Fakenham, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Fish is always a winner” at this “first-rate gastropub”, which remains “deservedly very popular” under the direction of chef Jeremy Parke and his sommelier wife Rachael, who took over the 300-year-old inn in 2023 – “the menu has a great selection, supported by a good wine list”.

“Wonderfully situated restaurant on the Holkham Estate”, with “lovely views over the marshes” and “excellent local produce” on the menu – much of it grown on the estate itself. The Vic is regularly listed as one of the UK’s favourite boutique hotels, and last year added four shepherd’s huts to its accommodation options. “If you’re dining here you do have to like dogs – after all this is in the depths of rural Norfolk, and there are sometimes a good number of them”. No-one has harsh critiques of the cooking, nor for that matter grand claims. Top Menu Tip – “a favourite from the lunch plats du jour is salmon and prawn pie with sauteed greens”.

“Venture beyond the rather unprepossessing exterior” (a car park-adjacent new build) and “delights await” at this surprisingly bright and “always amazing” outfit, est. 2018 by self-taught chef Dan Lawrence and partner Natalie. The “really interesting (in a good way) menu” is “constantly evolving” and focuses on “lovely small plates to share (or not)”. Added boon: you won’t “feel like a freak asking for gluten-free”.

This boozer-with-rooms prospecting the village green was taken over by the Chestnut Group in 2022 and its general success is reflected by the good volume of feedback it inspires. Reports remain a little split on its virtues though. Most accounts do proclaim some “very decent” and “interesting” pub food, along with the “friendly welcome”. Its ratings are held back, though, by a minority who find the menu style restrictive, or who feel it’s “not as good as it was”.

“The star dishes are all about locally sourced seafood, which is superbly presented” and goes “beyond run-of-the-mill choices” at this consistently well-regarded outfit – a “very good example of the quality of restaurants on the North Norfolk coast”. As one of its band of fans puts it, founder “Angela Long and her late husband Richard developed a loyal following” who, even to this day, “love the care and attention that’s given to each dish”.

“Goes from strength to strength – an absolute treat” – Greg Anderson & Rebecca Williams’s simply but tastefully converted Georgian townhouse provides “exceptional service and attention to detail in calm, and beautiful surroundings”. The cuisine is “exquisite” too (“the food stands comparison with any of the top restaurants we’ve eaten in the world over”). At dinner, there’s a ten-course tasting menu for £150 per person (a cheaper four-course menu for £85 is also available earlier in the week, and on Saturday lunchtimes): “it’s good that the chefs themselves bring the food to the table and give an introduction” and “each course has many ingredient combinations, blending into a perfect composite and displayed with great artistry”. Top Tip – “Stay in one of their three rooms if you can, and take advantage of Rebecca’s wine expertise”.

“Brilliant shellfish, with wonderful sea views over the marshes” is the trump card of this coastal village pub that has been transformed by Cliff Nye and his family over the last 20 years or so into a “restaurant-with-rooms with a lovely open feel”; and which is the flagship of his Anglian Country Inns group. Hugely popular in the summer for “meals on the outside deck”, it’s great at any time of the year (“we celebrate our wedding anniversary here in early December”) – but “it’s wise to book well in advance for a front-row table: the view’s not so great from the back of the dining room”. Top Menu Tips – “Brancaster mussels from local fisherman Tom Large served with focaccia followed by chargrilled whole gilthead bream”.

This conversion of an 18th-century watermill is owned by sisters Siobhan and Caitriona (whose brother, Oliver Peyton, is the figurehead of the family’s London catering business). Reports are not super-numerous but all positive, praising its “lovely food” and – in his July 2025 review – The Times’s Giles Coren came out as a big fan, having enjoyed a setting so idyllic that “you wouldn’t have to serve such good food if you didn’t want to. You could just charge people to stand here”, but whose food more than lived up to the setting, and included a juicy pork rib eye and roasted peaches that “sounds a bit suburban, a bit 1980s, but it works beautifully”.

“A little away from the coast”, Aga & Lewis King’s small venue in a former coffee shop is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2026. They offer the option of a Shorter menu on Wednesdays and Thursdays (five courses for £65 per person), but it’s the Longer version that’s always available with seven courses for £85 per person. “The ingredients, cooking, presentation are superb” and Aga’s wine pairing is exceptional. (“Good thing it’s got an outside loo (due to lack of space) because the food’s so good I couldn’t afford it otherwise!”).