The wonderful food available in North Norfolk is one of its increasingly better known secrets, but you need some inside knowledge to get the best from it. And we are passionate about local food and keen as mustard to introduce others to it.

The area is a foodie’s heaven and the food reflects the unique landscape: what the French would call terroir. The coast and salt marshes famously produce the country’s finest crabs and samphire, and the long dry summers are great for lavender, which you can often find incorporated into bread and ice cream. In winter the fields, woods and marshes supply the local butchers and restaurants with wonderful wild game. And the rich light soil produces the early summer asparagus.

The trick is knowing where to find the food, then what to do with it to make the best of it. A few of our favourites to whet your appetite are listed below, and on the bookshelves of The Chapel you’ll find recipe books and a file of “knowledge” including comprehensive details of where to buy what, and useful tips such as how to get the best from a bunch of samphire and what to do with a crab.

In the garden beside The Chapel there are herbs growing for you to use, and of course the kitchen has everything you need from a corkscrew to an oyster knife.

But on the days that you fancy a rest from self-catering or when you are out and about there are no shortage of great pubs and restaurants using local ingredients to do the cooking for you.


Food shops & producers
 
The Firs, Hindolveston. Further up the lane from The Chapel, small-holders Richard and Ann Day sell their own eggs and vegetables as well as newspapers and stamps. If you happen to be there at the right time you can order some of their superb pork or rare breed Southdown lamb.

Martins Farm, Hindolveston. Famous for their superb chickens, which will probably be far better than you’ve had for decades, they also sell from their shed with an honesty box, pork, eggs and vegetables. And occasionally ducks and turkeys. Self-catering supplies practically on your Norfolk holiday cottage accommodation doorstep!


Picnic Fayre, Cley. Despite the superfluous Y a really good deli.

Rutlands Butchers, Melton Constable. The best butcher in Norfolk and very handily in the next village to Hindolveston.

Crowes Greengrocer, Bull Street Holt. Very good produce, including local when available. The tiny shop is always busy and brother and sister, Susan and Kevin, make shopping for carrots like stepping back into the 1950’s. Closed between 1 and 2.


The Crab Shed, Blakeney. On the main coast road: park in the lay-by outside and just walk down the garden to the shed. Really fresh local crabs, lobsters, oysters and mussels.

North Elmham Bakery. A traditional village bakery run by Rick Stein food hero Norman Olley.

Walsingham Farm Shop. A Rolls Royce of farm shops, stocking some of the best of local foods.


Bray’s Cottage Pork Pies. The local pies that Giles Coren described as “perfect” get frequent enthusiastic mentions in the national press. When you try the ones in the fridge you may well want more, so their local stockists are listed on their website.

P & S Butchers, Bull Street, Holt. Excellent and very good value local game in season including venison, hare, pigeon breast and wild duck as well as the usual pheasant and partridge.

Bakers and Larners, Holt. An up-market and comprehensive food hall. The Harrods of North Norfolk but without the annoying owner.


Eating out

Heydon. The Tea Shop and The Earle Arms Pub. Heydon is a beautiful feudal village (a six miles easy bike ride from Hindol) which hasn’t had a new building for a hundred and fifty years. Both the tea shop and the pub do very good food (it’s a good idea to book for a meal at the pub – especially weekend lunchtimes) but the pub has the added advantage of beer.

Cley. The Three Swallows. Great for sitting outside with a pint in the evening sunshine and getting mesmerised by the view to Wiveton church, often with a barn owl hunting in the field. Also does good food, including the excellent produce from Cley Smokehouse.

Cley. The George. More up-market than The Swallows but a great menu using local ingredients. .

Brancaster Staithe. The White Horse. More a restaurant rather than a pub, but excellent food and a fabulous panoramic view of the marshes. The sort of place where the head chef gets interviewed by Radio 4, but the service manages to remain very friendly and relaxed.


Wells. Fish and chips sitting on the harbour wall. There are two very good chip shops by the harbour but locals always go to French’s (which has been in business since 1923). Find a spot on the harbour, relax and admire one of the most beautiful views in the country.

Wiveton. The Bell. They bill themselves as a traditional pub with traditional values, but in our experience they are way better than that! Really good food (most of it locally sourced) and beer, but you can still take your dog in.

Butlers, Appleyard Court, Holt. A café bar and our favourite place for a reviving mid-shop lunch. Visitors to Holt tend to go to Byfords, but the locals head for Butlers.

Warham. The Three Horseshoes. Another North Norfolk institution. Does amazing home made pies and their own lemonade (as well as excellent cask beers) but no chips. Food with a Victorian feel and a pub that has been much the same for the decades that we’ve been going there. Log fires in the winter and a spacious sunny garden for the summer. Perfect.

Moreston Hall. For a huge treat Moreston has a Michelin star and a celebrity chef and owner, Galton Blackiston. A man who is really passionate about Norfolk food and a great supporter of the local food producers. Probably best to book your table about the same time that you book your holiday!


Salthouse. Cookie’s Crab Shed. A North Norfolk institution. Only sells crab and sea food salads, but amazing value and simply has to be experienced. It’s small and very popular, so definitely a good idea to ring and reserve a table. You can take your own wine.

Sainsbury’s Longwater Lane, Norwich. Or if none of those seem worth all the effort, you can always enjoy fine dining and UHT milk with your tea in stylish surroundings beside the A47. Copies of The Daily Mail on every table.