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Category: Norwich

  • Norwich – Paolo’s Restaurant and the Bin

    Norwich – Paolo’s Restaurant and the Bin

    I saw in the local press a couple of weeks ago that Norwich City Council has taken the initiative to place a bin right outside a restaurant, just under their menu board. This seems an unkind and unhelpful thing to do given that the owner of the restaurant has said that the council didn’t bother to tell him that they were planning to do this.

    The EDP reported that the owner said:

    “I’m a struggling business as it is, as lots are at the moment, so this is just so frustrating. Since the bin has moved people have been standing smoking outside the restaurant and the noise when bins are emptied is horrendous – it just doesn’t help me at all. There’s no point in me having tables and chairs outside at the moment because it’s too cold but in the summer it’s an important part of our business. Now, who is going to want to sit right next to a bin?”

    He seems very sensible and it seems that the council haven’t bothered to do anything about it. It’s unclear to me why they can’t put the bin in a location on the other side of the road, which is outside of their own offices…..

  • Norwich – Plasterers Arms

    Norwich – Plasterers Arms

    This is one of my favourite pubs in the city, definitely deserving its position in the Good Beer Guide. It’s in a residential area and this is one of those pubs which could have easily been lost over recent years, especially since Adnams sold it in 2011 and it is only due to good pub management that it survived. It is formerly a Morgans, then Bullards and then Watney Mann pub, but is now free trade and its future seems much more secure.

    Titanic are one of my favourite breweries and it’s a delight to see something a little rarer from them, which is this Chocolate and Vanilla stout. As a drink, it’s beautiful, a lovely smooth rich beer with the chocolate and vanilla being evident without being overpowering. The service in the pub was friendly and there’s always a relaxed feel to the proceedings.

    The former location of the pub’s bar billiards table….. It’s the removal of this which has also coincided with my not visiting the pub as much, it seems a shame to have lost such a wonderful piece of gaming and the pub’s web-site still has the bar billiards table as their main image on the front page (NB, as a more recent comment, it doesn’t now, the web-site is now also bar billiards less).

    Voodoo Daddy’s was once the supplier of pizzas here and although they’ve moved on, the pub still sells pizzas and also loaded fries. It’s a while since I’ve eaten at the pub, something I must rectify later on in 2020.

    The choice of beers here rarely disappoints me, and I’m not sure that I can remember when it did actually disappoint me…. The staff are knowledgeable and engaging, so the environment always feels welcoming. All rather lovely.

  • Norwich – Ribs of Beef

    Norwich – Ribs of Beef

    In my quest to visit all the pubs in the Good Beer Guide, I’ve managed to mention very few of the Norwich award winners, so I’ll try and resolve that minor problem in 2020….

    The Ribs of Beef has a marvellous riverside location and parts of the building date back to the fourteenth century, although it was badly damaged during a fire in the city in 1507. In 2017, a fragment of the original medieval wall was discovered during renovations, a section which has been left uncovered.

    The building was originally used primarily as a residential property and it was in use as a pub by 1743 when it was first known as the Ribs of Beef. The frontage was knocked about a bit in 1898 to allow for road widening for the city trams and the now smaller building was re-opened as a pub in 1904. It was decided in 1928 by the landlord, Alfred James Kendrick, to rename the pub as the Fye Bridge Tavern. It closed entirely in 1959, so was nearly permanently lost as a licensed premises, but it was re-opened in August 1985.

    Anyway, back to the present. When we entered there was a pub quiz taking place, which I must admit isn’t something that I particularly engage with. However, it’s clear that many people do as the pub was busy and there was a relaxed and informal atmosphere to the premises.

    My drink was half a pint of the Railway Porter from Five Points Brewing, a brewery based in Hackney, London. The beer has been designed to be true to the original style of London porter and there was a richness of taste to the drink, with chocolate and coffee flavours evident. The choice of beers in the pub was also extensive, although the busy nature of the pub made it a little difficult to see the range of beers on the bar or on the boards. But, the range of beers was well curated and there are also plenty of other alcoholic drinks to choose from.

    The pub seems to be something of a success recently (and indeed for many years) and so its entry into the Good Beer Guide seems a worthy one. It’s not really a pub for me as it’s too sports orientated and I like peaceful and calm, but it’s always excellent to see a pub doing well. Very lovely.

  • Norwich – Turtle Bay

    Norwich – Turtle Bay

    I used to really like Turtle Bay, but the quality seemed to slide a bit in 2019, but I’m hopeful that things are improving once again. The reviews of the Norwich outlet are still holding up, there are a few negatives, but nothing which suggests any serious problems.

    Anyway, I hadn’t planned on going back in the near future, but just before Christmas, Turtle Bay sent a lot of people with the app £10 off their meal or drinks. When I was away in Poland, there was an update from the app suggesting that I use it for a £10 lunch deal, with no minimum purchase. So, since the offer was running until the middle of February, I thought that I should make the most of it.

    The welcome was efficient and polite, with the staff member confirming that there was no minimum purchase with my voucher, I thought that it was best to double check. I went for the drink of the home-made fizzy mango, served in a bottle with an elastic band around it. It was a generous portion, consisting of mango, lemon juice and grapefruit crush. I got quite a taste of thick mango essence towards the bottom, since neither I nor the restaurant had stirred the drink particularly well. However, it tasted fine.

    The lunch menu gives a choice of a burger or roti, a side and a soft drink for £10. The pulled chicken roti was fine, the chicken was tender, the avocado was soft and there were some pleasant flavours. The chips also had a little spice to them, but even as part of the lunch deal, the pricing is still a little punchy for the amount of food. If ordered in the evening, this would have cost nearer £15 for the three component parts, and I’m not sure that’s particularly good value for money.

    One element that moderately surprises me is that they’re not pushing their core dishes at lunch-time, the offer is limited to burgers and rotis. I’d rather they’d offered something such as jerk chicken, or one of the curries, even at a lower price, to get a little taste of the Caribbean. I thought that I was more getting the taste of Dudley, nothing wrong with it, but there was no elements of surprise with the tastes and textures. I didn’t work out what was in that little dish, but I did liven up the proceedings by adding sauce to everything.

    The service was effortlessly polite throughout, the restaurant was clean (other than the sauce bottles hadn’t been cleaned) and the environment was relaxed and comfortable. I can’t much complain about anything as the restaurant had given me the entire meal for free as part of their app deal, but I still can’t help missing Turtle Bay’s meals of old which were packed with tastes and flavours.

  • Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Something new that I’ve learned today, this is DVT 82121, with the DVT meaning Driving Van Trailer, a push-pull service which means that the driver can operate the train from the other end of it. Very useful.

    It wasn’t very busy.

    All was going very well until we reached London, when the train suddenly stopped and the driver made an announcement that he didn’t know why. He repeated that announcement a couple of times, which filled me with confidence, before announcing a few minutes later that there was a signals failure near Stratford. This became evident when we saw a freight train stuck in the middle platform of a station, whilst our train used an unusual platform when it eventually got into Stratford. But at least it meant that I will be able to make a delay repay claim, albeit for the lowest possible sum as the delay was relatively minor.

    The other end of the train after we arrived into London Liverpool Street. The staff were friendly on the journey, with the guard being thorough with ticket checking (which I like since rules should be followed…..) and the announcements were appropriate and informative. The ticket cost the bargain sum of just £10, so again, good value for money. And, as a bonus, the power sockets and wi-fi worked perfectly throughout, with plenty of table seats available for those who wanted them.

  • Norwich – Norwich Railway Station (Waiting Room Doors)

    Norwich – Norwich Railway Station (Waiting Room Doors)

    This waiting room at Norwich railway station is a bloody nuisance to me as I can’t get in. The automatic doors entirely ignore me, regardless of where I try and stand so that the sensors recognise me. Everyone else sails in (and I’ve even brought friends to test whether they can get in – which they always can), whilst I’ve now just taken to tail-gating someone else in.

    But today, something changed. I still can’t get in the bloody waiting room, but I noticed nor could someone else. He looked puzzled, confused and just a little befuddled. This pleased me greatly, not because he was in a state of disorder, but because I know that there is someone else in the city who can’t get in either.

  • Norwich – Greggs

    Norwich – Greggs

    Since this will be my last opportunity to get a Greggs for over a month, I didn’t want to waste it, so an early morning (well, what I call early morning) visit to London Street was needed.

    Bargain…..

    Since it was before 8am, I didn’t feel the need to have anything too heavy, so a delicious and succulent sausage roll it was…..

    I’m not normally one for sweet options, but how lovely. The service was, as usual, fast and efficient, making this another stress-free experience. I haven’t yet tried one of the chain’s new vegan steak bakes, that’ll have to wait for my return.

    I shall miss Greggs. For the many, not the few as they say.

  • Norwich – The Reindeer

    Norwich – The Reindeer

    The Reindeer was the first pub on CAMRA’s Friday Five and I haven’t been here for a couple of years. The ownership changed in 2018 and the food menu has become a little more mainstream compared to the previous operators. It’s an Elgoods pub, although they have beers from other breweries available.

    The beer choice and unfortunately they’d run out of Elgood’s Plum Porter, a reliably good beer option. I went for the Wild Spice from Wildcraft Brewery, a local operation to Norwich. Apparently this beer is meant to “ooze with cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and nutmeg”, although I struggled to get any discernible flavours or depth of flavour from it. Disappointingly bland.

    I tend to avoid live music pubs as it’s not a genre that much interests me, so it’s unlikely that I’d go here again, but the staff were welcoming and keen to engage which gave it a friendly edge. It’s also clearly a popular location for live music and the pub seemed professionally managed, so all rather lovely.

  • Norwich – Arboretum

    Norwich – Arboretum

    NB – it has come to my attention that this venue has been blocking single customers from going in on their own. I despise this practice, the thought that someone makes the effort to visit to get some company and is blocked I think is highly sub-optimal. I won’t be returning at any time in the future.

     

    This combination of bar and antiques shop is perhaps as anomalous as any pub in Norwich, looking boarded up from the outside. We visited as part of CAMRA’s Friday Five, which meant a slight pressure on numbers as this bar only holds thirty people (it can technically hold sixty, but they like everyone to be able to get a seat, so self-restrict the numbers). The admission process was though monitored by a helpful staff member at the entrance, so there wasn’t too much of a wait to get in.

    There are three parts to the pub, the first room which is the former shop area, the second room which is where the bar is located and a rear room which is a covered outside area. The current opening hours are a little limited, from 15.00 until 22.00 on Tuesdays to Saturdays, but they might be extending those in 2020.

    This is the first room, looking like someone’s living room from the early twentieth century.

     

    Everything, within reason, is for sale and there’s some sort of haggling process available for those who are interested in making a purchase.

    The service at the bar from the owner was friendly and helpful, with the St. Peter’s Plum Porter being a reliable option and during our visit it was reduced to £3 for CAMRA members. The bar only sells beer in bottles, but the choice is well thought through, the staff member knowledgeable and the products are local.

    I’m used to being served drinks in old beer festival glasses, but never in a 1953 Coronation glass….

    This is the pub’s dog, which is either Dylan or Dillon, a glorious wolfhound who liked having a little wander around. I’m not sure what the other Dylan I know would think of this, he’d probably be quite impressed….

    As someone else said, the bar has become a little bit of a hipster outlet, but that’s more because this is an on-trend and intriguing pub than for any forced reason. The speakeasy type of way of getting in all just adds to the experience and awe, making this one of the more interesting bars in the city. For any location to have no external advertising or branding is very brave, but it seems to work here.

  • Norwich – Royalls Fish and Chips

    Norwich – Royalls Fish and Chips

    James had a marvellous idea to visit this new fish and chips shop which opened a couple of weeks ago, located on Castle Meadow. As someone who gets battered pizza specially provided for him at Grosvenor, he was keen to try the similar offering from this new chip shop. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the shop, but it’s important to form an opinion first hand and I always like trying to encourage new restaurants and food outlets in my own little way.

    Anyway, to cut a long story short, it was shut. No explanation of why on their web-site, at the shop or anywhere else. So, it was back to Grosvenor who, as usual, didn’t fail to deliver. I’m sure that there was a valid reason as to why it was closed, but that’s my sole attempt to go there (and yes, that was an unnecessary pun, solely because I was with James and he likes them).