Henry IV Fakenham — Restaurant in North Norfolk

Should have followed my gut feeling about this place and walked straight out again. The sticky tables still didn't deter me, neither did the tables with dirty plates/glasses on either. Having already been to the Marstons pub nearby earlier in the week (the food & service there was excellent) we decided to stay. The prices are comparable, if you take in to account the 2 for 1 at the Running Horse. I ordered food and drinks at the bar, the one lady behind the bar seemed quite busy trying to deal with a number of people, so probably didn't realise that the glasses she had given me had lipstick marks all round all of them. I helped myself to straws and went back to the table. A man brought over a bucket with some cutlery, napkins and sauces in and left it on our table without a word. The inside of the bucket had dried ketchup smeared in it, the cutlery wasn't overly clean and the selection of sauces was, well, a bit rubbish. It did however come with a large bottle of (warm) tomato ketchup. The food arrived quickly, on first glance it looked good. The curry came with popadoms, which were quite burnt, they were taken back to the bar and replaced quickly, but with no apology. The rest of the food was either under cooked or overcooked and anything that was fried, looked and tasted like it had been cooked in very old oil. I'm not sure whether it was the portion size or the greasyness that ment none of us cleared our plates, but I normally eat everything put in front of me! We thought it best not to have dessert and left with not as much as a 'is everything alright with your meal' but then the grumpy looking bloke taking the food out didn't really say anything except to confirm what food he had brought to us. I normally leave this sort of place with a nice full sleepy feeling. I left this place with a not very nice 'I'm about to throw up' feeling, as did my partner. Now nearly three hours after leaving I can still taste the grease. Would I recommend this place? No. Would I go there again? No. Even if it was free? I love free food, but no.

Go to the Marstons pub near Morrisons it's much better...

Today we decided to try the Henry IV again after 2-3 years of not eating here ,Today you have done yourselves very proud with your service with a friendly smile happy to please all customers and food tasted spot on with flavours and everything cooked to perfection nothing dry over or undercooked ,I had the signature dish "Jamaican stew" this was perfect in spice flavours,chicken was soft as it should be ,rice was a good combination with the perfect amount of beans to rice ,I had the Grilled halloumi side this was a great amount and grilled just right ( first in the area to get it right credit to you ) dessert for myself was the " jelly and custard cheese cake " presentation and sizing great ,fruity taste smooth topping and base for me was how I like it light and easy to eat. Drinks coffee nice strength with the correct amount of froth to the top. Meal two was "signature stack burger " presentation was perfect the salad in the burger was fresh and with crunch no soggyness the beef burnt ends were amazing in taste good amount of non crispy bacon (as it should be) 🤤 now the burgers themselves were moist non dry a very good size with an amazing taste buns soft with good flavor.side of onions rings and the cheesy BBQ waffle fries this was also of good standard of cheese and flavours dessert was the "Lotus Biscoff cheesecake" again presentation was great this was amazing in its taste very smooth with just the right amount of flavour nothing too sweet easy to eat and a great finish to the meal. Big credit to you all in the establishment thank you will be back...

I can only give this place 3 stars sadly. If I had to give a score just for the staff and service it would be a 5 star review, the staff here are lovely, very friendly and go out of their way to help.

The food on the other hand would be a zero. The food was extremely disappointing, I had the moxed grill and the chicken was slimey, the steak just a lump of gristle, and the sausage was like one of the cheap sausages you get in Iceland. I don't know what the sausage tasted like because I was not brave enough to eat it. The feried egg looked like it had been thrown on the plate, possibly from the other side of the kitchen. Finally, under the meat was a slimey layer of fried onion which was really off-putting. I've seen this chopped friend onion under meat in a few restaurants now and I just don't get it. Maybe that's just me.

I have to say though, I may have been unlucky here, because the rest of my party seemed perfectly happy with their food.

I'm giving this a 3 star because although I thought the food fell way below the standard I would expect of this pub chain, I had a nice time and the staff are top knotch. I didin't complain whilst there because I did enjoy myself, and I did eat some of my food and left happy enough.

This place does needs to up it's game on the food for sure. The...