‘Bacon bacon bacon, everybody loves bacon, there aint’ no mistakin’, that premium quality bacon’.
My Irish girlfriend loves a fry up, or as she calls it, a ‘fry’. We have a well tried and thoroughly tested routine; get up, walk to Quinton’s butchers, listen to one of Mike Quinton’s invariably rude jokes, walk home with original sausages, smoked back bacon that goes deliciously crispy under the grill and a piece of award winning black pudding; all for less than £3. Having such quality breakfast ingredients on offer just around the corner, I have high breakfast standards!
On Sunday we went for breakfast in Town to meet up with some of Annabel’s friends. It was a clear autumnal morning with one of those crisp pale blue Norfolk skies; the kind of morning that makes East Anglia feel like an entirely different country to the Westcountry, where I grew up. We walked down Earlham road, past the Catholic Cathedral basking in the sunshine; down Upper St Giles street with the old cobbles and the cute cafes, past the market place to the Iron House Brasserie.
The Iron House Brasserie from the front
When we walked in the staff were friendly and could accommodate a table of 6 even though we hadn’t booked. The cobbled street and old fashioned shopfront contrasts with the modern interior, which works well downstairs as an escape from the busy street outside. I love going out for breakfast because you have the whole day in front of you. Through the large windows downstairs, you can watch the people outside going about their own weekend plans. The upstairs was less interesting, but when you don’t book you can’t complain about where you are seated.
I thought that my choice of eggs royale was spot on. The eggs were firm and runny in the right places, the hollandaise was nice and lemony and the perfect consistency, and the salmon was dark, thickly cut and rich in flavour. By the end I was nicely full, which makes a pleasant change from my usual post fry up food coma.
My breakfast; eggs royale
Having ummed and erred over whether to go for the eggs royale or the pancakes, Annabel was disappointed with hers when it came. She was expecting a stack of pancakes the size of her head. What she got was this;
Annabel’s pancakes, bacon and maple syrop
Overall it was a nice breakfast (you can tell that it’s me and not Annabel writing this!) and definitely somewhere I will revisit. Next time I go out for breakfast I’d like to check out Frank’s Bar for what I’m told is a real stack of pancakes!
coriandercumin 