The Golden Fleece in North Norfolk

Proper pub, great food- we had a Sunday lunch

Awful service and unprofessional staff, ridiculous wait times too - young girl named Emily was very rude and unapproachable, didn’t seem bothered with our dissatisfaction at all. Lovely girl Ashleigh made the experience somewhat better though!

Went in for drinks with family and the staff were not very friendly bordering on the unpleasant.

Lovely pub but terrible food. Chips over cooked and dripping with oil, same for the onion rings. Food quality I would compare to a weatherspoons.

A great friendly place right at the quay side. Staff were good fun. Well worth a visit. Didnt eat just drank.

Meal awful , service very poor . Emily the manager, said she was the manager, very very rude , don’t ask is your food ok if you don’t like the answer. Ok for a drink

Have been before, 2 years ago, and it was good... but not this time! The food was ok but the service was abysmal! !! The young lady serving did not have a clue and didn't listen to the order... she was quite rude and clearly stressed! After a long wait more than we'd ordered, and not even what we ordered, arrived- I explained and the extra was taken away. But then the bill arrived and they tried to overcharge us by about £50!!! Pay attention to your bill. The food was ok but the whole meal was an unpleasant experience and a catalogue of errors. The staff were generally quite rude! Eventually the senior bar lady sorted it all out. The table next to us were listening to the whole thing and had had a similar experience... they won't be going again nor will we!

We turned up without booking. Service & menu were excellent, particularly enjoyed my recommend special of the day. - thank you Emily! Will definitely be back.

I had a wonderful time here, my waitress Eva was kind polite and made my experience great!! 10/10 would recommend and return.

Amazing service by Emily a credit to this institution, fully deserving of a significant pay increase

Great food, outstanding service from Emily who deserves a pay rise.

The food was great and the server Emily went above and beyond to make our lunch enjoyable. Made some great recommendations! Will be visiting again.

Lovely lunch and Emily looked after us beautifully.

Emily was a fantastic food server. She was worth her weight in gold.

Amazing food and service. Our server Chelsea was superb and gave great energy!!

Chelsea went above and beyond. Will definitely be recommending this place to others visiting Wells!!!

A large party of 17 was looked after extremely well by Chelsea. We had 4 children (5 and under), 4 dogs and dietary restrictions (gluten free, lactose and vegetarians). We pre-booked and had a whole room to ourselves upstairs. The food was delicious and everything was served hot and together. Amazing service, thank you!

Chelsea was very helpful, wonderful service for a big party

Chelsea was great serving us in our private function room upstairs for my partners 30th! She ran around making sure all of us got what we needed, catered to my dietary needs (gluten free - lots of options). Thank you so much!!!

Chelsea served us and was excellent definitely recommend 100%

We booked a table at The Golden Fleece during our recent holiday in Norfolk, and while the food was fantastic there were a lot of elements of the service which unfortunately were pretty poor. We entered through the back door as instructed by the signage, and then stood waiting at the ‘wait here to be seated sign’ for about 10 minutes while one member of staff repeatedly walked by us, stopped to open and drink a can of coke and rearrange some cushions on seats before we finally had to stop him to ask to be seated. At this, his response was ‘oh yes, you have been stood there for ages haven’t you’. We were seated and handed a single menu between the two of us, and later (after ordering) we realised there was a specials menu and pie offer which we were given no indication of and probably would have ordered from if we’d been told (we only realised this after hearing the specials read to other tables and then be handed a separate menu for the pie deal) Our order was taken and we waited quite a while for drinks, and while it was a fairly busy evening the staff member behind the bar seemed to spend more time chatting than pouring drinks (although she was very bubbly and good with customers). We saw many other tables seemingly waiting a long time for drinks, orders to be taken, bills to be received etc. The food itself came quickly and was really great, so definitely no disappointment there! All this could be excused as understaffing leading to long waiting times, and I really can’t hold that against the staff at all who were working very hard, however there were some other parts of the evening that were completely unprofessional and inappropriate. Firstly, someone seemingly ‘dined and dashed’, which is a horrible situation to be in for the staff, but they then stood and discussed this very loudly right in the middle of the restaurant for everyone to hear, including discussing the ins and outs of the cost of the unpaid bill having to come out of their tips! I really hope that isn’t the case as that seems wildly unfair, but also this is really not an appropriate conversation to have in front of customers. Secondly, I don’t know who decided it was appropriate to have the TV in the middle of the bar and restaurant showing 24 hours in A&E!!!! Luckily we’d finished eating before the episode started showing someone having a massive wound on their head behind sewn up, but it’s just a completely inappropriate thing to be showing while people are eating!

The pub itself is very warm and cosy, situated in the most perfect spot overlooking the harbour. However the food was average and we had very slow service, which made the experience a let down. This pub/restaurant is missing a trick, great location, but doesn’t serve fresh sea food.

Great place. We ate there twice while on a visit to Wells. Kids really enjoyed it and we all get very welcomed.

Can't help feeling that I've been Fleeced. Had the fish and chips. The chips were lovely, perfect in fact, but the fish, if you could call it that, was smaller than a child's portion. Kind of like two fish fingers in a v-shape. It was weird and very very small. I should have just taken it back really. The girl who collected the plate about 3 minutes later asked how it was and when I told her she just nodded. When I mentioned it to the girl behind the bar when I paid the bill she just pulled a face. I'm literally eating toast back at my digs as I write this 20 minutes later!

Great atmosphere. Opposite the waterfront, so great views.

Nice looking pub with good atmosphere. I bought a lasagne and garlic bread after a long day of bike riding, which was the perfect meal. Even though I was on my own, and probably looked slightly odd walking in with a helmet and fluorescent shirt, the staff treated me politely.

We have a nice meal here just went in for a drink but decided to have something to eat must say that the food was very nice

Such nice welcoming place! Good food too.

Awful, fisinterested service. Waited ages for drinks and then for food. My fishcake was small, dry and tasteless served with five, large boiled potatoes. No sauce, butter, flavourings or even salt and pepper. Just dry potatoes and a bit of uninspired salad. Couldn't eat it. Not helped by presence of three large, smelly dogs at nearby tables. Miserable experience. Couldnt

Large well located pub right on the front of Wells harbour with outdoor space around the back. We didn't eat here hence the score for the food but that came out looked ok. Don't think the place deserves all of the one star reviews here but equally not the full five as it's got a bit of work to do particularly on the staffing with waiting times at the bar significantly longer than average. There seemed to be just one person behind the bar which for a busy Friday was a bit lightweight. Overall I thought the beer was nice and well priced, and the place had great potential....it's just not yet being quite fulfilled.

Such a great pub with superb views of the quayside. Had such a lovely meal, recommend the Scampi, Chips and Salad, so good. Big shout out to Ashleigh our waitress she welcomed us with a big smile and showed us straight to our table she was brilliant, so friendly, attentive and nothing was too much trouble.

We were served by Ashleigh who was very attentive, polite and efficient. The food most enjoyable and we will definitely come again

Emily and Ashleigh were really friendly and attentive- thank you both for a lovely experience- food was great too

Amba and the younger girl on shift today were lovely! Very friendly staff and a nice pub with good local beers. Great view out the front.

Definitely the best pub I’ve been too! I’m from Nottingham, me and my brother come to this pub as our holiday local and the experience here is so much better than back home because the staff make you feel really welcome and they take the time to get to know there customers. Grant (landlord) and the team Amba: who has helped me find my new favourite beer, Ashleigh, Nikki, Emily and Niall who are also super friendly that helps drive this pub to success! A proper traditional pub with amazing food and fantastic staff. Can’t wait to come back next year for the same experience

Always go there on my holidays and definitely call it my holiday local. Amazing staff who are really talkative making us feel welcome especially from Grant (landlord), Ashleigh, Nikki, Amber, Emily and Niall. As always definitely worth going to if you want good a holiday meal and drink.

Brilliant food and service. Our waitress Amba couldn’t be more helpful. Nothing was to much trouble for her. Checked on us regularly for more drinks and if we wanted anything.. Lovely place all round! Would recommend and certainly be coming back!

Amba, Ashleigh & Nikki were lovely, friendly and made the already good meal a lovely experience. Will definitely return.

Pies were great value, schnitzel and fish cakes home made, excellent service and staff (thank you Amba !)

We were warmly welcomed by Amba, Emily and Ashleigh. We only drank at the pub but saw some amazing plates of food being served. Grant is a professional and personable landlord and made us feel very welcome.

Impeccable service from Ashleigh, Emily, Amba and Grant the Gaffer. Always a warm welcome, lovely atmosphere and the perfect place to spend an evening, 10/10

Ashleigh the young waitress was an absolute delight despite being under pressure. She was extremely conscientious and attentive. The food was good although mine wasn’t as hot as I would have liked although the other meal was piping hot. Nice place lovely staff - thank you Ashleigh for your great welcome.

Very dissappointing throughout. The waitresses seemed under stress and frankly embarrassed as when we tried to order roast beef dinner it was not available. They had also run out of Yorkshire, stuffing and potatoes. We ordered pie and chips which was a tiny portion and only half portion of chips which seemed like they had been cooked several times. The pie had a hair in it which my wife tried to inform waitress quietly but was not believed as we had eaten the meal as we were starving. When trying to complain the waitress took ages with many to and from to presumerably her manager. They took off value of one cola. We rarely leave any reviews but this experience was truly worthy of comment. WARNiNG please ask if they have all food offered available before ordering as they plainly lied to others sitting at adjacent tables.

Nikki was very lovely and most helpful and made our experience here fantastic. Great food and excellent value for money. Thank you x

Lovely place. Good prices definitely worth a visit

Nikki was amazing Service was fantastic food was brilliant would highly recommend

Excellent pub ... Very friendly and very helpful staff ... Great food and drink ... Always thoroughly enjoy parking up the bikes and popping in.

Smashing food and service! Great pint too. Good choice on the menus...recommend shepherd's pie 🍽🍷🍺

Meal was awful, all batter and the chips were dry, like when you get chips from the night before that are warmed up. I sent it back, no apology, no words at all. When I came to pay they wanted to charge me for it, when I refused they said I’d tried to eat it! I still refused, they deducted it but still not a word of apology. Shame as been going there for years, standards have really dropped, especially customer service. Disappointing.

Popped in on the off chance & just timed it right! Friendly staff & nice food, thank you.

It was on a Bank Holiday and we only wanted a drink. Only one lady behind the bar, dealing with bar and waitress drinks, so it was rather a long wait. She did keep apologising for the lack of staff. Good selection of ales.

Do not be fooled by the 5 star reviews, look a bit deeper into the 1 star reviews!! (Look at local guide under review names) Sadly not a good experience today, the staff were totally over stretched and the waitress looked like she was going to cry, after ordering ( they had ran out of half the menu) it was a longtime for our badly cooked food to come out, to say it was poor is an understatement and as we were still waiting for drinks we decided to cut our looses and leave, we will not be coming back.

Great food had half chicken and skin on chips

Fantastic service 👏 Very friendly and welcoming The food was okay 👍

Not busy but waited for an hour for our drinks, watching the bar staff serve locals immediately but telling us we had to wait for our 'ticket' which was in a queue! We never did get our drinks. Ordered food, lasagna was cold, the salad was limp and we were told they had no dressing! The half chicken was cremated and the waitress slammed our cutlery down, you could tell she had had enough. An appalling experience. Avoid!

Completely forgot our order, did not apologise and asked us to tell them what it was. Terrible service all round. We then left and tried to overcharge us twice.

We visited the pub on a number of occasions. Ate once. Had burger and chips £13. And that's what you got! No side salad, very small portion on big plate? Burger was nice though so 3star for food. Was still hungry later so went to chippy!

Nice pub ideally located right on the harbour front.

Lovely oldy world pub. The food was excellent

Food was good. Understaffed so had to grab the staff's attention. A chaotic atmosphere due to stressed staff.

Didn't eat here but sat outside for a beer - a fabulous place for views over the marsh and people watching on the quay

Gorgeous Sunday dinner ! Amazing staff. Great experience.

Great service and awesome food. Ashleigh was a delight.

We ordered our food and we waited an hour and a half and it never came. We asked and they said “they hadn’t started it yet”.

Ordered our food, sat and waited for hour and a half, when we questioned where the food was the manager said they hadn’t put the order in!!! So we left without any food and had a lovely Chinese from down the road instead. Wouldn’t recommend and not unsurprisingly wont be returning

It's ok!! Long wait for food ...45 minutes after ordering. 10 minutes wait at the bar. Food isn't fresh local ,but ok.

Fish and chips very poor would not recommend

After eating here on 3 separate occasions. Took grandaughter and her boyfriend for a meal. Booked table, ordered drinks at bar. Drink for my grandaughter who is 17 was a Pimms which is basically lemonade and fruit with hardly any alcohol in. She was at the bar when drink was ordered. Took it back to our table when bar staff decided she was under age and demanded ID. We pointed out that it is quite legal for a 17 year old to have an alcoholic drink with an adult buying it with a meal. Even showed them on Google that it is legal. They weren't having any of it! Very rude staff. I suggested they should have a sign saying they didn't serve under 18s if that was their policy. Absolutely ridiculous considering a few nights prior she was served a pint of fruit cider when only asked for a half pint! Wont ever go to this shambles of a pub again. Wish we hadn't left a generous tip the night before.

The first day we went to this restaurant I asked for half a lager and was brought a pints and when I advised that I had only asked for half was asked if I wanted the Pint I said no I asked for half We also ordered a granddaughter half a pint of cider for my granddaughter she was brought a pint He eventually took it back and brought me the correct drinks We had my sister and her granddaughter with us They served my granddaughter a cider that evening she is 17 but as she was with an adult we assumed that this was okay. We booked for a meal the next day at 6 o’clock when we arrived to the table was still full of people when we were finally sat down ordered a jug of Pimms which cost £14 my granddaughter was standing with us at the time and we were served by the same person that served us the night before when we sat down the waiter came over and asked my granddaughters age and said she was not allowed to drink in the pub- when we is advised that it’s the law that if a 16 or 17-year-old is accompanied by an adult it is okay for them to have a drink they said not in this pub the fact that they didn’t tell us beforehand and there is no signs to say this is not acceptable we decided to leave the pub they lost themselves at least £100 we will not be returning to this establishment

Lovely pub! All the staff are so nice and the food is great! Defo recommend the prawns! Chelsea and the team have been so great! Always will come back!

A group of 6 of us came in for dinner, having had a good experience here 2 years ago. The young staff were clearly all trying their best, and although clearly out of their depth, this complaint excludes them all together. Food all round was shocking. The pizza was burnt, and tasteless with paper still stuck to the bottom. The scampi was clearly out of the freezer, which is always disappointing, especially when you can see the sea from your table. The half roast of chicken was also clearly defrosted, horrible texture and lacking in taste. What the cluck?! The gravy with the steak and ale pie was more viscous than expected of lava flowing from the rim of Mount Vesuvius. Undercooked chips is inexcusable and all 6 of us experienced those, if you can’t do those right as a pub, is it really worth carrying on? In such a prime spot, it’s not worth the foundations it’s built on.

Absolutely shocking. We’ve visited Wells several times and unfortunately this takes the prize for the worst restaurant experience yet. The only shining light was the view from the front. Food was horrendous, staff had no idea what they were doing, and they even have a refund policy; if you eat over 50% of the meal we don’t offer a refund. Seems strange that a decent restaurant would have a policy like that… clearly never had issues with refunds before. I would advise that everyone stays well clear from this place, terrible experience. Management need to seriously reconsider how they choose to run this establishment, before it’s swept away in the high tide.

A new find for us today! Felt very welcome as soon as we walked in 😊 Nice menu and prices. I had the chicken schnitzel which I would highly recommend. Even our son was impressed with the food! Special mention for Emily who is a real asset at Front of House. We will definitely return 🥂

Emily is the best! Great smile and so welcoming she is so helpful. Will be back for sure.

Only pub on the Quay means the fleece needs to impress. Ordered the 4 for £24 bar menu and was not disappointed. Great chicken strips and amazing pork belly bites. Staff were attentive and draught lager was spot on. Literally nothing negative to say about this place. See you next year.

Great spot on Wells Quayside. Well-priced, good, honest pub grub and a friendly welcome to humans and dogs! Attentive service from Bradley and Emily, an asset to the business 👏

Emily was an excellent waitress. Very attentive and friendly. Great food

This was honestly one of the best pub meals we’ve had. However here’s the thing. Half way through the meal we both wanted another glass of wine with which to polish off the meal. I eventually attracted the managers attention and he took our order. Then nothing happened. We asked a waitress to bring the wine. Then nothing happened. By this time we were near the end of the meal so my wife went to the bar herself to get the wine. We finished the, by then cold, meal leaving ourselves most of the wine to drink without food. The staff were polite and friendly but inadequately trained I’m afraid. What promised to be a great dining experience ended disappointingly.

Quick cheeky beer whilst shopping, prices a bit healthy but good beer

The Golden Fleece in Wells Next to Sea is lovely and friendly. We were immediately welcomed by the staff. Our two 10 month old puppies were made a fuss of and they had doggy ice cream and a selection of treats for them too! I love an Aperol Spritz in the summer but have found they can be a bitter at some pubs but the one made by Chelsea were the best I’ve ever had!!! I will definitely be back for another one!

DANGER!! DO NOT GO! DIETARY REQUIREMENTS NOT CATERED TOO!! My Husband and I had gone to Wells for a walk and thought we would stop by the Golden Fleece for a drink. My husband ordered himself a beer and for me a Coke Zero. Not only were the staff slow, when it was very busy meaning that there was a longer queue than necessary, but they also poured the wrong drink. My husband brought back my drink and having had a sip I knew the it full sugar coke, not what I had ordered. As a diabetic we need to keep an eye on the ammount of sugar i consume, and so having a full sugar coke was faily dangerous. My husband took my drink back up to the bar to ask for a new and correct drink only to be told that it was coke zero and they refused to make a new drink. I was not able to drink my drink. I drink a lot of the sugar free, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, ETC. and I know the difference. It could have been an honest mistake but the refusal to help us get a new drink was unbeliebable. As my husband works in a pub, he explained to me that it is likely a mistake with the Post mix machine being mixed up with the drink, however the complete disregard for the compliant means that either the staff are stupid or lazy. I would not risk coming here again because Heaven knows what else there is a total disregard for with dietary requirements and also the behavior when we ask for a solution was rudeness.

We did the walk to the seafront and were desperate to eat afterwards. You only get table service inside. It is friendly but slow due to pressure of numbers. The cod and chips was ok. Nice to eat at a pub on the seafront when you are hungry after a walk. We enjoyed it.

Great pizza menu, service a bit slow but still great place for a drink or a family meal.

Superb pub right by the quay. Food was delicious. We shared a Pizza with salt & chilli chips and garlic sourdough sides. More than enough for two adults. Kids had a kids meals to keep costs down and they loved it. Couldn’t believe how quick the food was served, great service!

Excellent food (sausage and mash and fish cake with new potatoes), great location on the quay, good value and service from Amber and Logan couldn't have been better.

Very expensive for drinks didn't have food. Drinks were £3 more expensive than same drinks at other pubs in the area.

We've just been to the Golden fleece today when we arrived we were warmly greeted and taken to the snug area where we were told its table service we waited 15 minutes and no body came to take our order, it's a really hot day so I went to the bar to order the barman let me order drinks but said someone would be over to take our food order we waited another 30 mins and still nobody came. Other customs were being seated after us and served food so we left hungry.

Booked a large table for my wife's birthday. We had a window table upstairs with beautiful views over the harbour. Pre ordered food, fantastic, highly recommended, especially the Pizza or Scampi!

We have visited the golden Fleece today as a group of 6. We couldn’t find a table but Emily was very helpful and found us a table upstairs, we ordered food which came quickly and was delicious! My son said ‘the food was amazing and that Emily was very energetic!’ Thank you for a fantastic experience! Will definitely recommend!

We had a really nice lunch here. Steak and ale pie chips peas and gravy. The staff were friendly. Made you feel welcome. Love decor. Plenty of seating inside and out. Would return and recommend. 😁

Came for a meal. Disappointing. Rather small portions and really nothing special.

Nice friendly staff and decent beer

Edit- Was starving after a long walk and ended up in town after lunch. After trying 2 places that stopped serving food mid afternoon and started again at 5.30 we tried here which was serving so big plus point there. First impressions -sitting with a pint outside looked nice but inside decor is a bit bland and bit cramped when busy. Staff were friendly / polite enough - busy so not overly welcoming, but thats fine - ordered drinks, food we wanted on menu wasnt available which was a let down so just had something from starter / sides as drinks already poured. Have to say not being a tourist and eating in the town the prices in Wells in general were very high - I certainly expected more than 3 chicken strips for £8 here for instance. The good thing was the food we did get was fine - chicken tasty- side orders of chips were piping hot if generic chips. This was a satisfactory but not great experience hence rating. Would try again if in area though.

My wife's food was poor,aioli had skin on & new potatoes had been standing kept warm for long period. My salad consisted of one type of leaf my wife's had two and cucumber but both had been under heat. My wife complained about hers and was given a apology and offered dessert which she declined, I wasn't asked if mine was ok , butternut dish was oily. I had a great pint of dry cider hard to find these days. Noticed they were advertising for staff so perhaps under pressure but the quality didn't warrant the price. I suggest management take a trip to the dabbling Duck Massingham to see how things can be done.

Sunday lunch here was a disappointment unfortunately. Food came out cold so we sent it back. They did apologize but when I cut into the chicken, it was so dry and parts were inedible. It was average but with a hefty price tag. The gravy may have been 'instant'. It didn't look home made. Young staff were very helpful and I did feel a bit sorry for them.

While the food was OK, there was a long wait and others walked out.

Cracking views to the front. Staff were friendly and polite. Facilities were clean. Prices were on a par with others in the town. Disappointing to see New Zealand cider and London ale on offer when there's a cracking cider producer not 400m away and Norfolk boasts some amazing breweries. Kitchen seemed to keep up with the tables despite being busy. Everything was presented to a high standard.

I was a little anxious about going for a meal as some of the reviews were not good - but we had a fabulous experience - friendly staff, prompt service and the most delicious food! Thank you team!

Nice pub with a good view over the way. Didn't eat here so can't comment. Service was good

Great spot to sit and watch world go by. Food and drink spot on. Service a bit slow at the bar (no longer table service) Will be back in the summer when hopefully not raining