Wells-Next-The -Sea, North Norfolk.
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This was the first cafe in Wells to dump the standard cottage tearoom mode for something designed more for contemporary cafe culture. The serving counter greeting you as you enter always has a sizable range of cakey nibbles on display. The staff, though friendly, do seem to be working with a certain level of self preoccupation. On this visit the display did include a carrot cake, so I felt a review stirring in my loins before I'd ordered it with the ubiquitous chaser of a flat white. As I always eat and drink with Jesus in my heart, I'll try to be kind.
The cafe decor doesn't quite gel.You sort of know what they're aiming for, a stylistically eclectic mix of chairs and tables, creating a characterful boho feel. But here there is raging disharmony, classic bentwood chairs and bamboo garden furniture do not sit well together. It appears to cut corners not a dash. The ceiling is painted in a sludgy taupe colour, leaving the impression of having been executed as part of a prison dirty protest. Sounds harsh I know, but its these things that lend it the air of a half cocked execution.
It sits opposite Wells Harbour, so if you grab a table by the window you can observe the endless chain of traffic and parked cars obscuring your wide harbour vista. Not to mention the aimlessly wandering tourists with fish and chips in hand on route to the face, thinking 'we've gorus chips, is there owt else to do ere?' Wells-next-the-Sea, because of it homely nature, down to earth, and altogether lacking in pretence, has always been the working class holiday destination of choice. This is slowly changing with the arrival of the new Maltings Art Centre, and a scattering of middle class trendy shops that have appeared over recent years, sandwiched in between the butcher, the baker and the classic North Norfolk rambling hardware store that stocks everything somewhere within its labyrinthine corridors. One hopes Wells never loses this. At the moment its more like its put on a smarter pair of M & S socks beneath its scruffy open toed sandals. That said, its yet to create the must go too cafe. Most are acceptable but no cigar.
You can usually tell when I've not found much to say of positive or negative worth about a cake, because I rant on and on for paragraphs about anything other than it. So, deep venerable breaths, as I step onto the slippery approaches of the cake review. To my well trained eye its visible texture did look rather hopeful, that distinctive slightly gappy stranding, obviously weighty with bits of nut chippings, evenly spread. Dense and moist to the eye, once laid upon the palate it proved to be both. However, my first gob full was all cake with no cream filling, and my expectations of a rich carrot flavour were startled by how spicey and sweet it was. Yes, it tip toed onto the near approaches of my bet noir, the masquerading spice cake.
If anything saved it from tipping into unforgivable sin it was the texture, and a general intuition that the cake maker did have their heart in the right place, The message having got mangled twixt the recipe and the measuring spoon. The cream cheese filling and frosting was fine, but just not enough of it. The rubble of nuts on top, all well and good, but like the chopped nuts within the cake they functioned only as attractive teeth grit, one couldn't actually taste them. They were perhaps aiming for a richly rounded flavour and cake texture that unfortunately fell arse in the air at the final fence.
This feeling of a cafe being a hairs breath away from achieving, if not greatness, then at least above average, I find is a common experience. Its not unusual in fractionally missing hitting their own open target. How was my Flat White I hear voiced quizzically. It was in the right cup, but was really an extra stiff coffee with frothed milk.
CARROT CAKE SCORE 4/8
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