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Saturday 28 May 2011

Norfolk Nosh

Been a while since I wrote anything, lots of things going on; work, three sick cats and a holiday in the wilds of East Anglia have all got in the way. Our holiday on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk provided us with some very fine food offerings. The asparagus season was in full swing and signs proclaiming this fact could be seen almost every 100 meters. I love asparagus but only eat it in season as the taste, like sweetcorn, fades away quickly after being harvested.

Asparagus featured in our first, and probably best, meal of our week away. Our first two nights were spent at the fabulousOld Rectory Norwich. The evening meal (and the following morning's breakfast) were fabulous. I started with a salad of asparagus, black pudding, soft boiled egg and salad leaves while my wife had a crab tart of sublime lightness and intensity. For my main I had a fillet of local beef with roasted shallots, spinach and fondant potatoes while Liz had a large fillet of sea bass with asparagus, new potatoes and seasonal vegetables. The beef was both tender and full of flavour and the sauce from the meat juices fabulously tasty. For pudding I had a delicate vanilla panna cotta with macerated strawberries and lavender shortbread and Liz had a gooey chocolate fondant. Both were fantastic.
Sunset on the walk back from the Locks Inn
We then moved from the luxury of the Old Rectory to the more basic conditions of a self catering converted cowshed. Set in the owners' smallholding it was very peaceful and relaxing. Best of all it was only a 15 minute walk from a great pub. The Locks Inn has atmosphere to die for. The old, main part of the inn is tiny and lacks any form of artificial light, so we had to rush our postcard writing before the sun went down! The food (beef chilli and rice, vegetarian goulash) was flavourful and hearty and was complimented by some very good beer from the small, local Green Jack brewery.

Sole Bay Inn Southwold
Other good food and ale was to be had at the Sole Bay inn in Southwold, a very pretty town on the coast with beach huts, a funky pier and a interesting selection of shops. At its heart is the Adnams brewery and you can smell the aroma of brewing beer throughout the town.
In Norwich Totally Thai is a very good Thai restaurant with a good selection of classics. On the way back to London we stopped at a farm shop for breakfast. Breakfast was good and there was a fine range of produce to take home. A bonus was the small petting zoo of pigs and sheep in the car park!

3 comments:

  1. My goodness that was a great post. I love reading this kind of stuff. I agree about eating asparagus while in season. So much like corn.

    Your meals all sound amazing. Big hello to Liz, from me.

    PS: Hope the cats are feeling better.

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  2. That sounded like a hell of a fine trip!

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  3. It did indeed and I love reading this kind of thing too. There's a magic in that landscape.

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