The Terrace at Imperial Hotel — Restaurant in Great Yarmouth

Booked the restaurant for my 41st birthday hoping to have the trio of fish that we had seen on the menu to only find out it wasn't available anymore as the menu had changed.

So we looked at the menu unsure as to what to get instead. I chose the deep fried Scottish haddock with mushy peas and a vinegar jam, which I have never had before but was nice,my partner went for the Norfolk chicken breast in a carbonarra sauce and my daughter had the chicken bites, chips and beans as our mains, I also had some pork belly in a spicy mayo.

The pork belly had the crunchiest crackling on it and melted in my mouth, the mayo had a nice spicy kick to it.

The fish was lovely and flakey and the batter was nice and crunchy and not to moist like it can be. The vinegar jam was a nice touch.

The chicken breast was moist and came with the skin on, just incase you wanted to know. It came with corguette which was delicious and the carbonarra sauce was rich without being overly eggy or salty.

My daughter loved her chicken and chips as the vast majority of it was eaten, she is only 3 years old.

For dessert I had the lemon and lime tart which came with some meringue shards and a berry ice cream and some fresh mango which complimented each other perfectly.

My partner had the orange posset with candied rhubarb and a shortbread biscuit. The posset was very orangey and the combination of orange and rhubarb worked wonderfully together.

We didn't get the name of the staff who served us but both of the ladies working on the 14th may at lunchtime were fantastic, they were there when you needed them, attentive, patient and fun. One of them gave us lots of recommendations for things to do whilst nearby for our daughter.

Would go back again when we are...

Had many meals at Cafe Cru and always found it to be excellent. Staff attentive, food of good quality, portion size very good and wine list is vast.

Recently visited for afternoon tea with family. Pre-booked for 7 people, so not a walk-in.

First off, 40 minute wait for afternoon tea. For pre-booked customer......and zero other customers on the terrace at the time. I appreciate it's putting together multiple items, but come on, it's a few sandwiches, scones and dessert items.

Onto the food, sandwiches need to be presented flat, not on edge, which results in fillings falling to the plate when picked up. Also, petty though it may be, presenting afternoon tea on a stand meant for 3 people and giving 8 sandwich slices?

Scones -rock hard, desserts - dry chocolate cake, I suspect catering pack macaroons and bland lemon tray-bake. The lemon posset was lovely however, something I'd expect as a pre-dessert in Cafe Cru.

Found a small piece of plastic wrap (cling film) on one sandwich. The lady who presented the food seemed miserable and it felt like an imposition to ask for anything. Not something that's usual at the Imperial as I've found all staff to be attentive and very pleasant in the past. May have been an off day for the lady.

Overall, for £17 a head, this afternoon tea will not be repeated for me. Would I still go Cafe Cru for a full evening dining...

When we arrived for afternoon tea initially there was nobody around to greet us in the restaurant, we had to walk and find our way around the hotel to find someone to see us. Once seated we ordered our drinks and afternoon tea. It arrived and looked lovely. However everything was so dry and clearly was not fresh. The cakes and scones were so dry and claggy we couldn't eat majority of them and instead wrapped them to go so we could feed the birds and dogs when we got home. (I know that's how bad they were lol) they looked fluffy till you bit into them. They were not made that day, yesterday or the day before judging by the hard, dry and claggy mouthfuls we had. We did enjoy the coffee, and tho7ght that was the best bit about the afternoon tea. But Overall we wouldn't come back here again...