The best way to handle a two-hour car journey with a seven-year-old after school on a Friday?
Break that journey up with some food and somewhere to stretch his legs.
Marston’s pub The Greenstone in Dereham seemed to tick all of the boxes.
It has plenty of space, so we didn’t have to book a table. It has dedicated kids’ menus for both smaller and larger appetites, at very reasonable prices. There’s an activity sheet on the back of the menu, and a play structure in the garden at the back. You can order from your table via QR code without having to drag your kids to the bar. And the grown-ups’ menu isn’t bad either.
What’s more, there was a 30% off mains voucher at the time of our visit, taking around £8 off our £50-ish bill for two adults mains, a kids’ starter and main, and three drinks. As one major supermarket says, every little helps!
There’s a seven-day-a-week carvery on offer too at The Greenstone in Dereham – it looked pretty decent, but we opted for dishes from the regular menu instead.
The child wanted two courses, so he started with the kids’ nachos (£1.50). It’s not exactly a dish that costs a lot to make, but the price was more than reasonable. It was a decent-sized bowl of tortilla chips with plenty of cheese – and we all ended up sharing.
At £5.29 for a main, a side and a veg, we couldn’t complain about the price. He chose three chicken dippers, mini potato waffles and baby corn and demolished the lot (apart from the corn, which he accidentally dropped on the floor after a few bites).
Meanwhile, we’d seen posters throughout the pub advertising their burgers, which swayed our decision! The Ultimate Spicy Beef Burger (£14.99) offered up two well-seasoned patties plus American-style cheese slices, tender BBQ pulled pork, a hot maple-style sauce, a few jalapenos, crispy onions and bacon. While the menu description stated “crispy bacon”, it clearly wasn’t. The rest of the burger was decent, though, and the bun held this beast together well.
The Ultimate Southern Fried Chicken Burger (also £14.99) was beautiful. A lighter-coloured bun for this one, but still with the same firmness. That southern-fried chicken fillet was absolutely enormous, and lovely and crispy. While the bacon was flavourful, it could have been crispier – I loved the addition of the crunchy hash brown, though. There was shredded lettuce for colour, and a BBQ sauce which was very sweet and felt more tomato-ey than traditional BBQ.
I also had a pot of thick chicken gravy for dipping, and our fries were deliciously crisp. The team did forget the accompanying pots of burger sauce, but brought them out when we mentioned this.
After our meal, it was time for a quick romp around the play structure in the garden at The Greenstone before we set off on the rest of our journey. We all left feeling nicely full, and with the ability to pay by scanning a QR code at the table, our experience couldn’t have been easier. If you’re looking for a family-friendly pub in Dereham, The Greenstone is definitely a good shout.