please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Wherry in excellent condition on Wed 25th January... Spent the day walking through the salt marshes to the beach, and taking in the amazing bird life. Popped in late afternoon for a drink, and the pub was pretty busy. Settled down near the fire and had some lovely sandwiches with fries. The Hero is warm an welcoming, with attentive staff. Just picking up on Paul's thread though, even inside they do seem to like the table service, which I'm not keen on, but a minor niggle. I think the other beer on hand pull was Ghost Ship.
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A bizarre ordering system where you find a table, order outdoors then await (friendly) table service. This leads to lengthy delays even for drinks and was bemusing the London lads up for a wedding. If you pick the right outside table then you might get a view of the River Burn but otherwise it's just the main road to watch. My pint of Wherry was in good condition.
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New management - re-opened after closure for refurbishment. Dining area much extended: some accommodation over what used to be the adjoining art gallery. Bar area much the same as before. Called in briefly Saturday last for a (very good) glass of house white. Was intending to eat but - despite the time of year - the bar was very crowded and noisy (so it's obviously doing well!) and I suspected the (totally empty!) dining rooms would have been a touch pricey for the kind of lunch-time snack I was after. So I walked on to the ever reliable White Horse at Brancaster Staithe.
I must call again out of season, but on a week day when the bar ought to be less frenetic. Didn't get a chance to find out if the fish roe (or anything else) is still "pan fried"!
All in all it looks good and I wish it well.
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"Pan fried" - it still amuses me - roe back on. Delicious as ever.
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Fell into The Hero after getting completely frozen and soaked on the 1.5 mile hike from the beach. It's true that the exterior is a little underwhelming but the interior is cool and elegant. The ubiquitous Wherry was fine and our food excellent. The young man who served us throughout was especially friendly and helpful. Suitably refreshed and thawed, we were able to make the last 6 miles to Brancaster.
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Pretty busy here on a Sunday lunchtime. A curious looking pub both inside and out, reminding me more of a fairly utilitarian tearoom rather than an establishment selling beer.
Only real ale was Woodforde's Wherry which, to be honest, I wasn't overstruck with. It took a long time to clear ( not just in the Hero) and at 3.8% I found it a bit insipid.
Food was excellent - large portions and reasonably priced. Staff were friendly and welcoming.
One moan - we ordered a pot of tea for two and were charged �5 ! Only a standard sized pot and cups. This can only be described as excessive.
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Lunch here on Bank Holiday Monday - not as busy as I'd anticipated. Two excellent pints of Wherry, but menu a little disappointing this time. No "pan fried" roe! (Baked Camembert okay though.)
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The "pan fried" (how else can you fry something?) roe on toast was delicious last Tuesday lunctime. Nor was it desperately expensive. Good pint of Wherry, too.
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Called in at lunchtime on Saturday. Very quiet due to time of year. The Wherry was "off" but the Adnam's was fine.
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Agree with anon234 - perhaps not "traditional" now, but pleasant enough. First came during a sailing holiday in 77 ... if I remember correctly it had lots of nooks and crannies in dark wood, open fires and polished brasses and nauticalia; very cosy, especially after a day's thrashing about in a dinghy off Scolt Head! Came again in '99 and was very disappointed to find it opened up and with very little nauticalia on show ... it's named after Nelson, after all! However the Irish landlord was very friendly and the food was good.
Yes, it has gone trendy and is essentially a restaurant now, but at least it's still open!
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I have visited this pub on numerous occasions and although during the school holidays it is very busy with families which is not everyones cup of tea (what you would expect really, being near the sea!!) I would have to say the the overall quality of food is very good and all of the staff have been very friendly, particularly in comparison to what the pub was like before. From chatting to the other members of staff I do believe that the chap who was very loud, mentioned by another reviewer, has since left, and was not the landlord. Although the pub has rather a "new england" feel I would consider the experience to be very pleasant.
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I am very puzzled by other reviews here that seem reasonably positive. This was a rather excentric local pub with reasonable beer and food. It has now been turned into something that could best be described as looking like my school refectory - gone is any sort of character to be replaced by ugly furniture, single echoing eating space (and it really is just about eating now), which might explain the booming landlord mentioned by a previous reviewer and certainly explained the imnpact of screaming kids when I last went there. Beer is reasonably well kept but that really is all you can say about this place. Sadly I fear that the new owners decided that if they made it look more like a London wine bar they would attract more London visitors. Perhaps they do, but in the process they have ruined a perfectly nice country pub.
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Clean, modernised, tidy, slightly neutral pub.
No smoking, which is a huge plus for me.
Bitter was fine - some Norfolk brew, but I can't remember what. Food was fine too.
The only drawback was one of the staff - maybe the landlord. About 30, with a booming voice, which was no real problem until he asked some 6-foot-something youth for proof of age.
The resulting discussion went on for 10 minutes, and spread to the youth's dad and was so embarrasing we left early.
The barman was quite right to ask for proof of age, but not at such high volume that everyone in the pub heard about it. It should have been done quietly, and the youth (who turned out to be over 18 after he'd gone back to his cottage to fetch his driving licence) should not have been under the spotlight.
So, good pub, but spoiled by staff.
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improved no end in the last few years. Lovely inside and not too bad outside in the little courtyard garden. Can get very busy with 'chaps up from chelsea' though.
anonymous - 26 May 2006 11:24 |
Good food; friendly atmosphere; quiet hamlet, with fantastic coastal walks nearby
peter - 14 Apr 2006 10:54 |
