As Hungry as a Horse (Hungry Horse)

Member Name: janna

Product:	Hungry Horse
Date:	07/01/02 (496 review reads)
Rating:

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Disadvantages: see text

..... absolutely nothing to do with horses. Although the Big Fellow has threatened that if I do not let him write an opinion on dooyoo soon, he will stand on my foot with his hoof. And if you have ever been stood on by an English Shire horse you will know that you will be limping for days if not weeks....

Anyway back to the point, don't waffle on woman, as Husband would say.... back to the purpose of this opinion The Hungry Horse restaurant at the Henry IV public house at Fakenham in Norfolk.

Husband and I eat out two or three times a week. Not that we are rich by any means; by 'eating out' I often mean a lunchtime snack at Safeway's restaurant whilst doing our weekly shop. We have also been eating at the Hungry Horse on and off for the past couple of years. However, we have not eaten there for some time, as we had not been entirely satisfied with our meals as of late. But we decided, well why not, we would give it one more go....

What to do
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1. Find yourself a table - the restaurant is divided into smoking and non-smoking areas.

2. Make a note of your table number

3. Choose your food from the menu and order at the till

4. Help yourself to cutlery, serviettes and sauces

When you order your meal you can either pay in cash, by cheque supported by a bankers card or by credit card. They accept Visa, Switch, Mastercard, Diners Club and American Express. We usually set up a tab ordering drinks at the bar and signing the tariff at the end of the meal.

What to eat
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All the steak dishes are big plate specials - served on a 17" platter e.g. 10oz Steak Diane is £6.99, 20oz prime Rump Steak is £9.99, 10oz Sirloin Steak with Ruddles Ale gravy is £7.99. Various other steak dishes are available.

Chicken New Yorker, an old favourite consists of chicken breasts topped with bacon and melted cheese for £6.49.

Mighty
Moby comprises salmon and potato chunks seasoned with dill for £5.99.

Surf and Turf consists of scampi tails with a 10oz rump steak grilled to your liking for £7.99.

All the above, plus other dishes including Chicken and Ham Pie, Cheeseburgers, Mixed Grill, Lamb Joint etc. are served with chips, peas and sweetcorn.

An All Day Breakfast consists of 2 fried eggs, rashers of bacon, sausages, a burger, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, baked beans and a bread roll costs £4.99.

Vegetarians are catered for with Cauliflower Please which consists of cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes in a cheese sauce topped with breadcrumbs for £5.99 and Vegetable Chow Mein consisting of Chinese vegetables cooked in a black bean sauce and served on a bed of noodles with a crispy vegetable spring roll for £5.99.

Plus if you want to try the hottest chilli in the world (their words!) served in a flour tortilla with Habanero sauce the 'mouth-watering' new meal can be purchased for £4.99.

Puds include a Knickerbocker Glory for £2.99, Horse Choux Bombe for £2.49 or two can share a Choc-a-lot Challenge which contains chocolate mousse, mini donuts, chocolate sauce and whipped cream, chocolate and vanilla ice cream, marshmallows and Cadbury's chocolate flakes for £3.49 plus many more hot and cold desserts.

If you visit on a sunday, roast beef with the trimmings can be purchased for £5.99, roast chicken for £5.49 or roast lamb for £6.99. A smaller version for children can be bought for £2.99.

On a monday and a tuesday (excluding Bank Holidays) certain meals can be purchased at a lower price including:

Chicken Tikka Masala £4.99 (normally £5.99)
Roast Half Chicken £3.99 (normally £4.99)
Chicken in a bun £3.99 (normally £4.99)
Cannelloni £4.99 (normally £5.99)
Bakewell Sponge £3.49 (normally £3.99)
etc etc.

Children are catered for with a 'Pony Club Kids Menu' giving great kids
meals at good prices including burgers, chicken nuggets, grilled chicken, fish fingers etc.

You can finish off your meal with a Calypso Coffee; a Caribbean special with Tia Maria and topped with whipped cream for £2.29. Various other speciality coffees are available.

So now your taste buds are tingling....

I am sitting at a table in the Hungry Horse and scribbling notes whilst fellow diners give me strange looks.... A child is screaming on a nearby table.... A mobile phone rings somewhere behind me.... Televisions are strategically placed around the dining area, oh dear, Aston Villa are playing Man United, someone scores, a cry goes out "He let that effing ball go through his legs!".

Whilst sipping a glass of white wine (well, a half litre of Liebfraumilch to be precise for £3.99) you may be asking what do I really think of this restaurant?

If you eat, as we do, in an evening, the restaurant is dimly lit. The decor consists of posters, advertising signs and old black and white photographs on the walls and from the ceiling hang copper kettles, warming pans, saucepans, wooden crates, teddy bears, puppets etc. etc. I look up and there is a large milk churn suspended above my head, I sincerely hope it is securely fastened to the ceiling....

On our previous visit I ordered a steak cooked to my liking which is medium. What I received was a steak with the blood running out of it.... turning my chips pink; the cream, brandy and mushroom sauce congealing into a lumpy and soggy mess.... It was enough to turn anyone vegetarian!

This time, we tried steaks again (brave aren't I, or is it foolhardy?); this time they were perfect, exactly what we had ordered. I ordered a Hot and Cold Sundae, which was a chocolate and cherry baa baa, filled with black cherries and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce placed in fine lines all over a large white dish for £2.49 (someone's been watching Ainsley
Harriot). Delicious....

Husband ordered Cherry Pie with ice cream also for £2.49. Unfortunately the pastry was so hard that a mallet might have been appropriate for breaking it.

The Hungry Horse is staffed by young waiters and bar staff. They have obviously been trained to ask "Everything all right with your meal sir/madam?". I am quite sure that if our response had been "No, if this steak was any rarer, the cow would still be alive!" their reply would still be the same as it always is "Sorry, about that sir/madam" and they walk away.

I am not tall by any means (5ft 4ins to be precise) but if you need to visit the Ladies in this particular establishment for the purpose of combing your hair or applying your makeup, you will need to kneel on the floor to be eye level with the mirrors....

If after reading this opinion you STILL want to visit the Hungry Horse at Fakenham in north Norfolk, the address is:

The Henry IV
Greenway Lane
Fakenham
Norfolk
NR21 8ES

Tel. 01328 864592

The Hungry Horse is a chain of restaurants mostly located in East Anglia and south-east England, although there are a few eateries in the Manchester, Birmingham and Swansea areas. If, you wish to locate a Hungry Horse in your area visit www.hungryhorse.co.uk

If you do nothing else, please take a look at this brilliant website and get a taste of "The Hunt for Cow Pie" to the music from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".


Howdy folks
Janna



PS. There are a number of Hungry Horse restaurants in Norfolk, I will email dooyoo and ask them to change the address at the top of this category.

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