St. Giles House, St Giles Street, Norwich restaurant review

Our food detective investigates what's happening at a glamorous Norwich hotel-with a rather turbulent past!

Great potential

Reviewed: St Giles House, St Giles Street, Norwich, 01603 275180

This month our food detective investigates what’s happening at a glamorous Norwich hotel – with a rather turbulent past!

Did you follow that telly series about the opening of the St Giles House Hotel in Norwich a few years back? It was great fun, with all the right ingredients for a juicy fly on the wall series. A rather flamboyant lady owner, Russian connections, ambitious plans, problems, problems and er, more problems!

Cutting a long story short, they stood down and Pat and Rachel Roofe, who also run the Elderton Lodge in north Norfolk, took over a year or so ago. It’s not an easy place, I imagine, to make a go of. Sure, it is beautiful with an imposing, baroque exterior and many original features, such as marble floors from its heyday as the city’s Telephone House. But parking is a problem and there are several odd rooms with no central core. And it looks like it drinks cash!

My husband and I decided to try out the new version one high summer evening. A mixture of wedding anniversary, Father’s Day and my birthday, none of which had been properly celebrated because of sports day, tennis tournaments, school fetes and the like – kids in other words.

I put on the Best Dress and sought out the Posh Bag. He quickly ditched the quasi work trousers for the Semi Decent Pair and the Linen Shirt.There’s a rather nice terrace off the main bar so out we headed for stiff gins and a catch up chat – and a jolly good look through the menu. When the Russians were in charge, it was all caviar and the like but now there’s a classic, modern, British menu, with plenty of local produce. There are not many choices, which is always a good sign, and none of that overblown narrative that can be so tiresome.

I started with a tian of Cromer crab, which was a worthy effort – with plenty of tangy crab. The main courses on offer were, I felt, a bit heavy for the summer months – beef, pork and duck. Where were the salads, rice-based dishes and other summer treats? Quaffing a simple glass of white wine from a very respectable wine list, I went for pork belly, which was very tender and nicely set off with a pea puree which showed a good use of seasonal ingredients.

Himself, who dipped out of a starter as he’s worried about middle aged spread, chose halibut, served fairly traditionally with a creamy sauce – and yes, quite heavy on the calories, I’d have thought! All washed down by a pint of best from the Grain Brewery in Harleston.

We shared a little selection of four puddings including a cappuccino mousse and a summer pudding. It was the highlight of the meal for me as each little treat was beautifully presented and prepared to perfection! It wasn’t busy for a Friday night – maybe four or five other tables – which must be disappointing.

So, would I recommend it? In some ways, yes. There’s an air of spectacle about the place thanks to the fabulous surroundings and the food has great potential – it’s well thought out and just needs the odd tweak here and there.

There are 24 bedrooms and it could become what I reckon Norwich really needs – a luxury boutique hotel. Watch this space!

What we ate

Tian of dressed crab with cucumber salad, melon sorbet and candied chilli – �7.50.

Caramelised Dingley Dell pork belly, with parmentier potatoes, ham hock terrine, quince jam, pea puree and shoots – �15.50.

Halibut supreme with new potatoes, king prawns and peas, broad beans and baby gem lettuce in a cream sauce, �15.50.

Dessert selection to share – chocolate fondant, strawberry shortbread, summer pudding and cappuccino mousse – �9.50.

Drinks

Gin and tonic – �3.80.

Glass of white wine – �3.

Pint of Grain Best – �3.

Peppermint tea – �1.75.

Large bottle of water – �3.50.