Brix and Bones — Restaurant in Norwich

Disappointing Experience Despite Excellent Reviews

After hearing rave reviews, we were excited to try this restaurant, but unfortunately, our experience didn’t live up to the hype. We arrived later in the evening on Thursday after attending the theater and found a limited selection of beef cuts left, which was a bit surprising. We opted for the 830-gram prime rib to share between three, along with a fish dish for my wife.

The meat was cooked exactly as requested—rare to medium-rare—and had been well rested. However, despite the good flavor, the prime rib was tough, I appreciate this cut has more mabeling and fat that runs through it as this is where the flavour comes from but this was tough. The portion also seemed smaller than advertised. As someone familiar with steak portions, I felt it was not the 830 grams we were promised, leaving the three of us hungry (restaurant owner in Bordeaux). The meat was also lukewarm, which was a bit disappointing, though we chose not to make an issue of it to avoid disrupting the evening.

The fish dish my wife ordered was enjoyed, and the sides were ok, but overall, the meal felt overpriced. The total came to £330 for four people, which included 4 starters, the prime rib, the fish dish, 3 sides, 2 desserts, a bottle of the cheapest wine, a glass of sparkling rosé, and 3 gin and tonics. Given the price, we expected more both in terms of portion sizes and quality, and we left feeling disappointed.

The staff were excellent throughout, providing great service, which I do want to acknowledge. I provided my feedback directly to the restaurant before I left as I believe in addressing concerns directly before leaving a review. They seemed to take it on board, and I did explain I didn't expect any resolutions.

Based on this experience, I won’t be returning, especially given the price and the overall letdown. It’s a shame, as the restaurant does have many positive reviews, but our visit didn’t match...

It’s been a long time closed and I do think maybe we should’ve waited a few weeks before eating at Brix & Bones but it’s my birthday month so it seemed appropriate. The lady running the front of house team seemed frosty but at least she let us move to another table away from the doorway. Our table was very narrow, too small for several plates of food and it would have been nice to have some chilled water on the table. Our bread and starters were good, I was brave - I tried a duck egg, which was delicious with the beetroot. I do think the horseradish butter needed more oomph but that’s my personal choice - I didn't try the Bresola. It was a shame there was no beef left at 19:30 on a Saturday but my husband was happy to have the Mutton but it was very rare, he also felt the large bone it arrived was pointless. The rhubarb sauce was too sweet and not tart/sharp - it didn’t really taste like rhubarb. The roast potatoes tasty but they were very vinegary. The mackerel looked lovely but picking the bones out took the pleasure out of eating the fish plus it was quite wet. It was under seasoned however the salad was delicious. The cauliflower cheese was very tasty but the cauliflower was crunchy/hard. Sadly I didn’t know what to make of the puddings, I’m not sure how bone marrow fudge would work in a doughnut, the frozen pineapple thing didn’t read well either but I'm sure it might be refreshing and I loathe goats cheese, so sadly we didn’t have one and left to have pudding at XO. The service was excellent. The entire meal was very reasonable but it would be better to be able to have a large fizzy water, the bottles were too small. The beer selection was poor - not everyone wants a bottle of wine - some well chosen cans would be good, Gamma Ray is mainstream and so is Camden Hells. The restaurant is lovely and very chic, the music was perfect, we will go back but we’ll give a few months...

I came from out of town with my wife and had heard amazing things about head chef George Wood and Brix and Bones. Everything we had heard was true and then some.

The restaurant was buzzing when we got there and we were promptly seated. The entire staff was warm and welcoming.

We decided to start off with an assortment of pickles and charcuterie and were impressed when we were told that everything was made in house. We further learned that all the meat and other ingredients were locally sourced, and that Chef Wood actually takes his team to forage for many of the items we would be eating that night.

We were thoroughly impressed with the presentment of the food and the flavors. Our server paired a glass of wine for each entree and she couldn’t have been more spot on.

For dinner, my wife ordered the plaice and I ordered the 81 day dry aged picanha. I’m not joking when I say I’ve never tasted a steak like this. It was buttery and nutty, and just melted in my mouth. The plaice was enormous and was prepared to perfection. The sides were equally as delicious and I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t have a bite of food remaining on my plate at the end of the meal.

To finish things off, as though I hadn’t indulged myself enough, my wife and I split their homemade bone marrow infused donut, and it was out of this world good.

This was by far the best meal I had on my vacation (including stops in so called world famous restaurants in Paris and London). The prices were more than fair, and the entire experience would have been worth treble what we paid.

If you’re in Norwich and are lucky enough to book a table here, do yourself a favor and go, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks to Chef Wood and his team, they gave us an...