Thornham Deli — Restaurant in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Love Thornham Deli. Fantastic locally produced food, great portions, excellently cooked and served by polite friendly (very busy) staff. Only went in for a bite for breakfast today, having sausages in a soft fresh sour dough bap, lovely. My wife had waffle with maple syrup and said it tasted gorgeous and very filling. Definately going back when in the are, coffee good, food good, great menu all very fresh and tasty, give it a try but relax and don't rush, enjoy the atmosphere, browse the shop and get an extra coffee to go😊 Had an early morning visit today (07/07/23) and even though we arrived in glorious sunshine at 0845 it was already getting busy with people eating out for the delicious breakfasts and coffee's. We got a table outside and was served with our lovely full English breakfasts. Choice of eggs, bread for toast offered. Very, very nice fresh food, served by hard working lovely staff. Can't wait to return. Recently returned (July 2024) for a late breakfast. Got table outside pretty quickly. Really love the atmosphere, the staff, the tasty food on offer here and would highly recommend a visit. However despite how busy they are, if coffee's are ordered to come with the food then please do not bring the coffee's half an hour before food so that we have nothing to drink with our meal. If you were doing free refills (As many, many eateries now do, because of the rediculous mark up on coffee) then I would understand it. But you don't, so providing a hot drink 30 minutes prior to food in the hope we order more expensive drinks is poor service. And, the excuse we got when mentioned was there's a delay on food because we're busy!! No apology or reasoning behind sending drinks out that we would have...

Why do I keep doing it to myself! I regret it every time!

For many years now there has always been a massive wait for food but you get used to that and never go if your in a hurry or aren’t prepared to queue outside in the rain.

Today ordered a vegetarian dish, was asked if we wanted chorizo and clearly stated no thank you. The dish came with chorizo which could have been an issue for many people. However due to the 20 min food delay announced before we sat down we chose to take it out rather than the whole table having to wait for a replacement in the distant future and lead to one person eating alone.

No one checked to ensure we were happy with our meal and when clearing the table again no one asked if we enjoyed our meal. Only when I went to pay the bill did I have the opportunity to say that we didn’t order the chorizo.

Errors occur which is totally understandable. The issue is how you deal with them! There was absolutely no apology and I was made to feel like I was stealing from the business as the supervisor had to be called over a £1.50 extra that should never have gone anywhere near our meal and could have been dangerous had there have been a serious dietary issue. So simple to deal with in a second but a massive drama was instead made in front of other customers waiting to pay.

The supervisor also failed to apologise and was only focused on whether we had eaten it! No apology for their error or the fact we didn’t order it and no concern whatsoever. Apparently pointing out that an apology would be nice is both rude and upsetting! Wow maybe some focus on the customer would be a good idea rather than the out and out arrogance and total lack of organisation of this...

After spending a week nearby in Docking, we were looking forward to visiting Thornham Deli on our final day before a three-hour drive home. We had often passed by while visiting Drove Orchards, and it came recommended by family living locally, so expectations were high.

Having tried several delis in North Norfolk, this one unfortunately didn’t measure up. The cheese and mustard straw was very dry, the sausage roll was decent but not good value for money, and the coffee was fairly forgettable.

Things went further downhill when we were directed by a member of staff into an area that turned out to be “no dogs”. Another customer was unnecessarily brash and rude to us about it. Ironically, another member of staff had just fussed our dog in the same area — which would have been the perfect moment to politely say, “I’m sorry, but dogs aren’t allowed here, let me show you somewhere suitable.” Instead, when the situation arose, staff were dismissive and moved us elsewhere, only to then say we couldn’t eat our food there either, despite having bought it from the same business. It was like something out of Seinfeld. We ended up finishing our food outside in the cold, which left a very poor impression of the hospitality.

To add to the disappointment, my partner had already purchased Thornham Deli-branded gifts, which no longer feel like something we can gift without sharing this unpleasant experience.

Cheers for the hospitality, Thornham Deli — or rather, the lack of it. A really sour note to end...