The Willows Cafe Bistro in Broadland

Really nice breakfasts with a large breakfast menu. My go-to is the build your own breakfast where you pay per item and it's really reasonable. The staff are very chatty and friendly and accommodating. I always take some cake from their display, home as a takeaway. I've been there three times in the last few weeks and will be back again.

My wife and I just love this place! We often go for a treat one or twice or ........... times per week. We have sampled most of the menu and must say the food is always excellent. The staff are very diligent and polite - some even know our order for cake and coffee. It is worth making a special trip here even if you are not local

We had the roast dinner and it was delicious and a fair price. The portion size was also good as I’m often disappointed by the small portions usually served by many eateries. Staff were also very attentive and helpful.

First time visiting and most certainly won’t be the last! Staff were all very friendly , we were greeted by Emma and sat upstairs in the family area - this was really good as we had a toddler with us who loves to explore and kept very entertained and settled. Mums / dads can relax and not have to worry about the children being to noisy , this i think is such a good idea. By far one do the best afternoon teas we have ever had! Lovely atmosphere and food was 10/10 !! Will definitely recommend & return in the near future.

My daughter had booked mothers day for our family of 4 for lunch before i had to start work. We arrived and got seated upstairs, waitress came around 10 mins later to take our order. Said to my daughter what would you like she replied a chicken ciabatta please, waitress rudely replied “we are not taking lunch orders yet until 11.30, i have 30 breakfasts to still get out and other orders to take” i replied umm its 11.26 showed her my phone she just said i’ll do your drinks and come back” she was very snappy!! another table of 6 gets seated next to us, same waitress takes their order and guess what, they order lunch whilst we are still waiting for our drinks!!! 10 mins later we finally get served, order taken and guess what, the table that came in after, have their lunches and have finished whilst we still wait!! We look at the clock and yes 1hr later, 2 other tables served before us, my husband kindly asks how long our meals would be, response was on their way! So we finally get out meals. Really not worth the wait, my jacket potato raw in the middle, cheese… what cheese and for the steak ciabatta, 5 tiny slithers of steak in a soggy sauce filled bread with a handful of chips. With that we explained to the rude waitress how awful it all looked and she zoned out at us with no reply, just walked off!! We ended up getting up and paying bill downstairs, got 20% off whooppee still paid stupid money for no meals!! the point that is disappointing is my daughter was so upset as she wanted it to be special for me and we left hungry, out of pocket and frankly so disappointed with the service. I understand it was mothers day and they are busy but my god it was horrific! Mothers day ruined and 2 upset daughters who wanted to treat me!! Meal deal from tesco it was!!

Love the Willows great treat place for a breakfast or slice of cake. The 3 pig muffin is my favourite definitely worth a visit.

Overall a lovely atmosphere with very attentive and friendly staff. Went with a carrot cake and iced latte, felt quite sick afterwards, but enjoyable at the time. I have to say, your parking facilities are quite poor, as a relatively new driver and not very confident, this was a mission in itself to park. Lovely cafe, but too much of a headache to park. Thank you for a pleasant brunch though.

Firstly, I do sympathise with anyone in the service industry during COVID times. What an unbelievably disheartening period to go through.We often visit Willows, especially when the childrens room was open (hope it comes back soon!). We also ordered a fair few lockdown treats from them and have been back since they re-opened.That being said, the recent price increases are quite shocking (even Brexit/Pandemic aside) breakfast is about 40% more expensive now and when you start paying £30 for a family of three, you do expect top service and food. The food is good (though has not improved with the pricing) still the occassional overdone sausage/egg, but mostly no complaints. The service though could be a lot faster and to the one waitress that never smiles, you are in the wrong profession I'm afraid.Those price increases are on top of the government support in terms of a 5% VAT rate instead of 20% (although temporary) means that profits are up 50%+ which does leave a bitter taste.However, we will still likely return as it was a favourite haunt and we're a bit short on good alternatives on this side of the city!

Glad that this little place is now back open. Great place to drop in and have lunch! Plenty of space upstairs to eat too. Lovely food!

Mi esposo y yo vinimos aquí para desayunar. Todo el personal fue muy atento y nuestro café y desayuno llegaron a los 10 minutos de haberlo pedido y estaba delicioso. Gran variedad de opciones para el desayuno. El Bistro estaba muy limpio y tenían buenas prácticas de Covid - 19 en su lugar. Esperamos volver.

Llegamos a la hora reservada y pasaron más de cincuenta minutos antes de que recibiéramos nuestra comida. Pedimos de inmediato y recibimos nuestras bebidas con prontitud. Debido a la larga espera, tuvimos que pedir más bebidas. Sentí que el personal del camarero estaba haciendo todo lo posible, pero nunca se disculpó por el lento servicio. Finalmente tuvimos que preguntar después de 50 minutos ya que los nietos comenzaban a inquietarse.La comida, como siempre, era muy sabrosa, pero las porciones son cada vez más pequeñas. Las salchichas son más pequeñas ahora y la porción de frijoles horneados también.Mientras esperaba, pude notar que muchos otros clientes miraban a mi alrededor y sospecho que también estaban frustrados por la lentitud del servicio.Los precios son justos y la empresa ha hecho todo lo posible con respecto al cumplimiento de COVID.Siento que The Willows ha ido cuesta abajo lentamente durante los últimos 2 años, de ahí que me haya movido a escribir esto.Probablemente no volveré hasta que las cosas hayan mejorado.

Seven of us went to the Willows Cafe Bistro, Norwich recently. You had a choice of either savoury or sweet afternoon tea, which was one of the reasons we decided to go there. The food was really delicious. Tea and coffee were provided in the price, though requests for other drinks were extra. It was a lovely experience marred only by one member of staff. Her attitude was appalling. She obviously didn’t want to be there and everything we requested was met without a smile and a surly attitude. One of the party asked for extra drinks, tea came but she had gone before we could ask for coffee too. It did upset us and consequently we didn’t tip which affected the other staff who were polite and friendly. One other point was the price. When we booked it was priced at £14 and is still showing at this amount on the sweet treats menu. When however we received our bill it had increased by £1 per head. We paid it but felt they should have honoured the online price.

Gem of a place. Love the way they really attend to the detail. I love American style pancakes. They even put the crispy bacon in between the pancakes. Top marks!

Great little cafe which caters for breakfast and lunch with a good selection of food to choose from and a large range of drinks

Good location but limited parking. Staff were a little slow, there were quite a few of them there, and were often just standing around, and good have been a bit quicker with service of drinks etc.The Sunday brunch menu is quiet extensive but not as big as the week day one.Good quality and tasty food, had a choose your own breakfast items and a beans on toast, shame for the price you own get one slice of bread most establishments would give you two slices with Beans.Would go again, when the full menu is on.

Never had a bad meal, snack, cake here, highly recommend! Staff are friendly and efficient. Great way to support a small business dining here!

Hidden Gem of a place! We’ve driven passed so many times but thought we’d pop in for a snack and was surprised with what they had to offer and how well decorated it was. Definitely worth a visit and I’ll be going back too! We only did takeaway but there is seating too!

Nos sentamos inmediatamente a la llegada en una mesa en la planta baja. Pedimos nuestro primer plato que sabía muy bien. Después de terminar nuestro primer curso, nuestros platos fueron retirados, esperaba que nos preguntaran si necesitábamos postres, pero esto no sucedió, así que tuvimos que ir y solicitarlos. Terminamos nuestros postres y los platos fueron retirados. Nuevamente tuvimos que solicitar cafés, la máquina estaba fuera de servicio, así que esto no fue posible. Mientras conversaba con mi pareja, ¡estaba observando a una pareja que esperó más de 20 minutos para que la atendieran! Ciertamente no estoy en contra de los bebés o los niños pequeños, pero era tan ruidoso con una silla de paseo grande que los invitados tenían que mover en la mesa junto a ellos. Aprecio que este sea un lugar familiar para comer, pero tener un bebé ruidoso puede ser muy molesto. Acabo de mirar las críticas de otras personas para The Willow's y debo estar de acuerdo en que definitivamente hay una escasez de personal y que necesitan estar un poco encendidos con respecto al servicio. Espero que esto se lea como una observación y no como una crítica. Les deseo buena suerte a los propietarios, ya que no es fácil administrar un negocio y, a menudo, es el personal el que puede hacer o deshacer sus negocios, las molestias no me han retrasado el regreso.

Fui a este encantador café por primera vez para encontrarme con un amigo para el brunch, a menudo pasaba pero nunca había estado antes.El personal era amable y servicial, el menú del desayuno era excelente y ambos disfrutamos nuestras fantásticas comidas de huevos escalfados.Incluso disfruté un poco de tarta de queso

He estado una vez antes, y volví a encontrarme con un amigo para el desayuno. Tomó alrededor de 15 minutos pedir un inglés completo estándar, pero la comida tardó más de 45 minutos en llegar, y las personas que llegaron más tarde que nosotros comieron primero. Ninguna disculpa de la camarera cuando nos dio nuestra comida, y parecía nerviosa. Carne generalmente comida (de carniceros) pero tostadas quemadas. El desayuno promedio realmente.Cuando dejamos al dueño, que también parecía nervioso, ¡les estaba diciendo a los clientes que era una hora de espera para la comida! Ahora, para un lugar que anuncia el desayuno, y en gran parte es bastante básico, esto fue realmente sorprendente. Quizás necesiten emplear más camareras / camareros si es tan lento, o pedirles que realmente pongan un poco de velocidad y esfuerzo en hacer lo que están haciendo (los platos tardaron 15 minutos en despejarse ya que los clientes esperaban para sentarse). Cuando pagamos, el propietario se distrajo con otras cosas que sucedieron y fue bastante grosero al saludarnos: no nos ofreció un recibo y cerró la caja, antes de irse. Me hubiera encantado la oportunidad de dar algunos comentarios, pero claramente tenía asuntos más apremiantes.Es una pena que la ubicación sea excelente, pero realmente necesito repensar los horarios de desayuno o más personal para mejorar: los lugares más pequeños y menos anunciados son 100 veces mejores

Very friendly staff, Clean and tidy, not noisy either. I was serviced quickly with a smile, coffee and price great too.

My car was in for service locally so I took a wander in to Drayton to find somewhere to grab a spot of breakfast and I’m whole heartedly glad I decided to pop in to the Willows.

I was not a fan of this cafe when it was a different name, so I came today to see what the new owners had in store for me as a hungry customer.

I love The Willows. Their consistently brilliant service, food and staff has what’s made this my ‘go to place’ to meet with my friends and family...which I must admit is pretty regular! I’m so glad we have this little gem in my local village! I’m often trying to eat healthy, which can be difficult at most places you eat out, but The Willows caters for all!! For breakfast I usually pick the delicious Skinny breakfast, although I do love their Eggs Royal too! For lunch you really must give the salads a try, they are amazing!! I’m not the greatest salad lover, but OMG, their peri peri chicken and bacon salad is my absolute favourite, closely followed by the chicken and bacon Caesar salad, I haven’t found anywhere that do salads as good as these at The Willows, it’s extremely tasty! The place looks great, with a small outside area for them sunny days where you just want to be outside. The kids room is fantastic for mums who want to have happy kids while dining. I have friends who are gluten free or vegetarian and there is plenty for them to enjoy too. The cakes are scrumptious, there’s always a lovely display with plenty of choice. Something for everyone, highly recommend! I look forward to my next visit!

Popped in for family breakfast last weekend. Staff were extremely rude throughout our entire time there! We were upstairs (in the designated children’s area) & our kids just seemed to “annoy” certain members of the team.

Visited today for lunch with three friends. All ok until I went to pay bill with my card.

Busy Saturday-fair enough don't expect quick service. "Take a seat upstairs please." I do and wait...and wait...and wait. only 2 other tables occupied. After 20 minutes when I was still happy to wait thinking "well they are busy downstairs" another young couple occupy another table. At which point a waitress appears & takes their order. A little annoying, but hey, mistakes can be made and I wait for the young waitress to come over to take my order too-she's just got it out of order-no big deal . She then walks off to place the other table's order....I'm not there apparently. I walk out of the door to never return. I assume the young couple being of the same generation were noticeable, whereas I'm not, being older. So be warned if you are over 35 and get put upstairs you become invisible and may die of malnutrition or dehydration .

Have visited a few times previously and like this place as they have a family room. This particular room has a child gate, toys and used to have some comfy seating. Have reviewed previously and would have always given a solid 4*, this visit however, I struggled to give a 3*

Visited on a very wet morning, it was surprisingly busy, but still plenty of room to grab a table. I had sweet chilli poached eggs which were great. My friend enjoyed their pancakes. Staff were very pleasant and polite. Did not feel rushed in anyway as we can talk for quite a while! On exiting I noticed their display of amazing cakes and I am now not regretting purchasing one to enjoy at home!

Very friendly and very clean staff always well presented.

We popped in here last weekend right before closing as we were super hungry! The staff were lovely, we had quiche, salad, coleslaw then ice cream. They’d stopped serving hot food but warmed the quiche up which was super kind.

Lovely cosy cafe/restaurant friendly staff great food plenty of choice and great value for money. Childrens area upstairs so caters for everyone. Would definitely go back again.

Came for breakfast with the kids and as usual we left full and happy! The sausages in particular were really good! The play room makes eating out a joy instead of stress, knowing my 1yr old can't escape! Will be back soon!

I have now visited the Willows twice within the last week ,and I have to say it was special.

Met my friends here for breakfast.The establishment is clean and tidy.The staff welcoming.However the food was not up to scratch.I ordered the Pancakes with fresh fruit.However they were cold and on cutting into them they were hard.My thoughts were that they had been warmed up in the microwave and left in there too long.Some of the raspberries that were served with this dish had a mouldy taste to them.I will give the establishment credit for no charge of this meal,(although our party was a party of five)after I made them aware of the above.Do not know if they have a new chef/cook.Having food served to me like this puts me off returning.

Came here a few days ago for afternoon tea with my friends. We phoned in very late to book a table so it was great they could accommodate us. Food was lovely, sandwiches very fresh (sometimes you find they’ve been made up hours in advance for Afternoon teas and are very dry!) cakes were lovely and I just loved the selection! Great value for money too

Went for breakfast a couple of weeks ago, food looked nicely presented and arrived very quickly, so majority of breakfast items must have been pre cooked. My poached eggs were perfect, my mushrooms were cold and so were my beans, bacon a bit dry, no one came to ask us if everything was ok, I don't like cold food, so will not be ordering a cooked breakfast if I ever return.

I’ve been here for Sunday brunch a couple of times in November and December 2018.

Great food and great service. Really good selection of choice for brunch or lunch. I am a picky eater but never have a problem finding something tasty here.

A friend, her toddler and I went to The Willows for brunch. I'd looked at the menu online and it all looked delicious and they had an enclosed play area for children upstairs which is great. When we arrived it was very busy, but we managed to find a table upstairs and then we waited....and waited. There were three tables in our area waiting to be served and after waiting for 20 minutes with no sign of anyone to take our order (even though we had asked downstairs for someone to come up) we had to leave as we only had a certain amount of time to eat. The other tables were still waiting when we left. Such a shame as the food looked good, but we went to the Cock over the road and got served straight away.

Had an afternoon tea Birthday treat with 7 friends one vegetarian and one gluten free and everyone thouroughly enjoyed it! Excellent service and fantastic food! Will definitely go again! Thanks for a brilliant experience!

Visited with a friend and both of our little boys. It wasn't the first time I had visited but was the first time I'd had afternoon tea here. It was amazing value for money with a fab selection of sweet and savoury items. We also sat in the family area meaning the boys could play and we could sit and chat in the knowledge there was plenty to entertain them and they couldn't escape!! Staff were so friendly and helpful and nothing was too much trouble. Have already booked again!!xx

Went here with my family who were visiting and my husband and 2 year old. Loved the kids room upstairs it was ideal. We could sit and have a chat whilst the little one played with the toys. The breakfasts were lovely, we were starving and still couldn’t finish it all. Such good portions and quality for a reasonable price. Will definitely be visiting here again.

We were not impressed, hubby had ham eggs chips, ham very salty and some of it very tough couldn't cut it with knife. I had prawn Mary rose bap, salad and crisps. Cheap bread hardly any prawns or sauce no taste salad was lettuce leaves chunky cucumber and tow tiny tomatoes cut in half. We both had tea or should I say dishwater. When I complained was offered 10% off which amounted to £1.50. Will not be returning and I suggest others cross over the road to the Fox !!

Such a lovely place, the lady who served us went above what she should of been doing, catered for all our needs. Food was lovely. Had my friends baby shower there, will defently be going back again :)

Rocked up at 10.30 on a mid July Sunday for breakfast. Clean and tidy inside. There were about 20 people dining, some outside. Ok, they had run out of eggs which isn’t ideal for many breakfasts and forgot to bring the toast out but these things can be ironed out. Eggs were replaced with an alternative and the toast soon came on request. Food very good.

I decided to go back to The Willows and give it another try, somehow the place has managed to get worse.We waited 20 minutes for our drinks order to be taken, another 15 minutes for our drinks to come and our food order to be taken.The food came pretty quickly which was great but when we order another round of drinks (1 espresso & 1 coke) we waited 30 minutes before they came, and this was even after asking the waitress 3 times where are drinks where. Never an apology or a thanks for waiting the whole time we were there.AVOID

Visited today with a friend for a spot of lunch. Yet again we were not disappointed....sandwiches at the Willows are always packed full of fresh tasty ingredients. Service was great and food was super quick. Thank you for fuelling my day!

As we were shown to our table the waitress said ‘30-40 minute wait on food’ which was fine. We were happy to wait for that. What she failed to say was that there’d be a 30 plus minute wait on actually ordering anything. At the 30 minute mark we walked out. Not even bothering to come and take an order for drinks or anything. Don’t get me wrong the food is lovely, and tasty (from previous experiences) but can’t believe still a few months down the line the whole waiting experience is terrible. As one lady walked out she said she’d had to wait over an hour!

Decided to take my husband and two young children out for breakfast after we dropped our eldest at an early morning race and so very glad we did.

We came here for a quick coffee/cake but ended up having a full lunch! The menu is very extensive and the Brie wedges and baked Camembert were amazing! Finished off with a milkshake topped with donut!! Will definitely return. Staff friendly and although there was a sign on entering saying they were short staffed and service make take longer, we were served and food came really quick. Happy Customers!

This morning was our 2nd breakfast visit here and on both occasions I can say the whole experience was excellent. Food quality and choice (both had the 7 piece full English) is top draw, service very good and the atmosphere and decor pleasant. I must say that for what you get, it's reasonably priced too. Only one slight thing I'd change, although this doesn't affect my top marks score, is to have proper sauces, such as ketchup and brown sauce, rather than the sachet condiments that are given.

Wow what a meal, one of the best breakfast I have had in a long time. Loads of choice and fantastic quality.

I visit The Willows a lot to meet up with family and friends for breakfast, lunch or just a cuppa and cake. It’s decor is beautiful, you can sit outside When the weathers nice, downstairs, upstairs or in the family room, which has toys to keep the little ones amused (with stair gate). Menu is very good, whether I’m on plan with Slimming World (skinny breakfast, salads, jk potato) or whether I’m being naughty (melted Camembert, with veg and bread dipping sticks, pulled pork, afternoon tea, cake shakes) everything is delicious! Today I had a chicken and bacon Caesar Salad, it was amazing! Staff are friendly, attentive, smiley and always happy to help. The service is speedy. I’m lucky it’s on my doorstep, as this is my go to place to meet up, relax and catch up with everyone! Highly recommend!

Me and the wife both had the club sandwich for lunch. Was delicious. We will both be going back for our 3rd visit. I can’t remember what we had the first time but it must have been good as we were both excited to go here again!

I was served an espresso in a stone cold cup twice, the coffee arrived a lot earlier than my pastries.

Went here on the way to the coast and was so let down by quality of food and service.

Disappointed and won't be returning. It's bad customer service to make customers wait for as long as we did (about an hour and a half) should have warned us beforehand and didn't even get an apology when the food was bought out. The food was also wrong. Several groups of people also walked out as they had enough of waiting and kept being fobbed off.

This was my third visit and this place just gets better and better .... Staff are so friendly and the food is just too nice!!! The menu is really good and actually struggled to choose as I wanted so much! I would recommend this place to everyone as it really does cater for everyone ... breakfast is great, lunch is great... and great for just a flat white and cake!!

We have tried many times in the past to get afternoon tea at this cafe but it has always been closed when we arrived. Even now, you would think the new owners would have learned that afternoon extends beyond 3 or 4pm and they miss so many potential customers. There are very few small cafes or restaurants in the area and they provide good wholesome food so why close so early in the afternoon? We enjoyed our lunch there recently but were very disappointed to learn they close so early. Perhaps they need to rethink this with long summer days approaching.

Lovely food & great coffee. Well worth a visit and I will definately be returning! Friendly service and lots of choice for lunch. Great playroom for the little ones as well.

What a lovely welcoming cafe this is! I had breakfast there with a friend on Friday and couldn't fault them. The staff were very friendly and helpful, the food plentiful and well cooked. You can build your own breakfast...two separate prices for 4 items or 7...which worked really well. In fact there were so many delicious breakfast choices I found it very hard to decide!

Met my friends here for breakfast,lovely clean place.Staff are friendly and efficient. Food was lovely and plentiful.I would defiantly revisit based on my experience here recently.

Decided to go for brunch for my friends birthday and I'm not sure if I would go again. The food tasted good and arrived pretty quickly however, the waitress that sat us down and took our order was extremely rude and had a serious attitude problem. When we ordered she told us off for not giving her our food order before the drinks and then tutted when we needed to make a change. We went over our order 3 times but it still came out wrong. It's such a shame as this could be a lovely place to go.

I run a baby group and we use Willows as a venue every other month, today we went and there were 10 of us each with a small ranging from 12 weeks to 3yrs. Each time we visit it gets even better, the staff work really hard and looked after us incredibly well, the food (as usual) was amazing! We all had breakfasts with varying components and each completely different plate was spot on! We then moved to the sofa area and had coffee and cake! Super yum!!! Our first visit here wasn't great, but since the new management took over, each time we visit we can see it improving more and more. Keep up the great work guys! You're doing amazing! We'll certainly be back soon!

Grabbed a BBQ baguette on my lunch and that was absolutely brilliant, also have been in for food with my partner and it was delicious Highly Recommend

Went a week or so ago at lunchtime. Service very slow, seemed as if the kitchen could only cope with one order at a time. Told they were out of jacket potatoes, prawns and hot pot. Decided we would both have the trio of pates only to be told they only thawed out one a day as it was wasted if not used. Why is it on the menu then?! Should be on the specials board. Eventually went for a selection from this section of the menu, nice, but obvious everything from the freezer and took about an hour to come. My mum ordered tea and had to ask for a tea strainer. It wasn’t as if they were particularly busy.

I didn’t post any negative feedback on my last visit when we ate at this place and don’t plan to share that now.

We decided to visit on Christmas Eve and expected it to be very busy, which it was. We decided on the cooked breakfast. I chose the 4 option with an optional extra and hubby had the 7 option. Unfortunately he got a little confused when ordering the items and forgot to order sausages, maybe it would be a good idea for the waitress to read back the items to ensure the customer (who is not always right...lol) is happy with their order.

Hired a room for a group of friends with toddlers (about 30 of us) to hold our annual Christmas get together, deciding on a breakfast party. Phillipa and staff couldn't have been more helpful and obliging, we pre ordered breakfast to help this run smoothly and everything was great, all our orders delicious and correct and value for money. Definitely would come back again for breakfast and more as the lunch menu looked fabulous.

Lunch visit, we both chose a sandwich one club sandwich which came with chips and side salad, the other an egg mayonnaise sandwich which came with crisps and side salad, also both had drinks. We got up to order at the counter but were told someone would come and take our order (we had sat there sometime before going up) also ordered drinks. The drinks came out wrong - there was standard coke not diet as ordered and the black decaf coffee barely covered half a cup, we asked for the coke to be changed and the coffee topped up as it would be drank black. Food eventually arrived though this took a good while, club sandwich very good but the chips were barely warm, egg mayo sandwich tasted of vinegar, can only think it was in the mayo. Decided to take away muffins to have at home as we were by this point quite pressed for time, one okay the other very dry and they were over £2 each.Personally at over £20 for what we had I would rather have gone to the nearest garage/supermarket.