Some like it hot. (Three willows cafe, Bungay)

Willows Cafe,

Bungay,

Under new management since post
See Taining plan for latest review

It was good to be back on traditional Great British cafe cycle reviewing after my week looking for the best cafe or tea room in the whole of Europe. Although the facilities and infrastructure are much better on la continent you can't beat the excitement of being on a narrow country lane when a car zooms round the corner and nearly knocks you off (a bit like today).

So it was with such excitement in mind when I joined up with today's guest, Big George, for a 50 mile ride down to the Three Willows cafe at the Three Willows garden centre just outside Bungay.

Being the hottest day of the year so far, but with a cooling breeze, these were ideal cycling conditions as we set off at speed. Due to my over enthusiasm Big George eventually had to ask me to slow down worried that at this speed we would both (or mainly him) have a heart attack. The time flew past as we discussed our forth coming London to Paris ride. I told him about the training I had done and planned to do and he told me why he hadn't had time to do any training yet. Apparently this was not going to be a problem as even though he was about to go away to Portugal for two weeks there was still plenty of time to fit in lots of training in the week before we go.

Apart from the odd near miss with cars on narrow lanes we soon arrived at the Three Willows Garden centre near Bungay where coincidently there was also the Three Willows Cafe.

Out side Three Willows Cafe.
Big George assured me that for once there was none of his finger in the shot. He was wrong.

There was a very nice outdoor seating area with tables and umbrellas to provide some much needed shade. Inside was more cafe looking but it was too hot to stay indoors on such a lovely day. The cake selection was disappointing as there were just a few cake loafs and scones so I awarded a suitable effective cake selection score (ECS) and chose the banana and cinnamon loaf to accompany my hot chocolate. Big George went for a cappuccino and a cheese and pickle sandwich. As a cheese and pickle sandwich is clearly not a cake he would play no further part in any cake reviewing this day.

The rather sparse looking cake selection.
I imagine cake is less popular on very hot days.

We waited outside in the warm sunshine for our refreshments and continued to plan our Paris trip. Apparently Big George had been doing a lot of research on the internet about routes, surfaces, things to see etc. Just a shame there had not been the same enthusiasm for doing any pre Paris cycle training.

Our drinks arrived and my hot chocolate was very hot. Not the sort of drink you want on such a hot day but this is the sort of sacrifice you have to make as the county's self appointed leading cafe cycle reviewer. However it was one of the best hot chocolates I have had so far in my cafe cycle reviewing. It was very chocolatey and nice and thick. Big George also thought his coffee very good. 

Our drinks which were both really good if inappropriate for a very hot day

Unfortunately the banana and cinnamon cake wasn't as good and a little dry. Although not relevant to the cafe rankings it should be noted that the toastie and sandwich we had for our lunch were both very good. Shame about the cakes because everything else, especially the drinks, make the Three Willows cafe worth a visit.

I tried to encourage Big George to some cycle training cramming on the way home by going extra fast but as he started to fade I started to fear that we might not make it to Paris in time to get our train home on next months trip. 

Next week I set off abroad again to continue my search for the best cafe in the whole of Europe (as long it is fairly near where we are staying).

Ratings for Three Willows Cafe

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
9.5	7.5	5	5.5	6.0	6.70

Map of route

Click here to download 49 mile Norwich Bungay loop GPX file for your GPS

Penalty shoot out. (Hererg de Bonged, Bassel and D'hefren vanBafrlo,Baarlo)

Search for Best Café in Europe 2014

Day 4

Today was the last ride in Holland meaning it was the final opportunity to find their best cafe and become leader of the Cake Crusader European cafe of the year 2014. I was going to make sure that no stone was left unturned in making sure we had two top contenders for today. Therefore myself and Barry (with input from Helen and their tandem) held an in depth pre ride brainstorm and planning session.

Pre ride planning session

As we set off there was still orange bunting and flags draped around the villages we cycled through but, whereas yesterday they had represented the joy and hope of a nation, today, after their semi final lose in the penalty shoot out with Argentina, they looked sad and forlorn and desperate to be taken down. This is the cruel world of the penalty shoot out. However as we are English we were used to it and therefore didn't care and were too busy enjoying our ride anyway.

Orange bunting and flags outside virtually every house

On the way to the first planned stop we passed a famous windmill. We knew it was famous as it said so in signs in Dutch and on the map I had. No one knew why it was famous but I took a photo all the same. Perhaps it had a little mouse with clogs on in it like most windmills in these parts.

Famous Dutch windmill but no idea why

First stop was in Bassel where we would have a choice of cafés. I referenced my Dutch village check-list: big church tick, near central square tick, with bandstand tick, must be some cafe bars near by tick. There were so we chose Hererg de Bonged as it had the best beer sign.

Outside the side outdoor seating area.
Later we found an internal courtyard outdoor seating area

Once again only Chocomel to represent hot chocolate on the drinks list so I was forced along the local Trappist beer road. I was pleased I did as it was very good and had gone almost as soon as it arrived. We all agreed this was excellent beer and scored it appropriately.

Very good local Trappist beer

Whilst consensus had been found with regards the drinks then the food caused real controversy and a near fight broke out between Barry and Chris. Once again Holland's national dish of spek and kass (bacon and cheese to you) pancakes were on offer. Four of the party selected these but when Chris claimed they were better than at yesterday's stop Barry had a fit and a rant claiming the cheese was over cooked and yesterdays were far superior. The argument went on for sometime and with Chris about to break her chair over Barry's head I decided to step in and restore the peace by sensibly giving them the same score as yesterday and calling it a draw.

Controversial pancakes, Were they better here or at yesterdays stop?
There was only one way to find out

The Hererg de Bonged in Bassel had done well in each category but with only a standard Dutch village square view it could not become best cafe in Europe 2014 but it did make it into the top 3.

We Set off again testing out all the Dutch bike infrastructure could throw at us. Cycle paths by big roads, cycle paths by small roads, cycle paths through woods and even cycle paths across rivers (via ferries packed with bikes) all of which were signposted and well used. One day I hope we have such a network back in Norfolk.

Ferry crossing full of cyclists

After another of these ferry crossing we came to our second planned stop at the D'hefren van Bafrlo cafe on the outskirts of Baarlo. 

Outside the D'herfren van Barfrlo about to see if it could take the lead to
 become Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tout European cafe year 2014

It had the nicest view of any European cafe to date as it overlooked the river crossing and town. This gave it the best ambiance rating so far meaning that if it could do well in food and drink it could become the leader for the Cake Crusader cafe of the year 2014.

Splendid view from outdoor patio seating area at cafe bar

It had a good chance as despite only Chocomel again as it's hot chocolate offering it had the same local Trappist beer that scored so well at lunch time. We therefore ordered it but to everyone's disappointment it was the bottled and not draft variety and it tasted pretty average leading to a poor drinks score.

Inferior bottle Trappist beer

Still a 10 out of 10 on the desserts would get D'hefren van Bafrlo cafe to the number one spot. As we waited for the fruit pies and ice creams to turn up you could feel the same tension as there had been in the campsite bar waiting for the outcome of the World Cup penalty shoot out. Most of the desserts hit the back of the net. Cherry pie - Goal, chocolate sundae - Goal, apricot meringue type thing - Goal, Blueberry cheesecake - Goal. It just needed Helen's fruit sundae surprise to score and put D'hefren van Bafrlo to the top of the league. Sadly the surprise was that the fruit was out of a tin rather then the fresh selection of local berries she had expected and it was blasted over the bar for a big- Miss!

Desserts lining up for a puddingy shoot out

Once again it had not turned out well for the locals as D'hefren van Bafrlo could also only manage equal third place.

I thought that was the end of the ratings but on announcing the final platings there was again controversy. Apparently everyone but me thought the vastly overrated central cafe Baarlo was better than it had been rated at and should be in second place. Normally I would dismiss this input and politely suggest they set up their own spreadsheets. However as central cafe Baarlo had been the first cafe we had gone to I agreed to moderate the scores and accepted that the giant toasties and strawberry waffles had been the best food all week and increased its food rating to put it back into second place.

The ride back felt long and hard and we were all tired after out 42.5 mile double cafe bonanza final day ride. I was however happy that we had done everything possible to check out the best cafés in the whole of the Netherlands (that were within a 20 mile radius of our campsite). I was especially happy that we had made the effort to go to Morgenstond, Griendtsveen in the rain yesterday as this is now considered the best cycle cafe in the whole of Europe. And I've been there!

Next week I return to traditional Norfolk cafe cycle reviewing before once again heading back to Europe to see if there is an even better cycle cafe anywhere.

European cafe ratings after reviewing all the Netherlands has to offer (that were within a 20 mile radius of our campsite).

Cafe	Drink	Food	Ambiance	Score
Morgenstond cafe, Griendtsveen, NL	8	8.5	7.5	8.00
Central cafe, Baarlo	8	8.75	7	7.92
Hererg de Bonged, Bessel	8	8.5	7	7.83
D'Hefren van Bafrlo, Baarlo, NL	6	8	9	7.67
De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you), Arcen,NL	8	6	8.5	7.50
Passi cafe, Horst,	7	7.5	6.5	7.00
Dakepello, Panningen	5	6.5	5	5.50

Rain, rain go away.(Morgenstond cafe, Griendtsveen)

Search for Best Café in Europe 2014

Day 3

It had been raining heavily for a day and a half and European cycle cafe reviewing was now firmly on hold. This was getting judging for the 'Cake Crusader European cafe of the year 2014' nowhere. I decided to man up and however hard it was raining would set out to find a cafe at 12:30 (Central European time).

Constant rain from out of the tent window.

After a short pitch inspection and much to my surprise the rest of the party agreed to come along on the ride. Barry and Helen and their tandem knew of a suitable stop 4 miles away and another 4 miles on from that. They thought both would be good contenders for the Cake Crusader European cycle cafe of the year 2014.

Judging party ready to set off in the rain

After a good drenching we arrived at the first stop and again, to my surprise, decided that as we were already soaked we might as well go to the second cafe which was believed to be better. Pedalling hard to try and avoid getting too wet It was not long before we got to the Morgenstond cafe by a river.

Outside Morgenstond cafe in the deserted outdoor seating area

As it was still raining heavily we decided to give the spacious outdoor seating area a miss and sit inside. Although, like all Dutch cafe bars it was rather dark inside, there was still a good ambiance and nice view from the window.

Disappointingly it was again only the weak and wishy washy Chocomel available in the hot chocolate department so I decided to risk a Trappist beer and anti biotic cocktail. I have since discovered it leaves a strange taste in your mouth but it slipped down very well at the time. As the beer was high quality la trappe on draft then, despite the Chocomel, the drinks also scored well.

The beer and disappointing Chocomel

We started to look through the Dutch only menu and were struggling with the wordy descriptions so the nice waitress said she would put them into google translate and print them off for us. Most of the group had the easily translated ham and cheese pancakes and toasties but I had a shipyard salad which actually contained smoked fish.

Ham and cheese pancakes and shipyard salad

The food was very good and the pancakes much better than those we had had at the Kingfisher mill a couple of days earlier. As today would be a single stop we decided to go for dessert and select from the google translated menu, strawberry flan was easy but I had butterfly dessert and Peter had vanilla ice cream with lawn mower sauce.

Super set of desserts

The desserts notched the food score half a point higher.

Despite the rain The Morgenstond cafe had turned out to be an excellent stop and was the new official best cafe in the whole of Europe, as it went to the top of the leader board.

Outside the monsoon was now only torrential rain so we set off back to the camp site. After 2 days solid rain it was sometimes hard to tell the difference between the road we were on and the river running next to it but with a bit of help from the wind we made good time back to the campsite to complete a 19 mile round trip.

Cycling back to camp in the down pour

With sunshine and showers forecast for the last day of the first leg of the search for Cake Crusader European cafe of the year 2014 hopefully I can get some more contenders looked at and we will see how high a standard the Netherlands will be setting for the rest of Europe.

European league table after 5 cafés.   

Cafe                                                            Drink Food    Ambiance  Score

Morgenstond cafe, Griendtsveen,                   8        8.5            7.5           8.00

Holland

Central cafe, Baarlo Holland                           8         8               7            7.67

De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you),               8         6             8.5           7.50

Arcen, Holland

Passi cafe, Horst, Holland.                             7         7.5           6.5           7.00

Dakepello, Panningen                                     5         6.5            5            5.50

The Tooth hurts. (King fisher cafe, Arcen, and Passi cafe, Horst)

Search for Best Café in Europe 2014

Day 2

In the night I woke up with tooth ache, I checked what time it was and much to my amusement saw it was tooth hurty. However by the morning this amusement had worn off as despite several pain killers my tooth was really painful. Fortunately a local dentist could see me first thing so I set off on my bike for the appointment. The dentist was very friendly but seemed more interested in practising his English than looking at my tooth. He asked where we were staying and I said I couldn't remember the name but told him it was a camp site down the road. "There are many camp sites and many roads" he told me which I assume must be a wise old Dutch saying. Eventually he had a quick look in my mouth and then fifty euros and some antibiotics later I was on my way back and ready for today's European cycle cafe reviewing.

Dentist humour on the dentist reception desk

Despite the fact the Netherlands is shut on a Monday Barry and Helen and their tandem had planned another double cafe 40 mile session. So on a lovely Dutch morning we set off. The main excitement on the way to the first stop was a river crossing where I reluctantly did pay the ferryman before we got to the other side.

Ferry crossing

With my tooth still throbbing in my mouth we arrived at De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you) just outside Arcen.

Outside 'king fisher cafe'

I had high hopes as it looked a much nicer stop than yesterday's. As I was on anti biotics I had been advised not to drink alcohol so I ordered a hot chocolate instead. Sadly it was chocomel again which was exactly the same as yesterday, it appears everyone serves the equivalent of cadburys drinking chocolate on the continent. However they did have draft Trappist beer and would put a liqueur in the hot chocolate if you wanted so the drinks still scored well.

Drinks options

The food menu was much shorter than the alcohol menu but they did have pancakes and toasties which are the national foods of Holland. They were both fairly disappointing and they didn't do any puddings here either.

Dissapointingly small toasties and pancakes

The De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you) scored ok but should have done better for such a good location and couldn't knock of the over rated central cafe, Baarol from top spot.

I downed some more painkillers and we set off again to hopefully find a true contender for European cycle cafe of the year 2014.

To make cycling easier the Dutch have come up with an ingenious yet simple cycle route planning solution. The system involves networks of numbered points, each point spread out every few kilometres on the quite roads and cycle paths. Then using a special cycle map with all the number points on it you just plan which numbers you will visit on your route and follow them. To make it even easier there are direction signs showing the way to each point.

Typical cycle point post

It is therefore almost impossible to go wrong so it was surprising just how many times Barry and Helen and their tandem got lost. On one occasion this was apparently because the Dutch had suddenly built a motorway across the cycle path blocking our way. I remembered the dentist had told me there were many roads and we seemed to have gone on most of them before we arrived at our second stop in Horst.

Barry checking map again as we seemed to be lost

It was very busy in their town square, which had a big screen set up for the Holland World Cup games and better still was currently showing the Tour de France. 

Big screen showing tour de france

We choose our seat in the compulsory outdoor seating area of Passi cafe and after waiting some time placed our order.

Outside Passi cafe

For once there was a different hot chocolate available. This time the chocolate came on a stick and you melted it yourself into the hot milk provided. I went for dark chocolate and George for milk chocolate. They also had strawberry waffles so I was optimistic of a good cycle cafe rating.

Drinks including hot chocolate on a stick

Unfortunately the beer was only average and although the hot chocolates were much better than the chocomel of previous stops, we had had up to now, the drinks were not very hot or chocolaty. The strawberry waffles were very nice but a bit small and I was reliably informed not as good as the overrated central cafe Baarlo. 

The rather small strawberry waffles

I thought the ambiance was excellent as I could see the Tour de France on a big screen but the rest of the group thought the overrated central cafe Baarlo was better despite the fact it over looked a car park. I reluctantly agreed that if you took away the big screen then the setting and noiseyness wasn't that great. 

Cafe Passi scored fairly well but would need to improve its drinks and location to move up the league.

I did learn that having ice cream with your waffle when you have tooth ache is a bad idea as it hurt worse than ever on the ride back to the camp site. Despite this it had been a fabulous 40 mile two stop ride but still left the vastly overrated central cafe Baarlo top of the European league.

European league table after 4 cafés.   

Cafe                                               Drink Food    Ambiance  Score

Central cafe, Baarlo Holland              8           8             7                7.67

De Ijsvogel (kingfisher mill to you),    8           6            8.5              7.50

Arcen, Holland

Passi cafe, Horst, Holland.                 7         7.5           6.5             7.00

Dakepello, Panningen                        5        6.5            5               5.50

Going Dutch. (Central cafe, Baarol, and Dakepello cafe, Panningen)

Search for Best Café in Europe 2014

Day 1

If I'm ever to become a world renowned cycle cafe reviewer then I feel it's important that I get more experience of the art from a wider perspective. With this in mind I plan to spend some of this summer checking out the cycle cafe scene across Europe. 

At the end of the various trips I have planned I will be in the position to crown the Cake Crusader European cafe of the year 2014 as well as improve my overall cycle cafe rating skills.

For the first expedition I packed a tent, family and guest reviewers Barry and Helen and their tandem into the car and headed straight for the Netherlands where cycling and cafés are a way of life.

After pitching our tents we headed to the bar for a relaxing drink and to prepare for the coming days cycle cafe reviewing. Shockingly we found the bar area packed with noisy Dutch people cheering on their team in the World Cup quarter finals vs Costa Rica. We spent the evening hoping Costa Rica would score so we would get some peace. Sadly they didn't.

L

Dutch football fans adding a lot of noise to our quite drink plans

In the morning I checked the forecast which suggested sun in the morning and rain later so I decided we needed to set off earlish. Barry and Helen and their tandem had been to this part of Holland before and so I put them in charge of routes. For the first trip they had planned a 30 mile double stop spectacular so with Chris (wife), Peter (son) and George (son) we set off.

The first thing one notices is that there are many more cycle paths and cyclists in this part of the world. For some reason though the Dutch seem to like to cobble their smaller roads and so combined with the wind against the first part of the ride went slowly.

We eventually arrived at the first stop, Central cafe in Baaralo. Back in the UK you get a wide range of possible potential stops. At one end of the refreshment option continuum is the spit and sawdust pub whilst at the other is the oldey worldey tea shop. Here nearly every establishment fits right in the middle of the refreshment option continuum and would be described as a cafe bar. 

Outside the Central cafe in the centre of Baarol

This meant that home-made cake was not on offer and the preferred drink was Trappist beer rather than hot chocolate or coffee. To over come this I referred to the international guide to cafe cycle reviewing from my library of made up books. It suggested the following simplified scoring system for use on the continent. Just rate drink, food and ambiance. Drink had to either be Trappist beer or a hot drink. People selecting standard drinks like fizzy water, coke, juice or larger would take no part in the drink rating part of cycle cafe reviewing as these things always tasted the same.

Sitting in under cover out door seating area awaiting service

The central cafe had excellent Trappist beer (draft Grimberger) and a nice selection of sweet or savoury snacks. We selected chicken burgers and giant toasties. 

Food and drink being tested

The sandwiches were very good and left us all with a pudding dilemma. Should we have the tempting looking strawberry waffle here or take a chance and have dessert at the second stop. Myself and Chris decided to take the gamble while others played it safe and had the waffles here. 

Excellent desserts

Despite my protests that the ambiance lacked something, as the Central cafe over looked the car park, the others all liked the feel of the place. Barry thought the ambiance was good as the car park became a market on a Thursday but as today wasn't Thursday I didn't really know why this was relevant from an ambiance perspective. 

Overall the central cafe in Baarol scored well with a score of 7.67 and set a high bar for the rest of Europe to live up to.

We set off to our next destination and on the way passed through several villages each with lots of cafés. You soon get to realise that the set up is always the same. Village square by big church with bandstand type thing in the middle and cafés round the outside. Very hard to tell the villages apart with déjà vu working overtime. We got to Panningen and found the requisite row of cafés. We selected Dakepello as it had most people sitting in the compulsory continental style outdoor seating area.

Standing by compulsory seating area outside Dakepello cafe

The beer here wasn't very good but they did have a choice of apple or strawberry flans. Unfortunately the dessert gamble had not paid off as the consensus was that the flans were not as good as the waffles at the central cafe Baarol. 

Nice flans but not up to the Central cafe, Baarol standard

I also thought it was time to try a Dutch hot chocolate and was very disappointed with the milky offering I was presented with. The ambiance wasn't great here either as the only view was of other cafés and modern shops as well as it being very noisy.

Disappointing Dutch hot chocolate

If the central cafe Baarol set the bar high then the Dakepello had little difficulty limbo dancing under it.

The ride back to camp was un eventful as we were trying to get back before it started to rain, which it did in spades soon after our return. The forecast tomorrow is good so hopefully further cafés will be visited so I can continue my quest to find European's finest.

European league table after 2 cafés.   

Cafe                              Drink Food    Ambiance.  Score

Central cafe, Baarlo         8   8                7        7.67

Dakepello, Panningen 5 6.5               5        5.50