Lord Nelson, The

At the time (2005) when the country is celebrating the bi-centennial of the Battle of Trafalgar, and Lord Nelson's part in that greatest of victories, it seems nothing short of a national disgrace that The Lord Nelson at Burnham Thorpe lacks an entry on this site. So here goes.

Sometimes known as the pub without a bar, the real Lord Nelson was no stranger to these premises. In 1793 Nelson held a farewell party in the pub for the villagers, and today the Victory Barn serves a similar purpose for those who wish a self-contained dining room for special events, weddings and private lunches or dinners.

In the Nelson Bar, which does not have one, your drinks are served on trays from a large hatch that leads through to the equivalent of a ground floor cellar. Woodforde ales are in great profusion, including Nelson's Revenge. In the Ward Room you can enjoy good, home cooked food, with local ingredients and produce in the ascendancy.

The daily-changing menu could contain starters of homemade asparagus and smoked salmon soup, a warm fillet of smoked eel with new potato and dill salad on a Japanese mustard dressing, or steamed Norfolk asparagus Parmesan cracknel topped with a soft poached hen's egg and hollandaise sauce, though for the more robust the roast breast of pigeon on grilled black pudding with juniper and orange sauce takes some beating.

Moving on to greater things there's a grilled 10 oz rib eye steak served with chips and salad, or that greatly under-rated fish, the mackerel, done as a kebab on ratatouille with basil and tomato sauce, a fresh dressed Cromer crab salad, or roast breast of Gressingham duck with black truffle on orange and cointreau sauce.

Predictably the puddings list Nelson's Mess, a fresh fruit platter topped with passion fruit sorbet, or try the iced terrine of liquorice with brandy snap basket filled with soft fruits, with vanilla sauce.

The Lord Nelson does excellent lunches, there's a barbecue and children's menu, snacks with hot sandwiches of chicken bacon mayo and mushroom, or bacon and blue cheese, the list is endless. And of course you'll find it difficult to leave without sampling the well-regarded Nelson's Blood, though I must say it's a different concoction from the one I have been drinking ever since my naval days, though probably just as lethal.