The Jubilee, Norwich

Classic 19th century end of terrace corner pub in brick. The usual two bars with an L shaped servery common to both bars, there’s no separate entrance to the rear bar which is unusual but a conservatory might have changed the layout of things. The front bar has a short counter with three pulls, two T-bars and a screen, with modern banquette seating at sewing machine tables. The rear bar has a side located counter, two three pull sets with a T-bar in between. Beers change but today it offered Oakham Citra, Beartown Tropical Twist, S&P Blackberry Porter and Mighty Oak Captain Bob. There was a limited craft choice on the T-bars along side the usual stuff. Five ciders were billed as real but CAMRA might disagree as …., well they’re CAMRA and obsessed by definitions. A daft pub dog was wandering about. Looks like there’s an upstairs room but I didn’t check. You can bring in your own take aways to eat in with some caveats (see photo).

The Jubilee is a backstreet local’s boozer that was my last pub after an epic two day crawl of Norwich. Seating in the front is faced by the L-shaped bar counter that runs up the right into the rear bar area. My visit coincided with the end of a Norwich whooping at Boro, so the atmosphere wasn’t great as the locals watched this unfold on the televisions located throughout. Six of the nine hand pumps were in operation drawing Oakham’s Citra, Mr Winter’s Vanilla Latte, Titanic’s Raspberry Pale, Moon Gazer’s Ostara, Beartown’s Kahuna and Inception. Premium keg was also available from the friendly bar staff. Food isn’t available, but take-aways are permitted. This is a decent local, but may be on the wrong side of the river to warrant a return visit.

Final visit of an epic day’s crawling. Almost killed me, up a b’stard of a hill. Looked very appealing from the outside though the interior is mostly modern refurb and naff music. The rear conservatory is a delight, a green superstructure that should probably graced a brochure in the early 90’s. This then leads to a lower level with nice tiered garden. Six ales on and (surprise!) neither were GBG quality, Elgoods Cambridge a watery NBSS 2.5 and St Peter's Plum Porter not quite cutting the mustard either (2.5). A younger crowd in here (locals or students?) with comedy relief provided by a voodoo gothette witch doctor who cured my drinking companion of pub-bothering hiccups. The atmosphere made up for the deficiencies on the beer front and I quiet enjoyed my 30 minutes in here but wished it had just gone that extra bit further. Visited early August.