The Orange Tree, Thornham, Norfolk..............

A review by our resident Norfolk restaurant critic Norfolk Diner.

“It all started very well, although we did spend half an hour in the bar waiting for our table booked for 8.30 pm. However the atmosphere was convivial and bustling.

The starters were very good, especially the Thornham oysters, so we were looking forward to the main courses.
The “surf & turf”, a rib-eye steak with tiger prawns and chillis was excellent.
However, four out of our party of six well travelled silver surfers ordered turbot, the most expensive dish on the menu.
The fish was beautifully cooked and was a joy.
However it was served on a soy sauce saturated bed of kale which was salty beyond belief.
It was accompanied by a jus of red wine which had split during the cooking process as well as some very odd morsels of sorrel and rice.
All four of us finished the fish and left the rest.

It was mentioned to the head waiter that we felt the fish deserved a better sauce and accompanying vegetables than was currently being served.
We added that this was purely meant to be constructive criticism and not an attempt to reduce the bill.
Then the trouble started.

The head waiter returned to the table, some minutes after we had ordered puddings and more wine, brandishing a bottle of HP Sauce.

He then proceeded to tell us that the chef suggested that next time we ordered turbot to put that on it instead.

No tip and no next time at the Orange Tree!