Churches, pubs and a certain hapless radio DJ aside, Norwich has rather more to offer than its reputation suggests. Alex Larman heads east for a weekend of fine dining, finer pints and a city refreshingly out of step with the rest of Britain…
The two things that everybody used to be taught about Norwich was that it has a church and a pub for every day of the year, and that it proudly calls itself ‘a fine city’. Yet in more recent times, it has also had the doubtful joy of being associated with Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge, which is not a connection that Norwich shies away from, exactly, but nor is it one that it’s desperate to embrace. After all, there are so many other things that it has, spanning both modernity and history, that the perpetually embarrassing radio DJ should rightly be regarded as part of the rich pageant of life in Norwich’s county town.
Stand-Up Paddleboarding on the river Wensum (photo courtesy of Visit Norwich)
It was the appeal of the churches and the pubs, to say nothing of the cathedral, bookshops and galleries, that lured Boothby and I for a weekend’s trip to the city, for the first time since our famous/notorious visit (delete as appropriate) to Liverpool in 2015 for The Arbuturian. We headed off on the surprisingly comfortable and swift Greater Anglia service from London to Norwich, which takes about an hour and three quarters, and bypassing the notorious street of dodgy pubs, kebab shops and ‘gentlemen’s clubs’ that lines the entrance to the city, we head to the bed and breakfast where we’ll be spending the next couple of nights, 38 St Giles.
Strictly speaking, this excellent establishment should be christened ‘bed’, as it doesn’t offer breakfast (there are discounts offered at a couple of nearby cafes) but this fine Georgian building has extremely comfortable and well-appointed bedrooms that not only combine spacious beds with stylish bathrooms, as well, in the excellently named ‘Gurney suite’, a comfortable sitting room that doubles up as an extra bed for a guest, but offers creature comforts that include a welcome cake or brownie on arrival, meaning that this has a personal touch that is often sorely lacking from larger establishments.
Thus refreshed, we go for a wander through Norwich, which is – and I mean this in the best possible way – a city that feels somewhat out of kilter with contemporary Britain. Yes, the centre boasts its fair share of chain stores, but it also has, in Elm Hill, a pleasingly historic selection of shops and places to eat and drink that more than counterpoint the eclectic mixture of independent bars and restaurants that can be found all over the place.
Some of the best pubs include the sublime Ribs of Beef, which is situated on the river and offers the perfect opportunity for al fresco pints, the much-loved Fat Cat, a short cab ride or half-hour walk from the centre and the Murderers, bang in the centre and my introduction to a Finnish drink that’s particularly proper, for some reason, in Norwich, Lonkero, a combination of gin and grapefruit that makes for a gloriously refreshing repast on a hot summer’s day.
The restaurants in Norwich are far better than they once were, too. If you’re after fine dining, then The Last, a wine bar and restaurant on St Georges Street, offers a suave touch of metropolitan class a few minutes away from the main drag, owned by the knowledgeable and enthusiastic Sebastian, a veteran of The Ritz. Not that there’s anything ostentatious about the dishes on offer here, including Norfolk oyster mushroom shwarma and heritage tomatoes with burrata and mojo verde to start, followed by fillet of Heveningham beef or Norfolk black chicken supreme as a main course, all accompanied by an excellent selection of well-chosen wines by the glass, as well as some carefully made cocktails; we were particularly impressed by the splendid Old Fashioned that they came up with, a true winner.
And if you’re in the mood for something more casual, then the foodhall in the city centre, Yalm, is considerably superior to many of its equivalents in London, boasting a range of street-food vendors and allowing diners to mix and match drinks and dishes alike via the ubiquitous QR code. We were most impressed by a couple of ‘twisted curries’ from the Teekha establishment, in the form of an excellent chicken tikka and lamb soti, and a bottle of Italian white wine makes for a very decent match, too.
It would be easy to spend a couple of days in Norwich just eating and drinking, but the city’s cultural offerings are magnificently eclectic too. The famous Sainsbury Centre, a couple of miles out of town, might be tricky to get to, but it’s well worth the effort. Its striking, modernist building – which has stood in for the Avengers’ headquarters in the blockbuster pictures – bodes well, as does its comprehensive sculpture garden outside, but it’s the fascinating contrast in the collection between old and new that allows visitors to peruse everything from Francis Bacon paintings to ancient artefacts, juxtaposed alongside one another, and to wander round a pleasantly uncrowded spot on a Saturday morning at one’s leisure.
This balance between old and new extends elsewhere in Norwich, too. The cathedral is, of course, one of the most beautiful and striking anywhere in the country, and well worth an hour’s silent contemplation, just as the surrounding close is a splendid mixture of architecture and tranquility. But if you’re after something on an equally grandiose yet more intimate scale, then visiting the revamped and reconfigured Castle Museum is a must-visit too, especially if you’re visiting en famille, thanks to the decidedly child-friendly ethos that was on display in the original keep. A rather more grown-up note was struck by the excellent temporary exhibition, focusing on the work of David Shenton, whose LGBTQ themes were neatly tallying with Pride, which took place during our visit.
Fine dining, great pubs, wonderful art, a tangible sense of history and the shade of Alan Partridge ever-present – what’s not to like? A trip to Norwich is, indeed, an opportunity to linger in this fine city, and I can only recommend that you take it, too.
Travel to Norwich was provided by Greater Anglia. For more information, please visit www.greateranglis.co.uk. For further tips and to start planning your trip, the Visit Norwich website has a host of suggestions.
Header image: Norwich skyline by Daniel Sturley (courtesy of Unsplash)
Images courtesy of Visit Norwich
