Woolf & Social
Norwich, Norfolk
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If a good local restaurant is one where you can return regularly because the price is right, where you can always find something fresh and interesting to eat, and where you'll be welcomed as warmly for a quick bite as for a lingering feast, then Woolf & Social is the very definition. Set at a crossroads in a residential part of Norwich, this easy-going, unpretentious spot is ‘perfect for everyday or a special occasion,’ to quote one satisfied regular. Dishes buzz with flavour from the moment the little bowl of truffle popcorn arrives – a nice opener – to the final sweet blast of a chocolate cake with whisky cream or soothing saffron rice pudding. In between, influences span the globe, so you could find a plate of lip-tingling, sesame-strewn smacked cucumber next to the freshest grapefruit-cured, coriander-flecked hake ceviche, while the house hasselback potatoes (crisp outside, soft within) are irresistible with their accompanying aïoli. They provide tempering calm to the boisterous preserved lemons served with slender grilled asparagus and sweet-smoky morcilla. Sushi rice, meanwhile, is rippled through with an egg yolk, the mildness of those flavours lifted by pickled veg and fresh ginger. It’s an unconventional menu, a series of small, less small and slightly bigger plates that arrive, to be shared, as and when ready – and often in combinations that the kitchen believes will work well. If the smaller temptations have left you space, don’t miss the fried chicken in whatever seasonal iteration it appears – perhaps with kohlrabi and hot sauce in cooler months, or with fennel and lovage in summer. A tumbler of wine is just £4 for 125ml of simple Verdejo, from a list that’s appropriately unfussy for such a neighbourhood gem.
