Cafe Royal Norwich At The Theatre Royal!
This morning the girls and I tripped into the city for a catch up with our friends at The Theatre Royal Norwich who have, over the past couple of months, been soft launching their newer, shinier and more friendly cafe. The Royal, where all day long, with or without theatre tickets, you can enjoy their delights, has officially opened today and we were treated to some of what’s on offer!
Pastries and cakes served alongside freshly squeezed orange juice and a plethora of hot drinks is a fab way to start any day so it was a Tuesday of treats as far as we were concerned and Florence said it was the best croissant she’s ever had. Flaky and buttery and just right. So right in fact, I didn’t get a chance to photograph it before it was devoured as I turned my back to have a chat and it was gone! I did get some lovely pictures of her other yummy treats though!
Everything rather tempting and at a very affordable price while in a calming and friendly atmosphere. Are children welcome? Yes absolutely! They welcome little ones and with any hot drink a babyccino is free of charge. What’s not to love? I will say for smaller babies like Posie that the high chairs are a bit rubbish. It’s a current bug bear of mine but as standard in most places they do have these sorts of robust and easy to clean (which are good attributes) wooden chairs without trays but unfortunately they don’t make life easiest for mums. Jamie Oliver’s now, alas, closed restaurant was the only one who I’ve known to invest in Stoke Tripp Trapps which can seat babies from birth to adulthood and I do wish more would choose to go the same route. Yo Sushi also choose a really good one in the Bloom – Cafe Royal haven’t done anything most other cafes and restaurants aren’t doing but a little thought into these things could make them tip top perfect! The cakes, pastries and drinks are still worth going for however, so take some heavy duty coats to pad put the babes. It’s just the sort of place to meet for mammas and the high chairs can be forgiven for all the other lushness.
I opted for a stunningly huge cheese scone (greedy big eye chose the largest looking treat) and it didn’t disappoint. I’m rather partial to a cheese scone and yet they do have to be just right, so many don’t make the grade with too much bicarb for a rise, forgetting about the taste. Even Jarrolds, famous for their scones, have fallen short to that in recent years and yet these Cafe Royal ones are absolutely perfect. Taste, and like I mentioned, enormous in their rise too. How do they do it? I wish I knew – my own scones are always as flat as a pancake.
I immediately came away thinking absolutely this is somewhere I’d like to go for a coffee and a cake when in the city. Far more civilised than sitting in the giant cafe in Jarrolds and at £3.00 for that enormous scone a rather affordable treat to boot. I’m told there is a rather decent children’s menu in the restaurant too – we will have to try that as a pre theatre treat when we go to panto this year. It’s Dick Wittington and his Cat which Florence got down to the finals for in the auditions so she’s keen to see it and there’s also a production for smaller children, Jack Frost, on stage two. Watch this space!
Well done Cafe Royal, we will be back!
I was invited to try Cafe Royal this morning as a guest of the theatre.
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