December 1 opening day for Aylsham Thai/English restaurant

Next Tuesday (December 1) sees the re-opening of an Aylsham restaurant with a fusion of English and Thai food on the menu.

The New Forge, which has previously been The Greens and The Forge, has been taken over by Tim and Koi Sizeland, who moved to Aylsham from a similar successful venture the Wheatacre White Lion, near Beccles.

Tim, who lived in the town previously for two years in 2000, said he was looking forward to welcoming customers back to the pub and restaurant and hoped the new menu would go down well.

“We wanted to combine the Thai cuisine with some traditional English food to appeal to everyone,” he said.

Tim and Koi have been working hard in the restaurant since they took on the freehold in September to get it ready for Tuesday’s opening. And he said they already had bookings lined up for that week, including one party which transferred their booking from the White Lion when they knew the couple were moving on.

“Our last pub was a very rural location with no passing trade so it will be interesting to see how things develop here with the town nearby and a busy road on our doorstep,” said Tim.

He is hoping that the couple’s reputation from their previous business will follow then to Aylsham, along with a few of their regulars.

Tim, who started his working life as a pig breeder, will be mostly seen managing the bar area, having worked for many years in holiday camps in that role. Koi is in charge of the kitchen, having left her job in the Inland Revenue in Thailand after she married Tim six years ago. She gained experience in Thai restaurants in Norwich before they took on the White Lion.

The couple are already becoming known in the area, having used local traders to help with the spruce-up and they are now looking to take on new bar and waiting staff.

Call Tim on 01263 734275 if you are interested.