Upstairs No1 Cromer - North Norfolk

Always go here and have to say its usually very good, last week there was a small stone in my chips, but gave them the benefit of the doubt having worked in hospitality for stuff happens, but yesterday evening we decided to go upstairs, we were sat at a dirty table, under the table a drink had been spilt and there were crayons all in it so we mentioned it and were moved whilst it was cleaned, perfect, but then the fish and chips came out, the fish was overcooked but they were busy busy so forgiven but my partner then said I don't know what's up with the vinegar?? It wasn't malt vinegar so I said it might be pickled onion vinegar so I smelt it put some on the back of my hand and tasted it, no flavour, looking round the vinegar bottles had obviously just been filled all at the same level, all the same colour, it tasted like water and I believe that's what the bottles had been topped up with, not great. Not good form. Clearly they were having a bad day, having said that the staff were lovely as always.

We pre booked this as we knew we would be visiting Cromer on the August bank holiday and having seen it on Walk With Me Tim on You Tube and passing it before on previous trips knew it would be busy, the service was fine, the view lovely and the food very tasty, we both had cod and chips, the batter was very light, the only criticism is there could have been a few more chips considering the price was a bit higher than usual but all in all worth a visit and we would definitely go again

Had we stuck with the Fish Chips instead of ordering the Seafood Platter, we would have saved a lot of money had a lovely food experience. Must remember keep it simple, stupid..... Being adventurous (and greedy) we ordered Haddock Chips and the Platter, plus a starter of Scallops: the scallops were fantastic, and the lobster was delicious, but the rest of the platter not so much: prawn cocktail really over sauced and really gloopy, smoked fish scotch egg loved by two not so much by the other two; popcorn cockles again loved by two, not so much the others; tempura prawns terrific as was curry mayo and tartare sauce. Haddock, chips and mushy peas got a great thumbs up from all 4 of us: delicious light batter (with no slimy rice cone pre coating to bulk it out), great portion of mushy peas and good chips too lightly coloured for our usual taste but really excellent. All 4 of us give a really 5* thumbs up for Upstairs at No 1.

Probably the best fish and chip meal we have eaten. 4 of us had different fish dishes. I had cod and chips with mushy peas. The batter on the fish was so light. Absolutely gorgeous. Not a lover of mushy peas but shared these with my partner. They were delicious as was the homemade tartar sauce. Finished off with butterscotch ice cream. Only downside was it got very noisy when a party of 6 sat near us and we couldn't hear ourselves speak. But that's just what happens sometimes when you go somewhere.

A popular restaurant with good views over the front and pier. The staff were pleasant and the food acceptable, though not memorable. Tempura soft-shell crab as a starter was tasty but offered more batter than crab, the main course of megrim (otherwise known as Cornish sole) was OK but the fish slightly overcooked, and the dessert of lemon tart was rather too solid. All in all, not bad but only 3 out of 5.