Folly Tearooms — Restaurant in North Norfolk

Arrived for a later lunch with parents at around 1pm on monday, sat outside first in the lovely garden and there was a threat of rain looming over us. Its really nice outside and this cannot be faulted. The time spent by the staff going in and out of the tea room while we waited for a menu you could have wiped all the outside tables and served everyone drinks. There was only 3 tables outside with people at them and inside there was only 7 or 8 tables of 2 people. We finally received menus about 15 mins after arrival, the menu is good and simple with great selection. We waited another 10 mins before staff appeared again and we ordered and then it began to rain. We were offered a table inside which was good however other tables outside who were there before us were not offered one. After ending up inside where it is nicely decorated but still felt "not ready", there are a line of chairs against a wall and a tea cake stand just left on the floor. We waited another 20 mins and still no food, after 45 mins the food arrived which I will grant is a very good spread for the price. Things missing from tables are sugar and napkins etc its nice not to have to ask for everything and even with covid these can just be changed over when the tables get wiped. For the amount of staff in the tea room it seemed to take forever to get anything and when you wanted their attention you were ignored. Its the little things that matter when it comes to service, attentive and speedy service is one of those and with the increasing numbers of customers over the coming months I think that without some serious leadership and urgency this place will struggle. If you go be prepared for a wait, even when its not busy. New owners, same staff we were told so you'd think they would be aces at it by now. Main waitress was very polite and accommodating and we got the impressions she was almost running the place...

26/07 @ 14:30 - We booked a table for four around 3-4 months ago based on the strength of the reviews here for afternoon tea. Sadly we left a little disappointed.

At the gate, we were greeted by several staff each asking “have you been seen to / let me get someone to help you to your table” but actually no one actually took the ownership of the hosting to give us a table - which was a bit weird but we thought nothing of it at the time.

Unfortunately after receiving our food, we were literally left to it. There were no checks to see if our food was okay or if we needed anything else. So if we wanted to top up our boiling water for tea, we had to wait a long while to get the waitress’ attention. The hot water never came. Eventually we ran out of time and had to go inside to get the bill, pay and leave. We were there for a total of 1.5hrs so to just leave us / negligent service I find unacceptable.

The food itself was okay in parts. The sandwiches were okay. Basic fillings - nothing to really write home about. The cakes were mostly okay. Well presented but the scones were rock solid and dry inside so not very enjoyable.

I could have forgiven the food part had the service been more attentive but I wanted more tea and additional things off the menu but it wasn’t to be.

The atmosphere was nice. The garden was absolutely beautiful and well maintained. The live singer was also a really nice touch (she was really good actually) and the staff were really polite when spoken to. Just not attentive / lack of service means we left on a negative note which is a bit of a shame given we had booked this table ages ago as part of a bigger trip to Norfolk. Would be prepared to discuss with...

We came across this wonderful place by accident. It is in a little courtyard type place off the main street and the setting is lovely. There are tables in the courtyard as well as in the garden room. We were made very welcome and shown to a sweet in the garden room, very tastefully decorated most of the tables were full of people enjoying traditional afternoon tea that looked delicious. We only wanted a quick snack so opted for tea (decaf) and a tea cake for my husband and a piece of Victoria sandwich for me. The tea arrived complete with a tea cozy and a plate to put the tea strainer on once it was brewed to our taste. The tea was full of flavour and not the dusty leaves you so often get. My husband enjoyed his teacake and I can honestly say my Victoria sandwich was beautiful, very light and filled to perfection. It was a gluten free cake which really surprised me because GF cakes can often be heavy. The person that made this has a real talent for baking. When we are next in Holt I will definitely be back to test and afternoon tea. The tea was supplied by a lady a couple of doors down from the café and we treated ourselves to a bag to bring home. The gentleman that run the cafe were very attentive but not annoyingly so. Would definitely...