A guide to Norfolk’s cafes and tea rooms

January on the Norfolk coast is exhilarating and beautiful. It can also be windswept and cold. And this is why we feel a guide to cafes and tea rooms across the county is a good idea. Yes, get out there and brave the elements with a walk, run or cycle but don’t forget to reward yourself with a lovely cuppa tea or coffee and a large slice of cake.

Six of the best cafes and tea rooms

Here are six small but perfectly formed cafes and tea rooms that provide warm and welcoming destinations after a few hours in the great outdoors.

Tilly’s Cafe and Bakery in Burnham Market is a lovely little cafe nestled on the market square in fashionable Burnham Market. Danish pastries warm from the oven, homemade cakes, jacket potatoes with a range of fillings. The cafe is unpretentious and the food is homely and tempting.

The Poppyland Cafe is a tiny tea room in an old flint house on the side of a country road. What makes this tea room especially unique is its 1940s style. Don’t be surprised if the staff member serving your Dambusters breakfast bap is humming the theme tune. Everyone is in 40s mode here. But the ‘ration book’ menu shouldn’t be met with alarm – everything served up in the cafe is contemporary, including a wide choice of gluten free goodies. Close to Horsey beach, the cafe is quirky, fun and serves top quality, locally-sourced food.

Food and fossils at Horsey

Further up the coast from Horsey is the seal and fossil-hunters’ stomping ground of West Runton. After a few hours watching the seals and searching for ammonites, pop into Clementines Cafe and Bistro. The cafe, which serves locally-sourced, home-made food, sits in the centre of West Runton village on the Cromer Road. It is popular with locals and visitors alike.

Smallsticks Cafe  is a family-run cafe just off the beach at Happisburgh. Much of the produce comes straight from the sea (crabs and lobsters from Cart Gap beach in Happisburgh) or from the family farming business. The cafe is named after the field surrounding the cafe and enjoys great views across open farmland to the iconic Happisburgh Lighthouse.

Unique and beautiful Brecks

To the south-west of the county lies the Brecklands. This is a unique landscape of pine, gorse, heather and bracken. A visit to this area will reveal Bronze Age burial sites, medieval settlements and a heap of other archaeological treasures. When your quest for history has been sated, try the homemade cakes and savoury treats on offer at Peppers Tea Room in West Harling. The tea room itself is part of a 17th century building and makes for a great stopping place.

The final cafe in our selection is the Old Boat House Cafe in Old Hunstanton. This cafe, just metres from the beach at Old Hunstanton, is a treasure trove. It serves a fabulous and wide-ranging selection of food and drink, including a wide range of dietary options. Everything is freshly made in the kitchen. The only question is how the team manage to pull off a culinary miracle with the speed and quality of the food they serve.

These are just a few of Norfolk’s magnificent tea rooms and cafes. Our New Year Resolution at Rookery Barns is to get out and try each and everyone of them!