THE BELGIAN MONK & BREWDOG, NORWICH

Last Friday, Harvey and I went to the Belgian Monk for a little dinner and out for drinks with some very close friends of ours. I'd been there once before, but only for a drink, and as I was still finding my way around Norwich back hen, I hadn't heard about the famous cherry beer and settled for a cider I think.

This time, I was accompanied by three Norwich locals, and so of course, I tried the cherry beer. I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't take the plunge straight away, and started off with a cider (or two!), as is generally standard behaviour for me. Nothing special to report there, and I instantly wished I'd gone straight for a cherry beer once I tried someone else's.

Aside from the cherry beer, I'm told that the Belgian Monk is also famous for it's Mussels. I LOVE Mussels, especially Moules Mariniere, and never in my life have I seen such an extensive Mussels menu! I'm pretty sure I counted at least 24 varieties of Mussels... As per usual, I was too busy chatting to pay proper attention to the menu, and so when the waitress came to take our food order, I plumped for Moules Mariniere. Harvey opted for the Fish and Chips, you can't really go wrong there!

The food came out pretty quickly after we'd ordered, and MY GOD, I was served with the biggest portion of Mussels and chips I have ever seen! There was absolutely no way I was going to finish the whole bowl; I did give it a good go, but the inevitable happened. Once I'd gotten to the broth in the bottom of the bowl, I wished I'd just set some aside from the top, as that was 100% the best part of the dish! Chips were great too, better than I expected, truth be told.

Once we'd finished our meal, we decided to check out Brewdog, one of Norwich's most recent offerings. I was a bit dubious; I'm not much of a beer drinker, and I'd heard it was 99% beer. However, we were served by a particularly knowledgeable member of staff - no sooner had I mumbled the words "I'm not normally much of a beer drinker..." than two taster beers appeared in front of me.

I opted for the Lindemans Cassis beer, and I have to say I was beginning to doubt whether it was actually a beer, as it was so fruity! The other option, which I plan to try properly next time, was called Strawberry Blitz, and this was more 'beer-like', but was particularly sour, from what I recall.

I absolutely loved the look and the atmosphere of Brewdog, and I think it's the perfect early to middle of the evening bar. At the risk of starting to sound like an alcoholic, I can't wait to go back to both the Belgian Monk and Brewdog, although next time I fancy trying a slightly unusual flavour of Mussels!

If you've never been, these are two places you should definitely be checking out!

Laura xxx