The Garnet — Restaurant in Norwich

The building is very old and if you go upstairs you can get a really lovely view of over the market and looking at Gaol Hill and City Hall. It does get very busy and crowded and can take a while to get served when it does as the bar is quite small. The drinks are expensive but it is slap bang in the middle of the city so there is your reason. The upkeep of such an old building must also be quite high.

Originally called The Sir Garnet Wolseley, the pub was closed for many years before being refurbished and taken over by new owners. It sits behind St Peter Mancroft Cathedral.

It has about 5 picnic benches outside which can be used by smokers. There is an incline so they are not totally level but you won't roll off! There is a small stone baked pizza place joined to the buildings which is a separate business but is good.

The British tapas they offer is nice but also quite expensive. The ale selection is usually an Adnams and some other light ales, which is a change from when it was first open as there was more variety. There is nothing really exciting anymore. The indoor seating can be a bit tricky to find as there are a few floors and they tend to hire out the top room. The toilets are rather odourous, they do apologise for the old plumbing, there isn't really much they can do about it without overhauling the entire lot. But given it's historical value I would pay a visit if you are just...

In complete contrast to the first review, I absolutely loved my brunch club experience today at the Sir Garnet. I was greeted on my arrival by one of the cool, friendly bar staff, I choose a house Virgin Mary which was only£2.50, followed by a Rum Cask 'Pirate' cider, which was great (well worth trying).

There were 3 vegetarian options on the menu, which I thought was impressive considering the chef is known as the 'Baron of Beef'!!

For my brunch I had Kedgeree, which was lovely, and served by the chef himself, who came and sat with us briefly to make sure everything was ok with our food (which it was). The kedgeree came on an enamel camping plate, which was quirky.

I couldn't remember how long it took for the staff to collect our plates, because I was sitting in the sun reading one of the Sunday papers, drinking!

So if you want to be served by some really cool bar staff, in an Independently owned pub in the city centre then the Sir Garnet is one to try. If you're looking for pub with a menu of 85 dishes and a bar which serves 12 cheap lagers, 15 reasonably priced Chardonnay's, with kitchen staff who have just left school and are hidden far away from the customers, then the Sir Garnet isn't the right pub for you...but then again that's why we have...

I've only been once but I enjoyed my overall experience and I would go back again. It was quite nice to sit outside on the tables looking onto the market. They let you have food from the adjacent pizza place next door. Our server was very friendly, patient and elaborate. He had good rapport with us and all of the other patrons. The only thing not great were the toilets. One wasn't clean and there was no tissue in either of the ladies cubicles. We asked the lady behind the bar for tissue and she didn't get it when we asked, instead we stood at the bar waiting for the her to finish what she was doing behind the bar. There was no queue, no people but us at the bar. She should have done what she was doing after she'd tended to us, her customers, who were waiting at the bar for tissue that should have already been in the toilets. Once she'd finished what she was doing, she said 'Oh, I didn't realise you were waiting, do you want it now?'. I mean really?? was she really being serious!?? We both stood at the bar after we said there was no toilet tissue in the loos and asked if we could have some. We had been there all night buying drinks. With the prices they charge for drinks they need to pull their finger out on...