Исторический паб The Norton Dog в Сассексе удивляет гостей изысканной кухней и уютной атмосферой

Welcome back to our Pub of the Week feature where we visit an establishment in Suffolk and find out what it has to offer. This week we are in the Suffolk countryside to visit The Norton Dog, aptly located in Norton, which is a stone's throw from Bury St Edmunds and the A14. A firm favourite with locals, The Norton Dog sits at the heart of the village and sees customers travelling in from across the East Anglia and beyond for a taste of the highly-praised food. I was able to book in for a Wednesday evening the day prior and headed down to the pub for my eagerly-anticipated dinner. Unless you live in walkable distance, most people will need somewhere to park if they are intending to visit The Norton Dog and fortunately the pub has its own car park. As you arrive and enter you quickly realise just how beautiful the pub's exterior and interior are. It almost feels more like a quaint countryside cottage than a pub as you walk through the front door. The expose wooden beams throughout the pub combined with gentle yet appropriate lighting which left me excited for my evening ahead. A cheesy feast at a historic pub where the locals always mind their manners The gem of a historic pub 10 minutes away from the station I will visit again After a warm welcome from the staff, I was sat at my table and ordered an Aspall cider and was told that the pub also had Aspall Blush cider available which I opted for. Launched in 2023, I was yet to ever try an Aspall Blush Cyder - which is described as traditional Aspall with blackberry notes added. The main course menu was refined yet it included some classic pub staples such as fish and chips and steak and ale pie. Other options included Sri Lankan curries, lamb burgers and homemade fishcakes. To get a full taste for the menu I chose the beer battered catch of the day and the mac and cheese with the BBQ pork. The fish and chips was served with a slice of lemon and the biggest dish of tartare sauce I have ever seen which delighted me as I am a self-certified sauce lover. At a price of £18.95, it will not be the cheapest dinner you will ever get but it was a smashing plate of fish and chips. The fish was fresh and the batter was superb but it was the skin-on chips that stole the show. They had the perfect texture as they were crisp yet also fluffy on the inside - I could have eaten thousands of them. While you pay a premium price, you get a good size portion of wonderfully made food. Meanwhile, the mac and cheese was creamy and the BBQ pork took it to a whole new level adding a lot of flavour to the dish. I opted for a slightly early dinner by arriving at 5.30pm and saw the pub steadily fill with customers throughout my time there. You could tell there were a number of regulars to the pub in attendance who were sharing casual and friendly conversations with staff as the night went on. The pub itself is almost more of a fine-dining experience than your classic boozer - there is definitely no chance of watching football here, made evident by the lack of TVs. For dessert there was a range of options from sticky toffee pudding and brownies to cheeseboards and crumble of the day. Despite those worthy options, I settled on the Basque cheesecake which came with a fruit coulis. Priced at £8.75 - as were all the desserts besides the cake of the day - I decided to see if I could take it home with me. Without issue the staff packaged up the pudding and sent me on my way with a few mints as a leaving present. The cheesecake was top-notch as well and enhanced by the coulis that accompanied it. With all said and done - I enjoyed my time at The Norton Dog and slept like a baby with a very full stomach.