Shambles Cafe Bar Bistro in North Norfolk

Don't sit near the door, it's cold there!

Birthday celebrations, so a larger group of us... Fabulous service, everything arrived together. Food was delicious and enjoyed by us all... Service as always was great. Highly recommend.

The Shambles have adopted forced “ optional” tipping of 12.5% . It’s an American scourge that must be stopped. If the price of the meal is going to be 12.5% more than the listed menu price then change the menu price. Presenting a bill with the charge already added is NOT a tip. It’s tantamount to deceptive fraud or extortion, and not the decision of the customer. The food standard has dropped significantly enough to notice and the prices have risen anyway. I think you have made a poor choice in adopting this fait accomplit gratuity, and I for one have made the choice not return. Perhaps 12.5% of your customers will make the same choice.

Visiting the area and searched TripAdvisor for a good place for breakfast. Turned out to be an excellent choice. A full breakfast and a shaksuka were both plentiful and really good quality ingredients. Service was terrific and made for a great start to the day.

Dined her for Valentine's Day based on reviews. I found the food okay but nothing special, seafood portions twere iny, and the pasta was average, not blown away. Service was fairly good, although the table and seating were pretty cramped. Didn't get offered water and some things came very quickly and some things didn't. Price-wise it probably reflected the food & service so can't complain too much on that part. Guess it has a loyal following who continue to rate it highly.

Great Valentines meal. Service was brilliant. lovely food. Thank you

A welcoming environment, a very attractive menu, friendly staff. A little gem in North Walsham, well worth a visit either during the day or in the evening. Booking recommended.

It was our first time at Il Bistro but we had a lovely evening with excellent service great food and a superb bottle of red wine

Lovely restaurant in the lanes. The service was good and the food was ok a little bland I had chicken Milanese it came with a side of chips but no veg.

Well recommend, food of wonderful quality

This was a lovely cafe, we had breakfast and coffee. Friendly server ,good veggie food and dog friendly.

Without a doubt, Shambles is the best café/ eatery in North Walsham. This café serves up decent cups of coffee, and has a lot of food items available. There are even options for those with dietary restrictions (vegan, vegetarian, gluten free). The service was also friendly. The interior is very laidback. While I like the front room and garden area, I found the bit near the kitchen/ ordering till lacked a bit of character. In general, I think the fact it's a café-bar-eatery all in one makes it a bit difficult to nail the charm of each one of those individually. In summary, the top spot to check out in the area!

Hired the cocktail bar area for a birthday afternoon tea. The room was beautiful, and the food was delicious! Gluten free options tasted brilliant, staff would check in and top up drinks regularly. Very reasonably priced. A lovely experience, thank you!

Weekend in Brighton - glad I booked for 4 people . Great food great place great service . Thank you

Great restaurant. Good service , food and atmosphere.

Had dinner with a friend. Have been here multiple times. Very accommodating to a food throwing toddler and an energetic older friend of the toddler. It was nice, good food.

Excellent.Best coffee around Lovely staff. Unique building

If you want good food, friendly staff and great customer service don't go here,unwelcoming, Cold atmosphere, starters well I know it's a small plate but 5 small prawns in oil with no flavour then pizza with lovely topping but totally burnt on the bottom, they did take the pizza cost off of bill but shouldn't be like that to begin with and husband had mussels which he has regularly but again no real flavour and a runny ,thin sauce,such a shame as been for lunch before and it was totally different

Wir waren 4 Erwachsene und 1 Kind. Das Essen war sehr sehr gut und man hat die Portionen für mein Kind angepasst. Der Service war sehr gut und hat bei allen Fragen oder Befindlichkeiten geholfen. Wir kommen gerne wieder. Danke für den schönen Abend.

Nice food, prepared and presented without fuss. Great little bistro.

We LOVE this restaurant. So friendly and inviting with food to die for and the nicest people who always add personal touches. My favourite place to dine and enjoy precious time. Thank you Abe for wonderful service.

Absolutely lovely food and staff, very welcoming! Couldn’t do enough for us. Especially doing mini positions for the children.

Tapas on a board, the five dishes plus chips bread etc was plenty for 3 of us. The lamb/prawns/steak/pork and chicken were tasty. Plus a soy sauce dip to die for.

Squashed in a walkway next to the wall to the route for waiters to get cutlery, bread etc Constant Flickering lights to the low hanging fittings throughout the section of the restaurant we were placed in. An attempt was made to stop the flickering by a member of staff but it continued We left before we would have because of this Waitress was very friendly and apologetic tho.

Amazing food served by friendly staff in a lovely atmosphere

Attended Shambles for our work Christmas party. The food and drinks were amazing with a variety of choices on the set menu. Gluten/dairy/nut free catered for very well. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly servicing us very efficiently. We hired a room upstairs and were able to have a dance/ disco which was thoroughly enjoyed. Will be booking next year!

Four of us booked for lunch at 1.30. We had told the restaurant TWICE by phone that one of us is an electric wheel chair user. When we arrived we were told we were half an hour late (we were dead on time, they had written 1.00 instead of 1.30) and that there was no chair access as their ramp had been sent for repair. They were off hand and dismissive. We had to go elsewhere for our celebration lunch...it nearly ruined our day. We will not be returning and are advising everyone that 'Shambles' is indeed a shambles when it comes to customer service and inclusivity. Disgracefu.

A group of work colleagues came for our Christmas meal. The food was absolutely excellent and plentiful. The staff were very friendly and took such trouble to make sure everyone was happy. We all loved the warm, relaxed ambiance. A real treat. Thank you :)

Have been coming here for years. Good food and service top notch. Always a friendly welcome. Highly recommend.well done Abe.

Lovely restaurant. Food was amazing. The staff really welcoming and a lovely lively atmosphere. Thoroughly recommend.

Nice looking place inside. But the food was very disappointing I had steak with a peppercorn sauce the steak was tasteless no seasoning the sauce was like tepid cream not a hint of peppercorns just terrible, the onion rings were awful again could not taste a hint of onion very very disappointing will not be returning !

We booked the Shambles Cafe Bar Bistro for a post-wedding meal for 20 family and friends. We had a really good variety of starters, main meals and puddings together with a number of drinks from the wide range available. The service was excellent as was the upstairs function room with its homely and quirky feel. Everyone commented positively on their food and it’s certainly somewhere I would recommend to consider whether that’s for a quick coffee, brunch, lunch etc.. We will be back!

We loved our Sunday roasts of guineafowl, pork and prawns. The roasts are superb with all the trimmings. The crevettes are large, meaty and juicy. Friendly service too! Service charge is automatically added, but you could adjust.

Great Sunday Roast. Just had the tapas platter to share, awesome!! Greek night is fabulous too, also the Italian night is good to look out for.

I love Shambles and would love to spend more time there. The decor is cosy, the courtyard is perfect in the summer, and the music is great and not too loud. I look forward to my next visit.

The murder afternoon tea was a bit of a Shambles to start with, but the atmosphere and the actors were very good. Very inclusive. Just needs some tweaking regarding organising food and seating.

We booked Shambles for a 90th birthday celebration for 19 people. We had a lovely upstairs room all to ourselves, which had been laid out beautifully for us. We had pre-ordered from a good choice of starters, mains and desserts. Everything was delicious, lovely and hot and plenty of it. The staff were so attentive, nothing was too much trouble. We would definitely highly recommend Shambles.

Lovely place, people really nice, food was great, didn’t have to wait for each starter, main or dessert, always asked if we were good, we had a good night and wish we had found it earlier!! Definetly go again when in Brighton!👍

We visited Shambles on a Sunday lunchtime for a celebratory family meal. The restaurant has a really lovely atmosphere - we sat upstairs in a very pleasant room. The food was delicious and the prices were extremely good for the high quality meals we had. The staff were friendly and attentive-nothing was too much trouble. They also let us take our own cake in, which was very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone at Shambles- we will certainly be visiting again soon.

Stopped off for a coffee with my mum, she said one of the best decaffeinated coffees she's had and she loved the gluten free lemon drizzle

I love this place! Such fresh food, beautifully cooked x

Lovely restaurant, good service, quaint and cosy. Good menu choices.

We found the Shambles bistro by chance, and happy we did had very nice meal (sirloin steak) and the staff were very nice

I thought this place was living up to its name when we arrived. We’d booked online and I’m not sure we were expected, but things eventually improved. The food was good and imaginative, the service a little hit and miss to begin with but got better as what appeared to be a more senior fellow became involved. Overall worth a visit.

Super food and great service for a friend’s hen do. Staff were so friendly and really accommodating for a big group of us. Highly recommend.

I was able to get a great table last minute and this place was a hidden gem. The food is incredible and exactly what I wanted, the service was great, the food came quickly and was presented well. Honestly everything about this place was great, but the food tops it all off, highly recommend!

It didn’t quite hit the mark unfortunately. The waitress had an odd attitude, the food was only average, the price on the other hand was well above average. It’s a pity, I can see it’s been around for decades and probably has a loyal following, but compared to other places we ate that weekend in Brighton, this was disappointing.

Nice, busy little place. Food was good and the staff were very friendly. Seemed a bit rushed and the atmosphere could have been better.

What a quaint restaurant, the courtyard is very welcoming. Excellent food, highly recommended

Popped in for a roast dinner on our holibobs. Roast dinner was lovely. Cooked well and very good portions. Staff were really friendly and the dogs were allowed in.

Great atmosphere, good tea and delicious food. The staff are great too.

Lovely staff and helpful. We phoned for a last minute table for 10, unfortunately no availability. However a later time was available which actually suited us better and on arrival the same day table all ready for us. Now, importantly, the food: we covered much of the lunch menu between us and were all very happy. It was freshly made, tasty and fairly priced. Certainly if we lived nearby it would be a regular stop for our family and when in the area we will be back.

Tasty food and great service at a great price.

whilst the food was delicious that didn’t make up for the poor service. when we arrived our server Harry was very sarcastic and rude towards us as apparently we made the mistake of not specifying we didn’t want a table upstairs. i had never been to this establishment so i had no idea there was an upstairs ???? so i had no idea i would need to specify about not wanting a table upstairs. he was very argumentative with us when we asked politely to perhaps not have a table upstairs. this passive aggressive tone continues throughout the meal making it seem like we were being difficult or awkward when we asked for anything. when we went to order our food he huffed and asked us if we were going to put in a complicated order? which was just bizarre. trust me i have worked in hospitality and currently working in retail so i know how awkward customers can be. we were not being awkward! it’s a shame as the restaurant itself was lovely with cool decor and the food was delish. but i really think the staff make a place and this really dragged down our experience. we will be not returning unfortunately.

The staff were polite and friendly, nice atmosphere. however the food was not good - arancini didn't taste good, very dry and hard. garlic bread with cheese was not melted, but the taste was good. We had 2 sirloin steak as a main, both not cooked as requested, not rested, meat tasteless, we had to send them back for further cooking 3 times, we ate few bits and left the rest on the plate, but they still charged for full price. Discounted only once i requested not to pay for them as we didn't even eat them. This should have been noticed.

We love coming here for breakfast. It seems to have become our weekly Saturday treat. The kids love it here, and they cater to their fussy/unique tastes. The staff are friendly and helpful. The food is always spot on too! 10/10 from us!!

This was a great recommendation from our camp site. Great food, great service.

Well what can I say apart from spot on amazing casual dining experience staff are casual but attentive and food is exceptional we will be back

Excellent food, well presented, pleasant staff. Having to go to the counter to order for a larger party was irksome, but not a major issue.

I normally love Shambles go quite often for coffee & lunch now & again in the evening, went on Friday night with 4 friends for my Birthday, really disappointed with my meal I ordered lambTagine it was nothing like tagine no spices no sweetness just pieces of lamb in a brown gravy and I must have left at least 15 olives quite upset as had been really looking forward to it.My niece asked fo a glass of water there was something on the rim of the glass the young lad just brushed it off, should have said something but she just drank from the other side.Think it will be a while before I go again.

Loved the platter we had, everything om it was delicious.

A great Sunday lunch with service to match. An excellent guinea fowl roast with an amazing cauliflower cheese. Staff where friendly and professional. Portion size was generous. Good value.

Good meal but oddly very quiet. Service was super, and helpful but odd start to pride weekend.

We had a lovely meal here which was suitable for all the family. The food was delicious and the staff were friendly. The decor was fantastic and fitted well with their spec. There was a small seating area outside, suitable for drinks. This is a dog friendly establishment. A fabulous experience all round

I ordered ribeye medium but received almost burnt. Side Chips was not delicious. Not an expected taste from a steak/meat restaurant. Sorry.

Great family meal out. Food was so nice. Great atmosphere and ambience. Service was great. We will definitely be returning.

Plats manquant d’assaisonnement à notre goût. Service sympathique mais lent.

There’s nothing to not like here. Staff are friendly, the setting is perfect, lively courtyard out back. Rustic looking, cosy. Ideal for a first date! Lovely food. I’ve been meaning to come here since it opened, and now that I have - I’ll 100% be back again.

No Ambiance, We booked a table which was upstairs. We were then given the menu. This wasn’t the same as shown on their instagram page. I then asked if there was Cromer crab, tapas deals etc, to which they said yes these were available. After that I asked for the cocktail menu and after looking at this said I didn’t like the silly small cocktails in the martini glasses as they were priced at £8-£10 each so decided I’d have a glass of wine instead. I then read at the bottom that they were on the happy hour as we were there Saturday between 6 and 7 but no one mentioned this to us. Another 2 tables of families then arrived upstairs where we were. It was so quiet and no background music playing or anything so we were whispering to have a conversation. I then went downstairs to the bar and asked if someone could put some background music on as it was awful up there. I then got my dish, WOW what a SHAMBLES, funny that eh the name lol. I ordered Crab Linguine, it was full of chopped fresh mint leaves I spent 20 minutes trying to remove it, totally impossible all the crab was covered in it, Small portion would be an understatement Overkill with mint my eyes were watering needless to say I was still hungry when we left. My husband told them about all the mint and they took off the £5.50 service charge. So disappointed with all the great reviews WHAT AN ABSOLUTE SHAMBLES

Again we thoroughly enjoyed our evening at your restaurant. Very tasty food, well priced and served in delightful surroundings. Great location and good atmosphere.

Perfect afternoon/evening. Very friendly staff and very good food. Have been many times and always the same.👍

We visited Shambles twice last week whilst on holiday in the area, once as a family group of 6 and once as a couple - we went back having enjoyed our first visit. It’s a great place, with friendly and hardworking staff and super food. Everything we had on two visits was lovely, with the lamb fillet starter and crevettes main standing out. But don’t miss the garlic bread with mozzarella and oregano - it’s unbelievably good, and worth a visit on its own! Great value, too.

5 stars,great food,great service well worth a visit.

Stopped here on our trip around Norfolk and wasn't disappointed. The café was fairly busy but still had a nice chilled vibe. The breakfast menu had a good choice and prices were reasonable for the area. Ordered with ease and food was served in a very reasonable time from polite and friendly staff. The food was of excellent quality - well prepared, hot and tasty. Pot of tea was great and served at least 3 good cups. Really enjoyed the experience and food - I would defiantly recommend

Lovely establishment, fabulous service. We had a platter for 2, and a lovely bottle of wine, which was more than enough for 2 people. The baked feta was my favourite (although everything was perfect). The food is locally sourced and of high quality, which you can tell. I've heard great things about shambles, but this was my first visit. It certainly will not be my last.

The bauillbaisse tasted absolutely amazing. In fact all the food was totally delicious! Highly recommend.

Weird vibe, really loud but empty? We were waiting to be serviced for so long that we had to leave before ordering

Fantastic afternoon with my wife Fantastic food and service

Very good evening staff very helpful and friendly

Lovely establishment. Bartender named Henry made an amazing cocktail for me. Great customer service, scenery and music. 10/10 will come again

Lovely food and very friendly staff

Delightful converted fisherman’s cottage in the Lanes run by Honest Abe and his Bohemian colleague from Queens New York. Varied and interesting menu well prepared and very tasty. Ambience is very comfortable with linen table cloths and candles,but OH! Get rid of the paper napkins.! A “cracking” good dinner Thanks,we will be back Steve

Just 1st class, great place, staff, food & drink, perfect. Nice chilled atmosphere, recommended.

Very relaxed, good food and service.

Mediocre at best, food was very average, stuck upstairs in room with no ambience, how this got on the list of best restaurants in Brighton I don't know!!!

Lovely, relaxed atmosphere and great food. Staff was friendly and helpful. There's no parking at the bistro, but a pay & display car park is within a 10 min walk.

Lovely little place with good food and a pleasant atmosphere.

Good food and service, excellent location! I’ll be back for sure

Friendly welcoming atmosphere. Great Sunday roast

A very cozy, boutique and sophisticated set-up. Fhe service was very attentive. The food - delicious! Just a few improvements are needed, to make this a real top-notch place; for the type of standard it offers with the price we pay, I would expect some bread on the table and water. Also, possibly with the food - a little more work to be put in. My casserole was more a soup, with nothing else presented with it. It is very awkward and difficult to elegantly eat large prawns thrown in a messy soup splashing everywhere. Some extra considerations like that would go a long way. The presentation needs work. The pasta and chicken is very bland. Other than that it is fabulous.

Friendly and quick service, nice mix of Italian and UK food. Good wine list and range of cocktails. Child friendly too.

We had the best Sunday roast here on Easter Sunday. Everything was delicious and with very generous portion sizes.

Super fun cafe that also serves food at night as well as alcoholic drinks. Looks like a lovely spot for breakfast/ cake and a coffee too but we visited in the evening. We booked ahead in case but small tables could easily just turn up. Tapas board is a MUST. So good! Also dog friendly which was a huge bonus

Great service, tasty food!!.. what more could you ask for??

Friendly staff, had 3 courses all delicious

Welcoming, excellent service and the food was very good too.

Great atmosphere and food was good. Great value for money.

Very nice , atmosphere was pleasant and the food was nice if, however, need some seasoning.

North Walsham's best coffee shop imo. Brilliant breakfast menu with vegetarian and vegan options as well as meat. My veggie breakfast was so big I had to pass what I couldn't eat to my partner. Be warned...you need to be really hungry to finish it. Lovely chilled decor, with kelim cushions, big old refectory tables, real flowers in shabby chic jugs on the tables. Conservatory and courtyard tables. Dogs allowed. Laid back music in background. Staff are very friendly. Love ❤️ this cafe bar bistro.

Fantastic food and great service the staff were very attentive and very friendly and helpful the meal we had was cooked just right and full of flavour it’s quite a busy little restaurant which is great to see we would definitely eat there again the only criticism I can give is that it’s a very warm place being a small venue and how busy it gets the body heat from everyone is quite apparent but I would definitely recommend this little gem of a restaurant to everyone.