Tuesday 16 September 2014

China Tang Tea House - Hethersett

(Now closed)

32a Mill Road
Hethersett
Norwich
Norfolk
NR9 3DP

Breakfast served all day

Monday to Saturday
9am till 4pm



 I got a bit lost trying to find it, once you are on Mill Road you should spot it though.




Inside was bright and clean but where were the customers?




Rectangular tables by the window or round ones by the wall, take your pick.




Was I at China Tang Tea House or The Village cafe? Perhaps it was The Village cafe at China Tang Tea House, I am still unsure..




The breakfasts are available all day and include a vegetarian option.




With my trip to Japan almost upon me I should have tried Japanese green tea but didn't spot it at first.




I ended up going for a coffee costing £1.60, it was reasonably nice.




We used to have these salt and pepper pots at home when I was a kid. Black pepper corns in a grinder was a welcome sight.




Although I'm not a fan of sachets there was at least a good selection.




The fried bread arrived first, not too oily and an uncut slice, nice!




I was delighted when the breakfast arrived, lets take a closer look.




Crispy hash browns and a generous portion of mushrooms, the tomatoes were a bit black from cooking but tasted excellent.




A pair of quite acceptable fried eggs with runny yolks, they ended up on top of the fried bread.




The bacon was ok, the sausages quite good and the beans in a nicely reduced sauce.




A couple of people had recently told me about a decent breakfast being served at China Tang Tea House in Hethersett. With it being fairly close to where I work I decided to head out there after finishing work early afternoon, a good job they serve breakfast all day! Having arrived in Hethersett I got slightly lost before eventually finding Mill Lane (I should have used my sat nav!) Once parked up I headed inside..


Upon entering - The first thing I noticed was a lack of customers but it was just after lunchtime, this would make taking photos much easier at least. The interior was bright and clean with a selection of places to sit, the tables beside the window being slightly bigger. Shelves at one end displayed a good selection of different teas, blackboards on another wall displayed the daily specials. Each table has a menu, sugar and condiments, a good selection of sauces in sachets arrive later along with cutlery and a serviette. There is full table service here so place your order and wait for everything to arrive, just pay on your way out. There was some music on in the background and it was a nice enough environment to dine in, it did feel a tad lonely in there being the only customer though. 7/10

Service - As soon as I entered I was greeted with a smile and made to feel quite welcome. I placed my order, first to arrive was the coffee followed by sauces, cutlery, a slice of fried bread and finally the Full English Breakfast. Everything I needed was there in front of me on the table so I wasted no time in taking some pics, adding the sauce and eating the breakfast. I only saw somebody again when I went over to pay, they thanked me and I left taking a sneaky exterior shot before heading off.  7/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, 2 hash browns, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes and a slice of fried bread. 8/10

Presentation - It was a lovely sight when it arrived, items paired up neatly around the edge of the plate with a generous dollop of beans in the centre. The fried bread arrived on it's own side plate, this was quite handy as I could choose where to place it, under the eggs it went. The tomatoes were looking a bit black from the griddle but this was nothing major and everything else looked pretty damn good. 8/10

The food - The sausages were slightly herby and of reasonable quality, quite a soft texture and certainly tasty enough. The bacon was cooked nicely and crispy in places and tasted ok. The eggs were really nice with a soft yolk that soaked into the fried bread beautifully, the fried bread was not overly crispy but not too oily either, a good slice for sure. The hash browns were crispy, tomatoes really flavoursome and beans in a thick, reduced sauce. The mushrooms here were excellent and there were plenty of them. Another thing I noticed was how everything was piping hot when it arrived so the chef was on top of their timings for this particular dish. 7/10

Value for money - The Full English breakfast cost £5.95 and was certainly worth every penny, you could choose between fried bread, toast or bread and butter. A medium breakfast was also available for £4.95. 8.10

Veggie option - Veggie sausages, vegetable omelette, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes or beans. £4.95

Overall - A really good breakfast for the money, nicely cooked, well presented and served piping hot. It was quite difficult to gauge the atmosphere here as I was a solitary diner on my visit. To be honest with such a great breakfast for the money I am surprised it wasn't busier! Maybe not somewhere I would suggest travelling too far for a breakfast but if you live in Hethersett or are passing through it is definitely worth a look. 7.5/10


Sunday 14 September 2014

Recommended Trail Map of Norwich

11 excellent breakfasts, award winning sausages, the best chip shop and my favourite pub in Norwich, all now on one map beautifully illustrated by Ella Goodwin Illustration.
This is where you can find all these amazing places in Norwich, click on the map below to view it larger, then right click/view image to zoom in.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CGAxbMNLQ98/VBWvIbTlm_I/AAAAAAAAI4U/nSNaa9IaPSw/s1600/Trail_Map3%2B2.jpg

Look out for the recommended sticker at all these places

Saturday 13 September 2014

Breakfast in Norwich on a Sunday

Here is an A-Z of places I have visited for breakfast in Norwich that are open on a Sunday.
Click on each one to find out more details.


If you are looking for somewhere in the recommended section serving a breakfast in Norwich on a Sunday then click here for a list of places to choose from.




No 33 - 10.30am till 4.30pm
Notcutts - 10.30am till 11.30am
Patisserie Valerie - 9am till 5pm
Pig & Whistle - 12pm till 9pm
River Green Cafe   - 11am till 3pm
Sainsbury's - 9.30am till 11.30am
Sunny Side Up - 8am till 2pm
The Black Horse - 9.30am till 11.30am
The Earlham Arms - 9am till 11.30am
The Green Grocers - 10am till 4pm 
The Glass House - 8am till 12pm
The Muddy Cup - 9am till 4pm
The Mulberry - 9am till 11.30am
The Plasterers Arms - 10am till 2pm
The Rumsey Wells - 12pm till 6pm
The Street Cafe - 10am till 1.30pm
The Trafford Arms - 10am till 12pm
The Unthank Arms - 10am till 11.30am
The Waffle House - 10am till 12pm
Town House - 9am till 11am
UEA Sportspark Cafe
Unthank Kitchen - 8.30am till 3.30pm
Wilko Cafe - 10.30am till 11.30am
Woodgrove Cafe - 9am till 6pm
Zaks Waterside - 9am till 11.45am


Monday 8 September 2014

Sunday Recommended

Here are the places in my recommended section serving breakfasts in Norwich on Sundays.


The Street Cafe - 10am till 2.30pm
Find out more here


The Plasterers Arms - 10am till 2pm
Find out more here 


The Muddy Cup - 9am till 3.30pm
Find out more here


Sunny Side Up - 8am till 2pm
Find out more here 


No 33 -  10.30 till 4.30pm
Find out more here 

 
The Ber Street Kitchen - 9am till 3pm
Find out more here


 And just on the outskirts in Spixworth
The Longe Arms






Ruth's Kitchen - Norwich

- Special Feature - 


39 Magdalen Street
Norwich
NR3 1LQ

Opening hours
Monday - Saturday
8.30am till 5.00pm

Website

Facebook page

Many months ago I noticed that 39 Magdalen Street was being beautifully transformed into Ruth's Kitchen, somewhere offering Jerusalem street food. When I am not out looking for the next best fry up I try to eat fairly healthily and I watched in interest as Ruth's Kitchen got closer to completion. I love trying different foods from around the world and always search for traditional street food when visiting another country. Luckily for me Ruth's Kitchen were bringing Jerusalem street food to Norwich! A few days after they opened I headed along to see what was on offer..




The display cabinet tempts you with a selection of salad items and dips.




I wanted to try everything on the menu but on this visit I decided to go for the all day Jerusalem breakfast. Look at the menu in more detail here





 The single origin El Salvador coffee was excellent!





First to arrive was a delicious homemade homous and some chick peas.




 The fresh buttered granary bread arrived next, they also offer pitta bread with the breakfast.





 The Jerusalem breakfast has a nice selection of fresh items that tasted great together. Tuna & mayonaisse, aubergine & mayonaise, fresh salad, olives, aubergine fried in olive oil and a pair of nicely fried eggs.  




We also tried some labaneh cheese with zaatah, superb texture and devine flavour.




Before leaving I was offered to try Ruth's Koftage, 100% meat and made using Ruth's recipe by Pickerings. A kotfe kebab transformed into a sausage with stunning flavour and a good balance of herbs.




A number of things were immediatly apparent on my first visit, the staff here are clearly very passionate about the food they are serving and keen to offer the best Jerusalem street food possible. They are very happy to talk you through the ingredients being used and can advice you on what combinations work best. The shop itself has been finished beautifully, everything has been handmade to a very high standard, even the large tiles on the wall were imported from Jerusalem! I will certainly be returning here again soon, a taste of Jerusalem in Norwich and done so well, go give them a look!


Monday 1 September 2014

F.U.I publicity and news articles

On my search for fry up perfection I have sometimes been featured on other blogs, websites, the news and even on a menu! Here is a list of places I have been featured so far..


 June 2011 - BBC Look East, click here


July 2014 - The menu at Pandora's Kitchen, click here



August 2014 - Life in a Fine City, click here 




August 2014 - BBC News, click here 




August 2014 - The Telegraph, click here



August 2014 - Buzzfeed, click here

 
August 2014 - The Mail Online, click here



 August 2014 - Daily Star, click here 



August 2014 - Metro, click here


August 2014 - adaymag.com, click here



 The publicity in August 2014 resulted in a massive increase in pageviews on the blog. Each month I try to beat the previous month's pageviews, September 2014 is going to be impossible though! Many thanks to everyone that was involved with the above articles and of course everybody that visits the blog. The search for perfection continues..



 September 2014 - The Pixel Chef, click here



December 2014 - 925 Rebellion, click here 



January 2015 - Esquire, click here



January 2015 - EDP, click here 



January 2015 - Future Radio Interview, click here 


February 2016 - Evening News and EDP articles, click here.


 August 2016 - LostIn article. The six best London fry ups for six particular occasions, click here.


January 2019 - Vice article on beans touching eggs, click here.


January 2019 - Evening News article, click here.
 
 
February 2019 - Fry Up Inspector short film made by Norfolk On Film.