If you’re looking for a new North Norfolk restaurant to try, head over to the small village of Weybourne. In this unlikely location, you’ll find a restaurant named by Conde Nast as one of the UK’s Top New Restaurants: The Grain Store.
Owned by The Chestnut Group and sitting within the grounds of “Big House hotel”, The Maltings, the building that houses The Grain Store has an incredible history. As you can guess from the name, the whole site was formerly used for beer production. In the 1800s, publican William Bolding used the main house as the village pub, and the lofty grain barn – now The Grain Store – as somewhere to develop the photographs he took.
This double-height, vaulted flint building has been sympathetically transformed into a beautiful dining space. It’s in this two-storey restaurant that hotel residents and visitors enjoy their breakfasts – and it’s a popular spot for lunch and dinner, too.
Large windows let in plenty of natural light. At the same time, a combination of bare brickwork and steel fittings conveys a contemporary vibe without detracting from the original building’s beauty.
The menu features plenty of small plates, designed for sharing – as well as larger mains to be shared by the table. You can still order individual dishes as well – and that’s what we did. While it’s very much a menu with a fine dining vibe, The Grain Store is family-friendly, too. There’s a dedicated kids’ set menu, with mains priced at £11, desserts at £3 each.
While we waited for our mains to arrive, we crunched our way through a complimentary plate of local radishes, plus plenty of olive oil for dipping.
The first dish to arrive was the child’s cod goujons, with his chosen accompaniments of fries and peas. For £11, we’d expected it to be a significant step up from your generic fish fingers and chips. Thankfully, it lived up to expectations.
Just look at the crispy coating on those three chunky (skin-on) goujons! They were absolutely beautiful in terms of flavour and texture – and those fries were a big hit, too.
While on the small side, our mains were equally delicious. The steak-frites with bearnaise sauce packed a punch at £30, but the quality was undeniable. That steak was beautifully seared, full-flavoured and delicious. The bearnaise? Wonderfully creamy and tangy and with a good hit of tarragon – he used it mainly for the chips as the flavour of the steak needed no accompaniment.
I’d planned on ordering the fish pie, but after being warned of a long cooking time (not ideal with a young child in tow), I switched to the tandoori monkfish with dal and yoghurt dressing (£29). Our server checked that I was happy with the fact it is served on the bone before confirming my order: a nice touch.
This was another beautifully-presented dish – and it smelt fantastic, too. The monkfish was firm and meaty, its marinade combining deliciously with those charred edges. The dal was fragrant and the lentils retained some bite, the herbed yoghurt dressing and crispy onions offering both sweetness and a change in texture and temperature.
The portion sizes for the mains were on the small side – I think next time we’d probably try out some of the sharers instead, or add a few sharing sides.
What it did mean, though, was that we had space for dessert, so I can’t complain. Across the table, the creamy, mousse-like texture of the Basque cheesecake (£9) was spot on, with its topping perfectly caramelised. The silky smooth vanilla creme fraiche and the deliciously tart burnt orange puree that it came with were incredible, too.
Now, I love a good cheeseboard to end my meal – but quite often they’re disappointing. The cheese selection is boring, the accompaniments are dull, or the cheese is served straight from the fridge.
Not at The Grain Store.
This is a North Norfolk restaurant that clearly knows its stuff. Their cheese table (£14) option is just that: a table by the pass where a beautiful selection of both English and international cheeses is stored at room temperature, under glass domes.
I was invited up to pick three choices: not an easy decision!
In the end, I went for the beautifully-ripe local Truffled Baron Bigod; the creamy, ash-coated Driftwood goat cheese from White Lake in Somerset; and a wedge of Smoked Lincolnshire Poacher with its incredible oaky flavour.
The accompaniments were pretty decent too: a variety of crackers, chutney, honeycomb and grapes.
If you’re looking for a North Norfolk restaurant that truly cares about provenance, that celebrates seasonality and that embraces the social aspect of dining out, it’s well worth visiting The Grain Store. While the menu (and its pricing) reflect a higher-end experience, the restaurant and service are relaxed and we still felt comfortable dining as a family.
It’s clear how much care goes into every element of The Grain Store’s menu – including the children’s menu, which often seems to be an afterthought for many restaurants. Book your table and learn more about the venue on their website.