Category: Norwich

This is week 29 of James and I eating at every food stall at Norwich Market, this time the turn of the Chocolate Bar Baker. James and I also discovered we’ve got a couple more stalls left than we thought, there really is an incredible depth to this market.

One of the two display cabinets of baked goods. I would add at this point that I don’t really have a sweet tooth, but I was tempted by a few different items here.

The second cabinet and that cheesecake arrangement does look rather lovely.

They also have chocolate covered strawberries for those who aren’t sure whether they want to be healthy or not.

And cake shakes are available for those wanting liquid refreshment. The service here was warm and friendly, with the stall taking both cards and cash. I got a feeling of passion about the product from the stallholder, as if she was just proud of what she sold.

I went for the cherry crumble slice which was £3.50. It wasn’t as sickly as I feared, the cake was moist and rich with the cherry running through it, with generous amounts of chocolate on the exterior. And there was literally the cherry on the cake.

James, who is more decadent and artistic than I am, went for a £4.50 Mars Bar Chocolate Millionaires Tart. He was suitably impressed and, only slightly distracted by someone being arrested by the police nearby, noted the high quality of the product (the tart, not the police). We only had six people in suits saying hello to James today, so a quiet day for him in the city.

Overall, I enjoyed this visit as the prices were reasonable for the quality of the product. It felt like an authentic small trader with a passion for their product and not a local multiple treating the market as just another venue. Definitely recommended and it’s something a little different for the market.

James and I are visiting every food stall at Norwich market this year and we’re very nearly there, with this visit being to the cafe B’s T’s. I think we have an admission here, this unit was trading when we did this same project in 2023 but we don’t appear to have visited. So, this is one of four cafes on Norwich market and they’re the traditional stalls which sell hot drinks, burgers, rolls, hot dogs, breakfasts and the like. There seems to be a constant demand for these stalls as they’ve all been busy when we’ve visited them this year.

The menu board, but I don’t have a comparison from two years ago since we forgot to go there. It’s evident from the stickers on the menu that there have been some price increases though. There was a friendly welcome and the ordering system seemed easy to understand, with the stall taking both cards and cash.

In my helpful way, I asked for a burnt bacon and sausage roll, which the staff member engaged with in a positive manner. Although she clarified that I really just wanted well done, she continued to reference the term burnt. I like this sort of engagement as it makes it easier for customers to return and be remembered by the stall holders. Anyway, it wasn’t greasy and the bacon was satisfactorily cooked and it meant that I had only a minimal need to remove excessive fat. The staff member did forget to add on the sweet chilli sauce that she meant to, although I had some ketchup in sachets with me anyway (it’s essential when travelling….). The sausage was meaty and juicy, although it was under the bacon and so a little hard to see in the photo. The roll was also soft and fresh, so another point there.

James had a cheeseburger and I can’t remember half of what he said about it, but he said it didn’t beat the best one he’s had in the market this year, but it was better than the last couple that’s he had. So, let’s go with he thought that it was above average. I’ll pay more attention to what he’s saying next time but a polite pigeon distracted me during the food testing phase of our visit.

Overall, I liked this stall and the service, it felt informal and friendly. The roll cost £4 which seemed reasonable for the market, although the market stalls are perhaps going to struggle a little with the onslaught of meal deals from national chains at the moment which are mostly priced at £5 to £6. I would repeat though for those looking at the photo and thinking the bacon has been overcooked, that was to my request and now they usually do it….

We’re approaching the end of visiting every food stall at Norwich market and this week’s expedition was to Tasty House, which we visited before when we did this before in 2023. I very much liked the food on this previous visit and everything felt organised and well managed, so my expectations were high. After we waded through the throngs of middle-class people that James knew, first impressions this time were positive as we reminded that the menu is actually rather exciting.

The menu options with most of the dishes already being pre-cooked, although a couple are made fresh to order. There was also a daily special of ribs available as well, so the menu options felt extensive, with a choice of sticky rice, jasmine rice or noodles with each main course. There’s one vegan and vegetarian option, which is listed top of the menu, but all of the others are meat based.

The counter and the stall accepts card and cash. The service was friendly and helpful, although there wasn’t much engagement beyond the minimum needs but there’s a lot to be said for efficiency. We had a wait of around thirty seconds to be served as the customer in front was asking quite a lot of questions, but James pretended not to be annoyed and obviously I’m always calm.

I like the variety of free condiments that can be added to the food, although there’s a sister stand opposite the shop which sells all these raw ingredients. There was quite a lot of general litter on the counters such as abandoned water bottles, coffee cups and other detritus, so that didn’t feel entirely optimal. There’s a small seating area at the end of the stall, but we had our food standing near to the condiments.

I went for the large panang chicken curry with jasmine rice which came to £9.50, an increase of £1.50 from when we last visited. This arrangement seemed a little odd as they were quite stingy on the portion of rice, but very generous with the amount of chicken. However, this meant that the meal seemed a little unbalanced as I had plenty of chicken curry, but nowhere near as much rice as would have been ideal. Given rice is a cheap ingredient, it’s usually the other way around. The curry was though aromatic, rich in flavour, the chicken was tender and moist with the vegetables taking on the flavour of the sauce. I can’t say that the lettuce does much here, but the quality of the arrangement was high and the curry was at the appropriate hot temperature.

James’s food and he went for the Korean BBQ beef, the regular £8 size, but they forgot to ask him if he wanted noodles or rice, but he was satisfied with the sticky rice that he was automatically given. I’m not sure that there was much kimchi which was mentioned in the menu description, but James said that the food was agreeable although the beef a little dry.

I left feeling satisfied with the lunchtime snack, it was filling and had a depth of flavour to it. Ideally they could have packed the large bowl out with a little more rice, but I have no complaints about the quality of the curry itself. The service was friendly, there was a minimal waiting time and I’d merrily recommend this stall to others once again.

This is week 27 of eating at every food stall at Norwich Market and the randomly drawn location this time was Ruby’s, which Nathan and I visited in 2023. I had a burger back then which I thought was decent, with Nathan having the BLT, so I had high expectations for this repeat visit.

The menu boards and there have been price rises of around £1 on everything since we visited in 2023, which is a larger percentage increase but these prices are still towards the lower end of the market pricing. I have to note that the prices for hot drinks are very low, just 70p for a tea and 80p for a coffee.

Not the fault of the stallholders, but there are bloody pigeons everywhere. Could be worse, there could be more seagulls. Note the signage on the left for quality, delicious beef burgers.

The burger which was nicely presented in a fresh roll and with salad which added taste and texture. I’m afraid to note that the burger itself was, if I’m being honest, sub-optimal, devoid of taste, seasoning and flavour. The burger was hot, properly cooked and all of that, just completely lacking in taste. By the end I was thinking they could have just ditched the burger and instead doubled the salad, which is a somewhat extraordinary thing for me to say given my life-long resistance to lettuce.

James had the cheeseburger and was also disappointed, replacing an experience he had at Reggies a few weeks ago.

Overall, the service here was friendly, the roll was fresh, the prices were reasonable and so that was all positive, although this wasn’t the burger taste sensation that I had hoped for. Either the burger quality has gone down, or perhaps I’ve been so surprised and delighted at the quality of the food stalls at the market that my expectations have increased.

This week’s visit, in between James signing autographs as we walked to the market, of eating at every food stall at Norwich Market was to Bodega, which was the ‘winner’ of when we did this in 2023. We’re struggling to fit lunch in now at all with James needing to stop to talk to all these middle-class people we pass, it’s gotten so bad I’ve had to start wearing a shirt with a collar to blend in with this whole world of wealth that I hadn’t known about. Anyway, I digress. This seems to be one of the most talked about food stalls on the market and the standards have remained high for years, so we were looking forwards to this visit.

The menu and there are many tempting options. I’m aware that I should have tried something different, but pastrami and pickles are one of my favourite things, so I went for the same again and was pleased that James showed a little more culinary bravery. As a price comparison, the Bring Back the Katz is now £9 and was £7.50 a couple of years ago, so it’s not an enormous price increase. The service was polite, efficient and welcoming, so this continued to feel like an inviting place to visit. I also liked that they had stickers, it suits my inner child and that’s going on the laptop later alongside the selection of craft beer stickers. They accept card and cash and there’s a small seating area located opposite the stall.

This looks, and indeed was, delicious. There was a large quantity of the ingredients, the pastrami was tender, the pickles added texture, the sauce was light with a slight punchiness and the bread was soft and fresh. To be honest, half a sandwich was plenty, although being greedy I wasn’t displeased to have to eat another half. All very nice and although it’s a little expensive for a sandwich, there’s a lot going on here for the money.

James went for the Coq Joke and was suitably impressed by the quality of the chicken and the size of the portion, although I think he found it just a little sickly with the sweet sauce. But, there’s still value for money there, with the ingredients being decent. James also took a Good Girls sticker, I’m not sure where he’s planning to stick it.

Once again, I couldn’t really fault this visit. The service was friendly, the ordering process was well managed, the quality was high and the portion size was generous. This is definitely one of the market’s consistently excellent stalls and long may it continue…. Only a handful of visits left now and we’ve started to discuss who the winner will be, my two loyal blog readers must be beyond themselves with excitement.

Week 24 of James and I eating at every food venue at Norwich Market was Reggies, one of the long-standing cafes which has been trading for over sixty years. We visited in 2023 when I had a BLT roll which cost £3.50.

The menu board which they probably need to rewrite now after all these price increases as it’s not the clearest. The price rises have been moderate here over the last couple of years and the stall remains one of the lower priced food and drink options at the market. The prices for tea and coffee are very decent, although I’m not sure you’ll be getting a skinny latte or similar here.

The service was friendly and prompt, with the stall taking cards and cash. There’s quite a broad menu and there seemed to be something of a loyal customer base here.

There were some items like sausage rolls in the hot hold, but they were able to cook foods such as burgers, chicken nuggets and sausages. There are a couple of seats for customers to sit down, but there’s plenty of space to just lean at the counter without getting in the way of the other customers.

I went for the BLT sandwich which was £4, so reasonably priced. I noticed that my payment was taken by Ruby’s, so I assume that they also operate that food stall, which is another cafe on the market. The food was served promptly and everything felt efficiently managed.

I don’t like fat on bacon unless it has been burnt off, so I had to dismember the sandwich to quite a degree to satisfy my own personal and I accept specialist taste. The bacon itself was of a decent quality, the bread was fresh and the tomato had some flavour to it. It was all perfectly pleasant, although I do like the stalls who pro-actively check if the customer wants crispy bacon or not.

James went for a cheeseburger which he thought was satisfactory and I thought he was pleased when he said it was greasy, as that used to be something he admired in a burger. He reminded me that it was not the good kind of juicy grease, but more the flat oily type that lingers longer than expected. Still, he didn’t look particularly distressed, so I’m counting that as a win.

Overall, this is one of the staples of Norwich market and I suspect it will be for a long time to come. I thought that the welcome was friendly, the ordering process was efficient and the food was of a decent quality, so all to the good. For the perfect visit, I wouldn’t have minded them checking how I wanted the bacon cooked (I know I could ask, but for consistency on these rigorous visits I just let them go through their usual ordering processes) but I don’t have any real complaints. Well, other than how many middle-class people said hello to James on the market yet again, it’s like lunching with a YouTuber.