A Girly Weekend at the Grove Hotel & Restaurant, Cromer

We stayed in Merryweather, one of the chalet style rooms at the rear of the main house. Maybe they put us there in case we drank too much wine and started misbehaving. Either way, it was a lovely set up, with two beds and the bathroom downstairs and another bed up on a mezzanine level. We were next door to their vegetable plot, a glamping field and the indoor pool. We managed a dip in the pool on the Sunday morning but whilst the pool itself was nice, the changing room was a little dirty. More to do with the children in there than the cleanliness of the hotel I’m sure.

Most of the weekend revolved around fish, chips and copious amounts of cider but we wanted one nice meal and so, we chose to eat at the hotel one night. The Grove has 2 AA rosettes and their menu features produce grown on the estate plus lots of locally sourced fish, seafood and meat. We sat in the gorgeous Georgian dining room for our meal.

To start, as you’d fully expect, all three of us went for the Cromer Crab and Garden Cucumber Tian. It was served with marie rose sauce, lemon oil & garden leaves and came with three deliciously smoked prawns. The crab was freshly caught that morning and tasted heavenly. We did all agree though, that a little more of the lemon oil was needed. 

For her main, Emily went for the Lobster Thermidor (pre-ordered), but I won’t go into too much detail as I’m sure she’ll want to cover it on her own blog. The presentation was lovely, with salad from The Grove’s garden, more of the smoked prawns and new potatoes. 

We drank excellent wine, starting with a white rioja and moving on to this delicious and local Humbleyard Bacchus. If you ever see it, grab a bottle. It’s incredible how good English wine is getting now.

For pudding, I went for the Blackcurrant & Beetroot Mousse. The girls weren’t keen on it but I really enjoyed the richness of the beetroot in mousse form. The ginger shortbread was pretty good too. Emily & Charlotte went for the Lavender Treacle Tart (with vanilla ice cream) and the Lemon Meringue Parfait. They were both delish!  In total our meal cost around £45 a head for three courses and two bottles of wine shared between three.

Our room rate (£185) included breakfast – so the following morning, with slightly sore heads, we went back to the Georgian dining room for round two. I had the Breakfast Pork Pie. It was lovely, layers of egg, sausage, bacon and even beans! I still don’t know how I managed to fit fish and chips in too!

We had a lovely time at The Grove and I’d definitely return there. I’m thinking a romantic weekend with a handsome man is needed. Just need to find someone to take me! I would recommend a visit to anyone looking for somewhere nice to stay in Cromer.