we went to the victorai for boxing day lunch after a good walk on the beach from wells. ive driven past it and liked the look of it but not visited. it didnt disappoint - very welcoming and warm feel to the bar and restaurant. i liked the get up although the chairs were a little difficult. the menu was varied and seemed to have something for everyone. the service was very attentive - a little brisk if anything, but they seemed to be quite busy and i suspect they were keen to get everyone in and out! the food was very good although my daughters potted shrimps had far too much butter and far too few shrimps, and had been left in the fridge until the last minute so it was impossible to spread the mix onto the soda bread. the cauliflower soup and chicken pate were delish. the fish and chips main was perfect, but the venison suet pudding, whilst very tasty and tender was a little dry - it needed more sauce in the pudding itself for my liking. the sticky toffee puding was to die for and my selection of cheese was great. we had a beautiful bottle of argentinian malbec and a lot of coke, and it was £100 which i thought was very good. only let down was the fact that upon arrival, our booking for 3 had become 2 and it took a few minutes for them to do some "jiggery pokery" but all was fine in the nend. a very enjoyable meal.
a tip for first time walkers from wells is to follow the line of the trees along the beach and not to get caught on the sea side of the lagoon - its hard to get across to the land and path up to the hotel!!

As Norfolk residents and regular visitors to the Holkam coast, we pass by the Victoria regularly, but have never eaten there. It always looks busy and popular, so it was with much anticipation that we planned a birthday lunch there.

I am a vegetarian, and while I do not expect an amzing choice, it would be good to not have Hobson's choice. My heart sank when I saw that the one choice was that good old tried-and-tested favourite, risotto, that the ingenious chef had devided for the veggies. When we pointed out that the sample menu on the website had more veggie choices, we were given a dismissive answer by the staff. This was not the only disappointment; the welcome was not great, we weren't given a menu each to start, and the initial service was slow. When we enquired of the whereabouts of our drinks order, 20 minutes after ordering it, the excuse was a faulty printer! The waitress tried to clear our plates before we had finished. When we tried to pay, the portable card machine was broken and we were asked to go to the bar. Fine, but when my elderly mother, whose treat it was, went to do this, she was ignored for a good five minutes. When my husband asked if we could pay, the response was quite terse.

My impression was of an overpriced, full-of-itself establishment, that has managed to fool its mainly London-based customers than it is more special than it actually is. I wish we had had egg and chips at a 'caff' in Wells instead.

Meal outside, bar-b-que area. Floor covered with litter, food dropped from tables,
wasp heaven! Staff disinterested possibly because rushed, easy to self serve.
Best part about this lunch was the proximity to Holkham Hall where we hired a bike
and did the grand tour of the parkland; after which we summoned up an appetite
and had afternoon tea at the Hall which was far superior in every way to the
'snack' four hours previously.
Sorry, we like value for money, in pleasant surroundings and attentive staff
won't be calling again in the near future.

we had a precious two nights away from our children and were really looking forward to a 'boutique hotel" break - reading the papers and lounging around. the first disappointment was that we werent put in the room i had discussed via email when booking - when i bought this up with reception the reply was simply that that room was already booked. The main lounge area has recently been changed in to costa style cafe area which is not comfortable for relaxing and reading the paper while sipping on a nice glass of wine as it is basically an extension of the restaurant. After dinner i asked to be shown to the residents lounge as advertised in their blurb .....we were then shown to a formal dinning room ...how this could be in any way considered a lounge i dont know. final gripe was that the menu did not change one jot for our stay, not even a special, so i'm glad we didnt stay any longer. On the other hand breakfast was very good. All in all we spent over £500 for two nights, i did not feel that i had a luxurious break but some how we had paid for one.