Crown

Beautifully refurbished in contemporary style with open-plan seating areas, cosy back sitting room and further dining room, civilised and friendly atmosphere, real ales and fine wines by glass, and super modern food; bedrooms

This beamed pub, standing at the head of the village green, has been extensively renovated recently. It's been beautifully done in contemporary fashion with Farrow & Ball paintwork, lots of wood, and plenty of light from the big windows. The open-plan bar has several distinct seating areas, the atmosphere is civilised but informal, and the welcome from the enthusiastic young staff is genuinely friendly. At one end, there's a log fire in the modern brick fireplace, with a grandfather clock to one side and bookshelves on the other, brown leather and wood dining chairs around a mix of tables (including a huge round one), and rugs on the stripped boards. High bar chairs beside the handsomely slate-topped counter are popular, and they keep Adnams Bitter, Ufford Golden Drop and Woodfordes Wherry on handpump, and a good choice of wines by the glass. The other end of the room is slightly more informal with a mix of leather-seated dining chairs around all sorts of tables, a couple of built-in wall seats, another bookshelf beside a second fireplace, and 1950s and 1960s actor prints in Shakesperean costume on the walls. There's also more of a pubby part with planked and cushioned white-painted built-in seats, and pink walls hung with all sorts of nice photographs. Newspapers on hangers, and drinks prices neatly written on a blackboard. A cosy lower area at the back of the pub on the left has leather sofas and armchairs and wicker chairs on tiles, a low table of magazines, a big flat-screen TV, and various swords and antlers on the walls, and up some carpeted stairs from here is another dining room with cane-backed dining chairs on bare boards, lots more books on bookshelves, another TV, and a high pitched ceiling. Outside are neat picnic-sets under parasols on the front gravel. The gents has piped sports highlights and the ladies, music - we've never come across this before, and it was quite fun. The new bedrooms are attractive, light, and airy. This pub is in the same little group as the newly refurbished Kings Head at Letheringsett and the Crown, Wells-next-the-Sea.

Attractively set-out and very good, the modern bar food includes sandwiches with crisps, soup, ham hock, apricot and smoked chicken terrine with piccalilli, trout mousse and smoked salmon parcel with lemon and chive cream, butternut and sage fettucine, burger with gruyère cheese and red pepper chutney, breast and confit leg of guinea fowl with parsley mash and sautéed wild mushrooms, roast rack of lamb with parmesan risotto and olive jus, seared sea bream with couscous and a beetroot and orange salad and puddings like white chocolate iced parfait with passion fruit coulis and spiced apple cake with maple syrup ice-cream; they also offer breakfasts and morning coffee.