POP UP KITCHEN NORWICH
THE GEN I love dining out, I really do. Whereas a good night when I was in my early 20s was coming home with a fiver, and only one Niagara Falls-style stain of Bacardi Breezer down my top, I’m more refined now, don’t you know. Eating good food is now my bestest thing, but occasionally I get a little social anxiety in restaurants; what’s the dress code, how much should I tip, how much witty repartee should I engage in with the waiting staff – it’s a British nightmare. Imagine my sheer delight when Pop Up Kitchen Norwich launched – a gourmet takeaway service with an extensive European menu. Good food. You can eat in your pants. Tis, ladies and gentlemen, for one time only, is the Big Eat IN.
ATMOSPHERE Te atmosphere in my gaff was excitable and warm. Promising the wife a takeaway is always a smart move – the reduced dishes along with the respite from my tawdry cooking meant a 70% chance of less evening rowing. Plus I like the décor.
STARTER Chicken Liver + Pistachio Paté w/ Sour Dough, and Port + Orange Jelly I have a little rule for myself; as well as always changing out of my pyjamas before going to the local shop, I make a note to never order fruit with savoury food. It generally freaks me out. Luckily, like the first rule, it’s often broken and I tentatively consumed the prawns and mango salsa. Man, that salsa. It was so good; laced with coriander and chilli, it accompanied the massive, butch prawns like a few much prettier bridesmaids. We expected, maybe, another prawn in the box, but what they lacked in number, they made up in meatiness. What about the wings though? MAN, those wings! Easily my favourite bit – with piri piri sauce dripping down my hands, I could’ve easily
gnawed my arm off trying to get every last bit of that meaty juice. Te wings were no measly skinny things either – enough meat to get your teeth round.
THE MAIN EVENT Slow-Cooked Crispy Pork Belly w/ Mash // Whole Rack of BBQ Ribs + sides Tere’s two sides to the Pop Up Kitchen Menu – the refined Meat + Veg Out menu, with some choices you’d never expect to see on a takeaway menu (blood orange chicken, for example), and then the playful younger brother menu from Hot Fire BBQ, which offer the greatest stars of the grill. We chose slow-cooked pork belly, because we’re really, really fucking clever. Te pork was a massive haunch; soft and juicy, with a tangy umami-fire taste on the top. Te mash was smooth, chunky apple sauce a little mouth-livener, and the red wine jus was great, if a little sparing (most had been sucked up by the mash en route to our house). Te whole rack of ribs was intelligently spice-rubbed, and our knife went cleanly through them. I snaffled them up happily, but the surprise star was one of the sides, the Cajun spiced
OVERALL Home is where the heart is. Food is the way to many hearts. So to combine rich and celebratory cuisine with the comfort of your warm abode is a match made in heaven. Tey’re currently popping up from Turs-Sun only, but with Sundays even offering a Lazy Sunday Roast delivery, there’ll be many a satisfied chimney pot in this city. Go to
www.popupkitchennorwich.co.uk for their full menu. Emma R. Garwood
GETTING HOME...
Courtesy Taxis
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sweet potato wedges. When care is taken on the accompaniments, you know there’s thought being spent in the kitchen.
PUD Banoffee Pie w/ Cream A very enthusiastic girl who took our order gave us the inside scoop: “try the banoffee pie”, she said. “It’s insane.” We ordered one to share, and that ranked among my worst decisions ever made. I had to share it. One spoon for you, one for me. Oh, the horror! Sickly, sweet, and containing enough fruit to pass off as healthy (don’t argue with me), I’ll deffo be ordering two next time. We didn’t even need the cream.
VALUE As soon as you get your head round the notion that this is restaurant quality grub, it’s inarguably brilliant value. Te Hot Fire BBQ side of the menu especially, with each main offering two sides for free, is a bargain. We had two starters, two mains and one pud for just under £30. In our pants… I cannot stress that point enough.
VENUE
FODDER VALUE
OVERALL
WAITING AREA 24 HOUR SERVICE
50 SEAT
NO INCREASE AFTER
MIDNIGHT 6,7,8 SEATER AVAILABLE EXCECUTIVE CAR TRAVEL
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