Cross Street Union — Restaurant in North Norfolk

If you have ambitions to open a coffee shop, then you can spend a couple of years on a catering course. Afterwards you can dim the light of your enthusiasm by slogging for a bit in a Costa or a Greggs. Then with a business plan, a dust sheet, a spread sheet and some savings, you can pester poor granny for a loan and you are good to go.

It rarely ends well. Customers for some weird reason, don't regard you as highly as you regard yourself. You sneer when you mean to smile and your voice takes on a canine quality and you bark at customers. And unfortunately, granny has survived Covid and the loan still stands.

Eventually, like some Hogarthian progress, the shutters come down and you end up in debt and despair. Happily, you tell us that you "have landed on your feet" and are now managing a Subway in Skegness.

It could all have been avoided if instead of all the years wasted, you had simply taken the omnibus to Holt and spent an hour in the Cross Street Union Café. It would have rekindled your idealism. You would have learnt the point and art of service. And renewed enthusiasm, would hopefully, have put your ego back into its penny-ha'penny place.

This Café comes with many disadvantages: it is small and doesn’t enjoy a good position, yet its reputation in this pretty little town, exceeds all the others. The owner is welcoming and comes with a pleasant personality that spills out onto the street outside. The coffee is excellent and the home baked buns are exquisite.

A well...

Small, out of the way coffee shop, just as all the best ones are! Coffee was excellent on every visit over the few days I was in town. The guy running it knows what he's doing in his choice of beans and in making consistently quality drinks one after the other all day. What sets this place apart is the owner's always warm hospitality and coolness when serving customers, engaging in their chit chat, making and running drinks and clearing up all at the same time. It's clear he's in it for the love of it; I saw that he stayed open quite a while longer than advertised on a couple of days because customers were still coming in, and he did so without any complaint or eye-rolling that you would get at nearly anywhere else after closing time. The cinnamon buns baked in the same town were also lovely. All this taken together, along with the very pleasant look and furnishing of the shop must place it as one of the finest coffee shops in...

An absolutely class little gem hidden away in the streets of Holt for anyone who loves their coffee. The selection of different coffees is huge with the barista being one of the friendliest lads you’ll meet, you’ll definitely find one that suits you. We got ourselves and sausage roll and a cinnamon roll as well as our coffees. The cinnamon roll was fresh, soft , delicate and tasted miraculous. The sausage roll was thick and juicy and really just a classic sausage roll. It was great luck we stayed in a holiday home across the street from this place because otherwise I’m not sure if we would’ve found it. So if anyone is travelling to Holt, loves a good cup of coffee, then please find this place and enjoy it with one of their wonderful...