This weekend, Mr DCB and I are packing the car up and heading off to North Norfolk for an overnight stay near Holt. Not for a romantic weekend I hasten to add in light of Valentine’s Day, but as a late birthday celebration for me so we can catch up with my Mum and Stepdad. Our destination for Saturday night dinner is the beautiful Morston Hall Hotel and Restaurant, home of the Michelin-starred Galton Blackiston and his wife Tracey.

Despite having grown up for a few years in Norfolk when I was little, I hadn’t heard of this amazing 17th century country house hotel located near Blakeney until last year when Mum suggested going there for my 30th birthday. It was out of this world – in fact even a recent review from the Sunday Telegraph magazine gave it 9.75 out of 10 “There is so much about Morston Hall. It’s so perfect it’s hard to know where to begin”. That wouldn’t have been enough to impress me had I not been and seen it for myself.

Morston Hall - Beautiful Food

Morston Hall’s specialty is dinner. They have one seating, 7.30 for 8pm every day. The menu changes every day, and is a set menu. The only options you have are to advise of dietary requirements, which will be catered for, but that is it. You cannot opt out of any of the courses, or ask for something that isn’t on that evening’s menu. And I can honestly say, having eaten there just once, it probably is the best food I have ever tasted. The reason they opt to have a daily changing menu is to make the most of seasonal and locally-sourced produce. I grew up as an immensely fussy eater and was never forced to eat anything, so didn’t eat what I thought I didn’t like. Thankfully my tastes have changed, largely since becoming vegetarian nearly a decade ago. Now I eat more-or-less anything so long as it isn’t an animal and love to try new and exciting things. Morston Hall caters perfectly for the slightly more adventurous, but with the entire dinner menu excluding drinks costing £60 per head, it’s also incredibly reasonable. The presentation is exquisite and if I could, I would take a photo of every course ;o)

The venue itself is absolutely delightful – it also offers accommodation (I haven’t stayed there) and caters for any kind of functions including weddings. It’s the perfect romantic venue too to celebrate a special occasion and the staff are wonderful – not too attentive that you feel on edge (I hate those kind of stuffy places where they whisk silver lids off silver platters and then you have 50 waiters to help you wee for the rest of the night) but likewise there, subtly, should you need anything. They are friendly, knowledgeable and it’s clearly a close-knit team – I imagine it’s the kind of place where if you want to gain experience in the hospitality industry, there wouldn’t be too many better alternatives.

So all-in-all I cannot rate this place highly enough. It’s also in a truly lovely part of the world – Mr DCB and I don’t get too many opportunities to have such fab weekend adventures as we’re often on the road with our market stall so it’s wonderful to be able to take advantage of the quieter months to take some well-earned breaks here and there. We’ll hopefully get to Holt around early afternoon, do a little bit of shopping and then head to our guesthouse to get ready for dinner. It would be lovely to see the sea as well if we get a chance to, to really breathe in the fresh country air and properly leave London behind, even if it is only for 36 hours.

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