The Fat Cat, Norwich

Easily my favourite pub in the world! So many happy nights and days in here and it always seems warm and cosy, due to the decor and no doubt, the huge array of Ales in stock. A pork and pickle pie with mustard, at dinner, goes down a treat too! Looking forward to visiting it and the Duke of Connaught, soon, during the Beer festival week.

The Fat Cat is a Victorian building with a large, open plan, but sectioned off interior.It has seating on the pavement outside. Internally, it is what I would call a tradional, old fashioned boozer. There is pub related ephemera on the walls, plus 'antique' adverts and Watneys memorabilia. It is renowned for its cobs and rolls at lunchtime, but unfortunately, they had sold the last ones just before I got there. The service was very friendly and the clientele was mixed and friendly. There were 12 real ales on handpull and a further 15 on gravity. Then there were the 'foreign' beers... I sampled, shall we say, a number of beers, one of which was a Mild. The Fat Cat beers were delicious and the handpull for the Wild Cat made an amusing 'meoiw' sound when pulled. This was unintentional and amused the barmaid when it was pointed out. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the beers that were on and I would not like to spoil the surprise for you. Just roll up and drink. Parking is at a premium though, as Mrs Staal found when she drove out of Norwich from her shopping trip to pick me up. She had to stop in someone's alleyway till I could stagger out to meet her. Fat Cat is an amazing pub where it is the beer that is king and not the food. Highly recommended!

The Fat Cat is a great pub in the back streets off dereham road.I counted 12 handpumps on the bar and opted for the Fat Cat bitter which was very drinkable i did'nt have time to write all the beers down but some of the other beers on were Harvistoun Bitter and Twisted Crouch Vale Brewers Gold and Oakham White dwarf,the pub was fairly busy early dinnertime and if you wanted something to eat there were plenty of cobs on the bar i think this is a great pub with a good atmosphere.

I made a specific effort to find the Cat whilst on a recent trip to Norwich to see if the place can live up to some of the hyper recommendations and I must say I was far from disappointed. The beer selection is an Ale drinkers paradise with more pumps (12 I think) than an evening can entertain and further barrels piled up in a cellar room behind the bar (visible through a bottle laden window at the side). Add in a mass of continental draught beers and bottles, ciders and perries and it is not hard to see the place has such a reputation. A helpful “menu” guides you through all that is on offer and even the most novice Ale drinker will easily find something to suit their taste. I tried at least 5 different beers (I only had 2 hours) including 3 of the in house brews and the quality was second to none. And since some people are never satisfied, they do Carlsberg as well! As for the pub itself, the interior is a rambling mixture of rooms with brick, wood and tiled flooring and a cornucopia of old adverts, pub pictures, brewery tools, jugs, bottles, barrels, brewery mirrors and pub signs presumably rescued from local hostelries and lovingly restored into the treasured works of art they are. There are several, snugs, recesses and screened off areas and even when busy (I was here on a Friday evening) there seems to be a corner somewhere to find some seating. A separate TV room keeps the sport fans happy whilst the rest can enjoy their pints in relative peace. I am so glad this is not my local. I would never leave.