Category: Norwich

I’ve been planning to come here for a long time and fortunately James was not difficult to persuade to come with me, perhaps because he correctly sensed that I was not going to stop mentioning it. James and I last visited this place when it was Orford Plaice, when he compared it to a Wimpy. Anyway, it’s been here for over a year now and it’s always looked busy when I’ve meandered by.

And there’s the tagline, it’s Korean chicken which is nice with or without the rice. I like direct taglines, there’s no need for a manifesto when they have chicken.

There’s the menu board and the prices were a little towards the higher end, but that’s not unreasonable as it’s all on-trend, they have exposed brick, confidence and a modern font on the screens.

Customers order using tablets on the counter and I’m very happy with that whole process. It lets me spend a little longer seeing what I want to order, it lets me look at the options and it’s also handy for those who don’t speak the local language to be able to get a better understanding of the whole arrangement.

James ordered chicken with a load of vegetables. I think he’s approached middle age with a concern about his health and an acceptance of adulthood. As for me, I’m sure that I’ll be equally concerned about similar things when I approach middle age in a few years. Despite having ordering second, James’s food arrived first, which I outwardly accepted with a moderate amount of grace and inwardly treated as a small personal injustice. On the positive side, the team member soon called my name and handed me my food and he was friendly and jovial.

As I evidently have more basic tastes, I went for a chicken box and a side of spring rolls. I didn’t expect this mound of chicken if I’m being honest, the portion size was way more than I was anticipating. It’s fortunate that I’m quite greedy and I am not easily intimidated by excessive quantities of fried food. There was plenty of sauce on the chicken pieces, which were mainly thigh meat, but they were tender and had a depth of taste and flavour. The sauce is a sticky red Yang-Yum sauce and after fifteen minutes of eating all this chicken, my hands were certainly sticky. The spring rolls were fine, crispy on the exterior and they had a pleasant taste, although I would note that they weren’t really any better than most frozen spring rolls and I didn’t get the impression that there was a grandmother in the kitchen who had devoted a lifetime of work to developing them.

It was busy during our visit, but by the time I had finished, everyone had left or perhaps that was because I was so covered in sauce other customers were just put off their food. Carefully ensuring I didn’t end up with sauce on the camera lens, I took this photo on the way out of the seating area.

The whole atmosphere here is laid-back, informal and it does feel on-trend and interesting. The food quality is high, the portion size was generous and because of that, I felt that there was value for money. They have a loyalty scheme but it requires twenty purchases to get a free chicken box and that’s too many required visits to entice me back for the moment. But, I’m sure that I’ll return here at some point and I left feeling that I had eaten enough decent quality food, so I’ll take that as a win.

On a side issue, James and I will have to come up with a plan for a mini food series before Norwich Market 2027 begins in a few months. The anticipation….

We normally do 2Js to pubs and licensed venues which we feel might surprise and delight us, but this visit was to the local Government hustings being held at Norwich Playhouse.

The debate was introduced by Stephen Crocker, the Chief Executive of Norwich Theatre, and moderated by the editor of the EDP, Richard Porritt (on far left, although I don’t mean that in a political sense). Then we have Steve Morphew (Labour), Nick Taylor (Reform UK), Jan Davis (Green), James Wright (Liberal Democrats) and Andrew Jamieson (Conservative).

There was perhaps one error here from the organisers which is that they ended up with five male middle-aged candidates, which is great, but it didn’t feel very representative. Although the organisers said that they just asked every party to field a representative, there should have perhaps been some more joined up thinking here. James Wright mentioned that as soon as the situation was apparent he made efforts to find a different representative, but it seems they weren’t given enough notice. The issue was brought up by a member of the audience, and Richard Porritt was asked why he had selected two men to ask the first two questions from the audience.

The tickets were free of charge and the venue was around two thirds full. The audience seemed quite well balanced in terms of age, gender and political views, with no one group dominating the arrangement.

Julian had got us tickets on the balcony, which I didn’t even realise existed, and this gentleman was selected to ask a question. The set-up was that every candidate got ninety seconds to introduce themselves, then there were questions from the audience and then every candidate got some time to sum up why people should vote for their party.

Jan Davis.

James Wright.

Andrew Jamieson.

Nick Taylor.

Steve Morphew.

I won’t go into my political thoughts about the candidates as I think it was really useful that they all turned up for a debate such as this. There were interesting questions on the environment, local Government reform, younger people in politics, policing, public transport, care homes, well-being and culture.

One of the candidates seemed a little inexperienced when he bit back at the audience in a way that felt inappropriate, that was perhaps the only low point of the debate. Otherwise the debate was always polite and well mannered, although I always prefer just a little drama. There was a considerable amount of experience from the individuals being questioned and an evident passion for their local communities.

Anyway, this was an enjoyable ninety minutes or so and credit to the organisers for using their space in this manner to further the democratic process. As Stephen Crocker said at the end, the main thing is though to vote.

I’ve written about Cow Tower before when I was wittering on about the parish of St. Helen’s. However, I’d heard that the gate that has for years prevented people entering the site has been removed, so I thought I’d check on that arrangement.

And the gate has indeed been opened, whether by vandalism or design, I don’t know.

This means for the first time, I’ve been able to see inside the whole structure. To repeat what I wrote before:

“The tower was built between 1398 and 1399, used to defend against foreign invasion and local troublemakers. The latter caused the city some problems during Kett’s Rebellion in 1549, and the structure was damaged during that time.

The stairs that go up to the higher parts of the tower, which is all inaccessible now since the floors have collapsed. Much was demolished during the late eighteenth century, including many city walls and towers, but this survived. This was perhaps as it came under the care of the Great Hospital, who had no real need to demolish it. The building was patched up in the nineteenth century, but this was done by sloppy civil engineers and they caused large cracks to appear by their use of modern cement.”

A former fireplace that I haven’t seen before.

And the interior arrangement. Annoyingly, my camera lens was obviously not impeccably clean as there’s a blur on some of the photos which is sub-optimal.

Just a random article in the 5 October 1905 about the then landlord of the Artichoke pub in Norwich.

“At the same Court, Frederick Sinclair, the Artichoke, Magdalen Gate, Norwich, was summoned for working a mare in an unfit state.—Inspector Adams said the mare was very lame and not fit to be driven. The animal was suffering from sprained tendons.—Defendant admitted that the mare was not in a fit state to be driven when the Inspector stopped him, but he contended that he (defendant) saw the lameness as soon as the Inspector, and was then about to turn round. He sent the animal home by train.—After further evidence, the Chairman said the Magistrates believed there was a doubt about the case, and defendant would have the benefit of it. The case was therefore dismissed.”

So many questions….. I’m disappointed that it’s not clear in the newspaper article where this mare was discovered. Just popping it on a train home seems like something off a faff and it’s certainly not a service offered by Greater Anglia at the moment. There’s sometimes not enough space for bikes, let alone mares with sprained tendons.

And which railway station? Maybe the now closed Norwich City railway station which would have been the nearest to the pub. And I can imagine that Frederick Sinclair would have been most annoyed by the intrusion into his day, especially as the case was dismissed when he went to court.

• – as I became intrigued by this case, I looked into it more and it transpired that Sinclair wasn’t with the mare when it was stopped and he claimed that it hadn’t been in pain when he had last seen it. And the mare had reached Great Yarmouth, so that resolves which train it was….