The Old Bakery Cafe - Norwich

(Now Closed)   

33 Witard Road

Norwich

NR7 9XD

All day breakfast available

Open from 7.30am (8.00 on Monday) 

until 3.00pm weekdays

9.00am until 2.00pm Saturday

Website

The Old Bakery Cafe is located within a parade of shops on Witard Road.

Inside it is modern with a traditional twist, always nice to see gingham table cloths in a cafe!

There is a good and varied menu made up of quality items at great prices.

I am not a huge fan of sachets but more are available if you need them.

Chris cooked up a really enjoyable treat using free range eggs and quality meats, the sauteed potato slices were the best ever!

Toast and butter came with the breakfast, perfect to pop a fried egg on to.

And what great fried eggs they were, they couldn't have been cooked any better!

Sometime ago on my facebook page I was told about The Old Bakery Cafe by Chris the owner, he suggested I visit and try his breakfast. It always makes the visit a bit trickier when you are expected, especially with taking photos. I think I managed to pop in without Chris suspecting it was me at the time though!? 

Upon entering - There are plenty of parking spaces outside the cafe and a number of other shops including a great butchers G. Morris & son selling rotisserie chickens and amazing looking pies. G. Morris & Sons supply The Old Bakery Cafe with the sausages and bacon used in their breakfasts. The cafe has a counter and open plan kitchen towards the rear with tables towards the front as well as a few outside. The tables are covered in traditional gingham table cloths, each one complete with menu, condiments and a handy bowl to pop your tea bag in. There are newspapers to look at and wifi is available too. Place your order at the counter and everything is bought to your table when it is ready. 8/10

Service - The service here was very efficient and fairly friendly. I placed my order and before long the drink arrived followed by the breakfast. The tables were cleared and clean very quickly ready for the next customer. 7/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, half a grilled tomato, mushrooms, saute potatoes, beans, 2 slices of toast and butter. 8/10

Presentation - A great display of colour and items that looked cooked really nicely, I knew I was about to eat something special. 8/10

The food - The quality sausages tasted fantastic with an excellent texture, the bacon was also good quality and full of flavour. The fried eggs with deep yellow yolks were cooked perfectly, I popped one on top of a slice of the hot buttered toast and it was a a joy to eat! Initially the idea of sautéed potato slices didn't really excite me too much but these were the best ever, fluffy inside with a crisp outside. The beans were rich in colour and the sauce was the perfect consistency, they accompanied the crispy potato wedges perfectly. Delicious mushrooms and a tomato full of flavour completed this fantastic breakfast that was cooked superbly and was a complete pleasure to eat! I can't think of any way the food could have been improved so... 10/10

Value for money - A breakfast this good at £5.45 is not to be missed! 9/10

Veggie option - Veggie versions of all the breakfasts are available with haloumi and veggie sausages. 

Overall - The Old Bakery Cafe is well worth a visit as the breakfast being served here is incredibly delicious and at a great price too. They offer good vegetarian options and outside catering as well. I certainly look forward to returning again in the future, great breakfast Chris, keep up the good work! 8.5

- Update February 2014 -

One of the veggie versions of the breakfasts at the Old Bakery Café, they also do an omelette breakfast.

- Update November 2014 -

The Old Bakery were trading for the last time today and to mark the event they were offering a final flourish breakfast. Chris kindly invited my wife and I along, we couldn't wait to try this breakfast, it sounded amazing!

 

When the breakfast arrived it looked stunning with an excellent selection of items, I love eggs so getting fried and scrambled was a real treat, there were two types of tomato too.

 

Here it is from a different angle, it even came with a delicious homemade muffin. This was a real taste sensation and massively enjoyable breakfast, lets take a closer look.

Creamy scrambled eggs, a lovely fried egg with runny yolk and a flavoursome tomato. 

The muffin was excellent and made a nice change to bread or toast. 

This side of the plate featured tomatoes on the vine, a juicy serving of beans and some lovely sauteed potatoes. The meats from the butchers next door (G.Morris) were fantastic, a Shrimpton's premium quality sausage, thick cut prime back bacon and black pudding. The bubble and squeak fritter with nutmeg was just spot on with a nice course texture, great taste and a crispy edge. I loved the baked stuffed mushroom with gran pedano, a perfect combination and something a bit different and special that worked nicely on a breakfast.

 

A birds eye view of this masterpiece!

 

 Served with the breakfast was a homemade mushroom ketchup, It was one of the nicest things I have ever tasted! We struggled to not eat it before the breakfast arrived and was delighted when Chris gave us some to take home with us, just amazing!

My wife chose the vegetarian option, this included marinaded haloumi and homemade sausage, both excellent. My wife really enjoyed this amazing combination and like me couldn't get enough of that mushroom ketchup. Certainly a really impressive final flourish breakfast menu and a real treat for the taste buds! Well done Chris and the Old Bakery Cafe team, you certainly made your last day one to remember with this stunning breakfast. 10/10 for sure, I wouldn't have changed a thing!