FELTWELL — If you can’t find the new landlady at the West End pub in Feltwell, you might just need to look up.
Lizzy Coombs, who took over the bar and restaurant last November with her husband Nick, said she has been known to get into the party with her customers, to the point of dancing on the tables.
“My hubby goes, ‘Oh, here she goes,’ ” Coombs said, grinning.
The Coombs said they are trying to add a new vitality to the West End — one of Feltwell’s only pubs — with a retooled menu and a lineup of social events.
First up is a six-week karaoke tournament starting April 7 in an “American Idol” style format, complete with judges and prizes including champagne and 30 pounds for the winner.
Also in store are occasional live bands and Friday night DJs, which Lizzy Coombs hopes will bring more people into the pub.
If the crowds do arrive, they’ll have one of three rooms to pick from for food and 20-ounce curls. The West End is a three-roomed, L-shaped establishment with a couple of tables out back for a beer garden. From the main entrance, the low-ceilinged bar is the first area to greet guests, where Bombardier ale, a large TV and some seating are available.
Around the corner is a smaller room housing the West End’s pool table and a smaller bar, followed by the dining room in the back, where Lizzy dishes out a range of grub six days a week (Monday is cleaning day — no food), including a buffet carvery two days a week.
A native of Steinfurt, Germany, the diminutive Coombs said she plans to add some dishes from her homeland to the menu, which right now includes everything from steaks and pasta to Cumberland sausage and tikka masala.
In the meantime, Coombs said business has been picking up after a slower-than-hoped-for start late last year. As far as pubs go, it’s fairly standard: an aging, brick-and-timber building with deep carpet and dark colors on the inside, though one local who’s been frequenting the West End for 20 years said it has some historical trivia tied to it.
“The German spies used to sit in here when the guys were on missions [in World War II],” the man said.
With the spies presumably gone, these days Coombs said she is eager to court Americans back into the West End, and is hoping her combination of cooking and events will do it.
“It’s a lovely place, very friendly,” said the local man.
See previous After Hours reviews here.
West End
Location: 43 Long Lane, Feltwell.
Food: A full menu with pasta, steaks, pub grub, seafood and snacks. Kitchen closed on Mondays; carvery Sunday and Thursday.
Drinks: Standard lagers with Strongbow, Bombardier ale, John Smith’s and Guinness.
Entertainment: Karaoke on Saturdays, with plans for live bands and DJs on Friday night.
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. weekdays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
