Benedicts — Restaurant in Norwich

Had dinner last night at Benedicts for the first time. Was definitely an amazing dining experience. Thanks to all the staff for making our evening special!! We chose to eat from the 5 course menu. The food came out fairly swiftly but with ample time between courses to enjoy ourselves and feel relaxed. My wife said that the room was filled with people in love, there were no business meetings or awkward first dates. I really enjoyed the decor, it was very clean and felt very homely. I chose fish mains, my wife had venison. Each course we had , had elements of food that would be impossible to replicate. For example: canapés had a mushroom twister - really tasty swirl of mushroom pate with a lovely dry pastry. Very savoury but delicious. We had a fish course which had an incredible deep orange/pink muscle veloute that tasted like eating fresh seafood next to an old harbour. I have never eaten a veloute without tasting flour. Each course was so subtle yet so much flavour. Hard to describe. My main course was fish that was somehow crispy and incredibly delicately fresh and soft. It had cabbage (my favourite veg) that had the most subtle curry flavours, so much so it again was difficult to figure out how the chef managed it. There were no oils or poweders or even discoulring of the cabbage, just a faint aroma of spice. It had been braised too, so had amazing sweet brown ends. Definitely my favourite part. There were lots of staff but everyone was always busy, at some point each member had either delivered and explained a course to us or silently filled our wine. The head waiter suggested a nice white for us and he also helped chose a lovely sherry that tasted like raisins! Dessert was again a masterpiece. Lovely suble pear sorbet to cleanse the palet followed by: A really delicate chocolate orange mouse/gnache with a crisp chocolate shell, a soft biscuit base and jaffa goo inside. Impossible to make so it was really fun to eat. As I said Each course was spaced perfectly. Enough time for the food to go down but not lose your appetite. Although we had a voucher that was gifted to us, it was definitely worth the money. We spent about 160 between 2. 5 courses, fancy wine and additional drinks. If we just had food, I think it would have been about 120. Definitely worth that type of money. Chef...

When: Thursday lunchtime - birthday treat for my wife and I. Meet & greet: Friendly & attentive. Atmosphere: Our table was booked for 12:15. It was quiet on arrival with only 3 other tables occupied. 20 minutes later the restaurant was full with a lively bistro buzz. Decor is fresh, clean and bright. Very pleasant. Menu: Everything was appealing. We decided to go for the lunch set menu which is remarkable value @ £20pp. Very tempted by the taster menu with matched wines - maybe next time and with a larger appetite. Starter was lamb belly roulette with pickled beetroot. Lamb was nicely caramelised, fat rendered and very soft, nicely pink and succulent inside. Main: Haddock with new potatoes, Norfolk asparagus with beurre blanc. Fish was fresh, flavoursome and perfectly cooked - simply melting in the mouth. The kind of dish you never want to end. Desert: Lemon tarte. This is one of the best lemon tartes I've ever had (and I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur in the lemon tart department) - pancake thin pastry, an indulgent light filling (think of creme brulee) with superb sweet and citrus balance topped with wafer thin caramel with a bitter sweet crunch. Drinks: Sadly we were both driving on this occasion so the only bottle on the table was of the sparkling water variety. We each had a glass of wine though: Provence Rose was excellent, beautifully pale, crisp and flavoursome, working well with both the lamb and the fish - the ideal summer lunch wine. The Loire Chenin was also very good with a wonderful nose and dry but honeyed flavour depth which again made it complex enough to work with all the courses. I love the fact that a local wine has made it onto the wine list: Flint vineyards Bachus (bottle only - so tasting will have to wait until our next visit). Wine prices were all good I thought. Service: Excellent throughout. A friendly and motivated team. Service with knowledge and a smile - what else can you ask for. The pace of the meal was spot on for us. We were done and clear by 1:30pm. Overall: One of the best meals I've had in Norwich. Nothing to fault. I'm already looking forward to...

My daughter and I had a really lovely three course meal here, with wine pairing for the first two courses. They were able to accommodate vegan options wonderfully, even including the complementary appetisers which were a real treat! The food was out of this world; the staff were without exception utterly lovely, making us feel really welcome, and the wine pairing was perfect - we were particularly enamoured with the whites paired with our starter course and meant to ask for the names at the end but forgot! We'll just have to go back! The restaurant itself has a stylish decor with atmospheric candles and simple, comfortable (but clearly carefully considered) design. Although it was busy, we never felt crowded and our table felt completely private. Service was just the perfect balance between leaving us to chat, and making sure we were never waiting for anything; I was even offered a pair of reading glasses to borrow when I realised I'd forgotten mine and was having a little difficulty reading the menu! I cannot recommend this restaurant enough if you wish to enjoy a genuine treat of an evening being made to feel special and treated to a gorgeous array of artistically crafted and utterly delicious foods. I am definitely adding Benedicts to my list of best places to eat in Norwich. Probably...