REVIEWS

EDP REVIEW

The Hermitage, 64 Old Road, Acle Telephone: 01493 750310

February 7, 2004

TONY COOPER

It’s called The Hermitage and I guess once upon a time there was a hermit’s cell or something like that in the vicinity. Names generally follow history especially in the case of old pubs, which this is. Chris Carter the proprietor, a Yarmouth boy through and through and very well known as a restaurateur in the coastal area, has a sense of history and changed the name back to its original one when he took over the place last summer.

Chris is a master chef and also a dab hand at fishing. Fish is his hobby as well as his living. Even on holiday he makes sure that he’s in fishy company, having just come back from experiencing the Great Barrier Reef. He knows, too, how to shoot the line to get a good catch. His father taught him. He’s had many exhilarating trips out to sea with him in his 28ft boat. As a boy he had a skiff – a small, light fishing boat – in which he caught (and feasted on) herring.

But nowadays his catch comes from Lowestoft market and he’s up at the crack of dawn three or four times a week buying the best of it. But for crabs and lobsters he travels to Wells to buy from Frary’s, a family he’s dealt with for over 30 years.

Chris has had valuable kitchen experience working in well-appointed restaurants in Paris as well as in the UK. He spent time at Gleneagles, the Adelphi, Liverpool and the Royal Station Hotel, York. And he remembers fondly his time at the Great Eastern Hotel at Liverpool Street in its heyday. This was in the late Sixties/early Seventies.

All these experiences and skills are now channelled into The Hermitage, his latest enterprise.

It’s a welcoming place and on arrival Caroline, the restaurant manager, is there to meet you. She’s a Glasgow lass and still has her lovely accent. Local girl Marion looks after the bar and serves the drinks while Caroline’s stepdaughter Laura assists her in serving the delights from the kitchen – all cooked to order and perfection by Chris.

You choose off a blackboard and the evening menu is slightly more expensive than the lunchtime one, which is to be expected. I’ve been to this establishment before, so I know what to expect. And I’m never disappointed. If it’s fried fish you desire, plaice, cod and haddock – cooked in a very thin coating of batter – are unbeatable.

My choice on this occasion was grilled Dover sole but I usually go for pan-fried skate wing cooked in black butter. It’s irresistible! The friend I was with, however, went for brill and I can’t resist saying that it was brilliant. It had a nice, rich taste. I tried some of it. Its texture is slightly stronger than sole and on my next visit brill it will most certainly be.

We opted for boiled potatoes but couldn’t resist the temptation also of ordering an extra bowl of chips. No ordinary ones mind you but some freshly chipped from Maris Pipers grown by a local farmer.

Fresh vegetables – carrots, mange tout, cauliflower, broccoli and red cabbage – were given that extra taste by being steamed and not boiled to bits.

To start the meal I went for sliced avocado, which was served fanned out on the plate with a selection of delicious prawns topped with a cocktail sauce. It was a perfect choice, while on the opposite side of the table I spied some tempting crayfish, which I had to have a taste of too!

A large dish of Spanish strawberries, vanilla ice cream and a dash of fresh cream provided for our dessert. It was just right. Fresh ground coffee poured forth with some quality after-dinner mints ending a very agreeable and unhurried meal.

Don’t worry if you should find yourself in a party with a non-fish lover. There are other dishes on the menu and although I’ve never tried any, I’ve seen a few good steaks whisk past me!

To help the enjoyment of the meal we shared a bottle of dry white wine. Chardonnay is to our liking and it was served at the correct temperature. It was delectable. In all there are about 15 wines to choose from at an average price of £11.95 a bottle.

The décor of the place is relaxing – soft colours, nice fabrics, warm lighting – with a rather intriguing collection of printed engravings of Yarmouth at the turn of the 19th century by Alfred William Yallop lining the walls. They date from 1906 and were originally published in the Yarmouth Mercury.

One thing, however, that puzzled me on my arrival was a short fence with two upright posts on the car park. I discovered that the land is leased from Acle parish council and the leaseholder, as part of the conditions of his lease, has to provide for tethering horses.

You can travel to the Hermitage by car or horse or by two other means. You can take the train – the walk from the station to the restaurant is about 15 minutes – or arrive by boat. The restaurant has moorings for 10 motor cruisers.