We ate here last week - thought we were the only people sitting down to eat at lunch time, the russian? lady told us to eat at the small table :) We found the lack of service and many rules amusing, and no doubt we will joke whenever we go anywhere new about having to sit at the 'shmall' table! It reminded us of trying to get a table at a french resteraunt once and being given a very gallic shrug and told we would have to wait 1 hour, 2 hours - who knows... this still amuses us!

The fish part of both our lunches was very good, though a microwave baked potato is always a disappointment.

Just enjoy the food and try to see the funny side of the brusqueness...

What a fantastic place. Good efficient service at 2:15pm with crab and lobster that tasted as if it had just been caught and cooked. A feast for the eyes as well as the mouth: a royal salad if ever there was one.

Oct 2009

WOW! What an experience. If you like seafood with beetroot, this is the place to go. The ambience of the garden shed leaves a lot to be desired and your name and timeslot is on the wall just in case you decide to over-stay, plenty of flies too. The girl who served our table did not acknowledge us and the
the "Royale Salad" was anything but.
One thing it did, was to give us an experience to talk about for years to come. So for seafood with the Eastern European touch, visit "Cookies". For delicious seafood, lobster and crab, visit Cromer.
Claire & Pete Debyshire

a terrible experience of bad service and seafood that you could have prepared yourself at home. asked for a seafood platter and told in broken english that the seafod platter was a salad???? cockles,prawns,smoked mackerel, anchovies all tasted like they had come from a supermarket and probably the worst crab i had ever had the mispleasure of tasting. all served in a garden shed!! get down to cromer to get the freshest crab. jon and tracey mcmillan.

It's so funny to read all these comments. Nothing has change since I worked there. And it's been two years...Please don't be mad at the staff - it's all because of the stupid rules - the lady boss made. But I recomend you go there -you will have something to talk about - where else you gonna experiens something like that? Just be cool about it, the only think you can be sure is that the food is always fresh! Vege and fish come every morning, in the summer even twice a day. And you know how old people are - kind of crazy - the lady boss is kind of crazy...

The seafood platters here may be OK but the customer service is the worst I have ever come across. The rudeness to my 80 year old parents was inexcusable and we will NEVER return. Try across the road - a great welcome and wonderful food.

The quality of the food and its value are not in question at Cookies, likewise the location. However, customer service is dreadful and on our most recent visit, my daughter was reduced to tears by the owner's rude manner. Apparently such poor treatment of a customer is not an isolated incident - ask the locals!
Hughie

If you enjoy spanking fresh seafood, beautifully presented in a charming retro style and at a very reasonable cost, eating outdoors in the fresh Norfolk air and being able to bring your own wine, you will understand why locals as well as visitors eat regularly at Cookies. That the proprietors are somewhat characterful is part of its unique charm. If you accept the constraints they operate under (a tiny kitchen, the need to work like crazy all summer in order to pay their bills in winter) and are a bit flexible and respect the system that make their very low prices possible, you will be treated like family and enjoy one of the most memorable seafood experiences in England. If you are a rude and boorish townie who expects to have every whim indulged just because you have pulled up in a posh car, you will find that's not how things work in Norfolk.

The worse service I have ever had. This place is clearly making so much money they feel they can treat customers with complete disdain. It was a quiet afternoon - lots of free tables etc. Yet their RULES were still enforced. The 1 person out of our group of 6 who did not want a main meal was told she could not sit at the table unless she ordered food but was refused a sandwich (they're take away only) or pate and toast (no starters in the afternoon). So we went over the road to the pub for delicious crab and hospitable service.

We have eaten at Cookies several times always enjoyed it - the food is delicious - it is not a upmarket venue - but excellent food at excellent prices - looking forward to my Norfolk trip soon as Cookies is on the agenda (at least once)
Jacqui

I ate there with 4 friends on 22/03/2009. The staff member we encountered (a young lady from eastern Europe) was rude, it was like she was doing us a favour to be able to eat there. Even though there was only one other table being used. Food was OK, nothing special, wouldn't rush back. Would prefer somewhere with better service.

Ate at Cookies Sunday 14/09/2008 brilliant food, excellent service prices that that are so reasonable,could not be much better,well perhaps a bottle of wine so if you are going they don`t mind if you take your own,will be back again for the lobster perhaps.

I cant believe you didn't stay for the meal Jan!
The woman at Cookies tends to be rather abrupt, but dont let her put you off. The guy there is fabulous and the food is worth it! And as for prices... Its the cheapest and best seafood I have ever tasted and I have travelled to hundreds of countries and tried fresh seafood in many coastal towns. Cookies will always be top for me!
Do yourself a favour and go back and be more open minded. Remember that they are not officially a restaurant and thats why you are able to take your own wine or beer. Take a bottle, or maybe you might need two :) and just chill out there with the papers. Book a seat but if its gone, be impressed with the fact that the demand for it is so high and that so many people want to be there.

If you dont go back though, more chance for us who do like it to get a place on the busy times ;)

Liesel.x