Dabbling Duck in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Lovely village, lovely rooms to stay in. We had a room at the end of the garden by the car park, very quiet and had a great night's sleep after an excellent dinner, and the included breakfast was delicious. Can be quite noisy if you're eating near the bar area though.

Beautiful pub in a stunning village setting, amazing food friendly welcoming staff.

Lovely atmosphere, and always nice to have a beer in a traditional English pub. Sadly the food wasn’t that great. Overcooked fish and undercooked very large “chips”. Shame, as it’s such a lovely location.

Good: -Food quality and presentation, faultless. -Flavours -Dog photo wall -Rustique feel with enough space around tables to not feel cramped. Bad: -Not everyone will agree with the price. -Not a large choice of food. A place where you should go to have quaint and authentic memories with your friends over food.

Enjoyed a fantastic meal today with my son and girlfriend. Superb service from Izzy who was so helpful and accommodating, a real asset to the pub. We will be back!!

Food was average and expensive for the quality.

Fantastic quality food over the Xmas break. Recommended eatery.

Third visit and again didn’t disappoint. Food superb, great atmosphere and service. Well done.

Really very good food and at very reasonable prices. Staff are very attentive.

We had booked into the cottage next door and arrived very late at the pub for dinner. We had the best of luck by having Annie looking after us. We ate here three times over our stay and Annie has been amazing! Nothing was a problem and it made a group of non locals feel very at home

It just a pearl, scribed tables and great atmosphere.. Matched by the service and the food. So nice to see it again after 19 years or so. Still v high standard and priced reasonably, which is why people go...not ponsy food but creative and beautifully presented. Well trained and polite staff and oh bliss no music. And noise levels were reasonable as there were lots of features to break up the sound and absorb it. It's a feature other pub/restaurants could learn a lot from DONT PLAY MUSIC FOR THE SAKE OF THE STAFF OR TO TRY TO ENGENDER ATMOSPHERE. The DD doesn't because it chooses not to AND doesn't need to. A great evening and a lovely MtrD' (she) , engaging and charming. Go There! Book ahead!

Great pub , but restaurant is lacking , starters ( mushrooms) very good , partner had roast pork , veg seemed like an hour old roasties were dry , not roasted for at least 2 hours , Burger good too much cheesy sauce couldn’t work out what it is , and desert rum baba , like stale not moister same as apple tart , waitresse seemed to be on a different galaxy , 20 min for two drinks , sorry guys but something has to change as does the prices , won’t be coming back unfortunately

Amazing meals, my favourite place to eat by far❤️

Love this place … second visit … such a great atmosphere.. food is delicious! The breakfast has a great choice & is beautifully cooked & presented .. rooms vary but all have lovely little touches & beautiful linens & towels .. great value for money ! We shall definitely return as the location is good for the coast etc & Thursford

Lovely food in a very nice pub.

Amazing pub with rooms in pretty village. So cosy. Couldn't hear (or smell!) the pub in the rooms. Lovely beds. Perfect.

Excellent early supper at the Dabbling Duck. Crispy beef strips and burger were generous and cooked beautifully. But the highlight of the meal was dessert - the chocolate plate and rum baba were supreme.

Went for the fish festival, it was absolutely perfect, beautiful pub, beautiful setting, lovely staff.

We had a fantastic lunch with excellent service.

We booked a table to celebrate my son’s birthday . On arrival at our table we were given menus it took 15 mins before they took a drink order when our drinks arrived one was missing ! My daughter had to go and ask for it in the end . Our food order was taken and took 40 mins to arrive . Absolutely amazing food as always !!! Our dessert took 25 mins the service tonight has been very poor . A disappointing evening!

This is a very busy but lovely pub , didn't eat but people queued for tables at 5 o'clock on a Sunday night

Loved the food and service here. Great pub, wonderful village

Here’s a suggestion for your review: Friends and I had an absolutely fantastic time at the seafood festival last night. The meal was outstanding—fresh, flavourful, and perfectly cooked. The buzzing atmosphere added to the experience, making it lively and enjoyable. The service was top-notch, the staff were friendly, attentive, and made sure everything was perfect. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great night out with amazing food and vibes! Thank you The Dabbling 🦆

We stayed here for one night during their Seafood Festival. The garden room was superb, with everything that we needed. The owner welcomed us personally and made sure that we were comfortable. The evening meal was quite exceptional. New and innovative ways of serving fish and seafood. Good wine at affordable prices and attentive service by knowledgeable waiting staff. The bar was buzzing with locals and visitors. There was live sea shanty music in the adjoining barn of a very high standard. It was great fun and we will come again.

Delicious as always especially the desserts 😋

We had lunch here and the food was excellent. Very busy. Definitely need to book.

Thank you all for the great meal we had Friday 8th November, the service was excellent , the food was Awesome and it was lovely to see a village pub doing so well on a Friday night. Well done to all the staff, you all look as though you really enjoy working at the Dabbling Duck as you where all so happy. We live in Grimston and we have had lots of meals with you and you are one of the best in the area. All the best Colin Day, Suzanne Lambert, Mark and Karen Rance Also Digby the Golden Retriever had a great time showing off his well trained skills.

Really nice food and great friendly service!!

Go to drink, don't eat. Its over priced and badly staffed. Visited during Norfolk restaurant week, busy as you'd expect. Chose 2 courses as the starters could not have been less appealing. Main course was an easy choice, local (Raynham) beef burger and it was very nice. Shame about the fries, proper chips would have been a nice touch. The red cabbage coleslaw was drizzled in something that ruined it. For dessert we chose the sticky toffee pudding, can't go wrong with that can you ? Yes, you can it was terrible, all 3 went back uneaten. When asked, my reply fell on deaf ears. Needless to say, it's not the 1st time we've eaten here but it most certainly will be the last. On a side note, the gents toilet is disgusting, floor covered in pi$$ and it stinks.

A lovely looking pub/restaurant in a great location that could have been really great. Unfortunately I have say that the food really wasn't very good. The tiny piece of Steak"Halibut was overpriced at £28 and the Vegan "Skewed Seitan Steak" sic, was actively unpleasant and a struggle to finish. Worst of all were two Rum Baba desserts.: they were dried up, stale and completely uneatable. They should never have been served to customers and we both left all bar the first mouthful, yet the waitress didn't even ask if there was a problem with them. We didn't want to make a fuss on the night, and wish this place well for the future, but it will have to improve its restaurant offering. The hotel side of things was much better - see separate review for that if you're interested.

The dining rooms are very cosy and tables aren’t too squashed together. The menu is exciting with a lot of variety. There were a couple of things that stopped us giving 5 stars. I had steak and had to ask twice for a steak knife. The meals were put on the table and the waitress quickly disappeared without asking if we wanted anything so I had to hunt someone down for some mustard! Finally I asked for my steak rarely cooked and it was medium at least. The desserts were delicious, but again we felt it would have been nice to have a fork as well as a spoon. All in all a nice lunch in a nice atmosphere.

Chose this venue because of it's setting, very pretty village, lovely looking pub, the interior was traditional and inviting, Sunday lunch menu was fine, ordered a starter from the specials board and it was really good, it was a crab dish nicely presented and fresh and zingy, then had roast beef, the beef was good , pink and nicely done, but the vegetables were a mush of unidentifiable ingredients with no definition, colour or texture, the roasts were like they may have had a life but were left under the gantry too long, in terms of service the staff were disengaged like they didn't want to be there, after our meal they kept on bringing other people's orders to our table by mistake which suggests a lack of training and organisation, this I don't blame the staff for but the management or lack of it!

I hadn’t eaten here for some years. It’s a very pretty pub in a nice village. We came for Sunday lunch. Starter of crab was nice, so all good. But the roast beef meal was really disappointing. The beef was good but the rest of it was not. It wasn’t hot, the roast potatoes had obviously been sitting around for hours and were like cardboard. There was no colour on the plate, it was all very brown. The vegetables had no texture, no freshness. The staff were inexperienced and disinterested. We will not eat here again.

Very nice stay. Here for 2 nights. Nothing spectacularly wrong just don’t like giving 5 stars. Staff were great room fabulous

Had Haddock and chips and they were delicious, friendly and attentive staff highly recommended 👌

My son came up from London to take me and my wife out for a meal for my birthday, booked a table for 4 and was shown a table all very fine drinks were ordered and duly served meal ordered and that's when it started to go south it was not up to the usual standard that we are used to there, son didn't want to make a fuzz because it was my birthday It will be a long time before I return there.

Need a 2nd mortgage to buy food from here! Very overrated, staff snooty, & live on past reputation. Wouldn't visit again.

I was shocked, considering this is supposed to be an award winning pub. I had the duck, and it was covered in breadcrumbs that tasted like aniseed. It was very disappointing! The flavour of the sauce and breadcrumbs was revolting, the duck was hard!, and the sauce was just mediocre. I was severely disappointed, especially considering the name of the establishment. You would presume the best dish would be the Duck. The chips were very powdery in the middle and not up to the standard that beef fat chips should be. The service was fine, but not once were we asked how our meal was! It could have been much better! The decor of the establishment was run down. It was on the whole a 1/10 experience. I would not recommend it.

Accommodation is in a house next door. Very noisy. Cold room. Steep staircase so unsuitable for anyone other than young and fit. Rooms are a peculiar mishmash of styles. Nothing to recommend it.

Beautiful pub in a beautiful village. Staff were so friendly and helpful. The Pisco Sour cocktail was one of the best cocktails I've ever had and made from scratch. The inside of the pub is gorgeous. It was just perfect.

First time for us. Having a Sunday leisure drive decided to stop for a Sunday roast. We had our dog which was not a problem. I had roast beef and my husband had roast pork. Both were delicious. Great gravy. We then had cheese and biscuits and a fruit meringue. Both were delicious. Little mistake with the cheese and biscuits but the waitress was on it and it was changed without any hesitation. Great food and great service. Definitely recommend.

Afternoon lunch menu was superb can't fault anything. Lovely staff and a very welcoming atmosphere

Wow what can I say. Came here on a recommendation by a friend. The food was amazing staff amazing location amazing. Highly suggest trying it here.

Crikey! This was a memorable dinner but for all the wrong reasons. In its favour, the food was not bad for a local village pub. However the service was very slow and our waitress downright rude. From the moment we arrived as a family of four, we were made to feel less than welcome and after a bit of bickering between the waitresses, we were finally shown our table. It took 2 requests to receive our drinks, and a 3rd to get our water. It took over an hour to get our food even though we had booked the early 6.30pm slot. When our food did eventually arrive, it came out at staggered intervals. There was a 15 minute delay before my son’s fish plate was brought out by which time everyone else had almost finished. No apology, explanation or anything. They had clearly overlooked his order. We didn’t complain because we were happy chatting and realised everyone in the kitchens must be pretty shattered after a long summer and the August bank holiday weekend. When it came to pudding, it took 10 mins to attract our waitress’ attention. She was literally standing behind us chatting to the couple at the next door table. They were discussing the logistics and prices of an upcoming party. I didn’t want to interrupt but it became very obvious that we had been waiting patiently. Eventually the couple indicated that I was trying to get her attention. The waitress gave me the biggest death stare, rolled her eyes and said, “Well, she can just wait!” OMG, I just laughed out loud. Any sensible person would have replied, “I’m so sorry, I will be with you in a minute” but no, nothing, not even an apology. When she did eventually stomp round to our table, she just stood there and said “Yes??” In a very challenging tone. I’m afraid I gave her both barrels and told her exactly what I thought of the slow service, and her lack of customer service. Again no apology. She was just rude and highly defensive. We asked for the bill and left. We will not be returning.

One night stay was good, but staff a bit distant. Room good, nice touch of putting homemade raspberry vodka on tea tray, but would have been nice to see a sample of the gin they sell. Evening meal not quite up to scratch, duck had strange texture. Desserts nice. Breakfast was good, staff not terribly friendly though. Nice to have fruit/juice/cereal on buffet to help yourself.

We popped in for a drink and was tempted by the Pizzas. Glad we did because they were lovely. We sat in the garden and it was a great peaceful space. Bar was crowded but looked lovely. All staff helpful and friendly.

I came here recently with friends in the evening, it was very busy and the service was extremely slow. I have reflux disease, so I picked a low fat option, a chicken salad. It came out and every bit of it was covered in a high fat ceasar/mayo thick dressing. It was not nice. The starters were not appealing either. On a positive side, it was nice to see dogs welcomed in and sitting with their owners at the table.

We were booked for dinner last evening, 15th August as friends live nearby. There were 3 of us dining. The place was absolutely bursting at the seams and we were taken to our table. There was a car rally on the green that evening. We all ordered a different dish. My friend had the Persian curry and after a few mouthfuls said it didn’t taste right. I had the chicken Caesar salad which I ate only half as it was so salty. The other person had scampi and chips. We did mention this to the waitress and she deducted one meal. As soon as we got back to our friends, she was rushing to the toilet, and had a terrible episode of diarrhoea and on reflection she thinks the chicken was not right. This morning her husband then had terrible upset stomach this morning and my stomach was not great. Give The Dabbling Duck a wide space. We won’t be returning after that incident.

Very busy place when we went but the food was good and they even had a doggy menu.

Very good pint and food. Took a while to be acknowledged but I am forgiving! Great location and place.

Wonderful 2 night stay and excellent service and food .. ! Highly recommend will definitely return!

Attitude of the manager was not nice after we told her we didn't have a booking, it was 5pm on a Monday afternoon and it was fairly quiet, but she seemed to um & Ah over it and begrudgingly showed us to a table.... we ordered burgers and tbh not particularly great and 1 drink each was £50 won't be coming back...

Lovely food, had a Sunday roast here whilst out on a bike ride with my partner and both enoyed the very nice beef , roast potatoes with vegetables, lovely locaction, we sat outside overlooking the green and also partook in lovely halfpint of bitter,, would visit again

Lovely place and good food. Will definitely go back!

Great breakfast , lovely location. Will be going back for dinner

Amazing pub/restaurant staff are excellent

Just excellent, popped in whilst passing by . Food was excellent great cider . After a disappointing birthday this stop made my day .

Went here for dinner whilst on holiday in the area - definitely a cut above the average pub grub with a really interesting and tasty menu. We had the burrata and beef pancake to start, and the duck with nectarine and pork chop with butterbeans for our mains. Plus a great cocktail! No room for desert but everything we tasted was perfect, and the service and atmosphere were great too.

Lovely atmosphere and great service

The Rose & Crown was one of my regular lunchtime haunts 45 years ago when I as a rep selling to farmers so it was interesting to return. We booked a room, and so ate both dinner and breakfast. Both were excellent, as was our room, which overlooked the village green. We visited after a day at Houghton Hall, which is less than 10 minutes drive away. We go there every year - and I suspect will stay at the Dabbling Duck again.

A very dog friendly establishment. Good food and friendly staff.

In great Massingham. Lovely village

We were very pleasantly surprised by this restaurant, which we didn’t know about previously. The Dabbling Duck focuses on serving good, locally produced food. There was a specials menu but in fact we chose from the main menu, venison pie and fish and chips. The service was fast, efficient and friendly, the food was well cooked and very tasty, and we were very pleased with the number of vegan options available so we will come back with vegan friends very soon. The seats were comfortable and we had a table for two in a quiet corner. It was Monday, so quite quiet. I love the fact that the dining rooms have huge bookcases, full of books, and on one wall near the bar there is a huge map of Norfolk showing where all the local produce comes from. Altogether it was a splendid birthday lunch experience.

Great pub and place to stay, nice room with view over village green, good menu in surprisingly large restaurant. Low-alcohol beer on tap a rare find! (And home-made vodka a rarer one 🙂)

My parents wanted to treat me to a top meal. They had visited on a couple of occasions and really enjoyed it. We were first sat a table in a lovely room which we were pleased about. As it began to fill up we realised we began to have a multitude of visitors to view the specials board. We were then joined by a family who then rolled out a dog bed. We ordered our food, I requested the monk fish. We tolerated the table for a little while longer but my face started itching as I’m allergic to dogs.so we asked to be moved. I was told this may not be easy as they are an “extremely dog friendly pub” I felt embarrassed and explained I’m allergic to dogs so sorry for the inconvenience. I also thought well the dog isn’t paying the bill!!! Please also note it does not state this clearly on your website and is not something that has been an issue for my parents in the past. The waitresses were then not happy with us and we were relegated to a rather disappointing table but that was ok. When my monkfish came it was half a monkfish tail so for £25 it was overpriced. The food I had was tasty but was a costly experience for broccoli, wheat and a monkfish tail. On being asked if we enjoyed the meal I asked if the monkfish fish was a starter and was told “if you are talking about the monkfish it’s an expensive fish” , I’m aware of this and gave no further response as the waitress is not the owner. An overall stressful, disappointing and memorable event but for the wrong reasons. Please note that many people suffer quite considerably with dog allergies and like with any other allergies you have a duty of care to protect them.

Lovely pub in a lovely village. We've been a few times and it's always been very good. Whether in the beer garden/pizza shed, in the bar or in the restaurant. Highly recommended 👌

Service, atmosphere and location lovely. Food was very tasty and well presented. Portions of side dishes and starters very good but extremely disappointed in portion size of main meal which was the smallest piece of monk fish I have ever seen at £25 per dish. Would not go back as felt it was not good value for money.

Excellent restaurant and exceptional in every way!

Lovely meal, great atmosphere and excellent service

Fabulous place! We were doing the Peddars Way and arrived soaking wet with a soaking wet dog. No one batted an eyelid! Had a wonderful Garden room with huge bathroom and bath, plenty of hot water. Fabulous dinner, fabulous breakfast, fabulous packed lunch!!! Highly recommend

Took my Mum for Sunday lunch today the lady that seated us was great but sadly after that everything went downhill, the food was poor and very disappointing, when plates were collected and bill was bought to us I thought we would be asked if everything was okay but nothing mentioned, we were very much looking forward to our visit but won’t be returning in a hurry.

As long-time veggies who often find pub and restaurant menus limited and samey, the offerings at The Dabbling Duck were really refreshing and really well executed. The Spring salad with feta and granola was delicious and had a fantastic selection of leaves with tasty dressing. The Seitan steak was a new experience for us, very smoky and tasty. So good to be offered properly thought-through meals without meat. Thank you!

Looks like a 'normal' pub from the front, set in a beautiful Norfolk village. The food here is excellent and of an extremely high quality with some very creative dishes presented well. Good vegetarian and vegan options too. Worth a visit. (Nice range of real ales too).

Just been taken to The Dabbling Duck by my daughter for my 70th birthday & what a lovely place it is! Although quite large the seating is broken up into different areas which gives it a warm cosy feel. The food is delicious and the staff friendly and helpfull. It was busy but at no point did we feel rushed in fact it felt very relaxed. We only used the restaurant & weren't staying at the hotel but I would imagine that that too is very comfortable.

Lovely meal, great atmosphere and space.

Beautiful village position.A very large pub/ restaurant but with lots of character ,child friendly play area at rear.

We popped in for a drink in the sunny weather last weekend, and it's a fabulous place, the drinks were well priced, I had a nice pulled pint of Timothy Taylor and it's set in the beautiful location of Great Massingham. The village where my family come from!

The food was superb, fabulous service and very interesting surroundings. The village is extremely lovely and great for a post lunch/ dinner walk.

Just visiting the pub so can't comment on rooms. Great afternoon in the sunny garden with friends celebrating a birthday. Stone baked pizzas are definitely worth returning for 👍

Excellent service food, food and drinks

Really nice food and very well cooked, but when the mushroom is bigger than the steak I still feel ripped off! Good to see a couple of vegan options. Found some staff to be a bit unprofessional and casual. Didn't appreciate the barman stuffing in a pizza after his shift whilst watching video's on his phone sitting on the next table. Music loud out back so hard to have a conversation if you're near a speaker.

Very nice location. Food lovely but table service was not good, unreliable and requests not delivered, slow. Overall there seems to be something wrong among staff. Only one waitress seemed happy and chatty. Others sometimes miserable, they didn't talk to each other, and getting barmaid attention was at ti.es very difficult. One very good practice we observed was a waitress literally scrubbing table tops after the tables were cleared late in the evening, perhaps the most thorough table cleaning id seen. Rooms average especially for the price. Overall we'd probably not recommend it based on price and table service poor standard.

The menu is very good, food excellent 😋 and the G&Ts fantastic 😎

I've eaten here several times and the food is consistently great, as is the service and atmosphere. I highly recommend it.

Lovely place with friendly staff and excellent food. Will be a regular visitor

Had the pizzas in the barn, freshly cooked and very nice

Nice meal 10/10!! Only thing is - the beer is not cold enough and little bubble

Simply a great place for a delicious hearty meal be it a a fish and chips or the veggie option. Pair your meal with a local lager and maybe even enjoy playing a cards game in the library in the back. Must have the chunky chips. I’d even venture to have some dessert. When in Massingham 🤷🏻‍♂️

Great location for cycling Peddars Way, great room, great service, great food, can you tell we loved it!

The staff in here were so lovely and made it a really enjoyable lunch. The crispy chilli beef was soooo good, ten times better than anything you would get from a take away. I had the burger as my main which was great, really juicy and filling with lots of chips.

Very sad day for us but We stop off for lunch on our way home from picking up our horses ashes , they are very welcoming! And the food was fabulous !

Lovely clean stylish place and warm

Fantastic proper pub with a gastro twist. Real warm pub with fires and cheerful staff. Once you've had a pint go and eat in the restaurant! The food is rubbing shoulders with a Michelin star but at average high street prices. Real gem of a place.

Really lovely Sunday roast, cosy sat by the fire, our dogs were well catered for too.

We travelled from Lincolnshire to meet family from Suffolk - it was a great mid point. Situated in a very pretty village, a warm welcome awaited us. Attentive, courteous staff, comfortable spacious restaurant and bar, a great beer selection and friendly locals set the scene. The lunch menu was the best I've seen in ages something to suit everyone, beautifully served and executed. My starter was golden beetroot with a goats cheese mousse, chicory leaves and a gremolata dressing - it was delicious, followed by a duo of venison with root vegetables, stunning in taste and beautifully presented. We are planning our next trip!!

I have just enjoyed the best pub lunch that I can remember! Food ranged from pub classics to serious restaurant food - our table enjoyed some of each. Beer and service were perfect. It's a long drive from where we live, but really well worth it.

Just had the most delicious roast here. Pink beef, giant Yorkshire pudding, the best gravy and some interesting (in a really good way) veg. Big portions but high quality. The desserts were amazing too. We had sticky toffee pudding with banana ice cream and peanut brittle - such a good combination. Perfect food and perfect service. If we lived closer we would be here every Sunday. It was very busy so glad we had booked. Very impressed how fast the service was though. Thank you Dabbling Duck!

Amazing food, very friendly and helpful staff. Would definitely recommend and will return.

Just gets better and better every time I visit; food, service, accommodation. Best place to stay and eat in Norfolk!

Comfortable rooms spacious. Tidy.very nice Could do with a luggage holder and a small table is all. Good restraunts and menu. Great breakfast and dinner. Service great and friendly.