The Walnut Tree Shades, Norwich

Facebook page of The Walnut Tree Shades - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Walnut Tree Shades - www.facebook.com

Down a dingy,pigeon infested narrow alley off the Market,the sign saying "Publican Wanted" did not strike confidence into your heart.At least it was open.The exterior is a little scruffy,the outside tables look onto a small car park where some ne'er do wells' were trying furtively to inject their latest score.Inside the left side has a series of high tables,the decoration is very red while the right side up a step was being described to potential interested parties as a dining area but the simple pine tables here also had a scattering of drinking punters.The muzak was mindless while the ale selection was Moongazer White Face (NBSS 2.5),Adnams Ghost Ship,Grain Best Bitter and Barsham Oaks. Not sure why it's in the 2023 GBG and not worthy of a revisit,any new owner will have their work cut out to create a better atmosphere.

This is a small pub with a bit of an alternative vibe to it, slightly hidden away down a narrow street in the city's retail district. There is a single room layout which is shallow but wide and comprises of a couple of distinctively different areas. The room has a quarry stone floor with the servery running along the mid-section of the rear wall, directly opposite the entrance. Pew and low stool seating is available to the left hand side where a popular quiz machine also stands. Opposite the bar are some more pews, which rather unusually had no tables in front of them, making them a poor option given the alternatives. These include a raised seating area to the right with plenty of standard tables and chairs around a Wurlitzer juke box. The pub has a bit of an American theme, with the walls decorated in various stateside items including adverts for the likes of Coca Cola and Budweiser various posters of musicians and some framed bank notes. There are also bits of British and Irish breweriana such as Guinness adverts and a Watney's Red Barrel lamp. The building was under a lot of scaffolding when I visited, but that hadn't put off a few punters from sitting on the few benches out on the front pavement between all the scaffold poles. A rock/metal soundtrack played throughout my early evening visit, but at such a volume that it wasn't overly obtrusive. There were two ales on the four handpulls at the bar - Woodfordes Wherry and Robinsons Trooper - with a real cider also available. The friendly barman served up a good pint of the Trooper and I enjoyed this whilst relaxing with my paper and helping the locals out with the quiz machine. In many ways this is a fairly bog-standard city centre pub, but the slightly quirky décor and alternative vibe make it stand out from the crowd a bit. With just two fairly mainstream ales available, there is an argument that this should feature well down on the list of pubs to visit when in Norwich, but I found the place friendly and comfortable and feel it would make a reliable bolt-hole from an afternoon of shopping hell.