EDitorial ± 1-Feb-2025

Light Lunches: Woodfarm Cafe, Stonham Aspal

Traditional Norwich Road shops on a Saturday pick-up from my long-time chauffeur. Thought: perhaps I should offer to drive one day? That aside, we're off just before midday and I'm promptly scrambling around trying to recall the name of that unvisited place I found online yesterday, somewhere towards the bottom of the A140. Ah, got it, I say: head north.

I confess that I'd already eaten out earlier that day on a breakfast bike ride with another mate (thanks for your comments) where we ended up at The Milk Shed, still good with new management. Hoping to generate some appetite on this journey. Right at the Earl Stonham dip and surely all roads lead to Stonham Barns? They do and they don't since we fly down the Crowfield Road to find the Woodfarm Business Centre. Brief wait for someone to reverse before we can secure a spot and locate Woodfarm Cafe, nestled among other units towards the rear. Says the sign: "Much more than just great coffee. Open 7 days. Eat in or Take out. Dog friendly". Kudos for the lack of exclamation marks and largely lower case.

Couple of plain rooms inside, the first with a table crying out for us to sit. Pleasantly functional menu with breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, et cetera. I've already ordered my jacket with tuna mayo (Andy with the all day breakfast bap, naturally) when the nice lady who, I think, has recently taken over, handwrites "lasagne with garlic bread" on the blackboard above our heads. Currently cooking, she says; it'll be good. As Kurt said, Nevermind: I very much enjoyed my spud with lightly dressed salad. Quite the sight watching my travelling companion attempt to deal with a generously filled bap.

From what I can gather they've progressed from snacks for the business centre folk to being open to one and all including the likes of us. And, at the time of writing, open seven days a week! That deserved an exclamation mark. Do we need anything else? I very much had my eyes on that almond croissant until Andy opted for it, forcing me to switch to the rocky road, both rather good. Ahead of the Parkinson's Ping-Pong, my post-surgery pal had both variants of chai tea on offer -- one turmeric, one spice -- leaving me with a surprisingly great flat white. I should have believed that sign.

If it was a car -- Crow Elkhart 35.
If they were passing by -- Bill Skarsgard.