St Andrews Brew House — Restaurant in Norwich

Went for lunch after being 'turned away' at Bills having been offered a table in about '1 hour' (complete b.s.). We really enjoyed The Brew House and will definitely go back again - we've been to a few Bill's locations now and like it, but won't use the Norwich one again.

The Brew House Restaurant is part of the pub (an independent brewery I think) by St Andrew's Church - just a stone's throw outside Norwich's main market area, and well worth the short trip.

Whether you want pub classics (e.g. beer battered fish and chips) or something more modern and healthy, the menu has plenty of choice and caters for different needs and preferences.

We had the open chicken kebab, tofu pie and loaded fries, with a side order of regular chips. The portions were slightly on the generous side, and quality was good, overall prices very reasonable at about £20 per head including drinks - although there are also deals available, and you would spend more with extra courses.

The food itself was great, the dishes were cooked really well, nicely presented and served in good time. The staff looked after us well, being polite and attentive, and there was no pressure to vacate the table at the end of the meal.

The restaurant/pub itself has lovely decor throughout that relates to the brewery, with plenty of natural materials and old signage making it an interesting place to be in. There's a good feeling of space at the tables, and the restaurant's seating area is largely shielded away from the bar area, giving it its own feel.

I'm sure this would be a popular hangout on a Saturday night, make for a good date location - or a family meal at weekends - especially with the choice of drinks available. While the Brew House crowd is quite diverse in age ranges, reflecting the city-center local and pub/restaurant stays, the place has a lovely ambience and speaks of quality - definitely a good place...

The food was okay (although expensive for the amount and quality, and the Pig Roll was cold). The rest of the experience was pretty bad.

I asked about their key-worker discount and was told to use the app to link my blue light card, then to order and apply it. Reached the end of the ordering process to be told I had to send off my ID and wait 3 days for verification...

Anyway, we decided to go ahead, paid full price, and waited. For about 30 minutes. The money had been debited from my account, so I went to the bar only to be told 'the order had failed'. When I checked on the app the order status had changed from 'processed' to 'failed', but I had not received a notification, from the staff or the app.

I now ordered at the bar instead, flashing my blue light card and getting the key worker discount I'd asked about in the first place. We waited another 20 minutes before going back to the bar to ask where our drinks were. We were told that drinks weren't bought to the table, only food, and we should have waited for them to be poured. Our table was about 2 metres from the bar, and we'd ordered them with food...

ANYWAY. The drinks and food eventually came. Mine was okay, but the aforementioned pig roll was cold. I finished, went to the toilet and found that the male cubicle lacked toilet rolls, a toilet seat, or a functioning door lock.

Upon leaving I had to pay for the food and drink at the bar, despite already being charged through the app.

I've been told to write to head office to claim back the original charge made...

I gazed longingly at @standrewsbrewhouse one Saturday in September when I was a guest at a wedding at St Andrews church across the road. Unfortunately the wedding reception wasn't in the brew house so on that occasion I was denied a pint. However, I resolved to visit upon my return to Norwich.

And opportunity presented itself when a job I was doing in Great Yarmouth finished a little earlier than expected. I got myself a train ticket and headed over to St Andrews Brew House to sample their home brewed beers.

Seeing that they had a NEIPA on offer I jumped at the chance and was rewarded by fresh apricot aromas and muted grass and pepper notes and ever such a tiny hint of bitterness at the end, reminiscent of blood orange. This was 'Pacifica' - a beer well worth drinking. However, if that wouldn't have been your bag, there were so many other options from the great and good of UK beer as well as plenty of other St Andrews options.

As you can see, the decor is on point and there are plenty of cosy books and spaces for different sized groups to get together and chill out. I didn't get a decent photo but as with any good taproom the brewing equipment was on show and part of the experience.

I must advise that if you have a train to catch not to tarry too long - I was saved by my train being delayed!

#taproom #uktaproom #norfolkbeer #brewerytap #brewerytaproom #craftbeer #realale #ukbeer...