Category: Norfolk

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.

We’re nearing the dramatic finale of our noble mission of eating at every food stall at Norwich market now and this week was Banger Stop. James and I had forgotten about our visit in 2023, when I commented that the stall was “reassuringly reliable” which still seems appropriate after this visit.

The service was efficient, friendly and engaging with only a short wait. The prices have gone up around 70p per hot dog since we did this before, but the value for money remains high. The stall accepts card and cash with extra sauces being free of charge and cans of drink are £1.50. It’s always positive to see a five star food hygiene rating proudly on display as well.

I went for the chilli dog without cheese and huge credit that they pro-actively took 30p off the price even though I hadn’t expected them to do that. The roll was soft and fresh, the sausage was of a generous size, the fried onions added flavour, the lettuce added colour and the crispy onions added texture. The sausage itself tasted of a decent quality, perhaps it could have been slightly meatier, but I very much enjoyed it. The whole arrangement was filling and it was helpful that it came with a piece of kitchen roll as this was quite messy to eat.

James opted for the cheese-topped option, which involved a blowtorch and very nearly some unexpected singeing. He reassured me that told he survived unscathed, although I can’t help but feel it would have added some drama to the review if I could write “the hot dog was hot, but James was hotter”. James had expected more of a chilli con carne sauce, but was happy with what he got and he once again managed to avoid spilling any of it. As usual, we spent most of the time at the market with James acknowledging his many middle class friends in the city. I am wondering whether he’s joined the masons to know this many people, but I didn’t say anything.

This was really all rather lovely and the whole experience combined to be one of the best visits so far this year. The prices were relatively low, the service was personable, the food was of a decent quality and I left feeling satiated. And James wasn’t set on fire, which I suppose is for the best. One thing I thought would be interesting, as the menu is small, is for a hot dog of the month with some innovative toppings just to keep surprising and delighting the customers.

This is week 22 of James and I eating at every food stall at Norwich Market, with this one being a new venue so we haven’t visited it before. Actually, as a side note, we actually checked the market today for other new openings or venues we’ve missed and we have eight more stalls left to visit this year. There are a couple in there that I really like, with none that I’m sceptical about, so the run-in to this year’s awards ceremony is getting rather exciting. I guess that I should get out more….

The food options are regular and large, which makes matters easier in the menu selection process. I decided that this lunchtime I wouldn’t be greedy, which isn’t a decision that I always make as I can go for gluttony given half a chance, but today I just went for regular.

There was a friendly welcome and lots of engagement with customers, with a feeling of real enthusiasm about their whole operation. The service was efficient and the venue takes both cash and cards.

Firstly, I think I made the correct decision in just opting for the regular choice, as it was a generous portion and we saw how much food was in the large bowls that some other customers ordered. I very much like the variety of tastes and textures here, there’s plenty going on with the guacamole adding smoothness, the cheese adding flavour and the nachos adding texture. There’s mojito slaw on the top and rice underneath, with the beef pork mix having a richness to it with plenty of large pieces of meat. This did surprise and delight me, high quality, freshly prepared and reasonably priced.

There is a small seating area at the end of the stall, although we just propped ourselves up against the side as the seats were taken when we arrived. Everything was clean and organised, with the surfaces being dry and not sticky.

James had the same as me, although he didn’t really have much choice at this stall. I think it’s fair to say that he was also happy with the tastes, textures, flavours and the portion size, when he noted:

“The palate, the interplay of textures, the nuanced flavours, and the generosity of the portion pleased me”.

He’s getting positively lyrical now. We spent much of the walk back bumping into people that James knew, he’ll be signing autographs if this trend continues, he’s becoming the new Spudman….

Anyway, this is a contender for one of the top three spots I think, a combination of a great welcome, friendly service, decent value for money and high quality food. All really rather lovely.

This is week 21 of James and I eating at every food stall at Norwich Market, and this is when I visited here in 2023 when this expedition last happened. I went for one of my favourite dishes of black pepper chicken last time and this was one of the highest rated visits of the year, particularly with the enthusiastic and engaging service, so I was optimistic about today’s visit.

The second of the menu boards and there’s been a £1 price increase on food across the board from when we visited two years ago, which seems moderate and in keeping with the other stalls at the market. If I’m being honest, I caused some confusion here as I was loitering when trying to take a photo of the menu boards for this post and then I planned to choose what I wanted to order, but I suspect the team member thought that I was confused. I mean, I’m always confused, but it did cause the ordering process to be a little erratic in terms of my order being taken before James. But, the welcome was authentic and I liked that they were trying to ensure every customer was happy and not entirely confused. They have an unusual system here that they don’t charge until the food is served, so they have to trust the customer not to walk off in the interim, but despite initial impressions it really did seem organised. The stall also accepts cash and cards, although the cheaply priced £1 drinks I mentioned last time are now £1.50.

The team member had mentioned that there would be a ten minute wait and it was actually sixteen, but I think that’s sufficiently in the realms of a reasonable estimate and so I’ll take that. The stall was actually also genuinely busy, it wasn’t as though they were faffing about without reason and it’s positive of course that any stall is busy.

I’ll admit, I had high hopes for this one as it’s my go-to dish at Thai restaurants, usually a fragrant, fiery little number that packs a punch and leaves me feeling like I’ve made a wise and adventurous culinary life choice. Unfortunately, this version didn’t quite deliver on that promise. The sauce, while enthusiastic in quantity, seemed to have taken a vow of silence when it came to flavour and although it was described as the spiciest item on the menu, that felt like more of a motivational slogan than something that was actually delivered. But, having noted that, tastes vary and there were certainly some redeeming features. The chicken was tender and respectably moist, the rice was well-cooked, and the crispy onions did a lot of the heavy lifting as they brought texture, crunch and some extra flavour. The lettuce felt like it was in the wrong dish and I would have liked at least some more green to the colour of the curry and I don’t mean more lettuce. It wasn’t horrendous by any means, it’s just it didn’t reach my expectations of when I had eaten here before although maybe I just missed the MSG which they don’t use here.

James went for the crispy chilli chicken with noodles, which he was relatively positive about, although he did regret not going for a smaller portion as he thought that the flavours weren’t enough to excite and delight him. We both felt found the ordering process very slightly more stressful (we’re used to Lucy’s chips if I’m being honest) than was entirely ideal and he had to rush back after lunch because he stops so many times talking to people he knows that we now have to add in twenty minutes in each direction to get to the market. There wasn’t anywhere to stand at the stall and as there were seagulls floating about nearby, we found a quiet part of the market which felt safe.

All told, the stall was busy when we arrived which suggests it’s a popular affair and I felt that they dealt with that queue in a professional and personable manner. The main chef of the arrangement is very engaging, warm and conversational, so he positively added to the whole visit. It was all OK, but I didn’t feel like we got the quality that I had experienced before, but I’m happy to go again on our next run of market stall visits and try something different. Or just that delicious black pepper chicken that I had last time and then perhaps I might get a free spring roll like before.

Firstly, it is insanely and intolerably hot today in Norwich (not that I complained of course), so James and I did really well in managing to visit another market stall in our quest to visit them all this year. This is a new outlet to the market, so we didn’t visit it when we did all of this food stall visiting in 2023. As it was so hot, apologies for the lack of photographs, but there’s a limit to my bravery. We have actually tried to come here before, but once it was closed and the other time every single item was marked as being out of stock, which seemed sub-optimal. There were a couple of items out of stock today, although you have to look closely to see the stickers.

I don’t normally buy drinks from the market, as James and I aren’t that decadent, but I desperately needed some refreshment so I acquired this whilst I waited for the food. The service at the stall was efficient and polite, not much engagement outside of the ordering process, but it felt welcoming. They accept cards and cash here, with the prices being towards the lower end for the market.

We found a bit of grass to sit on in the shade, which more suited me as I like being firmly in the cold, although James is quite middle class and was hoping for seating. He didn’t complain though, he had chicken. And, as James mentioned, this meal tasted like the chicken balls in Chinese takeaways, which to me and him is a very good thing indeed. I suppose there could have been just a few more fries, but I was happy with the number and they were freshly cooked. The chicken was served as a generous portion and the mayo and ketchup is supplied free of charge. Everything was at the appropriate hot temperature and I thought that there was an effort made with presentation bearing in mind it’s chicken and chips. I thought for £5 this was definitely comparable to other similar venues, with the can of drink being £1.50 which was also not unreasonable.

By sitting on the grass, James, ever the influencer, was able to carefully position his food so that it was beautifully photographed. He went for the spicy dirty fries, which I avoided as I didn’t fancy the cheese sauce, although it was really just grated cheese on top. The sauce was more tangy than spicy, but I was pleased with my rather more unadulterated affair.

For the value offered, we both thought that this was one of the better visits so far this year despite the solar adversity. The service was polite, there wasn’t much of a wait, it was keenly priced, the food had a depth of flavour and the portion size was reasonable. We’d likely both go back here, if we didn’t fancy Lucy’s chips, so what higher praise could we give it?