Ancient Mariner, Hunstantonback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Visit Sunday lunch C2pm
Inside a lovely bar, but atmosphere 'clicky'. By this I mean staff seemed distant and not interested, and customers seemed hesitant to interupt staff conversations. Sat on the lawn, great kids area, but we were bemused that altough dogs and children are both allowed inside, dogs weren't allowed in the 'family room' and children weren't allowed in the bar (the only area dogs were...)
Food came quick, indeed the others we were with had their food at the table before they had returned from ordering! 2 lads served us our food (a plate each), and both returned when we asked for an extra plate (just one).
As driver perhaps I shouldn't comment but the others in my group all said the beer was good, with Adnams and Broadside on with 2 guest ales, Jennings Crag Rat and another that slips my mind.
If you block out the staff you'll find a decent enough experiance here.
5/10 - food cheap and cheerful (3663/brakes bros stuff) but good beer, good location and very family friendly
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Big chain style pub in good location overlooking the sea. Food pretty much what we expected but watch out for high wine prices. Unfortunately the strongest impression is that the Ancient Mariner is not clean; tables not cleared, rubbish outside in grassy area, had to ask for our table to be wiped and then it was the very cursory - wiped around the beermats!
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Having just spent a week in Hunstanton I can confirm, after trawling all over town, that this town has no pubs! There's a cavernous bar/diner on the seafront called something like the Waterside, and a number of hotels have bars open to non-residents with pub-like names, but of actual genuine stand-alone pubs there are none. The nearest thing is the Ancient Mariner which is actually a sort of add-on to the big hotel next door. Having said that, I can't see it bears much resemblance to previous, negative review. It's light and airy, the family room is pleasant and has views over the enormous garden which slopes down to the sea and has a kids play area. The food is OK. On our visit there were 4 real ales and the 2 we sampled-Adnams bitter and broadside- were in very good condition. This pub used to be a Good Beer Guide regular and I'm not sure why it no longer features there.
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Bar annex to popular and very good -if slightly old fashioned- Best Western Hotel. It has a somewhat 'dingy' feel to be honest, the bar area is quite long, but narrow and, if its busy, slightly cramped-and the regulars will crowd the bar and make sure its as difficult as possible for you to squeeze in and place an order! When you do, your every choice is then scrutinised, pity the soul who orders a half or a white wine spritzer! The smoking ban will have worked wonders here though-prior to that happy day, the "Ancient Mariners" would have a permanent haze of smoke hanging over it, not nice for the lungs, clothes, or for eating-so your only choice was to go outside or sit in the "Family Room" (and aren't all so-called "Family Rooms" always the worst room in the place?) which looked and felt like a Wimpy Bar, with the smoke still drifting in through both doorways anyway...
The comments about the deep fried seafood amuse me-listen, if you are going to have seafood, have it as nature intended, not plastered in greasy batter, no wonder you were ill! Thats indicative of English cuisine and taste, not the food here in general. And its OK-nothing special but it doesn't pretend that the menu is, so whats the problem? There are plenty of other places to go to if you want high table and all the accessories.
Good beer choice and lots of room outside, on a sunny day, it can be rather nice.
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Inside the bar was so dark I could not see the money in my purse. The beer was good and outside the view was excellent. As for the food - I had the deepfried seafood. It was so greasy that shortly afterwards I was physically sick. I would not recommend anybody to eat there.
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the Ancient Mariner has (as described in Pete's review) some decent real ales, newspapers, coffee, warm friendly, relaxed ambience and decent pub food. It makes an excellent place to chill out - expecially on a Sunday afternoon, when food is served all the way through from noon to 9pm. If you are eating there, you probably won't be disappointed. It has several eat area, and although for non-smokers like me, the only official non-smoking area is the [rather sterile] family room in one of the annexes, however you'll normally find somewhere smoke free. You can book the restaurant section (which has a nice conservatory which gets booked up at weekends), or just find a quiet spot in front of the fire, the downstairs table area or the fairly cosy upstairs family room in the roof space, which has a nice view out to sea. The food is the same wherever you sit. A good choice of reasonably priced dishes, and an extended and improved Children's menu make this a good choice for taking family or friends. Usually several home cooked choices and even some home made deserts.
The Ancient Mariner ticks many boxes, and is a refreshing change from some of the rather stuffy and somewhat more expensive "hotel" eateries nearby and further round the north Norfolk coast. I take my family there every so often, as we're fairly local give or take 20 miles ! Enjoy
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Large bar, relaxed and cheerful, well done up with lots of dark wood, bare bricks and flagstones, several little areas inc upstairs gallery, pleasant furnishings, four well kept ales inc Adnams and Broadside and Bass, unusually good wines by the glass, friendly service, open fires, papers and magazines; hotel has good restaurant and nice bedrooms, long sea-view garden down to dunes, play area
pete - 21 Oct 2003 12:05 |
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