Nothing beats a good Sunday lunch out with all the family. RACHEL BULLER visits the King's Head at Bawburgh for a good old fashioned roast.

There is nothing better than a good Norfolk country pub which does really good unpretentious food while retaining that feeling of still being a welcoming pub.

The King's Head at Bawburgh has been much-praised over the years and deservedly so, but how does it fair for a Sunday lunch with all the family?

We have eaten at the pub many times, but always in the evenings, and with a menu that places itself above the usual pub grub it isn't an obvious choice for a lunch out with the kids.

As well as a set Sunday menu, there is also plenty of choice for those who don't fancy a traditional roast.

Service was friendly and swift, with plenty of advice on offer. There is no children's menu as such but certain things can be made into a child's portion, making them feel rather grown up as they chose what they wanted from the adult menu.

Watching hungrily as other people's food came out, it became apparent that the roasts looked pretty magnificent.

For starters, we picked the Norfolk mussels with garlic, celery and thyme cream, the homemade soup and the crispy beef, mango, spring onion, baby gem, peppers and egg noodle salad with sweet chilli dressing. All were delicious but the crispy beef in particular had a sweet refreshing tang and hint of spice, which proved a nice contrast to the traditional roast beef which was on its way.

For our main course we had roast pork, roast beef and kedgeree and the children had roast chicken and the home-made steak burger.

The roasts were fantastic. Lots of meat, which was tender – and most importantly the beef was still pink. The pork was accompanied by a very welcome piece of crispy then melt in the mouth salty crackling and the chicken came with pigs in blanket – much to my three year olds delight.

The roast potatoes were crispy and well seasoned and best of all the dishes all came with Yorkshire puddings - so refreshing to see all that roast etiquette being ignored.

My mum chose the smoked haddock kedgeree, with smoked paprika, crème fraiche and a soft boiled hens egg. While the plate looked positively empty compared to our huge roasts, it was by all accounts deceptively filling and bursting with flavour.

The home-made steak burger, with skin-on chips, in a toasted ciabatta bun with home-made balsamic onion relish, baby gem salad and red cabbage coleslaw was essentially a posh burger and chips, but it went down well with my eldest son.

We were just too full to squeeze in dessert, but the menu was very tempting – warm apricot Bakewell, with apricot puree and toasted almond cream, or vanilla crème brulee with poached rhubarb and shortbread, or how about dark chocolate brownie, with chocolate sauce and chantilly cream. There is also a selection of homemade ice-creams and sorbets.

Much of the food on the menu is essentially a modern, more refined and experimental take on the pub classic. The menu changes monthly and there is also a strong emphasis on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.

Not only does the King's Head serve great food, it still feels like a pub and has real charm. As we sat on the sofas reading the menu, the blazing log fire was appreciated, despite the fact spring was supposedly upon us.

THE KING'S HEAD

Harts Lane

Bawburgh

Norwich

01603 744977

www.kingshead-bawburgh.co.uk

Open: Sunday lunch 12pm-3pm; Mon–Sat 12pm–2pm/5.30pm-9pm

Prices: Nibbles £3; starters from £6; main courses form £10; desserts from £5. Sunday lunches are £13 for one course, £17 for two courses and £21 for three courses. Booking essential.

Vegetarian: Yes

Wheelchair access: Yes