Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

Great Yarmouth – South Star / Quayside Tavern (closed)

It’s always sad to see a pub closed, this is the former South Star, later known as the Quayside Tavern and the Quay Pride. It shut a couple of years ago and that closure seems permanent as it appears to be a private residence now. It took its name from the South Star Battery which was a defensive structure built in 1782. Norfolk Heritage Explorer notes that the back garden wall has some reused materials from the former Blackfriars Friary which was dissolved in the 1530s. These are attractive Lacons buildings which are located in numerous places around Great Yarmouth, a distinctive design from the 1920s.

March 30, 2023
Great Yarmouth – Blackfriars Tavern (Second Visit)

This is my second visit to this really very good pub, which I waxed lyrical about before. This time I had visited on a day trip with another Julian where we went to all the Good Beer Guide pubs, plus another pub that looked interesting that I hadn’t been to before.

The welcome was just as effusive this time and I was delighted to see that they have a food menu which I hadn’t realised before.

And I like a pie! They didn’t have a couple of choices available, but they’re home made and the steak and kidney pie was excellent, plenty of steak without any of the fatty bits so that’s a win. Much better than the processed stuff that some pubs sell.

The former smoke room entrance that I hadn’t noticed on my previous visit. I didn’t mention last time that the pub takes it name from the former Blackfriars church which existed in this area. There are bits of that building, which burnt in 1525 and was dissolved in 1534, still visible in the South Star (now closed) and Feathers Inn pubs.

Many of these bottles are for sale, I think I thought that they were decorative last time. This is why I need to revisit pubs to find out things I hadn’t initially realised…… I’m not always the most observant.

The Stout Robin from Barsham Brewery was very agreeable, well kept and had a roasted flavour which suitably complemented my pie.

I won’t repeat what I wrote in my previous post about this pub, the same applied on this visit and I think it’s a welcoming and inviting place with a landlord who understands pubs. But once again, I will say that anyone visiting Great Yarmouth who likes pubs with a comfortable atmosphere would be well advised to take a slight detour to get here. All very lovely.

March 30, 2023
Norwich – 1792 Anti Slave-Trade Committee

Whilst I was looking at the history of The Bell pub I noticed that they were home to the Norwich Revolutionary Society, a group that would probably be called ‘woke’ today. Or, I prefer the word ‘kind’, but each to their own. I found this list of donors to the 1792 campaign to end slavery and I thought how just ahead of the curve these individuals were. But there was also one group in the list which was an organisation, namely the Revolutionary Society who donated nearly £11, equivalent to around £900 today.

Others who donated more than £1 included:

H Bell

G Maltby

Rev. John Buxton

John Birkbeck

James Smith

Yarington and Bacon

Rev. D Foster

Joseph Gurney

John Gurney

Rev. John Prettyman

Miss Green

John Jackson

John Scott

N Styleman

William Herring

Hannah Goddart

Rev. Philip Bell

Rev. Stephen Allen

Rev E Edward

The Gurneys were a local Quaker banking family, with their business eventually becoming part of Barclays Bank. Slavery is a challenge to Barclays, some of their founders over the centuries were slave owners, but some of their other important figures were campaigning against it. William Herring was a wealthy Norwich merchant who became the Sheriff of the city in 1786 and the Mayor in 1796, when he received a present of a sword from Horatio Nelson. I’m intrigued by some of the other names on the list, I may well return to this as it’s a fascinating subject.

March 28, 2023
Norwich Bar Billiards League – White Lion Manes

Here’s a photo of me from last year (NB, that isn’t a fashion item around my wrist, it was my face covering which I wasn’t sure where to put, although perhaps over my face would have been sensible) when I put myself in charge of refereeing a Legstretchers bar billiards tournament, although I probably remembered half the rules incorrectly. Anyway, I’ve joined a team this year, the White Lion Manes, although I’m more engaged with the food than the bar billiards bit. The league, slightly oddly referring to us as the White Lions Manes which poses me some grammatical issues, is at https://www.norwichbarbilliards.co.uk/League and I might get away with gossiping our team until someone happens to read up about what I’ve been writing and I’ll have to calm myself.

Anyway, our captain, who I shall refer to as Keir, is pretending that it isn’t something that should be taken seriously, although it’s clear to me that it is absolutely in his mind something that is more important than the essence of life itself. I will update this riveting blog on how many games I lose and when Keir orders me out of his team, but until that happens I shall merrily post even more photos of food which is why I’m doing this.

My home pub will be the White Lion, which is moderately annoying as it’s half way across the city from where I live, but I suppose I could pop into the King’s Head for a rest on the way there and back. I also don’t have a cue and I don’t want one, I’m not traipsing that around the city and it won’t make any difference to me anyway. I’m not sure that I know the rules either, which will cause a scene when Keir realises and mutters and moans that my fancy shot is actually in fact illegal. I understand that I have to referee some matches, which I shall be doing as infrequently as I can get away with as I’ll get muddled up and I don’t like adding up (Keir got an A at GCSE Maths so he’s alright).

Anyway, there’s food and beer involved, so hopefully the bar billiards bit won’t ruin those two key elements.

March 28, 2023
Norwich – Kimchi

This is my first visit to Kimchi on Brigg Street, which was formerly the Three Ways Lebanese restaurant. It came recommended by a few people and I went today with James since he had already been and he was also smitten by the place.

Their specialism is KFC, or Korean Fried Chicken, although the menu has numerous other options including a tapas selection.

There weren’t a large number of beers to choose from, although the soft drinks range is relatively broad for the small size of the restaurant. I was surprised that although they had opened shortly before that they were nearly full when we arrived for our 18:00 reservation. Reservations are also pretty much essential here, although the process is easy enough as it involves just completing a quick on-line booking rather than having to be stressed by phoning them.

I went for a Tiger Beer, the Chilli KFC, the pork Man-Doo, Kimchi and a rice to share, with James going for the same other than he had the vegetarian Man-Doo. The food was brought out after nine minutes and the whole arrangement seemed efficient. As it would be expected for me to say, I would have preferred a Korean beer to Tiger which is a little generic, but I begrudgingly admit that it wasn’t out of place. And that food looked appetising when it arrived, very Instagrammable.

This is the regular sized Chilli KFC which is larger than I had anticipated when I saw it on the menu. The chicken is generously coated in sauce but it retained its crispiness and the meat was tender and moist. It’s all boneless which makes matters easier, although I did stain my fingers with the dark sauce because I decided against eating in a sensible way by using a knife and fork. There was some heat to it in terms of spice, but it wasn’t excessive and it was complemented well with the pineapple mayo that it’s served with.

They were generous again with the steam dumplings which retained some texture as they have been part cooked in the pan. The pork wasn’t obvious by taste, but the overall flavour was slightly complex and the soy sauce went well with them, although I could have done with more of that. There was a compulsive edge to these where I could have eaten far more than the eight provided, they were light and rich which suits my greedy appetite.

The kimchi is provided free of charge and it added an acidic edge to proceedings.

I didn’t get a photo of the interior as it’s a small space and the restaurant was full, so it didn’t feel entirely appropriate. The service was timely and personable, with the environment feeling welcoming. I wasn’t quite sure about the large mirror that we were seated next too, so I positioned myself so that I didn’t have to look into my own eyes, suitable treat as that might have been. I’m not sure that they offer desserts here, they weren’t listed on the menu and we weren’t offered any, although I’m not sure what Korean after meal treats there are to offer.

As I’m not very well trained it did take me some time to wash off my stained hands, but eating in this manner makes it feel more authentic, or that’s my excuse anyway. I was impressed with the portion sizes and the prices were very reasonable given the quality and quantity of food served. It’s comfort food which is always a treat for a rainy Tuesday night and I must say that it’s better than the other KFC that is available in Norwich.

March 28, 2023
Brandon Parva – All Saints Church (Harry Purling)

Richard and I visited All Saints Church in Brandon Parva a couple of weeks ago, but more of that in later posts. This is the war grave of Harry Purling which is located in the graveyard of that church, he died at the age of 28 on 17 May 1918. There’s little more for me to add to what is available on an interesting project in the Group of 15 area as it gives plenty of details about Harry’s life.

In short, Harry was born in the village on 10 July 1889 and was baptised in All Saints Church on 22 September 1889. He was the son of John and Mary Ann and he was one of 12 children, but a later census noted that 7 had died. Listed as being a farm labourer at the 1911 census, during the First World War Harry initially joined the 1st/4th Norfolk Regiment (soldier number 1329) in 1914 and was then transferred to the Devonshire Regiment (soldier number 203948).

His military records don’t appear to have survived, but the war notes show that he died in the UK from pneumonia on 17 May 1918. He appeared to be in the 1/4th Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment which was fighting in the Mesopotamia campaign at that time, not a huge distance away from Baghdad. I’m not an expert in this (or indeed at anything really) but I understand that soldiers often changed regiments at this time as they had been injured and were then sent back out with troops from another area. But without his war record (the majority of records were destroyed in a fire during the Second World War), I’m not sure where Harry spent the First World War, although his medal card (available free from the National Archives) does indicate that he was awarded the Victory Medal and the 1915 Medal, both of which I think required service overseas.

That all means I don’t know where he fought, the destruction of the army records in September 1940 was a huge loss for matters such as this. My very amateurish best guess is that he was sent with the 1/4th Battalion of Norfolk Regiment to Gallipoli where he was injured, returned to the UK and was then sent out to Baghdad before coming back injured. It must have been a grand adventure for someone who was unlikely to have gone far from Brandon Parva where he was born, baptised, lived and worked, but one with a tragic ending. At least for his family his body was returned to the village, where he will forever lie in peace. For reasons I’m unclear about, the stone was replaced in 1980, I assume just because the inscription became unreadable.

March 28, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 8 and Taste of Shanghai

This is the eighth week of our plan to eat at every food stall at Norwich market this year.

This is the menu at Taste of Shanghai with some tempting options there on the menu board and the prices looked reasonable so my initial impressions were positive.

The server was friendly and helpful, always good to be welcomed with a smile and eye contact, and she took the order in an interested manner. Nathan ‘social butterfly’ Hensley of course sort of knew the man preparing the food, so that all added to the engagement. There is absolutely nothing on either menu board that I wouldn’t have been pleased to try, this is a menu that to me seemed exciting and very much my type of thing.

I ordered the black pepper chicken with rice which was £7 and it was a delight to see that everything was freshly made. There’s a five to ten minute wait for food, but I’d far wait for that short period of time and have something fresh. I also liked that they didn’t take payment, with cards being welcomed, until after the food was served, I thought that was a nice little touch. The extras were also keenly priced, including drinks for £1 each which is towards the lower end of the scale for the market.

Nathan approved of his sweet and sour chicken, which was £6 for what was a generous portion. I liked how his sweet and sour chicken friend asked him if he would like chilli with the meal, a little bit of personalisation there.

Enough about Nathan and back to me. My black pepper chicken was well presented with crispy onions on top and a free spring roll, which was a handy little starter. The portion size was generous, there was plenty of chicken which was tender and moist, the rice was fluffy, the crispy onions added texture and there was some salad element to complete the mix. The sauce was rich and peppery and it coated all of the chicken with everything served at the appropriate temperature. There’s also no MSG used in the preparation of the food which suggests to me a more authentic experience.

I’m very much sold on this venue, the service was personable and immediate with the food being well presented and having a depth of taste and flavour. This is Norwich market at its best, that kind of interaction between the chef and customer, providing excellent quality for a reasonable price. Seeing food being made fresh is a bonus and I think it adds to the anticipation and excitement of the whole arrangement. The food was filling and although there is no seating or leaning area at this stall, there are always places to stand around the market out of the way of other people.

The reviews for this venue are nearly entirely positive, indeed there are just two negative reviews amongst the many five star ones and I can imagine how disappointed the owner is with them judging by their response. Not wishing to overly dwell on them, but one is:

“Rachel Irons : Really disappointing! The wait was very long, and then the result was verging on disgusting, we didn’t eat any, neither me nor my friend liked it. We ordered chicken katsu and it was so sweet almost like a desert ! The rice was over cooked and mushy and the sauce really ruined it. Nice people, cheap but not nice.”

The reply:

“Hi, Rachel

We are sorry for your unpleasant experience. As you can see we cook for our customers with one to one service. It might take time to wait during the busy time. Sometimes even bit longer. We use the high quality chicken. Also the sauce is our standard. It is our very popular trademark. We fully understand we can’t satisfied everyone but majority. And as the result you are not happy with the way of our taste. We will be happy to give you full refund. You can come to our stall at anytime with no prove. Your interest is always our priority. Thanks!

15/01/2023

Hi, Rachel

Happy New Year.

Had a review of the ratings for our services. You are the only customer we haven’t heard any reply from you. As we promised that your refund is always available. And we really don’t want to let anyone down. Maybe one day you will find your favourite food in our stall when you come again. All the best to you. Many thanks:)”

I feel their pain, but each to their own as individuals can of course leave their feedback in whatever form they like, but this tells me how much the owners seem to care about the customer experience that they tried so hard to respond, albeit to no avail. But, not dwelling on the negative, this feels a much more typical review and is one that I agree with:

“The boss has a good service attitude and is very enthusiastic. The food is good and cheap is a rare snack that makes my eyes shine. Compared with some flashy restaurants, this small shop gave me many more surprises and surprises.”

Overall, I’d definitely say that this is one of my favourite stalls of our expedition so far, I can imagine that I’ll be back again to start working through some of their other options. I was surprised and delighted, a very impressive little stall and I look forwards to returning.

March 28, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Three – Caso Sério)

Once again I put myself in choosing the evening’s restaurant and I went for Caso Sério, a small restaurant in the tourist area but it was well reviewed and had 30% off on TheFork. I didn’t take many photos, so the scene above is from the end of the meal, but it gives an impression of the homely nature of the venue. What is in the photo is just about the entire size of the restaurant, although they have a small number of external tables as well for those who like eating outdoors. The noise levels were also relatively low, so it felt a comfortable dine and we were never rushed during our time in the restaurant.

In the background is Bev complaining about something and in the foreground is the very acceptable, or at least from a big brewer, Super Bock Stout. I was concerned that there might be some fado performance here as I’m not hugely engaged with musical entertainment, but I was pleased when the waiter confirmed that there was no such show on the night that we were there. Bev and Susanna did their usual thing of saying they couldn’t possibly drink more than one glass of wine each, but then ended up having just about a bottle each. Steve and I didn’t say anything.

The menu is relatively limited in size, but it’s of a scale that they can clearly cope with and there was sufficient choice. I ordered the chick peas with cod fish and I was going to have a mixed board which had a selection of local meats and cheeses. The waiter, who was friendly and personable, suggested that they were too large to have one each, which I was sceptical about. Susanna and I shared a mixed board and in the end we just ordered another one so we ended up with the equivalent of one each. The chick peas had a depth of flavour from the cod and the individual items on the mixed boards all tasted of a decent quality, with one of the spicy sauces adding heat to the arrangement. The bread was a little bit generic, I thought that they could have been a little more exotic with that.

I’m not going to win any photography awards with this image, but it’s of the lemon cheesecake. To my delight, there was a lot of lemon in this and it had a suitable sharp taste which had some zing to it. The dessert choice was this or chocolate cake, so although I was perfectly pleased with this dessert, the dessert menu was rather limited in its scope.

The pricing was really quite low for the quality, my two beers, mixed board, chick peas and dessert came to around £18. One reviewer wrote:

“This restaurant severely undervalues itself. This is Michelin-level food and you’re missing out if you don’t come here during your time in Lisboa, assuming you are a tourist. Servers are very friendly, speak excellent English, and are more often than not literally within an arm’s reach if you need them. My only complaint is that the dessert menu could use some expansion into Portuguese classics, but the rest of the menu shines so brightly that this is hardly a fair criticism.”

It’s a positive review, although I’m not quite sure that I would go as far as to say that the food was Michelin-level. However, it all tasted freshly made and the ingredients used seemed to be of a good quality. The standout element was the engagement from the waiter, who was pro-active and personable, although I’m not sure I agree with his assessment that the mixed board was too much for one. But, that’s no complaint as it’s much easier to under order and then add to it rather than just over order and then leave some of it.

Given that the restaurant is a thirty second walk from Lisbon Cathedral, so in a touristy area, I thought that the whole experience was very agreeable and I’d come again here. Perhaps next time I might work through their seemingly relatively large range of roasted sausages and other tapas options, I can imagine that’d be rather nice in their homely restaurant.

March 27, 2023
LDWA – Daffodil Dawdle 2023

The Daffodil Dawdle is one of the challenge events that is organised by Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA and one that I’ve been marshalling for several years having previously walked it numerous times. My role in the whole event is managing the registration and IT side of the operation, aided by Richard who I’ve trained up to do just about everything, which is allowing me to focus on my additional role of food tester. The start is Stradbroke Community Centre where we were made welcome by the particularly engaging and personable caretaker.

Here’s Richard entertaining some of the entrants before they get ready to start the event, which this year had two options, an 18 mile and a 26 mile route. He has been getting much better at recent events following my extensive training programme which I’ve been offering, although he’s yet to walk a challenge event himself. There were many negative comments about that during the course of the day, although to be fair, they were all from me. Being the brave athlete I am, I’ve already signed up to complete the Smuggler’s Trod later this year, the third time that I would have entered.

I put myself in charge of signage and an example of my professionalism is visible here. Richard claimed that this was would blow away within minutes, but I’m pleased to confirm that it lasted for the entire day.

Some of the 08:00 starters ready for the off, with plenty of Hike Norfolk members in there as well.

The 08:30 starters.

And the 09:00 starters who were mostly runners.

After the registration process is completed and the entrants are all on their way, Richard and I do two things. Firstly, we double check the entries to ensure we know how many people are out on the route and we update the checkpoints with this information using WhatsApp. Secondly, we get breakfast, which is my case was a delicious beans on toast prepared with care by Hayley in the kitchen.

Jayne excelled herself in the kitchen with this delicious leek and potato soup, which was prepared in honour of South Wales group. Actually, I’m not sure if that’s true, but it’s the sort of thing that we should do. Many entrants commented just how good this was and I’ve requested that it makes a reappearance at future events.

Peach crumble, also prepared by Jayne and this is another one of my favourites.

When entrants come in I tell them how brave they’ve been, if I think that’s appropriate, before writing down the time and entrant number for Richard to process. He then prints a certificate, which I carefully take over to the certificate table. Richard and I think that this is the mostly highly streamlined element of the event, although the kitchen staff are also nearing perfection as well. We run such a tight knit little enterprise in the corner that it gives me time to go and sit with entrants who have finished the route to gossip about numerous things.

It’s always great to hear feedback from entrants and I only received positive comments about the route, the volunteers and the food and drink. For LDWA members, the event fee was £14 which gets you drinks and biscuits at the start, numerous checkpoints all laden with food, such as sandwiches, crisps and the like, as well as the soup, beans on toast and peach crumble at the end. You also get a certificate and the warm feeling of completing a challenge, all for a very reasonable price I think.

We had just under 140 people walking the event this year and we were pleased that a slightly soggy area on the route had mostly dried out by the day of the challenge. Entrants navigate around the route using either GPX, the route description or a combination of both, but there are nearly always people around to follow if anyone does get muddled up. The group’s next event is the Summer Poppyline in Sheringham which will take place on Saturday 22 July 2023, with entries open at https://www.sientries.co.uk/event.php?elid=Y&event_id=11026.

And for anyone interested in volunteering for the LDWA in Norfolk and Suffolk, contact Hilary or Ray. Unfortunately the food testing role is filled, but help is always appreciated in other areas, whether that’s in the kitchen, at checkpoints, checking the route or in many other ways.

March 27, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Three – Papillon Craft Beer Bar)

As the name of the bar suggests, the owners are trying to market this venue as a craft beer bar and I think it’s quite a new opening so that’s all positive. This is the bottled beer area at the rear of the shop, which was a little understocked but I imagine that’s linked to their being relatively new.

The beer list seemed slightly odd to me and somewhat padded out with Deuce and Black Sheep beers having an oddly strong presence. These aren’t big hitting modern craft beer bars, such as just one example of thousands being Funky Fluid which I keep going on about and which we’d had in the previous bar, but rather more generic. This isn’t necessarily a complaint, as I like venues that sell beer that isn’t just generic mass produced lagers and it’s always positive when there’s plenty of choice, but I suspect this is why this bar has managed to get only a relatively small number of check-ins on Untappd.

The seating is far from ideal, the seating at the bar is a little too low and the seats in the main part of the bar are all either beer barrels or very low and uncomfortable. I’m all for rustic seating but it didn’t really add a great deal to the ambience of the bar, it just made it feel slightly awkward. However, the service was impeccable, the staff member was friendly, engaging and knowledgeable with the welcome being warm and hospitable.

I went for the Deuce Wheatbeer which was unexceptional but tasted OK, it’s far from the best wheat beer going and perhaps the bar could have been braver with its choice of draft options.

Hopefully this post doesn’t sound too negative, as all bars trying to cater for the craft beer market should be welcomed and the staff member here was doing a marvellous job at engaging with customers. The rest felt a little formulaic and missing the mark though, the beer choice didn’t feel well curated and the bar furniture is ill-fitting to its environment. The external signage focuses on the craft beer and mentions that it’s the taproom of Vadia, but I’m not sure where the link with that brewery is as I couldn’t see any of their beers on draft. But, I’m sure it’ll all work out well here, with a friendly welcome and keen prices that should make it popular. It’s one venue that I’d say really needs to become Untappd verified, so that the beer menu is more transparent and also to encourage beer drinkers to head slightly off the beaten track to get there.

March 24, 2023