Explorers in North Norfolk

First impressions are important and the warm welcome received today guarantees many returns. Mega dog and people friendly, nice selection of beers, a sauvignon blanc the wife could drink. sensible prices. Thank you. Still good, enjoyed sitting outside in the sun

Great little pub, friendly staff and a nice pint.

Ideal local. Thanks for a nice evening

Came to North Norfolk on holiday. Stayed in Briston and went into the Explorers Bar, lovely old pub. Village pub serving excellent beer. Will definitely be coming back

Dropped in for a quick drink and wished I hadn't bothered. Restaurant closed they say because they say they have staff shortages, may be so but I wouldn't like to eat here as it is. Everyone (don't know about barman) was talking with foul expletives as if they couldn't talk without the worst swearing. So offensive.

Lovely friendly owners just wish it was open a little more

It's a pub. Beverages are available.

A very lovely dog friendly pub The Landlord Ian and his staff made us all very welcome a lovely village pub a nice open fire and good beer

Lovely village pub, plenty of good beers and company. Dog friendly which is always nice to see. lovely meal with the wife

Great village pub really friendly good selection of beers

Good friendly pub, unfortunately no cook on shift...

Friendly place with a good atmosphere, but evening meals only served between 6 and 7pm. Could live with this but unfortunately the food we ate was disappointing: dry pie, not much filling, weird 'gravy' (was a clear sauce), a few chips and peas - £14ish: the cost of the meal was too high for what it was unfortunately.

Lovely pub, excellent food and friendly staff. Definitely worth a visit.

Great meal good beer what else could you want

Friendly little local in Briston, did'nt eat there but stopped for drinks and was made welcome. Dog friendly. We liked the fact is is still a pub, use it or lose it!

What a gem of a place. The reviews weren't wrong. The food was great, and certainly dog friendly. We highly recommend and we will be definitely going back.

A lovely down to earth, friendly pub serving great traditional pub grub. (sadly lacking round these parts these days) Probably the most dog friendly pub you will find in North Norfolk. As a dog behaviourist I was so grateful when they allowed us to use their pub as a venue to help acclimatise puppies and dogs to a pub environment with a lovely "in pub" training evening after all the lockdowns. All dogs and owners made to feel welcome and relaxed. Nervous about heading to a pub with your dog after such a long break from doing so...... well get yourself down to the Explorer's.

Friendly welcome and service, dogs welcome. Will come again.

Fantastic service and they really made us feel welcome, us and our fur baby! They were very patient with her as she is quite nervous but they didn't let this put them off from making friends which we loved! Thank you for an amazing 1st meal as a married couple! Xx

Good no nonsense pub. Decent ale and friendly locals.

Landlord so friendly and welcoming proper locals pub 👍

A lovely quiet little pub with a good selection of beers very friendly atmosphere 👍

Lovely quiet traditional village oub.Spent the night talking to the landlord and the locald whilst enjoying the good beer and ambience.

A wonderful cosy atmosphere and a real pub

We visited for evening meal when staying at the nearby Rosslyn Glamping, it was on their local information sheet. The landlady was lovely and answered our many, many questions and contacts before going (being an ambulant wheelchair user accessibility is always an issue). A lovely menu, good food with prompt service and best of all dog friendly! If you like taking your pooch with you this is the place for you in Briston

Good basic pub not too far from the Old Brick Kilns campsite. Serves food after 6pm and made us some cheesy chips as we only fancied a light snack.

Lovely traditional pub, very welcoming staff and lovely food. Dog friendly too!

Good basic choice, well cooked and presented. Unfortunately the choice was limited as several options not available

If you want a nice local pub this is it. So many fancy overpriced places nearby but here you get a great welcome and pub grub. Landlord helped us find our holiday place the signal box when we were totally lost. A big thank you. Locals are friendly too .lol.

A small pub in Briston, unpretentious from the road but offering good basic pub food in a cosy friendly atmosphere. We had the pie and the lasagne, both were excellent, served promptly and outstanding value. Well worth a visit if you are tired of the more fancy expensive offerings in other local pub restaurants.

Excellent food friendly staff..

Excellent pub, great friendly staff and locals, very good food (Beef Madras) and very good real ales.

After a long day thought I needed a quick pint before dinner. With it being the only pub in the village at the moment, my choice is rather limited, but needs must. It has been a long time since my last visit, and I'm afraid it may be another long time. A pint of Abbott was purchased, and drunk just as quick. When you clean your pipes you need to pull through the beer to clear out the cleaning fluid. Ruined a good pint

It's a good local pub, get drunk there often

Excellent little pub tucked away, dog friendly!

Love it, good prices great atmosphere and lovely owners. Couldn't ask for a friendlier, bustlier, local just outside of Norwich. Definitely worth the visit!

Called in here I we were staying nearby good pub dog friendly, and so were the locals Food was good normal pub grub curry, lasagna stuff like that . Beer was good

Lovely staff...a homely feel too it!!

Pre booked a table for early Saturday night. Bar was quite full but did not affect our meal in the separate eating area. Nice and some unusual choices on the menu, so sorry it is not open Sunday or Monday as there were several meals we would of liked to have tried. Both our meals were very tasty, competitively priced and hot. Service from Ian the owner was very good. My wife said the white wine was very nice and the real ale I sampled was excellent. Would recommend it.

Excellent pub a very friendly atmosphere great place made us and our dog feel welcome.

Although I'm not an expert on beer I have drank enough in my lifetime to know when something is wrong with a pint of ale. However, the host/ barman didn't have a clue and suggested the chemical taste of the beer was because of something I'd ate. In reality he didn't care less. I struggled to drink half a pint but couldn't manage the rest so politely thought it was correct that I let the host know that there may be something wrong with the beer. I may have well just walked out because he clearly was not interested in a the quality of the beer or my comments.

We called here while visiting the area and found Hannah, a very welcoming host.A really warm welcome, Real ale. We are looking forward to returning at the end of September. When we are looking forward to sampling the food. Would recommend popping in.

The bar staff were very helpful . Also the choice of beers is very good . The locals and staff made us very weicome We will visit again

Visited with family including 3 very young children. Good food including children’s options. Had the lamb shank - try it

Very welcoming place, looked after us and our dog wonderfully well. The food was good and very reasonably priced, if your anywhere near Briston pop in to this great place.

Biker and dog friendly. Loads of cold water for the curries aand cold beers for their humans. Located in a lovely village, surrounded by countryside, with two local supermarkets a couple of minute's walk away. Outdoor seating. Free Wi-Fi. Lovely

Good character, welcoming staff.

This bar cum restaurant was our local bar for the week we stayed in Briston, while we never ate there the food looked great, there is a good choice of beers at the bar and we were made to feel welcome by the staff and locals. A smallish bar with a real fire during the colder weather, we found it the perfect place to relax with a couple of beers on the way to our accommodation after a day out or to visit after we had eaten. Overall a great place to visit.

Friendly staff and food very good.

Called into Explorer Bar when staying in next village for 2 nights after reading revue on TripAdvisor. We had 2 main meals of Beef, smoked bacon and mushroom pie with chips and peas and Lamb shank in mint gravy with a selection of vegetables. They were both excellent and very tasty. My partner had a pint of Adnams Ghost Ship and I had a half pint of which was a real ale and was kept in a good condition on tap. We would recommend this Bar and small eating place to try. Prices reasonable and staff friendly.

Having stayed at the cottage next door we ate in the Explorers Bar on our first and last evenings. The food was good pub fare served very cheerfully by the landlord and his wife. There seemed to be no problem with dogs coming in with their owners. On our last evening we both opted for the pies, chicken for me and beef for my husband. They were first class. The dessert menu was somewhat limited and the chocolate mousse we both ordered was very rich and sat very heavily on our stomachs. A few lighter desserts would have been appreciated. However, it was good food at a reasonable price.

Great food and great selection of drinks with very friendly staff who love our four legged friends well worth a visit

Comfortable and homely, relaxed atmosphere, met with family for catch up and didn't feel rushed, no loud music to distract from conversation, nothing was too much trouble for the hosts. Cheese and biscuits would have been a welcome addition to the menu as my husband doesn't like desserts.

Friendly, vibrant and welcoming. Feels like summer. Welcoming staff.

Whilst staying in the next village we called in for drinks and returned for a pizza . Menu is basic but very good value and pizza was very good. Dog friendly. Helpful staff

Visiting briston, first time! Very friendly and helpful staff! Had tapas on recommendation from holiday rental - absolutely worth it and even came back following night for round 2! All prepared from scratch, plentiful and good value for money!

Food and drink excellent as is the welcome.

as this was recommended we gave it a go. Sorry no food until Easter. thet advertise in the Briston news and other local mags but say nothing about no food until Easter. they did rustle up a pizza and ham and eggs but with no price given we feel it was a pricey meal. it needs some organising skills to keep it alive. it would be better to be a bistro all the year round. other pubs nearby are full of diners in March.

Great friendly staff, superb pizzas

We've had last christmas a meal here, found they we're a little over worked and it was not perfect, however i've had several lunchtime meets with meals snacks and drinks and found them very helpful, considerate and the food was great

El servicio estaba bien, pero eso es todo. Era un lugar bastante bonito, pero me sentí que no estaba seguro si se suponía que era un pub, una cafetería o un restaurante. Es como una combinación de todo, pero no ha decidido qué camino a seguir. Como consecuencia de ello, no parecen ser un gran lugar para ir a cenar. El menú era muy limitado, y cuando la comida llegó estaba lejos de especial. Después de una larga espera sin ofrecer de postre, pedimos que nos dijeron un menú de postres 'voy a ver lo que tenemos". La elección era helado de vainilla o la tarta de frutas! No regresaré.

Very pleasant warm and friendly atmosphere.. We enjoyed are time there a food was good. Followed by a good selection of ale.

Este es un pequeño pub, que es probablemente tratando de hacer demasiado, con un bar, un restaurante y deportes. Este puede trabajar, pero posiblemente no es un espacio pequeño. Habiendo dicho que la comida era buena, fui por el cerdo burger desprendidas de las menú de especialidades - y esta fue probablemente la mejor hamburguesa de cerdo desmenuzado que he tenido. No estaba sobrecargada con cerdo desmenuzado y tenía apple en un buen bollo. Para budín fui para tortitas. El servicio era bueno, la experiencia fue arruinado por la gente en el bar, lo que significaba que era difícil salir y un niño que era portarse bien.

We went on a nice Bank Holiday bike ride and decided to stop off for a quick bite to eat. Left our bikes outside and ordered 2 coffees and a pizza and chips to share. Coffees arrive after a few minutes and were very nice. Food took about 15 minutes, the pizza was very fresh and tasty with plenty of chicken and pepper topping. There was more than enough for us to share. We would certainly go back again. The staff were friendly and helpful and the pub had a very nice atmosphere. Didn't see hardly any traffic go past, nice and quiet.

We recently visited Briston and stayed in a cottage opposite Explorers bar and coffee house, we had a drink or two each day of our stay and were made to feel really welcome by the friendly landlord, his staff and all the locals. We did not eat during our stay but the food looked great.

We booked this place as we were staying locally and had checked trip advisor for local places to eat. Having had an irritating conceited experience at the "Pigs" we thought try something different, we are glad that we did. It's a village pub,okay, it's eating area is small but clean and well presented,it's away from the bar and the staff friendly and attentive. The food is good and the service warm and unpretentious. The table next to us were some young locals who were really pleasant which enhanced the relaxed atmosphere. Nothing was rushed but you didn't have to wait for anything. A good British pub, which sadly is becoming a rare commodity

A refreshing look at a country pub with a refreshing selection of drinks to offer

Had dinner here, food is good, food hygiene rating is 5/5, the building is lovely as is the coffee. Service was good and prices are what you expect from a pub restaurant. Our table was a bit sticky but apart from that a nice place to have some dinner.

Having lived in Briston for almost a year we have only just discovered this charming pub, very cosy & friendly staff.My vegetarian wife had a Binham blue, pear & walnut tart with salad, I went for the homemade salmon fish cake, hollondaise sauce, potato fritters & a lovely salad served with a herby mayonnaise dip.Prices are very reasonable, would thoroughly recommend this pub for a relaxed meal.There is no website so be aware the evening food service is 6 til 8.

Was happily surprised by Explorers. Food was tasty and the portions were generous. Would recommend the homemade lasagne, the scampi and chips, and the salmon fish cake. All delicious! The side salads are super fresh and really tasty, which is a nice change from some pub restaurants where the side salad is at best an afterthought. My son absolutely loved the sweet waffles with cinnamon, fruit and vanilla ice cream! Thumbs up all round!

We visited one evening when on holiday in Briston. Lovely home cooked food - we had to wait as it was cooked to order and the staff provided up with 3 different meals and deserts even though we arrived right at the end of service. The food was excellent and we were made to feel very welcome even though we were not local. It is a shame more people didn't explore this establishment. If in the area we would return again.

There is not a lot I can write about the Explorers. To be honest I only have praise for the standard and hospitality given,so in fear of putting nothing but waffle in if you are ,walking,driving, in this neck of the world I Recommend a+.

Been here several times while looking around North Norfolk. I had great food & great coffee.WIFI too.This is also a good meeting point for several activities, used by cyclists and walkers as well.

Local pub/eatery. Dog friendly. Good food and friendly service.

Visiting family in the village, from Yorkshire,we tried The Explorers for the first time,we are very glad we did the choice was excellent and something was found for us all to enjoy The service was friendly and we were soon served with lovely food at reasonable prices,when next in norfolk we will be back.

Had a meal here in Jan 16 cosy place the service was excellent as was the food. For what you pay it is very good value will return. Thank you

We didn't book but was able to find a table easily. The staff came across as helpful and friendly and we wasn't disappointed with the meal, it was a excellent.

Booked jo's place last Christmas 2014... So we knew that we wanted to stay here again this Christmas. This time we booked Bella's place. WOW it is a beautifully/ chic decorated. Warm, bright and cosy all at the same time! Hot tub brilliant- lovely view of the neighbouring sheep in the fields ( something we couldn't appreciate from the ground floor cottage we previously stayed in)The owners were friendly and very welcoming, whilst not being overly intrusive. Tasty fresh breakfast also.We come to Norfolk a lot to see family, so we will definitely be back.Thank you and Happy New year!!!

Visited with my family and dog, we were made to feel very welcome and there was food to suit all tastes. My husband had a fantastic roast, loads of fresh veg and real meat carved from the bone. I had a good curry and the kids had a pizza, fish cakes and a burger, all were very good and served by a lovely waitress. I would definitely recommend this place, so nice to have a decent village pub.You could pop in for a pint, a snack,or full meal and feel welcome. They also do take away pizza.

Visited early on a Saturday evening for food. We had not booked, but were able to find a table easily. The place filled up really quickly, with quite a few people waiting for tables. Staff were very friendly, and the menu used local produce. The food was excellent, and very reasonably priced. Also, if you make a booking during November, then you are given a free tapas starter. We did this a couple of nights later, and the tapas was very good. Highly recommended.

Searched weekends with a hot tubs and stumbled on the Explorers. Not sure what to expect we found a lovely village pub with excellent food and beer and a room that was frankly 5 star. The value was exceptional and Barry and his wife made our stay brilliant. Quiet, comfortable and nicely private with a lovely breakfast! We will be back!!

A very warm welcome and excellent home cooked food will ensure this is not my last visit.The soup was a meal in itself followed by a well cooked steak topped off with a desert that contained cream, ice cream and custard (by request)! If you are looking for a decent meal at a decent price I can strongly recommend the Explorers.

Had a very relaxing weekend for my wife's birthday, the hot tub was kept a surprise until the arrival day.Very welcoming and friendly owners/landlord and made our stay very comfortable in the b&b Bella Suite, and there was nothing like having to go very far to get a drink and some good pub meals (only steps away) very nice and good pricesWe would like to thank Barry and Michelle for making my wife's birthday a weekend to remember.We will be back if you don't get to booked up, very reluctant to write this review as this will let people know of our great little find for future weekend getawaysThank you again hope to see you again soon

We visited for Sunday lunch. No roasts, but I had a lamb shank which was very tasty. Good, quick service. Some interesting bar music (a bit loud) but the Christmas songs were rejected!

A pub that serve more than the usual bland pub grub.Warm welcome and very nice home cooked food at a reasonable price.Well worth a visit if you are in the area

The meals we enjoyed comprised good-sized portions and were perfectly cooked and well-presented. Service was fast and friendly in spite of how busy it was at the time. We certainly thought that it was good value for money and will no doubt call again!

Lovely food at a very reasonable price and a good selection of beer and wine. Very friendly welcome. Made it our "local' for the week. Highly recommended.

Recently enjoyed a lovely evening meal here, really fab food and great service. It's a lovely laid back atmosphere also. Looking forward to returning soon!

The beer,the food,the friendly atmosphere and they are genuinely dog friendly.

Fantastic choice of wonderful home cooked food, beautifully presented and great price point. Will definitely be returning.

Great curry for Sunday lunch. Staff members very friendly and surroundings very clean. Highly recommend if you are in the area or if you are local.

Four of us visited the Explorer's Bar twice this week and were VERY happy with both experiences. The food was excellent - well cooked and and presented, good sized portions and a good variety the choose from. The service was excellent - the staff were friendly, welcoming and efficient. Thank you for two very enjoyable evenings. We have left a recommendation in the visitors book at our accommodation.

I have visited twice in the past month or so and felt very comfortable in what is no longer a pub but more a bar with food and an attractive menu something like you find in France and Spain, particularly in the countryside.I intend to pop in with friends whenever we are in the vicinity.

Had a lovely evening with friends and family. Lovely setting and surroundings. Friendly and happy atmosphere and amazing customer service. Great food and nice selection. Portions were perfect and speedy service. Definitely will be visiting again and pointing people in that directions.

An evening out with special friends (Reg included) and family. Great food, cold beer and a warm welcome. A most enjoyable evening. I could describe each meal as our party of ten decimated the varied menu. Well done Barry and Team.

A very welcoming pub serving good pub food at very reasonable prices. Good range of beers; open fire; and dog friendly. We went six days out of seven.

We are fortunate to live just a short walking distance from The Explorers Bar and what a welcome asset it is to the village.The welcome is always warm,the service excellent and the food consistently very good with a menu to suit all tastes..Prices are the most reasonable for miles around, in what has become a very pricey area for eateries.The original pub 'The Green Man' had become very run down and hadn't served food for years and Michelle and Barry work very hard to make the Explorers a success.Hopefully, Charlotte (a local???) has had the decency to make herself known as per the offer from Michelle.Local people would do well to pay a visit, if they haven't been already and see what they have been missing.

Can't believe latest review, this place is spot on! Biggest is not always best and this place is a little gem! Fabulous ambience, very welcoming and the food was beautiful! Very reasonably priced and nothing was to much trouble for the staff! I would recommend this place without exception!!! Thank you!

Fantastic accommodation, staying in the junes suite( b and b) on valentines. The owners were polite and very helpful. The room was beautiful, every part of it was to the highest standard; towels, bedding etc. Lovely set out of the room with the stand alone bath, a real nice feature that you don't often see. The room was decorated to a very high standard. We really enjoyed our stay, and i would recommend this to anyone. Food very good aswell, lovely breakfast.

Having seen the previous reviews, I decided to give it a try unfortunately I left disappointed and still hungry as the meal was half cooked, half frozen and half warm! I didn't realise a microwave was so difficult to operate.As a request could you please drain the garden peas appropriately as I don't appreciate then swimming in water on the plate making the chips rather soggy aswell as cold!The service was rude, abrasive and very unwelcoming and I can fairly say I won't be returning anytime soon, awfull, awfull AWFULL!!!!!!