D here. Eleanor and I have been out on our adventures again yesterday and found another little gem to tell you all about.
Since finding TALC we have been eager to find more places of this standard. I have to admit I miss a Nandos still but when we fancy a coffee we are actually getting excited at the thought of finding a nice little place that make beautiful things. We decided to go out for food yesterday (Saturday 4th February 2012) earlier in the week and I decided to use the internet to try and find somewhere nice to go. We were happy when we found Pinocchios, a little Mediterranean restaurant on St. Benedict's Street in Norwich. Their menu looked delightful and it was the sort of food we love. After walking around Norwich shopping, we decided that we were not really hungry enough to go for a proper meal out and that we would not have enjoyed Pinocchios as much as it would have deserved so we have made a note of it and will visit at some point in the year. On my internet search, I also found Wholesome, which is a smaller establishment which we decided would better suit our appetites.
Wholesome
1 Swan Lane
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1HZ
www.wholesome.org.uk
"Merry Christmas!" was the call from the man behind the counter, "Well that's what it feels like out there!" I had to agree it was freezing outside. At this point in time, Norfolk is covered in a good three or four inches of snow and yesterday, when we visited Wholesome, it was cold enough to create it! After being told that he would be with us in a second he walked out from behind the counter to give the people sat behind us their order, not cake, not a pastry, no drinks, but two small hot water bottles. This is a complimentary service for all in this freezing cold weather which made everyone feel at home. If you know me at all, you will know I have a mild phobia of hot water bottles. If you don't know me, then I'm sorry, I'm weird. It's just the way they feel freaks me out but everyone else in the place was over the moon with this idea.
Wholesome is a grocers. If you go onto their website they give you a long list of the local produce they stock which includes meats, drinks and preserves but they are also a cafe offering a lovely menu of sandwiches, salads, pastries, cakes and hot and cold drinks with space both upstairs and downstairs to sit. The decor was lovely, had a very home made, rustic and quintessentially Norfolk feel to it with mismatched chairs, china, and decoration on the walls. The second I walked in I have to admit I felt very much at home.
So to the food on offer. There is a great selection of beautiful looking salads of many shapes and colours, meats from different parts of different animals, and a great selection of cakes. I chose to have a hot Norfolk Pasty and a mocha and the better half chose to have a slice of millionaire's shortbread and a flat white. The selection of hot drinks on offer excited Ele as they serve "Pukka" tea which is a brand Ele has become obsessed with recently. So after placing our order, which took us a long time through everything looking amazing, we headed upstairs, which felt like sitting in someone's dining room. This is where my only negative comes in and to be honest, it is so small I don't think it really matters. The upstairs, which is a great size only has four tables in it. These tables sit between four and ten but there were no tables for two, which saw Ele and I sitting at a table that would sit about ten as the parties of four or less had taken the smaller tables. I would not have minded at all if others were to have sat at the same table as us, which is why I say this is a very minor thing, but some people would not have done so, being too shy. As I said, such a small thing and I am being majorly picky.
Our food was then brought to us very quickly and handed to us by the waitress who was really friendly. As she was handing me my pasty she told me that in the small dish was a gooseberry chutney which they added to try if I fancied it.
I find this bit difficult. It is hard to be wordy and exact when all I could think when I was eating and drinking was that this is perfect. The pasty was lovely and, as a person who has never been to Cornwall, was the best pasty I have ever had (and Ele wanted to steal the Royal Wedding plate it came on!) Everything about it was beautifully made and the flavour was so full with the pastry being light. I could not recommend the pasty enough. I wanted to look around the room and offer a bite of it to people that had not eaten it just to show them how good it was. Now I think you can see that I loved that pasty, but there was something that made it even better. Gooseberry chutney is, without a doubt, the best thing to have with that pasty. I loved every bite and had to stop myself from going downstairs and ordering another. I will also be going back to Wholesome to see if they do jars of that chutney. I need it in my life. To top it all off, the mocha I had was amazing. Rich and bitter coffee with richer chocolate. Can not ask for better than this.
My first mouthful of pasty went in and in my excitedness I turned to Ele with that look of "OH MY GOD" across my face. I almost laughed to see the exact look I was giving staring back at me followed by Ele saying "I've eaten a lot of Millionaire's shortbread in my time but this is the best I have ever tasted." She saved me some begrudgingly and I have to admit, I am not a fan of this sort of cake but this was mouth-wateringly beautiful.
Sitting near the stairs meant that the waitress would have to walk past us to get to her customer and every time she walked past I was staring mouth opened at the tray of treats she was bringing up the stairs. The sandwiches looked amazing, and from looking at the sandwich board each sandwich was one that I wanted to try. They were made in beautiful looking bread with a georgous looking side salad. I really wanted to order one for after my pasty but thought I better not.
This idea came about through us missing a little deli in Leeds called Pickles and Potter in the hope we would find somewhere local that would be close to the standard set by them. We both left Wholesome saying that in February, early February, we have succeeded. Whoesome not only matches Pickles and Potter, but in some ways, could even be better. Need to visit a few more times before I make this bold claim though!
So if you are in Norwich, please visit. A place like this is far too good for you not to. I think the main problem will be to not go every time we are there!
Wholesome
1 Swan Lane
Norwich
Norfolk
NR2 1HZ
www.wholesome.org.uk
Love D and Ele xxx
