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/
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