Diane's Pantry - Reepham

8 Market Place

Reepham

Norfolk

NR10 4JJ

Breakfast served

8am till 11am - Tuesday to Friday

9am till 12pm - Saturday & Sunday

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Diane's Pantry can be found inside a beautiful building on Reepham Marketplace.

 

It was my first visit to Reepham so I enjoyed looking around the small market town after breakfast.

 

Diane's Pantry is part shop and part cafe, it sells no end of local products ranging from jams and chutneys to free range eggs.

Walk through the shop and you'll find the cafe area around the corner.

 

It's fairly compact but there is some refurbishment taking place in a room next door, another dining area maybe?

 

The breakfast menu offers meat and veggie breakfasts, a selection of sandwiches. It's all reasonably priced and there are also extras if you prefer to create your own breakfast.

The drinks are reasonably priced here too.

 

Suggestions are welcomed, ingredients are locally sourced and the ordering process won't confuse you here.

 

Salt, pepper and sugar is already on each table. I must admit I was expecting sauces to arrive in small bowls here.

 

I was proved wrong though when this excellent selection of quality sauces arrived, always the best way!

 

I fancied tea today, just £1.50 for a pot of PG Tips (£1 extra per person)

 

Some small biscuits were served with the tea, always a nice touch!

I thought this breakfast looked superb when it arrived. Cooked from scratch, nicely laid out on a pre-heated plate and a good size too. We'd cycled 15 miles to get here so didn't want to eat anything too big as we still had to cycle home again, not much fun when you're really stuffed!

 The sausages were from the nearby Robertson's Butchers just across the road. 

A delicious pork sausage, perfectly suited to a Full English breakfast.

 

The smoked back bacon was also from Robertson's Butchers.

 

I couldn't work out if the bread was from Clarks or Pye bakery. One thing's for sure though, it tasted great toasted with real butter.

The eggs used here are from Vale Farm in Reepham and you can really taste the difference. It was beautifully fried and released a nice deep yellow yolk as I cut into it.

 

The Works breakfast doesn't include beans, I ordered them as an extra for just 50p.

 

A nice big juicy flat mushroom from Meloncaulie Rose Greengrocers (love the name!) which is located next door on Reepham Marketplace. 

Meloncaulie Rose also supply the flavoursome tomatoes used here.

My wife chose beans on toast with tomatoes and mushroom, it set her up nicely for the cycle home and cost £4.50.

My wife woke up early and noticed the sun was shining, "lets go out cycling" she said. It was only 8.30am on a Sunday morning but having recently bought myself a bike I thought it was a great idea! We decided to head out of Norwich towards Reepham on Marriot's Way which follows the path of a disused railway line. The first place we stopped at was Whitwell Station where I noticed there was a cafe called Sidings offering a Full English breakfast. My wife was able to order a vegetarian breakfast here but it seemed impossible for me to order a Full English. I was told I could order bacon, egg and toast but that was all. This seemed really strange as my wife's breakfast included hash browns, mushrooms, beans and tomatoes. We decided to go in search of somewhere less confusing to eat some breakfast and eventually ended up in Reepham. We'd considered V's Cafe but they were closed, I kept my fingers crossed as we cycled into Reepham Market Place. We spotted Diane's Pantry which was open and had a breakfast menu in the window, we locked our bikes up and headed inside...

Upon entering - There's a shop and deli selling a selection of locally sourced and organic products, towards the rear is the counter and kitchen. Around the corner is a fairly compact but cosy cafe area with about six tables, each one with salt, pepper, sugar and a menu already on it. Sometimes the ordering process can be a mystery but here it's clearly mentioned on the menu, place your order and pay at the counter. The food and drinks are brought over to the table as is an impressive selection of quality sauces. It's a great place to enjoy a bite to eat with good views across the Market Place. 7/10

Service - The lady serving us was really friendly and helpful, she greeted us and told us to place our order at the counter once we'd decided what we wanted. Before placing our order my wife was looking for some things in the shop which the lady serving us was happy to help her find. We were given the option of white or brown toast and soya milk was available for my wife. With our order placed we took a seat and a much needed rest after our 15 miles of cycling. The drinks arrived first, a large pot of tea for two served with some biscuits and 2 different types of milk. The food was being cooked from scratch so was going to take a while, whilst waiting we requested more hot water for the tea pot and this was not a problem at all. The food arrived and sauces were offered, it was nice to see some Colman's mustard amongst the sauces, I really enjoyed this on the sausages. We were certainly made to feel welcome here and well looked after. 9/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 1 fried egg, flat mushrooms, grilled tomato, beans and a slice of buttered toast. 7/10

Presentation - The plate was pre-heated ensuring everything stayed hotter for longer and the food was laid out beautifully, I loved the plate it was served on too. 8/10

The food - The meats from Robertson's Butchers were superb, delicious pork sausages and smoked back bacon. There's no hot holding items here, everything is cooked to order so the meats remained moist and with the texture you'd expect. The fried egg from nearby Vale Farm was beautifully cooked and boasted a runny deep yellow yolk, you could really taste the difference. I enjoyed the egg over the quality white sliced bread that had been toasted and spread with plenty of real butter. The large flat mushroom and tomato from the greengrocers next door were both packed full of flavour, it's not often I get served a flat mushroom so this was a real treat. As it stands the Works breakfast is a very traditional Full English breakfast but I've got so used to having beans with my breakfast I couldn't resist ordering some as an extra. 9/10

Value for money - The Works breakfast with beans added as an extra and a pot of tea cost £7.95. It tasted excellent and the ingredients used came from local businesses, many less than 50 meters away. 8/10

Veggie option - 2 fried eggs, 2 flat mushrooms, grilled tomato, beans and a slice of buttered toast.

Overall - I'm so glad we ended up stopping for breakfast at Diane's Pantry, the friendly welcome and delicious breakfast we were served was just what we needed after cycling here from Norwich. The locally sourced ingredients used on the breakfast is really impressive considering how many of them came from Reepham. The breakfast was clearly cooked with great care and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like a traditional Full English breakfast then this place is definitely worth visiting if you're ever in Reepham. 8/10