The Old Store — Restaurant in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

This place looks great from the outside and we received a friendly greeting as we entered.

Coffee (americano) with separate cream was nice and tasty but not hot enough. Good job I only had two teaspoons of cream in it!!

Hubby had a hot chocolate which also wasn't very hot.

We ordered a soup which came with a cheese toastie for £9 and as I don't eat bread I asked if they did soup on its own... Yes it comes with croutons do you want them too? I replied no thank you.

A tin was placed on the table with two spoons (not soup spoons) & two serviettes.

Hubby touched the spoons as they looked dirty and handed them to me to have a look. They were both greasy and sticky.

I told the waitress who apologised then opened the drawer and sifted through the other spoons. She chucked out a couple more dirty spoons then gave us two more and another napkins as I'd used my first one to wipe the sticky stuff off my fingers.

The soup and toastie was a bit expensive so we were expecting something great but it tasted like Heinz cream of tomato soup with very little flavour and again not that hot, stirring it helped, so I imagine it was microwaved or poured into a cold bowl. Hubby said the half portion of cheese toastie sandwich that came with his soup was stodgy.

A lady on a table not far from us was asked if her toastie was alright for her and she replied it was hard and chewy. The reply from the waitress was yeah... that's what toasties are like or words to that effect. The lady wasn't impressed.

I tapped my card to pay £24.60 but it didn't go through and then I saw on the screen that I was going to be charged £9 for soup. I told her that I hadn't had a toastie with my soup and she said it was the same price. I asked her how that was fair and she replied that she had always been told it was the same price when she'd asked before. She added that the half a toastie sandwich was just added to the soup meal and wasn't really 'anything'..... So.... I assume this is their way of selling over priced soup so you think you are getting a substantial lunch.

I said I didn't think that it was fair to charge the same and that it hadn't been pointed out to me when I ordered it.

She knocked £4 off my bill and I paid £20.60.

Would not recommend this place at all.

Thinking about it.... The two spoons she gave us for the second time came out of the same drawer as the dirty spoons.

Can't help wondering what germs I might have picked up.

I have replied to your response to my review (copy below).

Good morning and thank you for your very lengthy response.

It's a shame you didn't take my review as constructive as this is what was intended.

If you care to look at my many other reviews you will see I am a very fair reviewer.

We came into your establishment initially for a drink and not to criticise anything.  It was unfortunate for us and you that it was an 'off' day.

My husband asked politely if you did soup without a toastie. If you didn't, that would have been absolutely fine. I would have just had my coffee.

The fact that the waitress said you did means you do!!

Both spoons had not been through any wash process and your waitress will verify that.

I take on board your comment about the emoji and am happy to remove it.

As I said, we would not return so please don't worry that you will have to refuse to serve...

Ok, so I'm one of those people who says they never leave reviews. And I don't - this'll be the 2nd review I've done. Not that that is particularly interesting. But what is interesting is that I was inspired enough to leave one. Just go! Eat there, in a nutshell.

Me and a friend heard it mentioned in reverential tones over in Wells. Neither of us are local so we were feeling our way along. The impossibly cool guy who recommended it warned us that it'd be popular. As indeed it was on a rainy Sunday morning. People were stood out, in the rain, waiting. Before dispersions are cast on the desperate nature of those waiting (we were, after all, part of those queueing), there's an ancient part of the brain that reasons this must be doing something good if rain is tolerated. A very lovely person came out and offered everyone yellow umbrellas, so we all felt like we were on an odd sort of holiday. The sort of holiday Britain does fantastically. Another person came out and, in a very genial sort of way, told us there's a bit of a wait, maybe 20 minutes. We sort of muttered to one another and agreed to hang on. Good thing too.

We wait 8 minutes or so and are taken to a couple of window seats. We order ridiculous freshly squeezed juices, which are actually ridiculously tastey. My friend orders a breakfast bap. I deliberate and, with a nudge from a guy who clearly wants to live through my choice of breakfast (I've been there) but is with his partner, I order the Old monStore breakfast.

My goodness, a chorus of angels couldn't have done it justice in song. Infact, probably couldn't have finished it. But the breakfast landed infront of me, and if you were to look up 'gluttony' in the dictionary there I would be.

It was just sublime.

Now, I know we've taken along time getting to this point - 'just tell me if it's any good already!' Yes, it's good. Worth the wait and the rain. Worth driving 4 hours for, in all fairness (I live in Yorkshire).

The sausages were fantastic, the bacon ....really? It can taste that good? The mushrooms- I'm not sure I even like mushrooms. These were...juicy. Tastey. Eggs tasted fresh, the black pudding pleasingly crumbly. But the hash browns! Now we're talking. I would go to war for the hash browns. The duck-fat hash browns. If I weren't already married I would look into marrying a) a hash brown b) the maker of said hash brown. Yes, in that order.

Tomatoes were real ones, the baked beans good.

Just a real, real delight.

I've had a few breakfasts in my time and this is on the podium. Maybe sort floating above it. It was actually strangely moving, to get so much joy out of something deemed so kind of normal.

The atmosphere is what you'd want in a busy, yummy place. People sort of spilled everywhere, families, couples etc.

The service was friendly and unobtrusive.

Whoever the person running front of house was, she was excellent. Engaging but not obsequious, friendly and innately nice.

Just a really top job. All of you.

My friend is a chef and he was mightily impressed.

Queue up. Treat...

This place is absolutely gem in Norfolk. If you're on the way through Snettisham or nearby and you crave for good coffee, breakfast, lunch or something sweet please come in. If you're lucky, you won't have to wait to be seated. This place is busy most of the times, especially during the weekends so sometimes there is a queue to get a table. The staff work very efficiently and they make sure you don't have to wait long. If you're for take-away, you're served straight. The food is absolutely amazing, delicious and beautifully presented. I've been here 4 times so far and I'm never disappointed. The portions are decent sizes so you won't leave hungry. And there is a great choice of different dishes during breakfast and lunch menu, including vegetarian and vegan options. The coffee is a very good quality too. Not to mention bread that they bake. You can buy some if available. I tried a few fresh pressed juices and they're tasty. On the counter there is always a great choice of savoury and sweet cakes, scones, croissants. The staff are absolutely amazing. They are always very welcoming, friendly and they go extra mile to meet your expectations. The place is busy but it has a good atmosphere where you can relax and enjoy your food. You are never rushed and you're always welcome with smile. From all the places I had breakfast so far that one is my favourite, shame it's 2 hours away...