Tut! Tut!

We had a drive, and a walk, and then I said "We're quite near Swaffham, shall we go and try and find a cup of tea?" I wasn't looking for luxury 3-tiered cake stands with scones and fancy sandwiches. Just a cuppa and a slice of spongecake. I was sure that one of the twee little tea places would have survived the pandemic and still be serving afternoon refreshments to the good folk of central Norfolk...

We parked in the Market Place- and there, just across the road was "Tutankhamun's Emporium - bar- bistro-gallery" 

And we knew that was where we wanted to go!

Friends, we were not disappointed. It was a real treat

You will recall that in 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter, under the patronage of Lord Caernarvon, uncovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun. The wonderful gold death mask, thousands of artefacts...And the Carter family came from Swaffham. Howard spent much of his childhood in the town, living with his aunts in Keeper's Cottage. His nephew Harry was art teacher at the Grammar School [and produced over 200 of the Norfolk town signs]

The town museum has one room devoted to Howard - but on the whole, I think Swaffham is missing a trick here. Tut! Tut! What about a blue plaque? Children love all that Ancient Egyptian stuff and treatment of the bodies after death [ weighing your heart against a feather, wrapping your body in a roll of loo paper, pulling out your brains through your nose with a bent paperclip*] They cheerfully 'walk like an Egyptian' round the classroom, and write their names in hieroglyphics. And Howard Carter is the guy who started the craze- it is the centenary of the discovery next year. 

Enough ranting, back to the Emporium. As we entered we realised the decor was 1920s/Egyptian themed. Art Deco lamps, Hieroglyphs on the walls, Pharoahs' thrones- and a huge Sphinx opposite the bar. The Eye of Horus** was on the ceiling. We were shown to our seat [very comfy sofas towards the back of the cafe] and given menus. 

There were plenty of other happy customers. It was drizzling with rain - and two cyclists had been able to bring the bikes inside and leave them safely where they were not a trip hazard. 

Sue Allen, the owner greeted us, and explain that Howard was her Great-Uncle. 

She started this Egyptian themed eatery a couple of years ago - and it has managed to survive lockdown.

Howard's portrait stares at us from the wall, and the back of the room is lined with cabinets full of souvenirs of visits to the Nile region. So much to see and take in!

I was utterly fascinated by it all. The staff made us so welcome too. "When do you close?" "When the last customer goes!" the waitress said cheerfully.

But what of the food? the menu went far beyond the tea and cake [check out the facebook page] Mediterranean themed dishes, tapas - they even cooked 'off-menu' stuff for the cyclists [Could you do us scrambled eggs on toast, please? - Yes, they could] 

The choice of cakes was excellent - Bob had coffee&walnut, I had almond&blueberry sponge. Huge slices! The tea and coffee were both very good too, at competitive prices. 

Thank you to Sue and the staff for giving us a lovely time. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming [background music not too loud, easy-listening relaxing stuff from the Bacharach era and also some 1920s favourites] 
Even without the Egyptian decor [which was, frankly, quite crazy -in places, but such fun] this was a good place to visit. I can think of 10 year olds I know who would love peering into the glass cabinets, taking selfies by the Sphinx, and trying to decipher the hieroglyphics - happily occupied, whilst their Grans ate sponge cake.

Come on Swaffham Council - get planning an Egyptian themed carnival or something! Celebrate the local hero and attract some customers for the other good little shops in the town.

*I may have some of the details a bit wrong here!

**Eye-of-Horus. A heads-up Only Connect starts again on July 12th