From mocktails to Sunday roasts, Oakwood House goes all out when it comes to preparing delicious food and drink for residents.
The Norwich care home takes pride in offering fresh, tasty meals prepared by the small, in-house catering team.
Residents enjoy three nutritious meals a day, which are tailored to their dietary needs, as well as unlimited snacks.
There’s a choice of at least two dishes at each mealtime, plus a dessert, and the seasonal menu features many popular meals, such as toad in the hole and chicken pasta salad.
Hand-battered fish and chips are available each Friday, and a roast dinner is served every Sunday.
Mica Nunn has worked as one of the cooks at Oakwood House for a year and a half.
This is Mica’s first time working at a care home, having previously worked at restaurants and hotels.
She said classic British dishes are the most popular with Oakwood House residents.
“Definitely fish on a Friday,” she said. “Shepherd’s pie with vegetables and Sunday roasts are also a favourite. They all know what they like.”
Sample menus
Lunch
- Pork steaks with honey mustard sauce and wholegrain mustard sauce
- Poached fish in lemon and parsley sauce with new potatoes
- Chocolate brownie
Dinner
- Vegetarian lasagne and salad
- Sandwiches
- Soup of the day
- Carrot cake
Lunch
- Roast topside of beef
- Chicken and spinach lasagne with salad
- Rhubarb and strawberry crumble
Dinner
- Buffet tea including a selection of sandwiches, sausage rolls, salad and potato salad
- Soup of the day
- Chocolate sponge
Snacks are available too, with a tea trolley brought round regularly.
“We do a tea trolley twice a day, with tea, coffee, hot chocolate and homemade cakes and biscuits,” said Mica.
Cakes are also part of residents’ birthday celebrations. The kitchen team makes a birthday cake for each resident.
“They really appreciate it,” said Mica, who takes time to sit and chat to the residents when she has a break from the busy kitchen.
As well as cooking daily meals, snacks and cakes, the kitchen team get involved in themed days too.
On a recent Swedish themed day, they made ginger thin biscuits called pepparkakor.
Meanwhile, residents coloured in Swedish flags with the activities coordinators and staff dressed up in traditional clothes.
“We make a whole day of it,” said Mica.
And it’s not just the kitchen team that get involved in creating delicious food and drink, the home’s gardener, Phoenix Rivers, used herbs from the garden to make mocktails (non-alcoholic cocktails) in the summer, which were served with cupcakes.
Preparing delicious meals is just one of the ways that Oakwood House makes sure residents continue to enjoy the things in life that they always have.
Oakwood House is a “Good” CQC graded care home. For more information, go to oakwoodhousecare.org
