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Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market (2025 Edition) – Week 27 and Tasty House

We’re approaching the end of visiting every food stall at Norwich market and this week’s expedition was to Tasty House, which we visited before when we did this before in 2023. I very much liked the food on this previous visit and everything felt organised and well managed, so my expectations were high. After we waded through the throngs of middle-class people that James knew, first impressions this time were positive as we reminded that the menu is actually rather exciting.

The menu options with most of the dishes already being pre-cooked, although a couple are made fresh to order. There was also a daily special of ribs available as well, so the menu options felt extensive, with a choice of sticky rice, jasmine rice or noodles with each main course. There’s one vegan and vegetarian option, which is listed top of the menu, but all of the others are meat based.

The counter and the stall accepts card and cash. The service was friendly and helpful, although there wasn’t much engagement beyond the minimum needs but there’s a lot to be said for efficiency. We had a wait of around thirty seconds to be served as the customer in front was asking quite a lot of questions, but James pretended not to be annoyed and obviously I’m always calm.

I like the variety of free condiments that can be added to the food, although there’s a sister stand opposite the shop which sells all these raw ingredients. There was quite a lot of general litter on the counters such as abandoned water bottles, coffee cups and other detritus, so that didn’t feel entirely optimal. There’s a small seating area at the end of the stall, but we had our food standing near to the condiments.

I went for the large panang chicken curry with jasmine rice which came to £9.50, an increase of £1.50 from when we last visited. This arrangement seemed a little odd as they were quite stingy on the portion of rice, but very generous with the amount of chicken. However, this meant that the meal seemed a little unbalanced as I had plenty of chicken curry, but nowhere near as much rice as would have been ideal. Given rice is a cheap ingredient, it’s usually the other way around. The curry was though aromatic, rich in flavour, the chicken was tender and moist with the vegetables taking on the flavour of the sauce. I can’t say that the lettuce does much here, but the quality of the arrangement was high and the curry was at the appropriate hot temperature.

James’s food and he went for the Korean BBQ beef, the regular £8 size, but they forgot to ask him if he wanted noodles or rice, but he was satisfied with the sticky rice that he was automatically given. I’m not sure that there was much kimchi which was mentioned in the menu description, but James said that the food was agreeable although the beef a little dry.

I left feeling satisfied with the lunchtime snack, it was filling and had a depth of flavour to it. Ideally they could have packed the large bowl out with a little more rice, but I have no complaints about the quality of the curry itself. The service was friendly, there was a minimal waiting time and I’d merrily recommend this stall to others once again.

September 2, 2025
Fakenham – Superstore

[This is from August 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image link for the photo that amused me at the time….]

This isn’t particularly amusing, but this is certainly my sort of superstore 🙂

September 2, 2025
Whitby

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

My visit to Whitby was rather short, but sufficiently interesting for me to want to come back. I thought that the pubs were particularly impressive, but there are numerous museums that I’d have liked to have visited as well. And some more pubs…..

Black Horse Inn

The Little Angel

The Board Inn

Station Inn

Lewis Carroll Park

Captain Cook Statue

Khyber Pass Toilets

West Pier Lighthouse

Storm Gate

September 2, 2025
Whitby – Storm Gate

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

There’s a storm gate on Whitby pier to prevent people from going out fishing (or indeed anything else….) in dangerous conditions, and it’s a particularly impressive gate. It was designed by James Godbold who runs a blacksmiths in Egton, located just outside of Whitby. It’s made of galvanised steel and there’s an old ship portrayed on one side, and a more recent one on the other.

The plaque, dated 2005, which is located next to the storm gate, as “a tribute to the fisherman, merchantmen, whalers, explorers and all seafarers of Whitby past and present”.

September 2, 2025
Whitby – West Pier Lighthouse

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

West Pier Lighthouse stands over 20 metres high and is located on one side of the harbour’s entrance. I didn’t realise until afterwards that following some restoration work that visitors are allowed to climb up the tower which seems an interesting little expedition.

The lighthouse was erected in 1831 and the engineer in charge was Francis Pickernell. Princess Victoria visited the lighthouse in 1834 and there’s another on the other side of the harbour, which is brilliantly named the East Pier Lighthouse… The lighthouse remained in use until 1912 and it was then replaced by more sophisticated methods of alerting shipping to the dangers of crashing into the harbour wall.

September 2, 2025
Whitby – Khyber Pass Toilets

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

I rather like the name of these former public facilities, they were known as the Old Khyber Pass toilets and had a location near to the harbour. Unfortunately, the council has decided to close them and replace them with facilities where visitors to the town have to pay to get in. Which will have the result of inconveniencing visitors, excuse the pun, and seeing more people sneak into Wetherspoons and similar businesses to use their toilets.

The council are selling the premises with the potential for A1, A3 or A5 consent to be granted. This means that there is still scope for good news, as this would allow Greggs to take over the site and open an outlet in a town where they currently don’t have a shop.

August 31, 2025
Whitby – Captain Cook Statue

[I originally posted this in August 2018 but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

The lighting when I visited wasn’t very good unfortunately, but this statue of Captain James Cook looks out onto Whitby Harbour. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford unveiled this statue, designed by John Tweed, in September 1912. The monument was funded by Sir Gervase Beckett, a banker who was also the MP for the area.

I also discovered, whilst busy on Wikipedia, that there’s a statue of Cook near Admiralty Arch in London. I’ve walked by that many times without realising who it was….

This plaque was added to the monument in 1968 to mark the 200th anniversary since the first European exploration of Australia.

“Around the world, nothing left unturned”.

There’s a plaque which gives some information about Cook’s life, but what particularly caught my eye was the 80-mile Captain Cook tour. Unfortunately, it lost my interest when I saw it was a tour for cars and not for long distance walkers….

August 31, 2025
Whitby – Lewis Carroll Park

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

This interesting little park seemed rather out of place when I walked by it, hemmed in by a Poundland on one side and a car park to the rear. It has though transpired (to me at least) that this patch of land had rather fallen into disrepair and become a location for anti-social behaviour, so it was decided by the council to improve it.

Coming from Norwich, the council here tends to define improving something as knocking it down and building a car park on top of it. Then they can cheer that they’ve managed to encourage even more cars to come into the city centre, whilst not actually managing to ever properly fund public transport. But, in Whitby, money was found to theme this little park around Alice, one of the creations of Lewis Carroll.

Carroll has some connections to Whitby as he came here on holiday on at least six occasions, and it was the Whitby Gazette who published his first poem in 1854.

There are three themed benches in the park, all related to works by Carroll. Given that the park is now of interest to visitors and is a little bit of a talking point, I thought this was rather an charming idea by local residents and politicians, and there is apparently more work planned for the site.

August 31, 2025
Whitby – Station Inn

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

The last stop of my visits to pubs in Whitby mentioned in the Good Beer Guide was to the Station Inn. It’s an interesting pub with a main bar area and two smaller rooms located off of it. There was a vibrant feel to the pub, but it remained friendly and welcoming.

I was a little confused as to why the pub seemed relatively modern and didn’t seem to be of a contemporary date to the railway station opposite, but it appears that it was reconstructed in the 1930s. It was also known as the Cutty Sark until the 1980s, although the current name seems more appropriate.

Is this real? I’m veering on the side of thinking that it’s not.

There are numerous historic signs relating to the railway industry on the walls of the pub.

The real ales are listed on a blackboard and there were around seven available during my visit. I went for the Whitby Jet Black which is from the local Whitby Brewery and it had a pleasant taste with a chocolate flavour.

This was another Whitby pub where locals burst into song, all adding positively to the friendly ambience. The staff in the pub were personable and welcoming despite how busy they were, with no seats available during my visit.

The pub is located opposite the railway station and is also in an area that would attract tourists, but it still had the feel of an authentic locals’ pub which was welcoming to all. The Station Inn has also won numerous CAMRA awards, with a few real ciders to choose from in addition to all of the real ales.

August 31, 2025
Whitby – The Board Inn

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

Located at the base of the steps up to Whitby Abbey this is an interesting and quirky pub. I was though unable to find out anything about its history either in the pub or on its web-site, although the Good Beer Guide mentions it’s been trading since at least the nineteenth century.

I tried both the Theakston XB and the Theakston Old Peculier and they were both excellent and tasted well-kept.

Seems reasonable….

If a pub has to have live music, then some singing (without microphones) or folk type music is my preferred style of performance… The locals in the pub were having a rather lovely time playing, and I thought they were doing an excellent job. As live music goes, this is good!

I didn’t eat at the pub, but the selection seemed fairly priced and interesting. There is a restaurant in the pub, which appears to be located downstairs and also at the rear of the main part of the pub, although there’s also plenty of space for those just wanting a drink.

The service in the pub was efficient, timely and friendly, with the bar staff being happy and willing to talk about the real ales. I particularly liked that despite being in a touristy location, the pub still felt that it was a pub for locals and visitors alike, with the prices being reasonable.

August 31, 2025