crusader Towers I prepared the feedback form for my cycling guests to complete before I remembered that I wasn't really interested in their opinions so just filled in one myself. Once analysed the feedback clearly said that it was an excellent trip, the tour leader was very good and that their should be another overnight ride next year. So well done me.

Scores

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5.0	7.5	7.5	7.5	8.0	7.10

route

Click here to download 74 mile Norwich Kings Lynn via Hunstanton GPX file for your gps

Royal appointment. (The Rendezvous, Hunstanton)

The Rendezvous Cafe,

Hunstanton

With the excitement of Flapjack of the year 2016 starting to die down then it was back to traditional cafe cycle riding today. One of the areas with least coverage on my location map is North West Norfolk as it is a long way to cycle to in one go but it needed to be visited. Therefore I hatched a cunning plan where I would drive halfway before finishing the rest of the journey on bike. Today's cycling guest, Big George, is a fan of cycling somewhere new so was easily convinced to join me.

So, this morning I got up early and once Big George had arrived we set off for Fakenham where we parked the car and set off on a 50 mile round trip during which we would be reviewing a yet to be decided cafe in Hunstanton.

It was good cycling conditions for the time of year with no rain, a reasonable temperature and little wind. The only downside was the amount of mist and fog making it difficult to appreciate the lovely views that were probably there.

Dull and misty but excellent cycling conditions

On the way up we went through the Burnhams and right through the village where local hero Lord Nelson was born. We even went past the pub he had clearly been named after and probably drank at as a boy. 

Village sign showing Lord Nelson was born here

Progress continued to be good and we got into Hunstanton right on schedule. The fog and mist meant you couldn't see the sea properly which was a shame after coming all this way. Instead we headed to Hunstanton high street to find a cafe.

The first one we came across was The Rendezvous so we parked the bikes and went inside.

Outside the Rendezvous which was the first cafe we found

Normally I try and check the cake selection before going into an un-researched stop but I couldn't see properly through the window due to the Father Christmas stickers so decided to risk it. This turned out to be a mistake as there was only carrot cake, chocolate cake or fruit scone to chose from so I had to award a low effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Rather small Cake selection to chose from

As we had come to Hunstanton out of season we were the only people in the cafe so had to talk in a whisper as we did the ratings. I went for carrot cake with my hot chocolate while Big George opted for a filter coffee and fried breakfast. I have explained to Big George many times that a fried breakfast is not cake. He claimed he had got confused when ordering and meant to ask for a scone, it's almost as if he does it on purpose to avoid joining in with any of my exciting cake based reviewing activity. 

Big George got confused again and forgot a fried breakfast isn't cake

Drinks and cakes were standard fare with Big George's coffee being the best received and he did enjoy his fried breakfast. The Rendezvous was nice enough but I don't think I have found a top rated cafe for this corner of Norfolk yet.

My carrot cake.

On the return we would be going past Sandringham where the Queen will be for Christmas. Since the misunderstanding when the Queen missed me cycle past on the epic ride to St Andrews earlier this year (see Great ride North day 1) she has been very apologetic and promised we could meet up next time I was in the area. I had texted ahead to let her know I was coming and everything was in place when a text message from Liz flashed up on my phone. Apparently Phil had been helping make this year's Christmas pud down in the royal kitchens and more of the brandy had ended up in him than the mixing bowl. She said that she was having to now pop round to Asda to buy another bottle so would have to postpone our catch up again.

It was disappointing news but hopefully it will be third time lucky when I next cycle up this way. The rest of the ride was very pleasant as we cycled down a lot of lovely country lanes only disturbed when we were overtaken by a series of Range Rovers which are clearly the only type of car allowed in the area.

Ratings

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
5.0	7.0	4.5	5.0	5.0	5.30

Route

Click here to downlaod 54 mile Fakenham Hunstanton Loop gpx file for your GPS