Running Horse in North Norfolk - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

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.

Slow service, food order wrong and overcooked

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

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.

This was the highlight of a family gathering.

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

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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.

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.

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. :-)

Brilliant staff excellent food great prices

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.

could not fault our visit we were given our favourite table and waitress knew what drinks we like to order food was well presented and cooked properly

Always a friendly welcome and great service

After a long week last week I didn`t fancy cooking at the weekend so I popped along to The Running Horse & the food did not disappoint! The steak & chips were excellent & beers to wash that down with were lovely & cold & reasonably priced. I`d be happy to not cook every weekend based on that visit!

Our first visit to The Running Horse and will definitley be returning! A great menu for all the family and the staff were very accommodating!

We were celebrating our 55th Wedding Anniversary and we had a brilliant meal, staff were friendly, helpful and we were made to feel very welcome, We would and have recommended The Running Horse to our friends ans family.

Great pub!! Really friendly, reasonably priced but most importantly the service was exceptional!!

warm welcome, clean and tidy, easy parking, good choice of food, very reasonable prices, food well presented and tasty Very easy to book online. Everything you could possibly want for a pleasant dining experience.

Great food at reasonable price. Surf and turf was delicious and spicy burger very satisfying. Dog friendly.

Steak really bad, not just from being badly cooked, probably from lidle up the road. Salad hadn't been rinsed, very gritty. Wheres Ramsey when you need him😂

Didn't book a table as wasnt sure when family member was finishing work, if you can relate to such then expect to find a seat yourself and then go back to the bar and order your meals... Once ordered, expect to receive your starters with your mains and about 5 minutes into that, you can expect your dessert to follow suit 🤦🏽‍♂️ These were returned to kitchen then kindly reheated when we were actually ready 🤢 Never seen such an unorganised restaurant Didn't know when you ordered 3 courses you get them all at once 👍🏼🙃 Last visit I'll be making there. 2 stars because the food still tasted ok.

Ist of all,we had to wait 45 minutes for the food to arrive, well the wait was not good, I ordered steak well done and it was on the outside, pink inside, the mushrooms were dried up, the onion rings were none existent my wife had scampi and chips, utterly awful, my son had barbecue chicken pizza and had to leave the chicken out as it was like rubber and under cooked, the member of staff was rude and what was a dog bowl full of water under the table for ,plus we had too clean the table before sitting down, definitely won't be back..

Typical pub food good service shame they had to turn the coffee machine off at 9pm.

Family lunch. Great service, tasty food. Nice treat having table service on Sundays. All the staff were fab but special thanks to Jazz who was absolutely brilliant!!!

Came here for Sunday lunch. My partner and I were shown to a table in the part that was full of families and noisy kids. We sat there for 2 mins then I went and asked for another table, which we got. Why we weren't given that one in the first place, I don't know. The other room was virtually empty. Anyway the food was nice, apart from the cold broccoli. Has a 30% off voucher so was happy with the lunch.

Good food at a good price (with two-for-one on all main meals). Service a little slow at busy times, but that's a minor issue really. Update: experienced faster service on our most recent visit and the two-for-one offer makes it good value. Further update: Sadly the two-for-one offers are no longer available, so the food is not such good value as it used to be.

Booking was quick and easy. We went for Sunday lunch with my family and we were all pleased with our food, it was all delicious. The staff were polite and professional. The service was excellent.

Excellent service from the friendly and cheery staff who are a credit to Marston Inns. There was minimal waiting time for our food (both courses) and the menu gave plenty of choice of tasty options and the portions were generous. Thanks again. We will be back!!!

Always polite friendly staff, food good quality for the price. As it is a big area it can be quite noisy, but that is to be expected.

They need some kind of fly deterrent - eg a lamp as we were constantly flicking them away from our food. At 1 point there were 3 around my husband's head then plate. It may have been where we were sat as they were on the window between the restaurant and the entrance hall

Great food great service and even better price had what seemed a lot of food for what was paid. Just wish I had more cash for bigger tip as excellent staff all around. I easily booked online so table reserved for 1 and a half hours.

Had a lovely time at the running horse for lunch today, food was amazing and so was Sarah who welcomed us very warmly

food was amazing served by sarah who was really lively and bubbly made the experience so much better will definitely return

Great Sunday lunch good service

Super friendly staff who were very efficient

Lovely family dinner and great value for money. The young lady on the bar was very polite and friendly

Lovely staff who go beyond for their customers. I left my bracelet and the waitress who was on tonight 10/6/24 thought very quickly and called me so I could return for it. She was waiting outside to give it to me I was so impressed . very good food too. Will definitely eat here again

We are in the area for two weeks holiday and uses this everyday for lunch, Good food, excellent service from the staff and good prices.

Just such a lovely place, enthusiastic staff, clean , food is excellent, hot fresh , many could take a leaf out of the running horses book, many thanks jazz and Beth

Food and services are spot on Arron and Sarah are absolutely fantastic folk and always make us feel very welcome!

It’s a very nice and relaxing place and molly is the sweetest server she is extremely polite and helpful

Really good food great staff excellent prices

It was a family get together for my birthday. We were a group of 5 with 2 vegetarians included. We were warmly welcomed, I had booked so no problems. Shown to our table and settled in. When we had made our choices of food my wife went to the bar and ordered drinks and our E drinks came as ordered. The food arrived swiftly after. All our selections were great. Well prepared and presented. Your chips were greatly praised by all of us. The service was very good, and polite. The food all tasted delicious and we had no problems whatsoever. I have no doubt, we will be back soon. Thank you to our servers, we didn’t get their names, but they are a great team, and did your eatery proud.

Great food and drinks at a good price

Food wasn't bad, but the self serve app said things were out of stock that weren't. When we ordered a chilli with nachos, it arrived without nachos and only at that point were we told they were out of nachos. Eating guacamole and sour cream is a bit challenging with rice. Better communication would have helped! Otherwise good.

Appalling service, we have used the Running Horse before so knew what we should have expected, we took the time to write the order down on a note pad before going to the bar to order, for our party of eight, when the food arrived we were one dinner missing, we asked a member of staff who then went to the kitchen and came back out walked past out table with no explanation to us, after some time we asked another member of staff who snapped back with a "YES I know", we also asked for sauce that was slammed down on the table as if it was a massive inconvenience, the dinner arrived after we had all finished, with no apology, I work in customer service and think all the staff need customer service training in how to handle situations like this in a more positive and apologetic way.

Well done kitchen, Lovely food for our Sunday roast. Fast service food lovely. Very busy, Grace was amazing and very helpful.

We arrived early and we were welcomed and taken to our table.. We then waited to order drinks and we knew what we wanted ordered together. Drinks came but had to wait for roast and when it did come the beaf was tough with some of it inedible hence why I left it.We then had to wait some time to order desert and coffee. Staff very good but in general not up to normal standards.

Great place great staff and great defence discount

Good Pub Grub. Good size portions and quick service. Prices were reasonable as well and family friendly. To critique - the beef was a little dry in the roast so if I was to go again I’d chose the chicken. Other than that, good Sunday meal.

Lovely meal as usual, always made to feel welcome by Donna and the team , always our go to place 😀

Decent menu Decent food Decent service Reasonably priced. Table was sticky Initials had been carved in the table by previous customers! My meal was served in a dish on a plate that was not clean. The Sundae was served without a dish underneath (which would have carried the spoon and helped prevent sundae perhaps dropping on the table) Decent. 3 Star Wouldn't rush back

Great value pub grub , unfortunately we had a slight issue but got resolved straight away so almost 5 stars .

Really lovely meal, and amazing service by Charlie. Nothing was too much trouble. Will definitely be returning!

We had a delightful time at the Running Horse, the atmosphere was great and the selection of lagers was extensive. Thanks to Sarah for her wonderful service, we will be sure to come back soon for Curry night.

We had a party of 15 people. The staff were helpful and all the meals were brought out in close succession. The only downside was 2 members of the party wanted fish & chips but there wasn't any left.

First class service. Polite, friendly, and professional. Sunday roast beef very tender.

Excellent service, along with excellent food at a very reasonable price. Thank you to all the team. Won't be long before we visit again. Many thanks again.

A friendly and helpful staff. The place is always very clean and tidy. The menu is full of our favourites and is cooked really well. We never feel rushed and it is a lovely place to relax.

I would like to say what lovely staff you have especially Molly who went above and beyond, the food was gorgeous, the new set up of ordering from the table is brilliant, keep it up...

Staff very friendly and welcoming, food nice and hot as well as reasonably priced.

We had lunch twice here. 7 people first time and 3 the second, plus a large German Shepherd! All staff welcoming and friendly. Good joice of menu. Service was good and food excellent. Highly recommend. Good outside area and would definitely go back.

When we arrived, we were advised it was a 45min wait for food as some large parties in & checked that was ok, which it was. When we ordered, the chap at the bar also let us know the wait time and checked this was ok. We appreciated the up front honesty, it set the expectation. I asked for the children’s pasta to be 2 portions but in 1 plate, for our 10yr who didn’t want to feel like a baby ordering on the kids menu. The staff were super accomodating of this request & it made her feel grown up and not “different”. This was so important to her and I’m really grateful for this easy request to be accommodated when so many other places would have said no. When the food arrived for the rest of our party, it was over cooked steak. However, it was quickly changed without any quibble. We were very appreciative of this. We could see it was busy when we arrived and nothing was too much trouble. The lovely manageress offered us free deserts to apologise. Your staff were polite courteous and accommodating. Thank you so much.

Food always hot, served quite quickly, according how busy it is. Pleasant atmosphere and staff very friendly

A friend suggested you and she recommended it.

Louis was great, very polite and friendly. Always a good atmosphere in the pub, cant complain about any of the staff. Definately be back.

The staff especially the young lady clearing our tables 4&5 worked tirelessly on what was a very busy evening . The food was good as was the customers service

We had the Sunday dinner what a waste of time and money .the food was mostly cold the meat was horrible the Yorkshire pudding was under cooked , the gray well they may have just put water on the plate the whole thing was just horrible very disappointed

Lovely evening tonight, we bought our 14 week puppy in as his first venture into our social life and we were made so welcome. We will be back, thank you for welcoming our puppy and being so kind, good and service was as good as ever!

Greeted with a smile and a warm welcome. All the staff from the barman to the waitress were very attentive. The food was really good and would not hesitate returning.

All 3 members of staff, although quick, were/are lacking in personality... It's like they are there just to perform their job, no laughs or joking with customers or clientele. Very sad. Not a great ambiance.

So for a pub to run of cask / keg ale/ bitter is unforgiving....always have your nect barrel ready to go. No guest ales either as a stop gap. To add insult the steak my father had was v chewy....!! Not impressed Marstons!!

The place is spacious and great for family & friends meal. The food is good too. Excellent choices of pub food. The staff were nice. However, I experienced an incident in the past where a broken glass was in my drink thinking it was ice. Just be careful when you ask for ice and lemon on your drinks. The drinks are cold enough without ice. It could just well be an isolated incident. 🤷‍♀️ I didnt ask for a refund or a free meal or a free drink because I was more concerned of my safety and others at that time. I obviously informed them about it. They looked at me, confused and confounded of what I just told and showed them. They apologized and obviously gave me a new drink (without ice this time.😄) We are still going there to have a meal but I dont have ice in my drinks anymore.

The front of house staff were really good (if a little understaffed). Of the 8meals ordered 5 were very good. These were the 3 Mac & Cheese plus a Southern Fried Chicken Burger and Sausage and Mash. The chicken on the Mixed Grill was overcooked and dry. The worst dishes were the two beef Sunday Roasts. Both had to be sent back because they were cold, the replacements were hot but missing the roast potatoes and the beef was tough. We have eaten here a few times over the past 3 years and it is usually excellent, this visit was a disappointment.

Bad management, told us to move tables saying it's reserved when there's no reserve signs on it, no steaks, instant coffee no lore proper coffee, poor staff fed up with the manager. Bring back the other young lad who was manager. Young waitress very good. Very professional. Unfortunately manager is very anti staff. Won't be back in a hurry

Wasn’t overly impressed. Broccoli was over cooked, sponge pudding was very dry. Had to ask for our plates to be cleared after 20 Minutes

We came back with a basis of a trial, and it is with thanks to the young lady with glasses who apologised and made us feel comfortable, also the young man he too couldn't had been more apologetic, the young lady dressed in black gave a welcome that reduced me further to tears . Overall it was a very lovely evening and I will be back.

All was good, and the service much better than usual, thank you.

Very surprised at how welcoming The Running Horse felt and how good the food was. Will definitely visit again!

2 for evening meal, very good. It’s the best Marstons I’ve ever been to. Good service, atmosphere, food ok but could do with more green veg.

Excellent service from all staff. Made to feel most welcome especially Hugo the dog!! Food was well presented, very tasty and good sized portions. Two members of our group had the Cowboy burger and said it was the best burger they had ever had. Will definitely come back again when we are next in the area. Thank you so much.

Good but food was a little slow at getting to our table. Overall it was good and would recommend.😀 Specially halie was very good she was very kind,chatty and happy.

Starter was served cold, rest of food good. Unfortunately a large loud family group entered just after us, unsupervised children running around. This spoilt our meal. And the manager was unfriendly

Not happy when we didn't want to sit next to the entrance door (we had booked) but not being local could not request a certain table - however was given another table ,only one other couple in the building at the time, so don't know what the stare objection was all about. Otherwise excellent food and service - thank you

Food is ok, reasonable fare for the price, not much of a vegetarian selection, but fairly typical. Dad always has the gammon, I alternate between 3 vegetarian dishes. Staff are always welcoming and friendly. I like that they have a family area, but three machines selling tat with flashing lights to attract children in the small child area is not really appropriate. The grab machine is just bound to upset children, we watched a child with autism get really upset because of it. The wall activities are ancient, but our toddler likes them. It wouldn't hurt to invest in some other activities.