A NEW NORWICH BACKSTREET CORNER PUB ! ANOTHER ONE ?

November 2023. Norwich.

Stop No. E on the Great Norwich GBG Mop Up came a mere 5 minutes after Stop D . I really should have slowed down, but only Mrs RM could have made me do done that, and she was in Tunbridge Wells. And she couldn’t have caught me anyway as I sped through the backstreets.

Another De’Ath Hospitality outlet,

and if I were a completist I’d been tempted to do those other ones pre-emptively, just so we can laugh at you when William and Florence doesn’t “Guide”.

The approach to the Unthank Arms doesn’t give much clue to what’s inside. Outdoor play area for the children, Guinness and Madri, plain pub sign,

but the approach reveals something that wouldn’t look out of place in Southsea.

Yet another small corner pub, no room to swing a cat (don’t), let alone let your canine friend lie prostrate at your feet and block all routes.

All the tables look taken, or reserved for diners, and seats line the bar blocking the pumps.

And there’s no service. Five (5) uniformed staff scuttle about, each avoiding eye contact.

“Are you being served ?” I’m finally asked. Sounds like the answer to a quiz about ’70s culture.

I see Plum Porter as there’s a break in the bar flies, and can’t resist.

“Don’t worry about ME” says a bar fly seated to my left, waving an empty Heineken glass. The case for queues, except here it’s take you out the front door.

Now, if this sounds a bit grim, let me say this is a high quality family pub, the sort Islington do well on Sunday lunchtime. And the Titanic us a chewy NBSS 3+.

I briefly contemplate a late lunch, joining the folk matching their burgers with tap water,

but the wait looks scary, and those homemade pub lentils will have to wait. A lad with a Liverpool shirt comes in from the play area, I almost stand on the dog despite being seated,

and I suddenly realise, with horror, the Plum Porter is a 3.5.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

14 thoughts on “A NEW NORWICH BACKSTREET CORNER PUB ! ANOTHER ONE ?”

  1. “I unthank you”

    Is that – in our compliment, antimatter universe where time runs backwards – what its Arthur Askey said after (or was it before?) each gag?

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      1. It’s called thorn. It’s still used in Icelandic and was used in Old English before we started using th. It’s the “th” sound in words like, well, actually thorn.

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  3. Those rose roundels either side of the doors and windows look to be quite a feature of Norwich pubs. I didn’t notice them when I got to Norwich but back then I was interested in beer not pubs.

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