Brewdog - Norwich

1 Queen Street

Norwich

NR2 4SG

Brunch menu served

Saturday and Sunday

11am till 4pm

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Brewdog has nearly 30 branches across the UK including one in Norwich on Queen Street. Usually I pass here in the evening when it's really busy, today I was here for the brunch though and it was far more peaceful at 10.45am.

There's a shop inside selling a vast selection of Brewdog merchandise and beer.

The interior is quite stunning, it offers tables in various sizes including this one which will easily accommodate a group of ten.

This seemed like a nice spot to sit, all of a sudden I really fancied a beer.

The brunch menu offers The Haystack, it doesn't claim to be a Full English but features many of the main ingredients. There's an excellent Vegan option too which really impressed my wife.

Sauces by Heinz, HP and Dalston Chillies are available here.

It was a tough choice deciding what beer to choose so I played it safe with one I've enjoyed before, Punk IPA. My wife ordered a glass of wine but after tasting the tropical flavours in my Punk IPA (£5.10 a pint) she was regretting not ordering a pint too. 

The Haystack was served on a white enamel plate which spun quite a lot whilst cutting into the food. My first impression was that it looked quite nice but for £8.50 it seemed fairly small, especially when compared to breakfasts served at nearby places at the same price.

The bacon was delicious, underneath lay the BBQ pit beans.

The egg was slightly undercooked over the yolk and the sausage didn't excite me at all.

The forest mushroom was excellent, so much flavour!

"Greenery has no place on a breakfast" people said on my facebook page when I posted the photo of this breakfast, I rather enjoyed the cress though.

The vine tomatoes were barely cooked but tasted great. 

The slice of Stornaway black pudding was my highlight of this breakfast. 

The veggie/vegan haystack is well thought out and certainly impressed my wife. The BBQ Seitan steak was generous and delicious, the padron peppers were a really nice addition too.

I couldn't resist an aerial shot.

My wife and I were all set to visit Cromer for the day but with grey cloudy weather forecast we changed our mind and decided to go for breakfast in Norwich instead. I referred to my list of new places to visit in Norwich and looked the menus up online. Brewdog were offering an excellent Vegan option which I knew would please my wife so we headed into the city...

Upon entering - I'd passed Brewdog's crowded outside seating area at the weekends before, however at 10.45 on a Sunday morning things were much more peaceful. Inside there's a shop to your left selling a vast selection of Brewdog beers and merchandise, we were feeling hungry though so swiftly turned right into the bar area. The bar offers 25 taps of craft beer, I knew straight away that I wouldn't be choosing a coffee with my breakfast this morning. The seating area is spacious and impressive, exposed brickwork, wooden beams and neon signs make it quite a stunning area to dine in. You can choose soft seating in one of the spacious booths or standard seats, the tables on offer are all different sizes so large groups can easily be accommodated here. Menus and sauces are already on the tables so once seated just wait for somebody to come along to take your order, you can pay at the bar on the way out. We were fortunate enough to have the whole place to ourselves, this made for a relaxing environment which was enhanced by music in the background being played at just the right volume. 9/10

Service - As soon as we entered the bar area we were greeted with a smile, we enquired about the brunch menu and was told it was now available. Somebody came over almost straight away to take our order, I didn't experience any up selling here which is often common place in chains. We simply ordered exactly what we wanted and it all arrived in a reasonable amount of time. Somebody came over to check if everything was ok and we paid on the way out. The staff all seemed relaxed, friendly, happy and efficient which left us impressed. 9/10

Contents - The Haystack consisted of 1 sausage, 2 slices of bacon, 1 slice of black pudding, 1 fried egg, 1 large mushroom, BBQ pit beans, tomatoes, cress and toasted sourdough. 7/10

Presentation - The food looked rather nice nestled together on the enamel plate, many would gasp at the sight of cress in the centre but I thought it finished it off quite nicely. The plate itself was a slight issue though, everytime I cut into something the plate spun around making the haystack a bit tricky to eat. 7/10

The food - As always I'll start with the sausage, usually being served just one is disappointing but the quite bland sausage didn't seem particularly special so no great loss on this occasion. The smoked streaky bacon on the other hand was excellent, it sat amongst the BBQ pit beans which had heaps of flavour, the two complimented each other beautifully. Equally impressive was the Stornoway black pudding, a nice deep red in the centre and my personal highlight of this breakfast. The vine tomatoes were flavoursome but only cooked slightly on one side, still enjoyable though. The sourdough could have been more toasted but it made a good base for my fried egg which sadly was undercooked over the yolk. The egg tasted great still but I tried not to look as I cut through it as uncooked egg white is always a bit of an off putting sight for me. Finally the mushroom, excellent texture and fantastic taste. Some really enjoyable elements to be found on this breakfast but also some slightly disappointing moments due to under cooking. 6/10

Value for money - It was quite a small plate of food for £8.50 and a pint of Punk IPA cost £5.10 which seemed quite steep too. I was soon thinking about food again not long after leaving here. This won't keep you going all day like the breakfasts at other nearby cafes do which cost a similar price. 4/10

Veggie option - The Veggie Haystack (Vegan) - BBQ seitan steak, crispy kale, smashed avocado, padron peppers, BBQ pit beans, forest mushroom, vine tomato and sourdough toast £8.50.

Overall - We were really impressed with the Brewdog environment and excellent service. It probably feels much different when it's really busy here but being the only customers was sheer bliss! The haystack featured a nice selection of items which tasted great, a slightly undercooked egg and tomatoes did let it down a bit though. For £8.50 I'd definitely expect a much better quality sausage for my money and preferably a pair. I must add though that my wife thoroughly enjoyed the vegan haystack, it was nice to see such a creative selection of items featured on it and the BBQ seitan steak was incredibly nice. As chains go this was one of the better ones and if you love craft beer with your breakfast then it's even more appealing, certainly worth a look. 7/10