Earlham Park
Earlham Road
Norwich
Norfolk
NR4 7TQ
Open 9.30am till 4.30pm
Closed on Monday and Thursdays
You can park free for up to 2 hours a short walk away from this sign.
Keep walking, you will find it eventually.
Formerly part of a wartime hospital, the one remaining hut is now a cafe.
The best thing about the place is you can take your dog in!
Sorry, not the best pic but squint hard enough and you should get a rough idea on what is available.
Order and pay at the counter then pay a visit to the table on the left before sitting down.
There are plenty of places to sit.
The dogs wait patiently for their full english to arrive.
The flowers are on each table but the condiments are found on the table by the counter.
Nice fluffy white bread and butter.
The not so nice UEA mega english breakfast...
Having agreed to work Friday's for 6 weeks it meant that fry up inspection Friday would have to take place at weekends for a while. Last weekend a friend of mine had asked me if I had tried Earlham Park Cafe, I didn't realise it was still open but he assured me it was and they were serving cooked breakfast. Saturday arrived, it was cold and wet outside but I was on a mission to see what was being cooked up in the cafe in the park...
Upon entering - There are plenty of tables and chairs inside as well as some outside, if you have your dog with you you bring it in as it is dog friendly. There are menu's in the doorway and also at the counter where you place your order. Once you have placed your order grab cutlery and condiments from the table to the left and sit down, the food will be bought over when it is ready. The atmosphere inside was great and you feel welcome as soon as you enter, as a dog lover it was great to see so many dogs inside too! 8/10
Service - The lady serving was really friendly and seemed to enjoy her job. I was told I could have toast or bread, I requested 1 slice of bread and the other slice fried and it was not a problem. Whenever customers left the lady said goodbye to them. 8/10
Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, 2 hash browns, beans, 1 slice of fried bread, 1 slice of bread & butter and a coffee. 7/10
Presentation - It looked ok when it arrived but the fried bread seemed to be placed a bit willy nilly. The more I studied it though the more I realised there could be troubles ahead..5/10
The food - The sausages were cheap, nasty and deep fried. The bacon was ok but also deep fried as were the hash browns. The fried eggs had fairly snotty yolks and could have done with being flipped. The fried bread was holding a lot of oil and weighed a ton, the beans were ok. Sat on my plate was a 1st for me though, what appeared to be a deep fried tomato! It was a bit grim I can tell you. The bread and butter was nice and the coffee was ok. 4/10
Value for money - I paid £5.25 for the UEA mega breakfast with extra tomatoes, the price included a drink. Great value for money if was enjoyable, sadly it wasn't.. 4/10
Veggie option - Yes - Egg, hash brown, mushrooms, tomato, beans, toast or bread and tea or coffee for £3.50.
Overall - On the wall was a blackboard that said "We do not serve fast food, only good food" sadly this didn't add up when I ate the food which had mostly been cooked in a deep fat fryer. The staff here are really friendly and the fact you can bring your dog in is excellent. You do get a lot of food for your money but I can't say I really enjoyed it. 6/10
We eat there every Friday lunchtime. The veggie breakfast is much better, the meat eaters generally choose it instead.. I usually have egg & chips.
ReplyDeleteSorry you had a bad experience.. I'm sorely tempted to copy your approach but for veggie fryups!
Great idea, more veggie reviews are needed so good luck with it and next time I visit I will try the veggie breakfast.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am always looking for guest reviewers and especially for veggie breakfasts so if you fancy writing about your experience anywhere and adding a pic I am happy to add it on here.
OK, I'll see what I can do.. I've eaten at most of the Norwich cafés you've tested, I'll remember to take photos in future!
ReplyDeleteThanks Harry, your write ups and pics are always welcome!
ReplyDeleteTried here last wednesday as we read this review few weeks ago, As you say very nice atmosphere for dog lovers, Elvis sat nicely under the table waiting the occasional dropping. Baby was quite content as well in her high chair, Very nice fry up all round apart from the sausages.
ReplyDeleteAll followed up by a walk around the park to burn it off. Top stuff.
Only food deep fried are chips and scampi, all other food is cooked on a griddle. Mushrooms with scrambled egg, bacon baps, jacket potatoes with various fillings are excellent and much cheaper than many other cafes. Coffee is still only 90p per mug! It's a great place to socialize. Visit and find out for yourself.
ReplyDeletecafe was packed today with not a spare seat - proof of good food at low prices.
ReplyDeleteI liked the place but look at the sausages in the photo with their even browning, they look deep fried to me along with the fried bread. I don't mind deep fried sausages but economy sausages are always a big let down. I would sooner pay more for a quality sausage.
ReplyDeleteI love the place.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy going there. The dogs are the main problem, the smell of wet dog doesn't really go well with a fry up, that's the only issue. However, The quality of the food is good, tasty and satisfying, I can't think of a Full English, that's better value for money in the whole of Norwich. THE FOOD IS GOOD! Don't be such a snob... :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't been here for breakfast in over 4 years, perhaps it's improved since my last visit. I'll happily give it another look soon though, I just hope they serve a better quality sausage now :-)
DeleteHang on a minute there are two of us Harrys. i will be Harry 37 from now on.
ReplyDelete