Local restaurants and pubs
We are lucky to be surrounded by some of the best places to eat and drink in Norfolk, from a crab shack a mile along the road to dining rooms people cross the county for. Please see below a few of our favourites.
For more information please email stay@kelling-estate.co.uk or call the Estate Office on 01263 712202
The Gunton Arms
A pub and dining room set inside a deer park, with the herd often grazing within sight of the windows. The Elk Room is the reason most people come, with big cuts of meat cooked over an open fire in the middle of the room, and there is an art collection on the walls that would not look out of place in a gallery. About half an hour east of the Estate, near Thorpe Market.
The Suffield Arms
Under the same ownership as the Gunton Arms and a few minutes away at Thorpe Market, beside Gunton station. The rooms are the opposite of a plain country pub, all gold ceilings, dark panelling and long communal tables, and the cooking is every bit as serious as the setting. Good for a long lunch or simply a drink at the bar.
The Dun Cow
The closest proper pub garden to us, a mile east at Salthouse, with benches set on a rise looking north over the marshes to the sea. It is worth timing a visit for the evening, because that view is what the tables are pointed at. Local ales and straightforward, generous food.
The White Horse, Brancaster
Further west along the coast at Brancaster Staithe, where the dining room and the terrace look out across the tidal marsh towards Scolt Head Island. Seafood is the strength here, a good deal of it landed within sight of the table. Worth the drive, and worth booking late enough to catch the sunset.
Havn, Blakeney
A small, bright restaurant behind a turquoise shopfront on Blakeney High Street, with the kitchen open to the room. Short, seasonal menus that make proper use of the coastal Norfolk larder. It seats very few people, so book before you set off.
The Moorings, Blakeney
A few steps from Blakeney quay, cooking the shellfish that comes in on the boats moored alongside. Mussels, crab and samphire in season, served without ceremony in a room that has been feeding people on this quay for years. One of the easiest and best lunches on this stretch of coast.
Cookie’s Crab Shop
Barely more than a hut with tables in the garden, at Salthouse just along the road from us, and a fixture of this coast for over fifty years. Crab, lobster, smoked salmon and the seafood platters people queue for, alongside salads, sandwiches and rolls to take away. Bring your own wine, and be ready to eat outdoors.
Meadowsweet, Holt
Fine dining in the middle of Holt, our nearest market town, built around a tasting menu of Norfolk produce. One Michelin star, a small dining room, a great deal of technique on the plate and a wine list chosen to go with it. The occasion meal of this list, and one to book a long way ahead.
Morston Hall
A country house hotel a few miles west at Morston, with a Michelin starred restaurant serving one set tasting menu to the whole room at a single sitting. Long established, unfailingly consistent, and a garden worth arriving early for on a summer evening. Dinner here is an evening out rather than a meal.