Jarrolds - Norwich

5 London Street

Norwich

Norfolk

NR2 1JF

Breakfast times

Mon - Sat

9am - 11am

Jarrolds is an impressive building but I was here to find out if the fry up was impressive or not.

The pantry can be found on the 3rd floor.

They have kept breakfast options simple so not too many dilemma's choosing.

Choose and collect your food from here.

In the centre is the big pink table, perfect if you are in a large group.

Real flowers on each table and the sauces in sachets appeared to be free.

I got 2 cups out of the pot of tea which cost me £1.45

Everything on the tray cost me £5.40

One of everything for £3.95 seemed like a fair price and the fried bread was perfect.

I hadn't been to the restaurant upstairs in Jarrolds since the late 80's but had recently heard they do a cooked breakfast, perfect reason to give it a look then...

Upon entering - There is a much smaller cafe on the ground floor but you need to head upstairs to "The Pantry" on the 3rd floor for the full english breakfast. As I entered I could not see trays anywhere so waited at the counter behind another customer where a selection of cooked breakfast items were on display. Realising I would most likely need a tray I searched and eventually found some by the entrance. Tell the staff behind the counter what you would like, your food is then served and given to you at the counter, next you get a drink at a different counter then pay at the till before grabbing cutlery, sauces etc. Finally find a free table, sit down and eat. I am not a huge fan of this kind of set up as when it gets busy more often than not the food is almost cold by the time you sit down to eat it. As the place was quiet I managed to eat the food whilst it was still hot though which was a bonus. 6/10

Service - The staff serving me were friendly and helpful as was the lady on the till. 7/10

Contents - 1 sausage, 1 rasher of bacon, half a slice of fried bread, 1 fried egg, half a grilled tomato, 1 portobello mushroom and beans. 7/10

Presentation - Ok but if the tomato moved down closer to the bacon and the fried bread was moved slightly to the left then the egg would have sat a bit nicer on the plate. The sausage did follow the line of the plate nicely though. 7/10

The food - The sausage was quite tasty and the bacon was too although one edge was a bit over done. The fried egg was cooked in front of me at the counter and was close to perfect, I placed it on top of the amazing fried bread, I like fried bread golden and crispy and Jarrolds serve it perfectly cooked. Both the portobello mushroom and tomato were juicy and full of flavour and the beans were thick and stodgy, lovely! 8/10

Value for money - £3.95 for the full english breakfast seemed a really fair price and was cheaper than I was expecting to pay. 7/10

Veggie option - I didn't see no veggie alternatives but you could buy items separately.

Overall - I found the "queuing, ordering, queuing again for drinks and paying" process a tad tedious but the service and food was great and at a reasonable price too. If you are a fan of fried bread then you should definitely try this place! 7/10

M&S Kitchen - Norwich

11-15 Rampant Horse Street

Norwich

Norfolk

NR2 1QR

There is a cafe on the ground floor as you enter this door but if you are after a fry up then head up to the 1st floor for the M&S Kitchen, you will find it eventually.

This is what you are looking for, enter and wait to be seated.

M&S were clearly feeling optimistic when deciding what to call their breakfast but did it live up it's the name?

Everything in the Cafe was new as it had recently been renovated.

Table 28 seated 12 people, great if you are with a load of friends or just love sitting close to strangers.

The cutlery was given to me in a mug and the sugar came in a pourer, so far so good!

The coffee was really good, cost £2 and came with a small biscuit.

The toast was really good too, was included with the breakfast and came with real butter.

It may not look so here but the ketchup was delicious!

The scrambled egg was ok but I really wanted fried...

The small piece cut out of the black pudding is still a mystery? Perhaps the chef was feeling a little bit peckish?

My original plan was to visit a Thai restaurant on London Street that were offering a full english breakfast for a fiver, it seems that despite it being advertised outside the shop they had stopped doing it. I needed a back up plan.. Then I remembered a friend Cazz who had recently told me that she had enjoyed the M&S fry up and that it was good quality, I was only minutes away so I headed to Rampant Horse Street and in I went...

Upon entering - It took some finding but I found it eventually, it is a really big airy and well lit restaurant with plenty of seating options. At the entrance wait to be seated, the waitress will ask you where you would like to sit and talk you through the ordering process. Basically decide what you want from the menu, order and pay at the counter (telling them your table no), take your cutlery served in a mug and the waitresses will take care of the rest for you. 8/10

Service - The staff were really polite and helpful, they seemed to bring things at just the right time and even called me sir. They came back after I had eaten to check everything had been ok but didn't hassle me whilst I was eating. It is not often I come across such service and I must say they made me feel quite special! 9/10

Contents - 1 sausage, 2 slices of bacon, 1 large mushroom, scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, black pudding, toast and butter. 7/10

Presentation - The food was placed on the plate with some thought and looked good as did the toast. The ketchup arrived in a small pot that was placed onto a serviette which sat on a side plate, great stuff! Not sure whether the piece cut out of the black pudding was to do with presentation or not but if it was I would rather it had been left alone as it meant less black pudding so a point lost there! 8/10

The food - It seemed that the only options available on the egg front was scrambled or poached and I would have much preferred fried, anyway I chose scrambled which was ok but a tad dry. The sausage and bacon were great quality and tasted nice. I was pleasantly surprised by the tomatoes which were full of flavour and if you are a mushroom fan then you will feel like you are in mushroom heaven. The black pudding was delicious and the toast and butter went down a treat. 8/10

Value for money - £6.95 for the full marks breakfast initially seemed a bit steep but with the great presentation and brilliant service it was definitely worth the money. 8/10

Veggie option - Yes, for £5.95

Overall - I'm not sure why it wasn't possible to have my eggs fried or why there was a piece cut out of my black pudding but one thing is for sure, the quality of the food and great service left me feeling satisfied. Definitely worth a look next time you are in the city. 8/10