Takeaway Time - China Garden Review

China Garden, Colman Road, Norwich 

Cuisine - Chinese

Options - Takeaway & Phone Order for Collection 

Speed - 9/10 - Upon arrival outside China Garden I was somewhat sceptical seeing as there was a few people inside and it being seven o'clock on at Saturday evening but I was wrong to be. After a brief look over the wide varietied menu, we placed our order of two curries, one Cantonese style prawn dish, three rices and one portion of chips, then deciding to stay in the shop and wait for the arrival of our food. Within a short wait of fourteen minutes our takeaway was ready to go, in this time the girl had served another six people showing how flowful the Chinese gets, the business is non-stop so if you want to avoid a ten minute wait it's best to order for pick up. It's worth a mention that the shop has benches to sit whilst waiting as well things to read and a television to watch. 

Taste - 8.5/10 - Chinese is always a tough choice for me as I'm quite indecisive with my food, so I opted for something different in the form of a sweet and sour king prawn Cantonese style with a portion of the essential that is egg fried rice. First of all the prawns were certainly worthy of the 'king' title as they were large and meaty, not to mention I had around eight or nine of them which I felt was a generous amount. The sauce was flavoursome and had a syrup like texture with a nice tang to it; I thouroughly enjoyed the balance of sweet and sour in the dish because of the juicy pineapple chunks along side the crunchy vegetables. Variety of the vegetables was a pleanty with the savoury bite of the peppers and the slices of onion, however I wasn't too keen on the fresh tomato as I feel it didn't really have much of a place in the dish. With the prawns they had a thin batter which was properly seasoned and possessed a crisp crust, making for tasty combustion in your mouth with the sauce. My rice portion was filling and wasn't dry like you sometimes find with the fried dish, the freshness made it fluffy and it also had a lot of chunky egg pieces within it. If I was to pick out one negative it would be the sauce should be of a larger quantity as it was that delicious I was left craving more with my uncovered rice. 

Price - 8/10 - Independant takeaways like Chinese and Indian seem to be getting ever more expensive nowadays as more pop up, providing tough competition for each other. My meal came to a total of £7.30 which you'll find is cheaper than your average indian meal, the king prawn Cantonese was £5.00 on it's own then £2.30 for the egg rice. The menu for China Garden does have a massive variety of dishes and sides which are obviously all at different prices depending on the contents, for example chicken balls are £4.10 and set meals start around £7.00. If you really fancy a Chinese takeaway treat they offer up a whole duck for just over £20. When it comes to average prices China Garden is on par with other Chinese's and showcases a wide varied menu. A key point I will point out is that prawns are expensive to buy in the current times so actually £5.00 for around eight battered king prawns is about right. 

Overall - 9/10 - As far as Chinese's go in Norwich, China Garden is well up there in being one of the greatest, better still, one of the best takeaways in the City. For as many years as I can remember the establishment has been positioned where it is, with a solid reputation that keeps customers coming back for more, even more so since Chinese became Britain's most popular takeaway. It's success is evident, serving busy weekends Friday to Sunday, for the past decade. The taste of  China Gardens food fulfils every Chinese craving, leaving the treat of the unique tastes tantalising your taste buds. As well as the speedy service and tasteful food, the shop gives off fair pricing and variety making for a really well rounded eatery. If you live in the area, fancy a great quality Chinese meal or are just treating yourself to takeaway make sure you visit China Garden as you'll struggle to find a better food den in Norwich. A certain must try for all food lovers and hungry people around town. 

Tel: 01603507798

Number 12 Norwich Review

Number 12 Bar & Dining, Norwich, Farmers Avenue

Cuisine - Gastro Pub

Price Range - Low/Medium - Number 12 prices up the meals on an average between the £10 and £20 mark, depending of course on the contents of the plate. The cheapest meals are set at £8.95 which is the homemade lasagne and also the burrito, where as the high end of the menu peaks at £19.95 being the twelve item mixed grill. All steak dishes will set you back £18.95 and are a hearty ten ounce cuts of meat. The pub offers smaller plates as light bites which are cheaper to go with the lunch time menu, where you can buy two selected meals for £12. Soft drinks cost £2.00 each and a pint of larger is around the £4.00 mark. 

Service - 9/10 - After booking a table in the mid afternoon, we arrived at Number 12 later in the day where we were greeted by the bar man; then being happily pointed towards our ready set table upstairs where we quickly had our drinks order taken. Their was a short wait for the food menus to arrive but the waitress was apologetic about this when they did arrive. Throughout our meal the staff were extremely friendly, attentative and punctual, delivering food, drinks and condiments at a fast rate. It's very clear that they are well organised and are very used to dealing with busy situations as most of the tables were full. An area of sheer brilliant customer care was when one of our party was offered an alternative to the burger as he could eat beef, the waitress was fast to act upon this and asked the chef if he could make a chicken burger instead, then going ahead to make it. This statement shows real consideration and is a genuine act of consideration. 

Atmosphere - 8/10 - Obviously being in the city centre and an ever growing, popular bar on a Friday night, the place was jam packed. This gave the whole area a real nice vibe and atmospheric noise, however sometimes it came across slightly too loud, meaning I had to shout across to other party members. An upstairs segment for the restaurant go-ers seperates them from the bustle of the bar area, making the atmosphere more comfortable, eating downstairs is an option but would make meal time a tad awkward. Nice touches to be noted are the fact they offer live music on certain nights with Lee Vasey and have a jazz like background music when you can hear it. 

Decor/Theme - 8/10 - The pub poses as a friendly, laid back, homely establishment and it doesn't fail there. With a bar area downstairs for drinkers and a swarve upstairs dining area, Number 12 caters for all lovers of the British pub, welcoming customers young and old. My favourite aspects that make the pub comforting are the classic, detailed chalkboards that state specials, the modern, home like wallpaper on the feature walls, the cute lightings and also the multiple heart warming fire places. All the tables are set out beautifully as they are neat, clean and have matching seats. If I were to pick a negative it would be the area was slightly small but that's at no fault of the management. Upon the walls, in the menu and around the pub you have quirky little quotes that show a good sense of humour, for example they have "happy minute" every day at 14:59-15:00.

Food Presentation - 7/10 - For the size of my portion and taking into consideration the number of items on my plate, the chef done a decent job. The tomatoes on the vine were something that immediately struck my eye, giving a nice subtle touch of colour; also the rustic affect of the skin on chips were different from your average skinless spud. The salad was neatly placed to one side of the plate, splitting the distribution of food nicely aswell as the drizzle of garnish over the meal, making for flavour. Overall it did feel that the food was a bit piled up as the chips and onion rings were hidden under the steak, however this showcased the mass portion you do recieve at the 12. A member of my party who had the burger had his chips served up in a pastel coloured paint pot which I thought was quite jazzy.

Food/Value for Money - 8/10 - My meal I opted for was a healthy ten ounce rib eye steak which set me back £18.95. Firstly I'd like to state what the plate served up which was multiple tomatoes, salad, two large onion rings, hand cut chips, a huge mushroom and a ten ounce steak, needless to say I left full. Everything was superbly seasoned and satisfied my tastes, as the chips had a good dusting of salt along side a tasty salad dressing which I believe was a mustard flavouring. The onion rings were crisp, giving off a balanced onion flavour to go with the mushroom was delicious as it was sizeable and didn't leak juices over the plate, showing it was well cooked. An aspect I was pleased with was the chips as they were fresh, chunky and had a crisp skin on texture, from the first bite you could tell they were better than the commercial frozen French fry. Unfortunately the steak was a tiny bit over cooked as it was more of a medium than a medium rare and I feel it lacked in full flavour, take nothing away though as the meat was still succulent and satisfying, fulfilling my appetite. With the vine tomatoes I thought their could have been a few less as sometimes removing them from the stalk was an obstical, however I did enjoy them and the balsamic dressing on the fruits was devine. Overall I feel the plate was great value for money, giving you an excellent, modern take on the British pub steak. Meat like this elsewhere in the city would set you back over the twenty mark and you wouldn't get all the trimmings like you do here.

Overall - 8/10 - Being branded the best pub for food in Norwich on TripAdvisor, Number 12 has a high end reputation to live up to and in my opinion, it certainly does that. Offering up a large selection of upmarket spirits and drinks to go with the selection of great food, the pub satisfies all crowds, giving options to everyone's tastebuds; not only this but the menu boast locally sourced produce which is great support for local business' alike. Reasonably priced tasty meals appeal to all hungry people within the city, giving customer delicious food every day; whether you want to pop in for a lunch time plate whilst out or you are dropping by for an evening of wining and dining, Number 12 makes for a quality eatery. Sublime customer service and a warm, comforting decor is something you look for in a pub, so if that's what you're looking for then pop in and treat yourself as the staff never fail with their genuinely friendly personalities. It's clear to see why Number 12 is so successful and it's certainly a must visit in my eyes, this place growing gastro pub with a bright future ahead of it. 

www.number12norwich.org/