Lighthouse Inn — Restaurant in North Norfolk

We've been coming here for quite a few years (since childhood) for family get togethers, when Steve was running things. Most recently we've had not such a good experience. Booked for a dozen people to have buffet and drinks after a funeral. No issues on the booking, apart from them saying their chef could only provide limited options, particularly for vegetarians. Then, almost a week later, on the morning of the funeral, we were told it wasn't viable or cost effective to do a buffet for only 12 people.

The Manager said she had tried to call and email us over the previous few days to let us know they were cancelling the buffet (but we had no missed calls or emails at all). We were shocked and so disappointed as we had funeral guests, but it was too late to change our venue as the hearse was literally arriving within the hour.

So we had to have 'light bites' menu instead. Quite basic and actually worked out slightly less per head than the buffet would have, so no need for all that stress. We were then handed the bill of £160, for the food, before any food had even been on the table. We found that rude. We had only been given tea and coffee yet were handed a large bill for food not yet served.

Food was ok. Just squid and chips with cheese or meat sandwiches and bowls of salad and crisps. Not terrible, but not amazing. Overall impression was that they just didn't want to be there and we were "not worth the effort". It's a shame as this is a customer facing role. It wasnt the best customer experience. One customer's money should be just as important as 100 customer's money when you're in the Hospitality trade. Small groups are just as important as large groups. This is how you grow a reputation.

My almost 80 year old Mum had just laid Dad to rest and had to stress about potentially not having any food for guests just before the funeral. Awful.

Mum and Dad have been patrons of the Lighthouse for years, as had my local Grandparents and cousins before them, as far back as when Reggie Brighton was Lisencee in the '60s. We chose the Lighthouse for Dad's wake out of family tradition and loyalty.

We are also aware of the good reviews on this page and are actually happy to see that people still feel somewhat satisfied with the service and food. For us personally though, a very poor experience. We felt shoddily treated and probably won't...

I ordered The Lighthouse Steak Ale Pie and what came, in a belt-busting portion, was a handful of catering bag chips, piled on top some school dinner-boiled cabbage and green beans, on top of that some dry nuggets of beef under a quarter inch thick square of something that looked like short crust pastry but tasted like Stuff, all served floating in enough Probably Bisto Gravy to worry the edges of the plate. Seriously all layered on top of each other. This is very close to something my grandmother would serve up when I was a kid but I thought this sort of Quantity Food had, like my nan, died out in the 1980’s.

A few red flags on arrival - the pub’s down at heel exterior, the attached camping-definitely-not-glamping site, way too many things on the menu, sticky table - alerted me to pitch my expectations low in the hope of being surprised. So I went for the £15 pie, nobody can screw up a pie.

As it turns out, however, yes they can, even a stew-with-a-lid-not-an-actual-pie pie. Not sure how any cook can get it so wrong when you can buy a decent Pieminister pie off the shelf for less than a fiver. I hate wasting food and will work my way through a plate of blah just to get to the point where simple pleasure comes from a slightly-too-full stomach. But my god I couldn’t eat more than about 10 per cent of this dish.

My partner had the seabass - a typical Tesco fillet sitting on top of a huge pile of mash with green bits and a creamy (but maybe not cream) sauce that looked like it had separated. The kids had chicken nuggets and those familiar chips, which they enjoyed because they are kids.

I just don’t understand how people can serve up food with such little care and in such huge portions. Surely they’ve been to a bog-standard high street restaurant and seen what’s on offer?

We were staying in Sea Palling for a week and none of the pub menus in the local area looked that promising - cajun chicken burgers etc - except the Swan at Ingham, which is quite expensive. With lobster, crab and other seafood on its website menu The Lighthouse hinted it might be hidden gem but I’m afraid, if you’re up from London and looking for a nice country pub meal, this...

We booked as a group of four, over the phone, a month in advance for a birthday meal out with my parents who live locally.

Our group was rushed by the manager to finish and not told in advance that they close at 8 (table booked for 7). This was a bank holiday Sunday in August, what one might expect to be their peak trading period.

Limited menu with many items sold out, such as a Sunday lunch on a Sunday...that's ok and I understand that happens, so I ordered a mixed grill instead.

The waitress came back and said mixed grill was sold out, when I queried what part had sold out (as I could of gone without some of it) was told 'all of it' – I noted that eggs, steak, ham etc were still available on other dishes so I was a little perplexed if “all of it” was sold out .

My partner ordered risotto; when it arrived we queried where the rocket (that was advertised with the dish) was, as it looked barren. The waitress checked with chef and was told that was sold out - this should have been explained before the meal came out. Nothing was offered in return as a substitution.

We ordered a liqueur coffee and was given several options. We chose Tia Maria and the manager came to us and told us they had run out of Tia Maria (really?). We said that’s ok, we'll have Baileys instead of Tia Maria and was told that they're closing. We were told by (who we assumed to be) the Manager that they’re short staffed and really busy….I felt that’s really not our problem having already (attempted) to spend and not inconsiderable amount with them.

Two stars as the food that they did have and was prepared to cook was nice. I got the impression that they really couldn’t be bothered, it’s really bad service, my parents live locally and its trade like theirs that keeps places like this going through the close winter season.

Good luck over the winter but we certainly wouldn't return when there's so many other , more welcoming...