The Vine, Norwich

Norwich's smallest pub it is claimed on a sign above the door (if I remember correctly). It's very centrally located and is indeed tiny with the downstairs bar having room for only a handful of tables. As has been noted, much of the focus here is on Thai food bu there were a few diehards supping pints with the landlady on our visit while diners were whisked upstairs. Upstairs is equally compact, if not more so and Mrs TP felt it was like being asked into someone's front room for supper. For all that the Thai food was superb and very good value and the service was as polite, pleasant and friendly as you could wish for. Beers on were Nethergate Black Shadow, which went down very well on a chilly evening, Oakham JHB and Lacons Encore. I'm not entirely convinced about the GBG 2016 listing with that range, given the city's wealth of ale choice. Nonetheless, it is a charming spot for a pint and a tremendous Thai meal.

This former Adnams pub, reputed to be the smallest in Norwich, is now a free house and operates partly as a pub and partly as a Thai restaurant. The ground floor level is very compact, with the servery on the rear wall, some high table and stool seating to the left and three tables with standard chairs filling the rest of the room. The bar has a simple counter and bar back and was installed around the time of the handover from Adnams. The walls have been decorated with floral wallpaper, some plain mirrors, blackboards and clippings from the local press extoling the pub's virtues. There were lots of CAMRA bits in the windows alongside various local listings magazines and flyers. Music played quietly throughout my visit and there was a decent number of people in on a Saturday evening, making for a good atmosphere, but not so many as to make it cramped and uncomfortable. Stairs to the rear lead up to the Thai restaurant which I failed to explore, but it is also possible to eat down in the main bar area, which had the unfortunate effect of making the whole place smell of food, which I found a little off-putting, especially in such a small space where it is impossible to escape. There are four handpulls on the bar and these were dispensing an interesting selection of ales - Fullers English Pale Ale, Oakham JHB, Elmtree 80 Shilling and Hales Atomic Tan. I decided to try a pint of the latter but sadly it wasn't in particularly good condition. It was notable that, aside from those opting for wine with their food, just about every customer ordered a pint of ale, despite the presence of several well known keg lagers. I quite liked the feel of this intimate little bar, but I couldn't help but feel that it was more of a restaurant than a pub, despite the traditional pub layout of the ground floor. The poor beer also didn't help matters and whilst I would happily return here for a bite to eat, I would probably drop it from future crawls.

Really liked this little pub in the heart of the city that is in the 2013 Good Beer Guide. Very enthusiastic staff serving top quality ales, and it is very clean and tidy downstairs. Outside seating at the front. Enjoyed Fulstow Village Life and Oakham Carioca here. So good we came back later in the day for a Thai meal. Superb.

The Vine official site - www.vinethai.co.uk

The Vine official site - www.vinethai.co.uk