Tuesday 25 May 2010

Tesco - Ipswich Road, Norwich

Available in Tesco stores Nationwide
(Cafe @ Tesco, Ipswich Road Norwich now a Costa Coffee)

I went for 10 items & a mug of tea for £3.95

Another option is pick & choose for 40p an item (yes, I love mayo on fry ups!)

Upon entering - When eating in Tesco cafes you get good value for money but the environment is not too great. Really bright lights, noisy and close together tables that have not always been cleared. If you get there quite early though it does seem much better. The menu does make it very clear what is on offer and for how much. 6/10

Service - The person serving the food can be really nice and serve you with a smile or be really miserable and look like they would rather be anywhere else, the same goes for the person on the till. I generally have found staff there to be ok but of course it will vary from store to store. One problem is that by the time you have got your plate of food, queued up to pay, gathered your condiments and cutlery, found a table and sat down the food is luke warm or cold. Again, getting there early when it is quite does make it possible to eat whist the food is still hot but you have to be quick! 6/10

Contents - Depending on how much you want to eat/spend you select whatever you want and the selection is vast, it includes.. Sausages, veggie sausages, bacon, black pudding, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, fried bread, toast, mushrooms, fresh cooked tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, baked beans and hash browns. 9/10

Presentation - Always been good when I have been and it must be quite tricky to get right when the person serving has no idea how many items will end up on the plate. 8/10

The food - No luxury items here but good all the same! Sausages are cheap but delicious, bacon is ok, scrambles and fried eggs are cooked nicely but go for what looks recently cooked, nice crispy hash browns, mushrooms, beans, tinned tomatoes are good and black pudding & fried bread are well nice. 7/10

Value for money - Great if everything has just been cooked, not such good value if the food has been sat there for a while. 7/10

Veggie option - Yes

Overall - It's Tesco, it's good value for money and it's tasty. 7/10

Sunday 16 May 2010

Whistlestop Cafe at Aylsham Station - Norfolk

Whistlestop Cafe
Bure Valley Railway
Aylsham Station
Norwich Road
Aylsham
Norfolk

The cafe is big with plenty of tables.


It is well signposted from the Bure Valley Railway carpark.


Upon entering - I went on a weekday at about 10.30am and the place was almost empty. I spotted a Breakfast offer, full english And toast & butter for £4.95. It was spacious and everything looked nice and clean, it overlooks the platform where the steam trains are. 8/10

Service - The friendly lady who took my order returned quickly with a good pot of tea, and before long returned again with the cooked breakfast. 8/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 hash browns, 2 fried eggs, tinned tomatoes, beans, toast & butter & pot of tea. 8/10

Presentation - Everything nicely placed on the plate. 8/10

The Food - The sausages were economy but kind of reminded me of school ones which I liked, nicely cooked bacon, good crispy hash browns, perfect fried eggs, large tinned tomato* and good portion of beans. The toast was served whole which I prefer as it is easier to wrap around the bacon or sausage. 8/10

Value for money - A lot of food for your money, you will not leave hungry. 9/10

Veggie option - Yes

Overall - A pleasant surprise and incredibly good value for money. I got the impression that the people working there cared about their customers and their reputation which is always a good thing but often overlooked. 8/10

* I went back recently and it was still good but something was missing?? Then I spotted it, no juicy plum tomato. Not the end of the world but missed all the same!

George Hotel - London

George Hotel
58-60 Cartwright Gardens
London
WC1H 9EL






Upon Entering - After getting completely lost in the maze of corridors inside the hotel we eventually found the breakfast room. Although a fairly big area it suddenly dawned on us there was nowhere to sit. We found a small sofa about 2 feet away from a table which was occupied by an old couple, they looked a bit uncomfortable but it was just a case of sitting and waiting till a table was free. If im honest a bit of a nightmare! 4/10

Service - Very efficient and friendly staff soon clear our table and set it up again almost instantly. A menu on the table lists everything available very clearly. You help yourself to cereal & fruit juice which is kept on a table to the side. 8/10

Contents - Not huge but the menu does clearly state "If you are still hungry, feel free to order again!" 1 Sausage, 1 bacon, fried egg, beans & toast. 5/10

Presentation - Nicely placed in the centre of the plate. 7/10

The food - Incredibly juicy pork butchers sausage, good quality tasty bacon, perfectly round and nicely cooked fried egg and ok beans. Hot toast and real butter. 8/10

Value for money - It is included in the price of your stay and you can eat as much as you like! 10/10

Veggie option - Yes

Overall - Once seated it was a pleasant experience, friendly staff and efficient service. The cooked breakfast was not very big and lacked content but what you did get was delicious. The option to order another cooked breakfast was good to see and kind of eliminated any concerns about the size of it. I left thinking "Im up for staying here again!" 7/10


Britvic staff canteen - Norwich

Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd

Carrow Works
King Street
Norwich
NR1 2DD

Parking on-site
(Only if you are using the training facilities)


Although not a public cafe you can eat there as a visitor if you are using the Abbey Conference Centre next door. Other people had told me how good the food was so I decided to get there early one morning before my training course started to try it out for myself.

Upon entering - As I walked through the canteen towards the serving hatch I had a strange feeling I was going to be asked to leave as I didn't work there. Lots of the workers sat at the tables eating seemed to be staring at me as I crossed the canteen, not a nice experience but the fact I was hungover from the night before made it easier. 4/10

Service - I told the friendly lady serving the food I wanted everything and she stacked the plate up. I still had no idea how much it was going to cost me so was well chuffed when the lady on the till charged me the visitor rate of £3.60. 8/10

Content - 1 sausage, 1 bacon, scrambled egg, fried egg, musrooms, fried bread, tinned tomatoes & beans. 8/10

Presentation - Served nicely! 8/10

The food - A tasty pork sausage, good quality bacon (Not seen in pic but was hidden under fried bread), a perfectly cooked fried egg, delicious scrambled eggs, lots of tasty mushrooms, good beans, juicy tinned tomatoes and fried bread that was slightly too oily and not quite crunchy enough. 8/10

Value for money - Lots of food for very little money. 9/10

Veggie option - Yes

Overall - I felt a bit out of place surrounded by a mass of workers in white overalls and hats. that said though the food and service were great and I can't wait to be told I have more staff training at the Abbey Conference Centre again! 7/10



Guest Review by Simon Sadler

Walcott Cafe - Norfolk


Walcott Cafe on the sea front, proper farm shop sausages,thick bacon, 2 eggs with lovely runny yoke, Tomato (very nice but I prefer the canned plum myself) beans, mushrooms, thick slice of fried bread and thick slice of toast with side plate of fried potatoes all for £7. Best we've found locally so far, well worth a visit. 9/10