Acle Bridge Inn

[coolcat]

Had dinner in the Bridge last Monday evening. It was super busy but we weren't waiting long for our lovely dinners to arrive and as usual great service from Philip and the team.

I don't live in Norfolk but I consider the Bridge as my 'local'

[trambo]

Friendly and consistent sums up the Bridge Inn. Superb mooring, well kept garden and welcoming pub. As others have said, definitely not fine dining but honest food, nicely presented and good value. I only wish some very well known establishments, North and South could be as consistent as the Bridge.

Fred

[SwanR]

Going to have to balance things out a bit here ... I know it's probably a lone voice against the Bridge Inn Fan Club (!) ... but I just don't find the Bridge Inn anything exceptional. Sure, lovely location, which is its plus point, food reasonable but not outstanding. Just my view having eaten there a number of times.

We all have our favourites and it depends what you're looking for and how it works out on the day.

[Regulo]

2 hours ago, SwanR said:

Going to have to balance things out a bit here ... I know it's probably a lone voice against the Bridge Inn Fan Club (!)

You're not alone. I've never found it anything other than acceptable. 

[johnb]

So here is what actually happened. To be honest we don't eat out very often so our experience is a little limited. Our guests who live in Norwich do eat out often and would be honest in their assessment. We arrived about 6.45 and given a window seat within a couple of minutes. We ordered drinks and the waiter told us the food orders were taking 45 minutes although it may be sooner. Prawn. Salad. Ham and Eggs, Lasagne and Chilli arrived after 45 minutes, the food was piping hot (apart from the salad), was well presented and plenty of it. Deserts of strawberry and cream with ice cream, banana split  and ice cream followed, which again were all good. We left after about two hours having been able to relax and chat, enjoyed the view from the window of the garden and river. The pub was busy but not overcrowded.  Our friends are definitely putting The Bridge Inn on  their list of places to eat. They felt that the food was good and plentiful and the space around and between tables was good. The staff were attentive and helpful. So all in all a good experience for us all. (Apart from the staff -I genuinely forgot to leave a tip so we "owe" them). The  cost was just under £75 for the food and 8 drinks. For what it's worth that is the actual experience. 

[oldgregg]

Never had a bad experience at the Bridge Inn - And the service is as consistent in July when the place is rammed as it is in the winter.

Some places seem to get caught out by the demand in high season, but the Bridge seems to handle it well. As a local it's a place I go regularly and will happily meet boaty friends there for a meal as it's a pleasant setting and they're reliable. It's that experience which keeps people coming, and thus keeps them running nicely through the winter, which I think a lot of others could learn from.

[WayfordBridge]

On 04/08/2018 at 18:09, Jbx5 said:

Sorry Chris don’t get your school of thought re it’s not the kind of place you would entertain if it’s important. It doesn’t pretend to be a fine dining experience.

We had our daughter wedding reception in the thatched area 5 years ago after being let down badly by another local hostilely (no names mentioned but it was in Wayford )

I will say all the staff bent over backwards and we couldn’t have asked for a better venue by the river and and it was a great  relaxing atmosphere. The food was also superb and I don’t say that lightly as my wife was a head chef in a past life at a large hotel.

With the amount of people going through their doors in the season it would by virtually impossible to book prime  tables out.

John

 

 

 

 

 

We bought the Wayford in october 2015 so that was not us just to be clear ;-)

[SwanR]

Haven't been to the Wayford Bridge Inn for a couple of years but it's on our top three of places to eat out around the Broads. Excellent food and service whenever we have been there.

[Heron]

The Fine Dining thing really amuses me. Worst meal I have had since moving to Norfolk was at the Gunton Arms, give me genuine good food at a sensible price and I go back, but I choose carefully.

[Paul]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

The Fine Dining thing really amuses me. Worst meal I have had since moving to Norfolk was at the Gunton Arms, give me genuine good food at a sensible price and I go back, but I choose carefully.

Similarly, the worst experience I have had was at the Lavender House, much beloved by so many. Anywhere can have an off day I guess

 

[ChrisB]

Dining, restaurant experience etc is very subjective. More so than probably Hire Yards. If bad reviews of hire boats and yards are not allowed, then I think the same should be applied to Pubs, Restaurants and chippies.

What is the official view of this, please?

[Paul]

unless I have missed something I haven't seen any bad reviews?

 

[ChrisB]

It was a general comment not aimed at this thread or any particular establishment.  I am just making an observation that reviews of any business are subjective and probably an area best avoided on this type of forum. Purely my opinion.

[SwanR]

12 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

It was a general comment not aimed at this thread or any particular establishment.  I am just making an observation that reviews of any business are subjective and probably an area best avoided on this type of forum. Purely my opinion.

I think that reviews on a forum like this act as recommendations for the most part. It's always good to hear of other people's experiences and differing opinions. Not everyone will like everything but you tend to get a good cross section of opinion. And for first time visitors to the area, looking for ideas of where to go, it's nice to be able to share.

[grendel]

I am just trying to find the post where Tim discussed this, but in general terms the TOS used to not allow criticism of businesses, but after several protestations that it was not fair if only good reviews were allowed, we decided to allow consttructive criticism, as long as the criticism didnt turn into a deliberate campaign against a company, after all if a business doesnt know it has made a mistake, they cant change their policies to avoid that mistake in the future.

[grendel]

 Here we go. Tim puts it so much better than I ever could.

 

[vanessan]

I think if someone is going to mention an establishment where they have had a bad experience, then they need to elaborate and say why the experience did not come up to their expectations. Was it the food, the service, the ambience, the whole experience or what? That’s the only way it can be constructive and a help to other forum members who can then take a view on whether or not they want to visit the place themselves. Similarly of course good reviews also need elaboration. (Let’s call it the ‘meat on the bones’ - groan!)

 So I will ask Paul, why was your Lavender House visit your worst experience?

[SwanR]

I think that's fair, especially if it is one's own experience not something anecdotal.

[Maxwellian]

Before posting please read all of what Timbo said, extract below re complaints.

Before posting a complaint or negative review of a business make sure you have taken your personal complaint to that business and allowed them to deal with it before posting. When posting please be factual. The law does offer protection to businesses against unfair criticism, to the extent that such comments are damaging, misleading and untrue. Under the law, we can be compelled to hand over any and all details we hold of the poster and be compelled to take action or run the risk of becoming liable ourselves. Please be aware that even though you may have only cut and pasted someone else's comments that can also make you liable. Of course, we welcome feedback from businesses to any posts concerning them either as a post or by other means if they disagree with what has been said.

[vanessan]

I don’t often look at Trip Advisor or anything similar but, if I do, it always impresses me if the business that has been criticised responds in a positive way. I think it is always a good thing to keep a really open mind about reviews as we all know that too many ‘fake’ reviews have appeared in the past. We don’t have a dedicated forum for pub, restaurant, cafe etc reviews and I do wonder if we should. If we did, the header could include the guidance outlined by Maxwellian above so would remind members before they actually posted. I know food outlets are businesses and we do have a forum for such but food is something we all have an interest in for one reason or another. Is this food for thought? Did I really say that? 

[SwanR]

I think that's a good idea Vanessan.

We had an issue with somewhere last Christmas, but they handled it really well. We spoke to them at the time and then I wrote to them afterwards as well. As a result of that I still left them a fairly positive review on Trip Advisor.

[Paul]

1 hour ago, vanessan said:

So I will ask Paul, why was your Lavender House visit your worst experience?

As the establishment is now closed I will elaborate slightly, seeing as you asked so nicely. I was not impressed with the decor, I found it out of keeping with the product and not inducive of the claimed fine dining experience. The rolls in the bread basket were not cooked, two of them were still doughy. I ordered tuna for a starter which was a let down as I had been looking forward to the belly pork but it was "off". The Tuna was overcooked and dry and when I bought that to the waiter's attention the response was "that's how it's always cooked." There was no pinkness to it at all. In fairness it was replaced but the replacement was only slightly better. I think it had been given an extra basting before being served to make it look less dry.

The main was OK. I had glazed beef (I might have gone for the sea bream had I not had a fishy starter). That was perfectly OK but those in our party who did have the Sea Bream received it covered in soggy, watery samphire. 

Dessert was also disappointing. We were eating from a set weeknight menu with three or four options for each course and the only dessert I liked the sound of was watermelon with Pannacotta and a syrup of some kind, precisely what I forget. The Panna Cotta was gorgeous, but the watermelon was bland and tasteless and the syrup like pink coloured liquid glucose. 

Having already complained about the Tuna and the Sea Bream we couldn't be bothered any further. We ate up, paid up and left. For five of us, three courses, two bottles of white and one of rose, 4 brandy's a baileys and five coffees the bill was a touch north of £325. For "fine dining" that's not excessive (I've eaten at Fat Duck!), £20 for mains, 7 or 8 quid each starter and dessert, three glasses of wine at a fiver each, similar for coffee and a brandy and your not far away, but it simply was not a £65 a head experience. 

This was April, 2016. It was suggested afterwards that the proprietor was not in the kitchen that evening, and that staff had become aware of the plan to close the restaurant later that year. Perhaps that had an impact but we went expecting something special. We knew it was above average price compared to other eateries locally but had been assured it was good value given the quality. We just didn't find that to be the case.

[Maxwellian]

It is amazing how experiences differ.  My wife and I have eaten there several times    before the proprietor moved into Norwich and have never had a bad meal. Service was always excellent and we felt the decor and ambience were very nice. I have eaten in M* restaurants and felt that Lavendar House compared quite nicely.

[Paul]

Actually, with hindsight I think I made an error calling The Lavender House the worst experience. Perhaps the most disappointing would be more accurate. The worst experience was a Fish and Chip Shop from which the food was inedible and went into the bin. As they are still trading I shall say no more.

[VetChugger]

I think I may know the chippy you refer to Paul!