Norwich – Redwell Brewing

As the sign handily indicates, I booked a table for four people to go to Redwells, located in railway arches between the village of Trowse and the decadent offices of Norfolk County Council. It’s good to support a local brewery, although I’ve rather lost track of their financial issues, staffing changes and the like that have been reported in the local press.

The entrance would be slightly more impressive without the cars, but the signage is pretty clear to guide customers in.

This is a working brewery, with the brew tap type arrangement open on Fridays to Sundays.

The beer choices were all from Redwell, with no guest options available. I can’t say that there was anything sensationally good and there were a limited number of different beer styles available, but the West Coast Pale was definitely above average and I’d willingly have that again.

There were two food options, the pizzas which I think are always here, along with the rotating extra food option from Namaste which is a local vegetarian Indian restaurant that I quite like. I’m not sure how financially useful these pop-up arrangements are for companies such as Namaste as Redwells wasn’t that busy, but I suppose it’s good advertising and decent promotion for them.

I went with the Indian option, although I know from past experience that the pizza options really are beautifully decadent too.

I decided to go for the Maharaja Combo Meal, with a samosa, chilli cauliflower gobi, chana masala and rice. I have to say that it was really rather lovely, even the cauliflower tasted decent. A richness of flavours and a reminder that vegetarian food can be absolutely delicious.

And here’s the brewery set-up at the rear. There’s plenty of inside seating, although it’s best to book this in advance, with outside seating as well during the warmer months of the year. Beer ordering was either at the bar or using the app, and although the others in our group went to the bar, I was quite content using the app and not having to walk anywhere.

In an ideal world there would have been a decadent dark beer for me, but the environment was clean, the service was always polite, the company was charming (especially mine) and I enjoyed the food. A rather lovely experience and I’ll keep a little eye out for whatever food outlets will be making an appearance here.