The next pub on our little expedition was the Ostrich in Castle Acre and please excuse the lack of quality of the external photo, but it wasn’t the most lit up pub that I’ve ever seen. The rather odd name of the pub relates to the Coke family and the Holkham estate, who had some involvement with this venue. Although as a pub name it’s relatively rare, it’s common in Norfolk and around ten venues have had the name.
It has been a licensed premises since the end of the eighteenth century, once in the Steward & Patteson estate, but now part of Greene King. It received a substantial refurbishment in 2022 which saw its six en-suite bedrooms revamped and the historic interior restored. This was when the venue seemed primarily food-led and that had been my expectation for our visit, not that we were intending to eat there.
There were four real ales available, although as three were from Greene King I was going to have the Duration keg beer before I realised that it sold out. The pub had Greene King IPA, Greene King Fireside IPA, Greene King Abbot and Woodforde’s Nog. I would have preferred a beer that wasn’t local as an option, but at least there was a choice.
The large rear room and the specials menu is visible above the rather lovely fireplace. This venue wasn’t the only one that day, but I did think it was entirely unclear whether or not they were serving food. As mentioned, I didn’t progress the matter as we had another food destination in mind, but I’m not sure that this pub is as food led as I thought it might be any more.
The same room from the other perspective and I felt for the venue here as it was quite cold in parts of the building, but this must be a nightmare to heat. The toilets were very cold and some of them needed repair, so this must be a financial challenge for the operators. If the venue is mostly tied to Greene King, this must present something of a challenge to the operator in numerous ways.
The front bar was just a little more lively and it had more of a homely and warm feel. The service from the team members was friendly and immediate, with the pub feeling welcoming.
We sat in front of the lower fireplace, although this wasn’t on and was a bit more of a storage area. The venue does seem to be struggling at the moment and has been hit by a wave of negative reviews on TripAdvisor and a fair few on Google. Some are villagers claiming that they’re annoyed, although I might be a little wary there, all they might achieve is losing their pub entirely. Indeed, I always thought of this village having two pubs, but that’s as I was here in 2009 and it has transpired that the Albert Victor closed in 2010, leaving just the Ostrich.
The prices were towards the higher end of the scale and they might have to be careful there if they’re going to be reliant on their local audience. Anyway, this is the Nog from Woodforde’s Brewery and it tasted as I hoped, a bit of liquorice, malty and rich. In terms of food pairings, I’m not sure that the bacon fries were robust enough to stand up to the Nog, but they certainly didn’t take away from it.
I think it’s nearly fifteen years since I’ve been here and so it’s good to be back, not that I can remember anything from my first visit. It’s great that the pub is still going, although I would like to have seen more about the venue’s name and history within the pub. I mention this as a lot of sources refer to this as a sixteenth century building, but the listed building record and licensing documents suggest an eighteenth century building.
Anyway, I felt welcome during the visit and I rather wonder if the pub comes more to life during the summer months when the tourists come flocking to the area and I suspect things liven up a bit.