Running Horse in North Norfolk

Just had a lovely time at The Running Horse with some friends. 😃The food was served nice and hot with plenty on the plate. Dessert was very nice . We all had a lovely time with great atmosphere, all the staff were friendly definitely recommend 👍

Excellent service with a smile. Great food. Will be going back

Great place to eat, do so often, also had christmas dinner there which was excellent, well done all, and thank you for a great experience.

We paid a visit here today for Sunday lunch, had turkey roast dinner and was lovely. Good food and service was good too and very friendly staff. I love the atmosphere here , feel relaxed. Just need to book my Xmas Dinner there now.

Oh my oh my , you know when a pub is on an industrial estate it’s not going to be good. The food was cold, chips uncooked , peas cold , pie cold in the middle. My burger was dry , bread roll was stale, I’ve had nicer from mucky macs and the fries were rock hard and cold. Tables were sticky and wobbly, sauce bottles not cleaned down. Awful place. Avoid.

We went here with our parents and children for the festive menu on Christmas eve. It was absolutely amazing value for money the table was set out lovely, with crackers and Christmas decorations. The festive Christmas dinner was TO DIE for as were the extra sides we ordered. And the deserts also outstanding. The waitress dealing with us was lovely and checked in on us to make sure everything was OK. I highly, highly recommend them especially their festive menu. Will 100% be back for that next year! Will also be back in January to celebrate my 30th! Thank you all so much. 100% for effort!

Warm friendly place to eat out with family and friends. Foods not bad either.was very busy when we went but still got the usual excellent serve as usual *****

Asked for a quiet table when booking and the table position was perfect, we stop here every year for a meal after visiting The Thursford Christmas Show. The table was nicely decorated the service was excellent from a very nice lady who looked after us and nothing was too much trouble. The drinks were brought to the table so we didn't have to wait at the bar. The food was excellent, we had prawn cocktails and pate to start and Christmas dinner and a festive burger for mains, we really enjoyed all of it. Excellent all round.

Great food,service and atmosphere Sirloin steak was delicious will be returning thank-you guys

We had to wait 50 minutes between our starter being taken and our main course delivery. When we queried after 30 minutes we were told it was being plated up. 15 minutes later and we had to chase again. It was not full, nor were we there at a peak time. There were tables all over left dirty, with left over food on plates for the whole of our visit. I understand that they may have been understaffed but we were not pre warned of any delay in food (otherwise we would have chosen somewhere else) and staff seemed to be avoiding customers rather than facing and explaining delays. Will not be eating here again.

I popped in for a coffee while waiting for a friend who was at the gym! I received a lukewarm latte (if you can call it that) and very watery too and I struggled to find a clean table! They certainly hadn’t been cleaned from the night before in the games area! Good atmosphere I admit and people seem happy enough with food! I’m not eating! Service is ok!

Expensive, poor quality, tiny portions, lots out of stock, service was poor, a poppadom came out and was soggy, the bar women served 5 groups before me when they just arrived, we had to go and get food elsewhere after it was that poor.

Had the philly cheese steak baguette but it was more of a long roll. Chewy steak. Probably the worst "baguette I've had. Put me off going back. Was going to have pizza but off the menu due to "delivery" issues. No check back or clearing plate after. Put me off going to another Marstons pub.

Pub is starting to feel like it used to!

Over an hour for main course to arrive and then it was tough beef, soggy Yorkshires and under cooked stuffing.

We had to wait 5 minutes to be settled. Waited over 30 minutes before we had our dinner. Had a Sunday Roast beef the roast potatoes were small and over cooked over cooked carrots Could only just see the red cabbage and peas. Had to ask for the horseradish sauce Will not go there again.

My party were welcomed buy a very nice lady when we arrived and she showed us to our table. We went to the bar and ordered our drinks and food and again another really nice young lady served us. Your staff were all positive with welcoming smiles and made us feel welcome and nothing was too much trouble. The food was excellent and just the right amount provided on the plate. The food was well cooked and tasty. The bar and eating areas were nice and clean, as were the toilets. my only simple comment would be that because your cutlery is washed in a machine it does seem to have a residue on the knives making them look dirty. but overall 10 out of 10 and would recommend and come back again. super staff

Was alright for a gastro pub kids area indoors is very dated. Not enough staff on duty

Lovely staff, greeted warmly. Excellent food and service. Food looked exactly like it did on the website. We had the two course festive meal. We will definitely cone back

AWFUL meal. Sausages raw - not cooked through. Raw in the middle Will not go again!! Couldn't complain, staff too busy. Not enough staff for the people eating.

Greetings were good on arrival as a part of 4. I had booked online and requested the children's area as we have a 6 year old and a 4 year old. We were taken to a table in the main restaurant so I had to remind the member of staff I had specifically booked the children's area. We were then moved to that area. One adult meal (Hunters Chicken) had to be returned as the chicken was dry, hardly any cheese and very hard bacon. This was replaced and much improved. Desserts were ordered and took a very long time, so much so that I had to remind the staff we still hadn't received them. It was not busy. We arrived at 6.20pm, for a main course and dessert, and we didn't leave until after 8.30pm which was when we had finished our meal. Staff were friendly, helpful and polite but the experience was not good.

Lovely meal, friendly staff and good service. We couldn't fault it.

Friendly staff and nice food. 10 minutes away from Thurford

Always a pleasant experience in relaxing surroundings. We visit each year on our way to Thursford show and always get good service and good meal plus last 2 years have had voucher for 30% off main meals so excellent value.

Very friendly staff and tasty food!

Eight friends met for a Pre Christmas get together. It was Monday and not many people in. We had booked the Festive menu. Table setting was lovely and everything pre ordered was printed out so everyone knew what they'd ordered. Staff were well organised and the food was great. Large main course portion for the traditional roast and a lovely vegan option. For £22.00 was excellent value for money. Very impressed.

Had a great Sunday lunch with the family. Service was really good too. Thanks Hazel for looking after us.

Very friendly place. Staff were great. Enjoyed our meal with them very much!

It was great realy good fish and chips friendly atmosphere nice clean place to sit and eat

Great service friendly staff. Very helpful after i had booked a table some people come in with two dogs that sat almost next to us and the dogs barked at other customers so i asked to be moved to another table the young lady I spoke to found us another table straight away very pleasant she was two. I was a dog owner and still like dogs but sorry don't think dogs should be in places we're food is served.

Handy watering hole whilst charging car on nearby fast charge bays

We were pleasantly surprised with food having not visited here for a long while so all good but unfortunately we werent impressed with the chairs we sat on as they were definitely in need of a clean, maybe chairs that can somehow can be wiped would be better however overall it was a nice evening

Very friendly team and great food

Have been here a few times now good food, good service and easy to get to. Online booking at reasonably short notice reserves our table. I usually have the cowboy burger, very tasty. Good for family gatherings or lunch with friends.

Very impressed with the pub and staff

Good value, good vibes, food was delicious and staff were polite and efficient

Popped in after a day at pensthorpe for my son’s birthday, it was pretty quiet when arriving but absolutely no where to sit as every single table had dirty cups and plates on it. The lady came out and said she would clear it and recommended we got our drinks, 10 minutes later she still hadn’t cleared the table and it wasn’t until I clocked her talking to another behind the bar did she oblige. The two young girls behind the bar were clearly left to their own devices, could have been out clearing but were too busy giggling. The tables were still piled up when we left an hr 1/2 later. Didn’t stay for desert, overpriced and the place is lacking cleanliness, staff and general feel.

Excellent mature lady on bar who dealt with customers with respect Food was excellent today needs to get consistancy

Food horrible boss horrible only thing good was the nice Service I got . Manager is rude

We came with a 30% discount voucher so the food was reasonably priced. The service we received from Andrea was amazing. She was helpful, friendly and efficient. The lady was running around doing everything while a younger person swanned around putting the odd Xmas ball up. The quality of the food was poor. The food like the pub was cold. I'm not the best cook but my cooking is better than what we were served

Staff were reasonably friendly and apologetic but we waited an hour and 10 minutes for our food, the place was fairly empty when we ordered but everyone else who came in after got their food way long before us. The roast was £16 and was a really small portion, the whole thing tasted soggy. I feel just as hungry as i was when i ordered And my partners steak was 70% fat and barely cooked, wont be back unfortunately

Nice spacious traditional chain type pub. Classic pub food. Very friendly staff

Pub seemed lovely when we arrived, was greeted and seated well and quickly, drinks were brought to our table almost instantly but after ordering our food at the bar we waited 50 minutes, watched 3 or 4 other tables come in after and get their food before us before I finally went and asked about it, the food came around 5-10 minutes later and my steak was easily the worst I’d ever seen. The steak was 60% fat, the colour was awful and it was barely cooked even though I asked for medium rare. The manager came to speak to me and I have no complaints about her service, she provided me a full refund and offered a replacement steak although I refused it. My partner and her mum both had the roast and neither of them were impressed but they ate it as they were hungry and already waited over an hour. My partners brother ordered the cowboy burger and again, seriously unimpressed, looked like it had come straight out of McDonald’s and was sent back and refunded. All in all I would say that the venue and the manager/ waitresses were brilliant but the chefs need to be sacked. Appreciate that it was a busy Sunday and they may have been understaffed but I’d rather wait 2 hours for some good food than to leave there without eating and having a very poor experience.

We were with our Great Grandchildren and the service was very quick and simple First class service. Polite, friendly, and professional. Will go again anytime. Thank you.

Excellent staff and delicious food x

Have been to the running horse at Fakenham many times. Food is always good. Our server today was Andrea and she is really good, an assist to the restaurant

We run Duke of Edinburgh's Award Gold residentials and always head out for a final end of course meal. We chose the running horse after visiting many restaurants over the years. They say a successful business is based on its people, and I can absolutely confirm this. The staff on the evening were incredible. We have never been made to feel so welcome in a restaurant, it was truly amazing. Please thank them!

I've eaten here often as it is local. A lovely looking restaurant with decent parking. However it could do with a decent deep clean. The tables are sticky and the seating upholstery is extremely grubby and stained, so much so that it left dirt on my clothes. I've often seen workmen sitting eating in filthy clothes. The quality and quantity of the food had decreased too. Staff are very friendly.

Absolutely shocking roast dinner, 2 slices of small beef, a soggy/deflated Yorkshire pudding, few carrot batons, couple of broccoli florets a fork full of red cabbage an even less mash potato! No roast potatoes until I had to ask for them/question why they were missing. How can you charge what you charge for that!

Our experience was excellent in every way. The restaurant was comfortable, stylish and clean. The staff were friendly and efficient, and the food was first class and served in good time.

Average food for a chain pub! Presumably, all microwaved food that's cooked from frozen as nothing is homemade made and the foods over priced. It's a shame as they used to be known for the best breakfasts I in town, but they stopped doing them!!

Stopped here for lunch after a walk, friendly staff and helpful. Did wait a long time for our meals even though it wasn't busy, but I have to say food was very nice.

A new lady had started only half an hour before we arrived, despite being unsure about using the till she did her very best to serve us in a positive manner and did all she could to help us.

Service was very speedy and staff very friendly. Our food was very good and very hot.

We were on holiday and was our first night. As it was a Saturday it was very busy. But the service and staff was very good and the wait was only 30 mins for our meal, which was also very good. Will return.

Very pleasant visit and good food

Had lunch and everything was really good. Great food, good value and lovely staff who provided a great service. An improvement on a previous visit 1 year ago.

Nice clean pub. Friendly atmosphere. Food lovely. Nice and hot.

It was busy when we arrived. We waited 30 minutes for the meals which was OK considering hiw busy it was. But that was only 2 of them the 3rd meal was another 10 minutes. It was meant to come with gravy and didn't. We asked for it and they said they'd bring it and didn't. We have some loaded fries with pulled pork, but they came out with bacon when we questioned this they said we don't have any. My partners macaroni and cheese came out with burnt garlic bread as well. I'm giving a 3 as the manager refunded 2 of the meals and the sharer but it was disappointing

Always 1st class.food always excellent.love the place .staff a1.

Really enjoyed our meals, just a little moan my coffee could have been hotter.

Waited an hour for food, order was wrong. We left, hungry.

Went for Sunday roast. No turkey. Beef supplied was just fat . Unable to eat. Roast potatoes soft . Slow service. Just felt i was mugged. Half a pint of peroni £ 3.10. I don't live in London

We have been here a few times before, and they were fine. But the last time was Friday 20th September it was not as good. The service was slow. They brought our mains out before the starter was cleared away, and they had forgotten our desserts and when we did receive them the apple crumble was cold . We have booked for another meal soon so I hope it will be better.

Running horse has got to be the best place in Fakenham had a meal for 4 and it was fresh and tasty will definetly be back the staff were very polite and great service

Very nice menu, welcoming atmosphere with friendly staff. Can highly recommend.

Helpful friendly staff, good service and even though very busy, food did not take too long to appear.

The service was first class - very friendly- very positive, the seating area was clean - the food was very good overall very good experience

Found this pub n the way home. Food was excellent and service top notch. Will happily stop there in the future.

Lovely atmosphere, great food and very attentive staff. Paul was particularly helpful. Will definitely be returning 😊

Very friendly staff, fast service. Decent selection of choices on the menu. Premises looked clean. Only downside was, drinks were very expensive, nearly four pounds for a Coke Zero.

Stopped here on my way home and had a lovely time with my 2 little ones. Service was quick and the food was great too. Will be back again

Supposed to be the best roast dinner in Fakenham according to your literature. Owing to the trade descriptions act I suggest you put probably in front as the roast potatoes were terrible.

Very clean and well.laid out . Service not very attentive plates left on table for 25 minutes after end of meal two desperate visits .

Great food, but not everything we wanted was available

Slow service, food order wrong and overcooked

Booked a table for a date night, to drive 20 miles to get there to be told they had no mixed grill and no chicken. So we left and went elsewhere. Should have been made aware of this when booking.

Over an hour for food to arrive. Starter arrived with main course and order still wasn't right. Seemingly no garlic bread of any type and the drink I ordered on their app didn't seem to exist. Food when it did arrive was OK at best. It wasn't even that busy.

Booked a table for 6.30. On arrival told one hours wait for food then when I went to order it had gone up to an hour and a half and the bar man joked “looks like a chippy tea tonight” as he laughed. Lots of tables free and lots of tables left filthy for at least half an hour so would hate to see it when it’s really busy. Not worth booking a table

Food was lovely especially the pizza , the staff were friendly and helpful especially Zara

The table were very sticky , the food was nice but the service was terrible i had to ask twice to clear our table !!

This was the highlight of a family gathering.

We booked for Sunday lunch for a family of 5. The pubs decor is ok, a little run down but fine for dinner with kids. The menu was varied and well priced. Unfortunately they had run out of Yorkshire puddings and stuffing at 6pm but didn’t tell us until our, rather sparse looking, meals arrived. When we queried why we were not told at the time of ordering, the waitress just crossly told us it wasn’t her fault. We probably should have taken it further but the food had taken about 30 minutes to arrive and the kids were starving.

We booked for 5.30, the pub looked busy, but not overly so. It took a little while for our order to be taken, we were told there would be a bit of a delay between starters and mains, which there was quite a considerable amount of time. The mains were ok, food was acceptable kind of what you'd expect from a chain restaurant. We had to ask for desert order to be taken quite a while after finishing mains, and had to ask for our table to be cleared after the dessert order was taken. We had to wait almost 40 minutes for our desserts having asked twice to be told they were on the way. I appreciate on a busy, sunny Sunday afternoon there would be longer than usual wait times but would also expect it to be better communicated. Numerous times members of staff walked by our table empty handed whilst our empty plates were clearly visible and we ended up having to ask for the table to be cleared, which takes moments. Whilst there was compensation for the long delays, it put a real dampener on what should have been a special occasion. The reasons given were that there was a large group and a trainee chef which are both things that should be prepared for with staffing. Just lack of attention to detail and a few poorly judged comments have made us feel that we would think twice about returning which is a real shame as its a good place for a family meal which caters for all tastes and ages. The staff that were there were very apologetic and it wasn't necessarily a case of front of house to blame for the delays, and I appreciate they get the brunt of the flack, I'm not sure if there was a manager on site who should have dealt with the situation maybe and given the young staff a bit more direction. Having read the other reviews it seems we may have just been unlucky this time.

Recommended this place for a roast dinner and it did not disappoint. Tasty and plentiful. The desserts were yummy too.

Terrible! Food all dry to the point that we couldn't eat it, service very slow. Over priced drinks. Kids running all over and shouting nothing said to them!

Lovely restaurant with friendly staff and family atmosphere. Food is always delicious. This is one of my favourite restaurant and every time when I'm in Fakenham I always popping in for lunch.

Very happy latte machine was working now...!!!!

There were 9 of us for a family get together. We had a lovely time and the food was great

Arrived and order through the QR code on the table. After waiting over 30 minutes for our drinks to come went to the bar to be told the order hadn't been received, and they would sort them. After a further 10+ minute wait went back up and they had still not even attempted to start our drink order. Had to stand at the bar and physically watch them make the drinks to make sure they did it. Had to show my receipt to prove I actually order them to 3 different staff members to get the drinks. Food took a while to come out but it was busy so was expected but not as long as we did wait. Ordered desserts seconds after another person in our group and they received their ice cream half melted and had finished their desserts before we eventually went to the bar to ask where our desserts were to be told it was busy. At this point the pub had 4 or 5 groups of people in. Came here due to the reviews speaking highly of it and it couldn't have been further from the truth.

Food great, staff great and guess what? The whole experience was great... Thank you! 👍

Had a horrendous experience and will not be returning. It took 2.5 hours from ordering main to receiving desserts. Staff attitude and service was awful and we received an eye roll from one waitress. One dessert was not available and we were not told. We only found out because after half an hour of waiting, we queried the delay and were then asked to choose another. I can honestly say I have never received such bad service in a restaurant and will not be recommending or returning.

Nice place,superb food. When possible, I will return ☺️

Lovely place, really nice food, but quite a long wait for your meal.

Brilliant staff excellent food great prices

food very nice, good choices, friendly staff. consistent both times we've been. had a bit of a wait for desserts but it wasn't a problem, we were happy chatting. that said, I ordered extra fries and they arrived before i got back to the table, so that was super speedy. :-)

We visited the Running horse today the 24th July, we had a very tasty well cooked meal, the service was excellent, with plenty of attention to detail, the music was subtle, not over bearing, the atmosphere was pleasant. All in all a good experience Tina

Just wanted leave a little review, for this outstanding venue, me and my wife were greeted, sat down and drinks order taken in a very timely manner. Well the pizza we shared was incredible! Beautiful crust, good amount of cheese. Just excellent. We will be coming back again!

Extremely good food ,menu choice very good . Friendly staff. Prices very reasonable. This is the second time we have visited a marstons and it certainly will not be the last . This was a very good experience. Thank you

first time there and would recommend. Staff friendly and helpful, atmosphere very pleasant, food was really good and presented well.