HIRST’S FARM SHOP AND CAFÉ, Ormesby St Margaret
When a menu begins with something described as a signature breakfast, you know that it is going to feature in your order.
And when you are breakfasting at a farm café, then the big farmers breakfast becomes a must too.
We were at Hirst’s Farm Shop and Café which has grown a big following since opening in 2021 – including celebs such as actor Tom Hiddleston as well lots of locals.
There were five of us, three adults and two children, and we added the avo and eggs breakfast, sweet waffles with fresh fruit for the children, and a drinks selection ranging from coffee to pear juice and milk shake to camomile tea.
The order was taken swiftly and arrived promptly and I can reveal that a Hirst’s Signature Breakfast is a very fine way to start the day. Comprising chorizo, bacon, sauteed potatoes, spinach and sundried tomatoes, all topped with poached egg, it is also particularly pleasing on the eye.
The avo and eggs was beautiful too, its poached eggs prettily striped with sweet chilli sauce. It was pronounced one of the best breakfasts ever. The children were thrilled with their waffle-and-fresh-fruit combos, one opting for banana and the other for mixed berries. Child-sized cutlery for little hands would have been the perfect pairing to an imaginative and appealing menu.
Big farmers, it turns out, eat sausages, bacon, sauteed potatoes, vine tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and toast. With the linked farm shop (an East Anglia Food and Drink Awards finalist) full of local food, much of it reared, grown or cooked locally or on site, I was surprised more was not made of telling customers which food was from the farm, but with such a full menu, including lunches and dinners plus snacks, sandwiches and seafood sharing boards, perhaps there is simply too much great food to fit all the locally-sourced info in.
In the summer little (and much bigger) farmers can enjoy the nearby Hirsty’s Family Fun Park with its huge maize maze plus lots of bouncing, climbing, swinging and ride-on excitement including a pedal go-kart racetrack and crazy golf with welly-boot clubs.
At this time of year there are often animals to visit in the barns close to the café.
hirstsfarmshopandcafe.co.uk
Rowan Mantell
