The Falgate Inn Potter Heigham

[Meantime]

Whilst replying on The Bridge Inn thread it reminded me that I really must make a separate mention of the excellent service and food we received at The Falgate Inn recently.

We had decided to eat there on the Thurs 15th July and as was our plan for our week afloat we booked our table in advance. It just so happened that we needed to visit Boulters by car on Sat 10th July and as we headed through Potter on our way to Horning we were reminded to book the table at the Falgate for the following Thursday. My friend made the call and I could tell the line was a bit patchy but non the less the booking was made just as we drove past the outside of the pub. My friend actually joked when he was giving his phone number to confirm the booking, that he almost suggested they look out the window and he would wave as we drove past.

Next Thursday arrived and we were lucky to grab the last mooring on the BA public mooring and after showers etc, set off and arrived at The Falgate 15 mins early to find it quite busy and looking very promising. I understand it has recently changed hands and the food we saw on tables all looked good. Some people who entered just ahead of us were disappointed to be told that they were fully booked for food for the evening. We were asked if we had booked which we confirmed and explained we were slightly early. The barmaid goes off and then returns to confirm which name it had been booked under and for what time as they had no record of the booking. My friend then starts frantically scrolling through the list of calls made on his phone to show the barmaid he had in fact called, to which she replied, its no problem I believe you, we'll fit you in somewhere.

We were then shown around the corner to a table for two that had been quickly prepared for us and we were shown menus and our drinks order was taken. About 30 mins later my friend receives a phone call and I hear one half of a slightly confused phone call during which he says "no we're here already you seated us around the corner." "Yes we arrived about 30 minutes ago" "Yes we're just about to order". It was obvious the phone service was as patchy as the previous week and eventually the call cut out. My rather confused friend explained the call and showed me his phone which said that The Foldgate Inn had called. The penny dropped rather loudly when I explained how Falgate is spelt and that the area code was wrong for Potter Turns out there is a Foldgate Inn in Downham Market, so he at least had the right county 

Anyway the food was excellent, the beer equally as good and the service despite being obviously very busy  was also very good. Prices were extremely fair and all together I would not hesitate to recommend The Falgate Inn, I'm not in a position to make recommendations about The Foldgate Inn yet though 

I shamed my friend into coming clean with the waitress as we paid our bill and we all had a good laugh about it. Then the landlady came over and thanked us for our honesty as one of her members of staff had made a genuine error earlier which led to them squeezing in an extra table of five and the chef pulling their hair out, before we gatecrashed as well. She was really good about it and also had a good laugh and again thanked us for being honest.

It probably rated as our best night of the week all round. Bearing in mind it was in some very good company.

Thurs 8th The Dukes Head Somerleyton

Fri 9th Copper Smokehouse Oulton Broad

Sat 10th The Priory St Olaves

Mon 12th The White Horse Neatishead

Tues13th The Harnser Stalham Green

Thurs 15th The Falgate Potter

Fri 16th The Bridge Inn Acle

Sat 17th The Reedham Ferry 

[SwanR]

Great post. Interested to know how you liked the Copper Smokehouse at Oulton Broad. 

[Meantime]

3 minutes ago, SwanR said:

Great post. Interested to know how you liked the Copper Smokehouse at Oulton Broad. 

The Copper Smokehouse was very good, I guess it compares very favourably with The Station Smokehouse Hoveton in terms of food, but there is a lot more space and it feels a lot more open. The service was excellent and food quality and portion sizes very good. We were a party of four and there were no complaints. I will certainly return again. 

I rated The Falgate as probably the best night based upon a whole host of factors not just the food, because there were some pubs and restaurants there as well as Gastro pubs so direct comparisons are hard to make. Food wise alone I would rate The Copper Smokehouse as being in the top half of the list above.

There were some surprising mediocre meals but I'm not going to name them because I would say that all the places without exception were trying their best given the circumstances. 

It just so happens that on the next week afloat The Falgate is top of the list for a repeat visit.

[SwanR]

Thanks for that. We haven’t been to many of the non-chain restaurants in the Lowestoft area so I’ve got my eye on this for one of our caravan weekends. 

And good to know about the Falgate Inn given it’s not that far from where I live. 

[YnysMon]

4 hours ago, Meantime said:

There were some surprising mediocre meals but I'm not going to name them because I would say that all the places without exception were trying their best given the circumstances. 

Brilliant post Meantime. Nice to hear of those places that are doing exceptionally well despite the circumstances, and your post has changed my views on visiting the Falgate. 

[Bluebell]

Just to add, having never been to the Falgate Inn before, we had lunch there on Wednesday (21st July) and the service, food and drink was excellent. We’ll return and would recommend 😎