The Pigs at Edgefield

Last weekend we took the boys to the North Norfolk Railway. It was meant to be a lovely, unusually warm day for early October so we thought a trip to the steam railway would be a good idea.

It all started going wrong when we got to Holt Station. We waited and waited and no train. More and more people arrived and still no train. It was cold, windy with a hint of drizzle. Son no1 who had insisted on wearing shorts was freezing and boy didn't we know about it ! In the end it turned out that the steam engine had broken down and the next train would be a diesel but not there for 35 minutes. So we all trouped back to the car clutching hot chocolates to try and warm up.

Eventually the train came - a diesel, not a steam as we'd hoped - and we had a nice trip through the North Norfolk countryside from Holt to Sheringham. Once back at Holt station we'd decided to go into Holt to Byfords for some lunch and a mooch around the lovely shops in Holt.

30 mins later there was no hope in hell of us finding any parking in the town centre. We had two very hungry, grumpy boys so we headed back to Norwich. On the way we came across this pub  (The Pigs) which I'd heard great things about in the past so in we went.

It was heading up 2pm and I was a little worried that we might be too late for food but were reassured that food was served until 2.30pm. The pub was bright and airy and we were directed to "the snug" which delighted the children.

The food is divided between the Pigs menu (for adults) and the Piglets menu (for kids). The piggy theme continues even to the signs on the toilet doors (sows & boars) which greatly confused son no1 !

We chose a starter from the Iffits menu which is marketed as the Norfolk version of tapas served on wooden boards. We had the haslet fritter, potted pork, potted crab and the sausage roll to share between 4 of us (£10). The Husband wolfed down all the potted crab and declared it delicious and son no1 did the same with the haslet fritter - so much for sharing ! Son no2 and I shared the potted pork which was a lovely texture but I felt was a teeny bit bland in comparison to the rest of the starters and the sausage roll had to be seen to be believed. A huge portion of locally produced pork rich and meaty wrapped in perfect pastry served with tomato ketchup. YUM. 

The kids both chose sausage and chips (£4.50) if you can call the lovely thick cut almost wedge like chips they got chips. It was nice to see a choice of vegetables too either carrots or cabbage rather than the endless baked beans or peas. The Husband went for the beer battered haddock again with monster chips and mushy peas (£12.50). The speed with which it vanished said how much he enjoyed it.

I went for the "signature dish" of the Three Pigs. It was a slow cooked piece of belly pork served with smoky bacon beans, apple chutney, black pudding and crackling (£10.95). This was a thing of beauty, almost a shame to eat it but the smell coming off it proved too tempting. The belly pork was meltingly tender and a decent sized portion too. The beans were mixed beans and had a beautiful smoky taste. I normally don't like black pudding but I was prepared to give it another go. Still not my favourite thing but it was quite tasty when combined with the rest of the dish. The crackling was two small strips of crispy lovely pigginess - call me a pig but I'd have liked a little more ! This whole thing topped off with a rich gravy was total heaven.

Totally stuffed by this point we had to forgo pudding but the menu did look tasty. The whole meal for 4 of us with drinks came to £50, so quite expensive for a Saturday lunch but given the quality of the food we were served and the portions, more than worth it. Service wasn't bad either with a lovely waitress who made a great fuss of the kids - always a plus point in my book !