Coach & Horses, Norwich

The outline of a medieval building can be discerned looking at this pub, a rarity in Norwich in spite of the city’s long history. I was worried by the Greene King signs but the presence of a Wolf Brewery van outside reassured me, along with the GBG2024 entry. Eight pulls I think, but there was a good collection of bar blockers making life difficult. The only cask from a non small brewery was Ruddles otherwise six interesting beers including a couple of dark ones, the last pull had a cider. A low and a high T-bar provide a pedestrian keg choice. Multi space layout with a main bar across the front, the excellent but tatty, counter to the right, a back room full of mirrors with tartan carpet and the gents and to the extreme right a seating cum dining area with a bar billiards table.

The Coach & Horses has a bar counter that faces the entrance and the high tables to its left. More seating runs up the left-hand side, including some curved U-shaped booths, towards the rear where there is a raised seating area that was being used by diners. In fact there were quite a few people eating during my Thursday evening visit. To the right of the entrance is a sunken seating area with a bar billiards table. I counted eight hand pumps on the bar which were drawing Nethergate’s Old Growler, Panther Brewery’s Red Best, Woodforde’s Phoenix IPA, Wolf Brewery’s Lupus Lupus and Caledonian Brewery’s Deuchars. Premium keg was also available alongside Beavertown’s Neck Oil. The service was polite and I thought this was a nice enough pub, but I’m not a huge fan of people eating around me while I’m have a drink late in the evening. That said, I would pop back in if passing.

A good looking exterior,this pub is not far from the Market and shopping area.You enter into an interior with several sections,to the left what feels more of a dining area,at the back a higher level lounge with some very good curved two seater mini booths,while opposite the bar are high tables before a further large lower level seating area past a pub office alcove . The service was exemplary with ale advice and tasters given and the sausage rolls were unusual,well described and very tasty.Ale options on my trip were Nethergate Old Growler,Woodforde Phoenix IPA,Duechars IPA,Greene King IPA,Moongazer White Face and Humpty Dumpty Easter Egg (a speciality brew but very good,NBSS 4).There was also a real cider. Good to see a pub trying very hard,worth including on a crawl but perhaps not enough interesting ale to stand out as unmissable.

A random barrel this one. Clearly quite an aged building and the inside, whilst clearly modernised, has plenty of charm and is well looked-after. A long frontage so you’d assume the same inside however it’s a funny shape, two front rooms with low beams, low lighting and a very lovely side rear snug in a modern take on a gin palace style. There was also a recently refurbished bar billiards table which my companion and I took full advantage of. So a lot of positives. The negatives - terrible piped music consisting mainly of awful covers, like some of the more comedic eastern European places I’ve been to. Cask-wise there were three on; Humpty Dumpty Lemon & Ginger (NBSS 3, just), Wolf Blackcurrant Mild (awful, taken back and off, 1), GK OSH and Norfolk Raider Cider. Curates egg, but there’s enough here to get it on your crawl list I’d say. Visited early August.

Entrance to this Greene King pub is currently down a side passage. You exit through the front door. 5 ales were on - Coach Ale (presumably Greene King), Wolf Letsbe Avenue, Lacon's Hop Mount, St Peter's Plum Porter & Panther Beast of the East. There was also a real cider that I'd not seen before - Harleston Ciderlite. Not a bad pub at all.

Official site of The Coach & Horses - www.thecoachandhorsesbethelstreet.co.uk

Official site of The Coach & Horses - www.thecoachandhorsesbethelstreet.co.uk