Harden's survey result
Summary
Richard & Katja Bainbridge’s comfortable yet simply decorated dining room is often recommended as the best restaurant in Norwich and is well-rated in all diner feedback this year. There are a variety of menus, although they are in a “fixed ‘tasting menu’ style these days” which some diners feel “can be a little overwhelming at lunchtime”. Even such doubters, however, say “but it’s always a lovely experience, and so reliably good”. The entry level offering at dinner is an eight course ingredient-led selection for £65 per person.
Summary
“Great local Norfolk ingredients are used to good effect” at Richard Bainbridge’s inviting if simply decorated destination that’s “probably still the joint best restaurant in Norwich”, and as such “well worth a visit” for its “consistently good” cooking from a series of set menus that are pleasantly ambitious but without the excessive flummery of a classic tasting menu format.
Summary
Chef-patron Richard Bainbridge’s “brilliant, fresh and exciting food” wows reporters at the restaurant he opened with his partner Katja almost 10 years ago. With “great staff and a wonderful ambience”, it is yet again plugged by many diners as “the best in Norwich”, but its local rival Hickman’s just had the edge in our annual diners’ poll this year, due to a small minority of critics who found the food “hyped and average” (“but we might have hit them on a bad day”).
Summary
Entering its eighth year, Richard & Katja Bainbridge’s “relaxing” operation remains the most commented-on option in town in our annual diners’ poll and also the highest rated. Fans say it’s their “go-to” option, thanks to its “incredible” menus (“catering to all tastes”) and staff who are “attentive without being overly ever present”. However, ratings were dragged down by a few “disappointing” reports of the “might-have-been-a-bad-day-but…” variety.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Benedicts?
9 St Benedicts St, Norwich, NR2 4PE
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £42.00 |  |
|
 |
| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 65.00 | Always available | 8 |
| Menu2 | 84.00 | Always available | 11 |
Traditional European menu
| Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|
| £0.00 | £0.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £29.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £0.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 10.00% |
9 St Benedicts St, Norwich, NR2 4PE
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 5 pm‑10 pm |
| Wednesday | 5 pm‑10 pm |
| Thursday | 5 pm‑10 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 5 pm‑10 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 5 pm‑10 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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