The Cafe At Brovey Lair - Breckland

Saw brovey lair month ago in the good food guide and it looked very interesting. also no caffe or a normal restaurant. it's fantastic. it is in tina and bakes house and eating is something special. when they arrive mike takes them from the...foyer, past the open staircase with the 5 ft water function, into the kitchen. we sat on the bar with the other guests with nibblen and a drink that tina observed during cooking of the scallop star. when that was done, mike showed us to the tables. after the starters we had suppe followed by hard fish and a selection of sweet and coffee. tina is an expert with fish and also has cooking classes. it was an experience I was looking forward to and was not disappointed. high quality

My man and I had a wonderful dinner and overnight in brovey lair. tinas excellent in fusionskochen is excellent and an additional bonus was to see some dishes prepared before their eyes. the breakfast was also excellent, no run of the mill was completely English. here, and we were treated like personal guests. well recommended.

We have come home after two wonderful days in brovey lair. our room was large, bright, clean with a nice comfortable bed. the breakfast cooked by mike is cal mex so that they get exotic fruits, yogurt and then maybe huevos rancheros or French toast (and they can sleep late because tina does not make early morning, but then also not we but they really come here to dinner because tinas cook is at a very high level in the did. a few games for what could be on the menu are enough. Halibut tagine is cooked with vegetables first and the healed later added, which is possible to the beautifully cooked healed it, together with cherry tomatoes, aubergines, paprika, oliven, saffron, pickled lemons and orzo with pine nuts and sulanas made for a large plate. in the second night we started with king scallops cooked with saphir (only in the season for a few months we heard) with Chinese five seasoned and sesame, followed by mönchen with soba nudeln. their ingredients are top quality tinas liberal use is seasoned to improve and support the taste of fish instead of overwhelming. this is cooking at a very high level in the did and if in the equation it is an additional suppening course, which is on the same level as anything else, then what they pay is something of a bargain. the wine list is short, but contains some very good bottles all under £40. All penetrated is the theatre that is a lot of part of the experience here. it helps to be sociable as tina and mike are very chatting. Finally, it is her home, but it helps everything to add the experience as they are treated as hospitable on her dinner party. we had a fantastic time with some beautifully cooked food and will be back as soon as we can. thanks tina and mike!

We were in Norfolk for Mum's 60th I wanted to find somewhere a bit special for one of the evenings. I stumbled upon Brovey Lair by chance when looking at venues. I immediately liked what Tina Mike are trying to create at their...beautiful home in a tiny village. They are not a restaurant, but rather a culinary experience (with rooms if you get too tipsy to drive home The menu is chosen by Tina (with prior knowledge of people's likes dislikes) is a collection of what's good in season its goes without saying, locally sourced. She specialises in fish seafood for us that was heaven. All I can say is Wow. From the moment we walked in we were expertly looked after. Every course was seriously amazing presented beautifully. Tina would give any top London chef a run for their money. It makes me smile now when I think about those scallops! Mike never let anyone's glasses empty offered so much delicious bread that Tina had to call a warning from the kitchen not to fill up on it! My whole family had such a great evening. Tina Mike are wonderful people with lots of stories to share you feel like you are at their private dinner party rather than just paying guests. My family will remember this for a long time, thank you so much for such a memorable evening. If you are in Norfolk please visit this lovely place, the hosts do not shout from the rooftops about how wonderful they are but we were so glad to have found this little gem would not hesitate to return when we are back in Norfolk. Thank you Mike Tina.

Unconventional is the word that springs to mind here, although really and truly the Pembertons' dinner party with paying guests is a logical thing to do if you want to cook professionally but enjoy person-to-person interaction with a different set of people every night and...can then treat your venture as a personal business without having to worry about all the overheads and costs involved, such as having staff. Tina in her American diner gear at the Teppan grill was holding a lively conversation with her diners while expertly combining worldwide flavours and Mike was sprinkling amusing anecdotes as a sort of extra condiment to make for a dining experience like no other. We chose a very reasonably priced Ayala rosé fizz as the ideal liquid accompaniment for the different types of spice used in the dishes and took some of the very good bread in anticipation of a need to be sure not to waste any of what promised to be moreish sauces. Starting with king scallops is always a good idea, and the sesame coating provided an excellent addition to the five-spice flavour matched by the surprising samphire and bean shoot combination in the stir-fry, lovely asparagus and the sweet and sour lime, coriander and ginger vinaigrette backed up with sesame oil and tamari soy. Needless to say, the bread served its purpose. Another good idea was to serve a kind of entremets in the form of a spinach and sweet potato soup with a cream topping adding a touch of extra sweetness to counter the delightful cumin background. For us it is always a pleasure to be able to have something served that we are unlikely to eat at home, so in this case we thought it an extremely good idea that the main course was swordfish, one of our favourites in the fish stakes, which often proves very difficult to find in Britain, properly fresh. The fish was superb, tender with the true taste of freshness, the flavour pointed up by the Cajun spice and a combination of aubergines, roasted peppers, olive and caper marmalade, orzo and pine nuts for the crunch, and we found our palates assailed by a whole brigade of taste sensations. We had the choice of two desserts and shared them. One was rich dark chocolate torte with good strong vanilla ice cream and raspberries, and the other a lovely, light, flourless Moroccan-style almond and orange cake with yummy port-roasted plums, and it was indeed only fair to share. Our verdict was that, in the right hands, an unconventional approach is no barrier to high-class cuisine.