Alluring Norfolk based pub in a quintessential English village setting

A mere 5 minute walk from the nearest landing field in Great Massingham is the delightful and picturesque village of Great Masssingham. With 5 ponds and enough benches for anyone to literally meditate in the peaceful setting that it is, the most prominent village pub is also a wonderfully restored Inn with rooms. This lunch showed a touch of creative flare and I would say a genuine cut above most pub menus within the UK and with a little more finesse, it could go further I’m sure. It is a splendid interior at the very least and well recommended to pop in for a drink at the very least if passing anywhere nearby. A pleasing menu to see and decent experience to be introduced to.

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The meal started with sweet and sour pickled summer vegetables to nibble on which arrived with the starters (it would have been better to chomp on whilst waiting), but made for good snacks. The first starter was house cured duck bresaola, with tempura oyster mushrooms, puffed glass noodles, gooseberry and ginger chutney which was a well-constructed dish and reportedly very good by my dining companion. I opted for the recommended pan roasted Norfolk pigeon with beetroot, braised buckwheat, salted blackberries, pear and walnuts. Sadly the pigeon itself was overcooked, slightly tough and dry which was a shame as even in its overdone state it had inherent flavour, so served more pink I’m sure this would have been very good. I felt the dish would have also benefitted from slightly less buckwheat, but the pear and berries gave it the acidic relief it needed.

For my main I opted for the also recommended pan-roasted Pollock with saffron confit potatoes, smoked fennel, lemon feta, courgettes and herb sauce which was genuinely good. The feta worked very well with the butter sauce with good, natural seasoning for the wonderfully cooked pollock. The other main opted for was the 80z Rump steak, Portobello mushroom shwarma. Greek herb salted beef dripping hand cut chips, rosemary and lemon aioli smoked cherry tomatoes which proved to be likewise pleasing in quality.

I would definitely recommend popping in to this pub if in north Norfolk as the setting inside and outside is a picturesque gem at the very least. I was pleasantly surprised at the menu and offerings as a relatively unknown area and pub location.

Food Grade: 66%