Cromer crab is, of course, the headline act, but eating well here extends beyond its most famous export. There are smokehouses and farm shops, excellent pubs, old-fashioned tea rooms and seaside cafés, as well as some exceptional – just as well, since long walks across the marshes work up quite the appetite. And while the county now has Michelin stars to its name, some of its best food remains resolutely un-fancy: a crab sandwich, a plate of fish and chips or a very good slice of cake after a walk on the beach.
These are the North Norfolk addresses we return to time and again.
Cookie’s Crab Shop, Salthouse
Cookies Crab Shop in the ever lovely Salthouse has been demonstrating for years that very fresh seafood needs remarkably little interference. This tiny institution sits on the coast road and is emphatically not somewhere to come in search of frills. What you come for is crab, lobster, prawns, cockles and whatever else the sea has yielded, served simply and generously – if you can get a seat, that is. It is idiosyncratic, much loved and about as North Norfolk as lunch gets.
Best for: Crab without ceremony.
The Dun Cow, Salthouse
A few minutes away, The Dun Cow occupies a position that will make you measure all other pub views by (this one is of the marshes right down to the sea. Sigh). The setting is reason enough to stop; the food means you should stay. It’s a proper pub with local produce, seafood and hearty plates – particularly welcome after a blowy walk along the coast. On a fine day, grab a table outside and feel extremely pleased with your life.
Best for: Lunch with a marsh view.
Rocky Bottoms, West Runton
The clue is in the setting at Rocky Bottoms, a former brick kiln perched close to the sea between Sheringham and Cromer. Owners Richard and Alison Matthews come from a long line of local fishermen and the menu consequently has but a short journey from boat to plate. Crab and lobster are of course the stars – dressed, in sandwiches, salads or served whole depending on season and appetite – with other seafood appearing according to the catch. Do come hungry, preferably after a walk or a swim.
Best for: Lobster within sight of the sea.
The Gunton Arms, Thorpe Market
Most pubs have a few pictures on the walls. The Gunton Arms has works by Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Lucian Freud. Set within a thousand-acre deer park, this is the gloriously singular creation of art dealer Ivor Braka, where an extraordinary contemporary art collection shares billing with some equally memorable food. Meat – including venison from the estate – is cooked over an open fire in the Elk Room, while the menu otherwise stays rooted in excellent British pub cooking. Michelin currently includes it among its Norfolk selections. Interiors, meanwhile, are by the late, great Robert Kime.
Best for: The pub lunch that becomes a talking point.
The Suffield Arms, Thorpe Market
The Gunton’s younger sibling, Suffield Arms, is housed in a handsome former railway pub, and looks towards Spain rather than the British pub canon for its culinary cues. Come for tapas, sherry and a long, convivial lunch rather than pie and mash. It is stylish without being remotely buttoned-up and just the place when another plate of fish and chips – however good – feels one too many. Do go upstairs to the atmospheric Robert Kime-designed cocktail bar either before or after your repast.
Best for: Tapas and a change of coastal pace.
Morston Hall, Morston
At the opposite end of the dining spectrum sits Morston Hall, one of North Norfolk's great gastronomic constants. The restaurant has held a Michelin star continuously since 1998. There has, however, been a changing of the guard: Galton Blackiston handed over the kitchen in late 2025 to executive chef Phil Kearsey, joined by head chef Farrel Hirsch, beginning a new chapter for an address that has helped define serious dining in the county for decades. The cooking remains closely tied to Norfolk and its seasons, but this is emphatically the place to swap sandy shoes for something smarter and settle in for the evening.
Best for: The big dinner.
The Red Lion, Stiffkey
The Stiffkey Red Lion declares itself, winningly in our books, as ‘not a restaurant, not a gastropub’. Instead, this is a proper village pub doing good, honest food from local ingredients, with a wood burner for cold days and outside tables when Norfolk decides to be kind. Menus change but never attempt to reinvent the wheel.
Best for: A pint and proper pub supper.
The Victoria, Holkham
Sitting at the gates of the Holkham Estate and opposite the vast sweep of Holkham beach, The Victoria could probably survive on location alone. Happily, though, it doesn't rest on its laurels. Much of what appears in the kitchen comes from the estate itself – including beef, venison and produce from Holkham's Walled Garden – while fish and shellfish hail from the surrounding coast. The result is assured, seasonal British cooking.
Best for: Post Holkham beach indulgence.
Meadowsweet, Holt
North Norfolk may excel at the unbuttoned-up, but sometimes you feel like a proper treat to get dressed up for. Meadowsweet is Holt's Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms, occupying a restored Georgian house and seating only a small number of diners. Chef-patron Greg Anderson spent six years at Morston Hall before opening Meadowsweet with Rebecca Williams, and the cooking follows the micro-seasons rather than a rigid culinary formula. Dinner takes the form of a tasting menu, with a shorter four-course menu at Saturday lunch.
Best for: A special occasion in Holt.
No1 Cromer, Cromer
Fish and chips taste better beside the sea. No1 Cromer Downstairs Restaurant occupies an enviable spot overlooking Cromer's seafront and has become one of the town's best-known places to eat them. There is takeaway and an informal downstairs restaurant, while Upstairs adds seasonal specials and more of a sit-down affair – all with those expansive North Sea views. The kitchen makes much of locally landed seafood, so what is available shifts with season and catch. Oh, and did we mention that it’s the brainchild of Galton Blackiston, Michelin-garlanded chef and former proprietor of Morston Hall?
Best for: The essential Cromer supper.
Fino, Cromer
One of the most exciting additions to Cromer’s food scene in recent years, Fino is ostensibly a neighbourhood restaurant and wine bar – albeit one operating at the very highest end of the genre. The menu is short and seasonal, built around excellent ingredients and particularly good Norfolk produce. Expect the likes of Cromer crab and locally landed fish alongside Norfolk game, very good vegetables and proper puddings, all served in a handsome converted butcher’s shop on Garden Street. It is accomplished cooking, but Fino remains winningly relaxed. No wonder The Good Food Guide named it the Central & East of England winner in its Best Local Restaurants awards in 2025.
Best for: A relaxed dinner away from the seafront crowds.
The Rocket House Café, Cromer
If location is everything, Rocket House Cafe has it all. Sitting above Cromer's lifeboat station, its big windows – some of them portholes – look straight out across the sea. Breakfasts, lunches, coffee and cake are the order of the day, but the real pleasure is combining something restorative with one of the best dining-room views in town. On a wild Norfolk day, being safely inside with coffee and a good, hearty sandwich while watching the weather rage outside is atmospheric indeed. On a sunny day, bag a spot on the balcony and watch the surfers catch the waves.
Best for: Coffee and cake with a sea view.
Guac & Mole, Sheringham
This little Sheringham takeaway brings tacos, burritos, nachos and suitably messy Mexican flavours to the promenade. It is casual in the truest sense – collect your food and take it to the seafront. Perfect for days when you’ve had your fill of fish n chips.
Best for: Beach food with a bit of heat.
The Whelks Coppers, Sheringham
The Whelks Coppers is a wonderfully traditional seaside café inside a flint cottage that increasingly feels like a find – proper sandwiches, generous slices of homemade cake, tea and coffee. In the winter, you’ll find a roaring fire inside; in summer, grab a table outside and gaze out to sea.
Best for: An old-fashioned sandwich and a very good slice of cake.
The Owl Tea Rooms, Holt
For all Holt's sophisticated food credentials, there are occasions when all you really want is a pot of tea and a scone. The Owl Tea Rooms, in the centre of town, obliges with breakfasts, lunches, the best cakes and all the comforting paraphernalia of the traditional English tea room. This is somewhere to deploy after a serious session in Holt's excellent independent shops – though do note, it’s popular and thus booking is sensible, especially in the holidays.
Best for: Tea, cake and recuperation.
Bakers & Larners, Holt
The family business has been trading in Holt since 1770 – and it has, in the intervening years, rightly become an institution. Its food hall is a veritable Aladdin's cave of cheese, chocolate, wine, Norfolk produce and pantry treats, and is also an excellent wine department to raid too. Go in for cheese; emerge laden down with a hamper's worth of things you had no idea you needed.
Best for: Stocking the holiday-house kitchen.
Byfords, Holt
Part deli, part café, part restaurant, part bakery, part B&B: Byfords has long been one of Holt's great all-day stalwarts. The historic building sits right in the middle of town and opens from breakfast onwards, moving through brunch and afternoon tea into dinner. Useful when one member of the party wants coffee, another wants cake and somebody else has mysteriously reached lunchtime at 11.30am.
Best for: Whenever hunger strikes.
Picnic Fayre, Cley-Next-The-Sea
If you're staying anywhere near Cley, a visit to Picnic Fayre will swiftly become habitual. Housed in the village's old forge, this wonderfully old-school deli has been here since 1984 and stocks more than a thousand products, from cheese and charcuterie to wine, local fruit and vegetables and bread from neighbouring Baked in Cley. It also makes its own cakes and other treats, including a signature sticky pear and ginger cake.
Best for: A superior picnic.
Jarrolds Letheringsett, Letheringsett
The former Back to the Garden site remains one of the most useful foodie stops on the A148, now under the Jarrolds name. Set around a handsome old barn, this is the place to fill the boot with good meat, cheese, vegetables and pantry provisions before reaching your holiday cottage. And, so tempted, stay for a bite at the lovely café.
Best for: The first holiday food shop – done in style.
Walsingham Farms Shop, Little Walsingham
Walsingham Farms Shop is another excellent antidote to the joyless motorway supermarket dash. The emphasis is firmly on local provenance, making this a good place to pick up Norfolk produce while exploring inland. It also gives us an excuse – not that one is really needed – to detour through one of the county's prettiest and most curious villages.
Best for: Filling a basket with Norfolk.
Norfolk Tea Co. Café At Wiveton Hall, Wiveton
Those who remember Wiveton Hall Café should note a change: the café at the famously photogenic estate is now run by Norfolk Tea Co. The important things remain, though, namely the lovely Wiveton setting, countryside stretching away towards the coast and the prospect of cake after a walk.
Best for: Tea with a view.
Cley Smokehouse, Cley
A North Norfolk institution, Cley Smokehouse has been curing and smoking fish in the village for more than 40 years. Its pretty little shop is the place to stock up on traditionally smoked salmon, trout, mackerel, kippers and prawns, much of it prepared in the smokehouse behind. There are pâtés, fishcakes and other good things to take away too, but it is the smoked fish that keeps people coming back. Pick up a side of salmon to take home, or assemble the makings of a very superior lunch with a quick stop at neighbouring Picnic Fayre.
Best for: Properly smoked fish to take home.
At A Glance:
For seafood straight from the source: Cookie’s Crab Shop, Rocky Bottoms and Cley Smokehouse
For a brilliant pub lunch: The Gunton Arms, The Dun Cow and The Red Lion
For a special occasion: Morston Hall and Meadowsweet
For one of the best new tables in town: Fino
For classic fish and chips: No1 Cromer
For tea and cake: The Owl Tea Rooms and Whelk Coppers
For a sea view: The Rocket House Café and The Dun Cow
For stocking up: Bakers & Larners, Picnic Fayre, Jarrolds Letheringsett and Walsingham Farms Shop
For something different: The Suffield Arms and Guac & Mole
For quintessential North Norfolk: Cookie’s Crab Shop
FAQs: A Taste Of North Norfolk
What food is North Norfolk famous for?
Cromer crab is its most famous export, but North Norfolk is also known for excellent seafood, smoked fish, locally reared meat and game, and produce grown on the county’s farms and estates.
Where can I eat the best seafood in North Norfolk?
Cookie’s Crab Shop in Salthouse and Rocky Bottoms at West Runton are two of our favourites for crab and lobster, while No1 Cromer is the place for fish and chips overlooking the sea. For smoked fish to take home, head to Cley Smokehouse.
What are the best pubs for food in North Norfolk?
The Gunton Arms at Thorpe Market is a destination in its own right, while The Dun Cow at Salthouse combines very good food with magnificent marsh views. We also love The Red Lion at Stiffkey for an unfussy village-pub supper and The Suffield Arms for tapas and sherry.
Does North Norfolk have any Michelin-starred restaurants?
Yes. Morston Hall has held a Michelin star since 1998, while Meadowsweet in Holt also holds a Michelin star and offers a tasting-menu-led dining experience.
Where are the best delis and farm shops in North Norfolk?
Picnic Fayre in Cley and Bakers & Larners in Holt are excellent for deli provisions, while Jarrolds Letheringsett and Walsingham Farms Shop are good places to stock up on local Norfolk produce.
Where should I eat in Cromer?
For fish and chips, head to No1 Cromer; for accomplished seasonal cooking, book Fino; and for breakfast, lunch or cake with a view over the North Sea, try The Rocket House Café.
