retiredmartin

July 2023. Cromer.

What ! ANOTHER Top 100 pub !

I cannot tell a lie. 2023 has been a golden year for pubs (and beer), but no-one expected a Norfolk pub in the Top 100, especially one not in overrated Norwich.

Having completed the county ticks I thought I’d better see what the fuss about Cromer is all about.

Nope. Don’t get it. OK, the little cliffs are nice, but it’s no Thanet and any place with a French themed hotel is to be treated with suspicion. Even in France.

But the Red Lion, wow.

I’d done a return visit in 2017, a lifetime after staying there with Mrs RM on our Cromer debut, and while I really ought to have pushed the boat out and done something different (like the much maligned Albion), I just couldn’t walk past that entrance.

Best views in town, too.

It looked far more beery than I remembered, LOADS of handpumps, and nearly all local, too.

Stuff your Fat Cat; I’ve found that very inconsistent. And besides, it’s in Norwich.

I asked the two old boys at the bar what they were drinking, and chose that one. It’s my only advice on beer. The barmaid was brilliant; patient and cheery as I counted out the coins.

Mr WInters Vanilla Stout; Mrs “I like my beer to taste of beer” RM would hate it. It was gorgeous (NBSS 4).

It’s a classic drinkers pub, a Cambridge Blue or City Arms or Albion Ale House sort of place. One chap went up for another “cheeky” half while his wife went to the loo; it’s what I’d have done.

Really friendly, not always something you’d say about Norfolk.

“I can’t smile, it’s the false teeth !” said the Old Boy at the bar.

I’m guessing folk who spend a week by the sea almost live here; what else would they do* ? Brass rubbing at St Peter & St Paul ?

*Though I see the Holt Festival has Julian Clary, Toyah and Luke Wright, the Holy Trinity of something.