Tuesday 1 September 2015

A Family Day Out - Thetford

We absolutely love eating out, before kids we used to eat out loads. We don't often get to go out on an evening for food these days so sometimes lunch is our only option. With a three year old you only have a small window of opportunity as to when they will sit and behave so when we do get the chance to eat out we look for a place that is family friendly with a decent menu and quick service. 

We were recently invited along to try out the new menu over at The Warrener in Thetford which is not far from us. We haven't been to Thetford in absolutely ages so it seemed the perfect opportunity to head out for lunch and burn off some energy afterwards at High Lodge, Thetford Forest. It took us about half an hour to get there, it was very easy to find and had ample parking and great access for the pushchair which is always a bonus. 

We were greeted by a very friendly waitress who showed us to our table. We were seated in a nice little corner of the restaurant which was perfect for chatting and chilling out. There was no play area but because it was one of the hottest Saturdays of August we were all quite happy sitting in the air conditioning to be honest!


The menu has a great choice but yet it's not too big that you're left bewildered with what to select. There is a good choice of meat, fish and classic dishes, there was also a specials board which added to the variety. I really liked the way the menus were set out, they were easy to read and appealing to the eye, we found the amount of detail provided just right ensuring we knew exactly what we were ordering and what the dishes came with.





The children's menu was great, Alfie, as you can see Alfie felt that it was best worn on his head, pffft toddlers! When he finally stopped messing around he decided that he wanted a burger and with that he could then choose 2 sides as the accompaniment. The children's menu is fun and cheery with a horrible history theme. I loved the choices available, there was something that we knew Alfie would eat which is a relief as a parent! We did however forget to ask for our free activity pack (oops, bad Mummy) so I can't comment on what that consisted of.









The surroundings were lovely, it had a really relaxed feel and was very family friendly. There was seating outside if required or near the bar, the restaurant was deceptively big! Considering it was attached to the Premier Inn it wasn't overly packed but as we were leaving it was starting to become busier. The staff were friendly throughout and service was efficient. We opted to have Alfie's main come out with our starter so that he was occupied while we ate. I would say we were waiting no more than around 15 minutes before our starter came out, fantastic service for a hungry toddler!




So Alfie opted for the burger, chips and crudities. He is obsessed with cucumber (or cumbumber as he calls it hehe) so he was quite happy to munch his way through them. My husband had a little taste of the burger and said it tasted great, good quality and home made, always in a plus in our book as we do try to cook from fresh as much as we can when at home. 


To start myself and my husband chose the sharing platter and added the sticky wings as an extra. It was delicious, the calamari was tasty and the sticky chicken wings were a good added extra, it was nicely presented aswell.



For our mains, my husband opted for the steak and merlot pie, when it arrived it looked delicious! The presentation of the dish was great and it really did look like some proper yummy pub grub. He said it tasted great and the gravy was apparently delicious.


I opted for one of the specials, which was the steak and prawns, I also added a side of pepper sauce as I can't eat steak and chips without a sauce! It arrived and looked very inviting. It tasted great and my steak was cooked to medium perfectly. The only thing I was truly disappointed with was the huge amount of chips it was served with and the very teeny, tiny amount of salad, I would have preferred a much nicer salad and less chips, there were so many chips that I couldn't eat them all.



After finishing our mains we decided that we did have a little room left to squeeze in a pud! Alfie and Daddy perused the the children's menu and Alfie was going to choose the graveyard horror but unfortunately this wasn't available so he opted for the chocolate challenge instead! It consisted of brownie chunks, marshmallows, dipping sauce and ice cream (nom, nom!). Needless to say we did have to help him out a little with this........





Myself and my husband both opted for the chocolate brownie with caramel sauce, oh it was so naughty but oh so good! We definitely needed a good walk after this! 

We then finished our meal with a cappuccino. We were stuffed. We got the bill and the total for all that we had (including a pint and glass of wine) came to just over £66, I think for the amount we had that is a perfectly acceptable price, very reasonable indeed. 

Would we eat here again? Absolutely, it's just down the road from Thetford Forest, the service was friendly and quick and the food really decent pub grub.



After lunch we headed straight to High Lodge in the forest. After living in Suffolk for over 5 years we had never visited here before so as it was a beautiful, hot day this was the perfect excuse and I'm so glad we did. We were hoping to follow the gruffalo trail but when we arrived unfortunately that trail wasn't running anymore but the superworm trail was so we opted to follow that one instead. In actual fact Alfie was far more interested in all of the amazing play equipment throughout the forest rather than the worm trail!



Walking around under the expanse of forest and watching people do 'go ape' was great, we were out the heat of the sun and were there for over 3 hours. It is worth mentioning that although the forest is 'free' to enter the price of parking is pretty extortionate, it's £2.20 an hour or £11.00 for a whole day (eek!). You could quite easily stay the whole day, I'm fairly sure that we only saw a tiny amount of the forest and what it has to offer, the facilities for children as well as cyclists, walkers and explorers are fantastic! If you are ever in this area I highly recommend paying a visit. I'm just sorry that I didn't take more pictures.



We had a great day from start to finish and will be heading back over to Thetford soon for more fun and frolics!

What do you think of the restaurant and our trip to High Lodge?

* Please note I was kindly given £60 towards the cost of the meal in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.


Best of Worst


Family Fever

#ToddlerApprovedTuesday

70 comments:

  1. I loved the themed kids menu! Looks great #ToddlerApprovedTuesday

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  2. What a lovely place to eat....The food looks so good x

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  3. The childrens menu looks good and really fun #triedtested

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  4. Eating out can be such hard work with little ones can't it! The menu looks like it was fab.
    Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x

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    1. It can but this meal was over without a hitch :-) thanks for hosting x

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  5. Reading this as made me hungry, the food looks really good x

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  6. Oh this all sounds fab! Looks like it was enjoyed by everyone! Such a lovely read! Thanks for sharing! Suz x Beauisblue.com

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  7. My husband and I loved eating out before kids too! Now when we go out we have to have quick mouthfuls in between helping our girls eat, taking them to the toilet and stopping them from standing on their chairs! The food here looks great! #bestandworst

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    1. Oh yes I know exactly what you mean, I do often pop the tablet on while we eat, not the best parenting but if it means we can eat in peace in happy with that x

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  8. The themed kids menu looks fab - bet that kept him entertained. The prawns look yummy! My daughter is a big fan of cucumber and Superworm too so would love that trail. #bestandworst

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    1. I really liked the themed menu it wad engaging.The superworm book is a hit here too,bit of a random story but he likes it! X

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  9. The food looked beautiful. I know a (grown up) kid that would have loved the Horrible Histories menu #bestandworst

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    1. Haha,I really wanted to ask for one of the kids puds for me! Bug kid here too hehe x

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  10. Wow looks scrummy and what a lovely place - Looks like a really chilled environment and cosy too x #bestandworst

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  11. I love the meal you picked as I like prawns... seemed like a lot to choose from especially the kids menu, bigger portions too. Seemed like a great family meal! #bestandworst

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  12. Looks like a lovely day out - and I am way too hungry for this time of the day after seeing all your yummy food pics too!! #bestandworst

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  13. Looks like a lovely day out and I'm feeling far too hungry now after all those yummy food pics!! :) #bestandworst

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  14. This looks lovely - I want that pie and brownie! That is a staggering amount of chips though. A walk in the woods seems the perfect way to finish. #bestandworst

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    1. There was a lot of chips,yes! The brownie was delicious! X

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  15. Yum! Made me hungry!!
    #bestandworst

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  16. Mmmmmm everything looks delicious. Great selection of kids food too - sometimes the menus can be a bit limited for little ones.

    You can't live that far from me as I'm not that far from Thetford either. :)

    Jenna at Tinyfootsteps xx

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    1. If you're near have a meal there,it's really good value for the food x

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  17. Sounds like a lovely pub! The food looked amazing and great how child friendly they were! #bestandworst

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    1. Yeah they were very child friendly which is a bonus in my eyes x

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  18. Time to stop sharing the comment love and get some dinner! That looks lovely! #bestandworst

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  19. This looks lovely - food looks amazing! We are very much into eating out as a family so if we're around Thetford we'll be paying a visit :) #bestandworst

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    1. Definitely do and head over to the woods too if you're near x

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  20. The kids menu looks pretty impressive. A big plus while waiting for the food to arrive

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  21. Sounds like a fab day out and with very yummy food! #bestandworst

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  22. We loved the Superworm trail near us, and the fact you get a little copy of the book as part of the pack was fab. Great day out for you all! #bestandworst

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    1. We had to pay extra for the superwormpack but I didn't really mind as the bits of trail we saw were good x

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  23. Wow the food at the place looked amazing and hope your walk was good afterwards. The pics you did take look lovely xx #bestandworst

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  24. Looks like you had a great time, and that brownie is making me hungry! It's so great to find a nice relaxing place to eat, where toddlers are welcome, but it's still somewhere you want to hang out as well! Becky xx #bestandworst

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  25. Sounds lovely! Love the kids' chocolate dessert - looks great. #bestandworst

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    1. It was great, obviously we did have to help him out.... X

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  26. Looks like you all had a lovely time. Photos of little one in her head piece are lovely :) #bestandworst x

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  27. Oh that food looms so yum. It's making me hungry lol. The pub doesn't look or sound too bad either ;-) sounds like you all had a great time.

    (Stopping by from #bestandworst linky). Thanks for hosting :-)

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  28. The meals all looked delicious, but they looked huge! I don't know if it's deceiving in the picture, but that pie looked family sized lol! Very good value though. Thanks for hosting #bestandworst
    Debbie

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    1. Haha I promise it was a pie for 1! The servings were generous though, thanks for the comment! X

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  29. Looks like a great day out and the food looks really good too!

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  30. Looks like you all had a fab time and the food looks lovely thanks for hosting x

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  31. Makes me hungry just reading it!! xx Whine or Wine xx Best and worst

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  32. Looks like a fab place to eat! I love how colorful the kids menus are and I would have had a hard time choosing which "special" I wanted. Thanks so much for hosting #bestandworst.

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    1. The kids menu was great, we enjoyed looking over it :-) thanks for linking up! X

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    2. The kids menu was great, we enjoyed looking over it :-) thanks for linking up! X

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  33. This looks great, especially that sharing platter and the brownines. They look delicious, and the forest sounds lovely. I've always wanted to do GoApe #bestandworst

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  34. Oh my, I could eat all of your choices. he sharing platter looked immense. Agree with the overload of chips versus salad size. I would rather have more salad. It looks a lovely spot. #bestandworst

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  35. Awww Great pics and the food looks amazing!! Looks like you al had a lovely time! #comp

    Sarah xx (Things Sarah Loves)

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  36. Wow food looks great! Fab review, Thanks so much for linking up to #toddlerapprovedtuesday this week x

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  37. What a great idea for a kids' menu! The food looks yummy, proper pub grub. What a huge portion of chips though! Surely no one would want that many?!

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