River Green Cafe - Norwich Ⓥ

The St

Trowse Newton

Norwich

NR14 8AH

Brunch available

Tuesday to Friday - 11am till 2.30pm

Saturday - 11am till 5pm

Sunday - 11am till 3pm

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River Green Cafe is about twenty minutes walk from Norwich city centre in the village of Trowse. 

This is the bar area, River Green serve a good range of organic wine, local beers and cider.

The open plan kitchen looks out onto the spacious dining area.

There are lots of tables to choose from, these ones look out onto Trowse Common. There's also a nice outside seating area, perfect in the warmer weather.

All the tables are neatly laid out.

This was the reason for this visit, I'd been meaning to come and try this for sometime now.

After walking here we were quite thirsty so we decided to order some juice.

The sugar free pear and raspberry juice served with ice was really refreshing.

 

The fair trade coffee is specially blended for River Green, this was an excellent cappuccino. The mint chocolate that comes with it was a great touch, if only more places did this!

Salt and pepper are already on the table, sauces are available too.

The brunch looked great when it arrived!

I ordered fried eggs, you can have them anyway you want them though.

My wife swapped her eggs for potatoes and extra tomato on her brunch.

The free range eggs tasted really good with nice runny yolks.

I loved the juicy texture and great flavour of the Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages. 

Nicely seasoned tomatoes and delicious bubble and squeak.

I spotted some mushrooms underneath the toast.

Without a doubt the tastiest mushrooms I can ever recall eating!

Back in February I went along with my wife to the River Green Cafe taster evening, we were both really impressed, you can read about it here. I remember spotting brunch on the menu back then and knew it was only a matter of time until I returned to try it. My wife offered to take me out for breakfast somewhere and suggested returning to River Green once again so I would finally get to try their brunch. The sun was shining so we decided to walk there, it was a good 40 minutes walk from home so we had a good appetite when we finally arrived...

Upon entering - You walk into the bar area and just beyond this is the open plan kitchen that looks out over the dining area. The dining area is really big and spacious with lots of nice solid tables in different sizes, each one laid out with cutlery, serviettes, menus, salt and pepper. It's beautifully decorated and has a really fresh, modern look with light colours and natural wood throughout. The large windows allow plenty of natural light to flood in, it's certainly a really relaxing and comfortable place to spend some time. The view of the common and Trowse village out of the window is easy on the eye and there's also a really nice outside area to enjoy in the warmer months. There's full table service here so once you are seated sit back and relax as you'll be well looked after. 9/10

Service - We were greeted as we entered and shown to our table, all the staff here were really friendly. I was delighted to see Chris Avey (he previously owned The Old Bakery Cafe in Norwich) who is now joint owner and head chef at River Green. We placed our order and were given the brunch options, I chose fried eggs and my wife chose the brunch with no eggs, instead she got potatoes and extra tomato. First the amazing pear and raspberry juice arrived, much needed after that long walk! Next the brunch's arrived, everything we needed was already on the table except ketchup which we were offered and was served in a small bowl. We were asked if everything was ok during the meal and our plates were cleared from the table at the end giving us more space for our coffees. 9/10

Contents - 2 vegetarian sausages, 2 eggs, bubble and squeak, tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast. 8/10

Presentation - The brunch looked great when it arrived, a sausage barrier was stopping the beans from touching the eggs and everything looked nicely cooked. The tomatoes were lightly seasoned and bubble and squeak is always a welcome sight. 8/10

The food - I really enjoyed the Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages, they tasted great and had a really firm but moist texture. I've tried many vegetarian sausages before but these were certainly my favourite so far, the red onion and rosemary combination works beautifully. The bubble and squeak tasted amazing, seasoned with nutmeg and browned both sides with a nice coarse texture. The pair of free range fried eggs had excellent flavour and deep yellow yolks, I ate them on top of the buttered toast with some beans letting the yolk seep into the bread, delicious! Although quite pale the tomatoes were flavoursome and nicely seasoned. The highlight of this breakfast for me though were the mushrooms, thick cut, lightly browned and so incredibly tasty. A really nice combination of items made up this brunch, some great flavours and the best mushrooms I've ever tasted. 9/10

Value for money - This delicious brunch costs £8.90 and was certainly worth the money, especially considering the excellent service and lovely environment you get to enjoy it in. 8/10

Vegan and Gluten free options - Yes

Overall - The stunning environment and excellent service at River Green Cafe make it a place thats a pleasure to spend time in. The food here is amazing and the range of locally supplied drinks is impressive. If you're looking for somewhere to go for a vegetarian or vegan brunch then head out to Trowse and treat yourself, my wife and I loved it! 8.5/10

*Update - October 2016*

There was a vegan brunch on the specials board this week featuring vegan sausage and black pudding, homemade beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, scrambled tofu and toast. An incredibly delicious combination of items and something that will feature as a special now and again I was told.