White Horse Bakery

It’s not hard to understand the appeal of this standalone bakery across the courtyard from the White Horse pub. With a charming beamed and stone-walled interior – plus a winter-warming wood-burner and pretty, partially covered terrace seating – it’s clearly popular with a local crowd. The daytime fare is exactly what you would expect: breakfasts of Clarence Court poached eggs with local thick-cut ham on sourdough or croissants filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese, plus excellent pain au chocolat, almond croissants, Danish pastries and very good coffee. Lunch brings home-baked focaccia filled with roast pork and apple sauce or a Walsingham Cheddar and ham toastie. Don’t forget to pick up a baguette, some rye bread or a sourdough loaf when you leave.

Sometimes, pubs hit that ‘something for everyone’ note pitch-perfectly. Locals and North Norfolk coastal tourists alike can thank Anglian Country Inns for turning this rundown village boozer into a smart, forward-thinking hostelry, where drinkers are more than welcome and food is top of the agenda. Chef Gabriel ('Gabe') Lea has impeccable credentials (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons under Raymond Blanc, The French under Simon Rogan and Northcote with Lisa Godwin-Allen), but keeps things admirably straightforward here. His dishes are simple and unshowy, revealing a commitment to local and regional suppliers (Brancaster oysters and smoked salmon, Howard & Sons pork sausages, Mrs Temple’s Binham Blue cheese, Norfolk asparagus), while flavours are as big-hearted as the portions. Given the location, you can expect seafood to feature strongly (we enjoyed a flawlessly cooked whole lemon sole with a sauce bonne femme), but there’s excellent meat too – both a whopping bone-in pork chop and a plate of pink and perfect grilled mutton chops were triumphant highlights when we visited. We would also go back for the cheese and red onion tart and for the fresh sourdough from the on-site bakery, which is irresistible – especially with whipped chicken butter. To finish, dark rum panna cotta comes with local strawberries, while Norfolk cheese is paired with blackberry chutney and an Eccles cake. Lovely service and decent wines also repay the journey.