Roots

Lovely little restaurant, we went here for a fry up and a quick coffee. Both were delightful and we were allowed to sit upstairs which was empty at the time and it was very calm and quiet. The sausage rolls which we couldn’t resist are homemade and are rather large- very naughty treat that is heavenly, well worth the price. Nice atmosphere in here, only downside was there was a few pieces of cutlery that were not perfectly clean but apart from this a very good restaurant!!

Steak was out of this world. Prefectly chargrilled. Plus Summer Pudding is my all time favourite dessert!

Very nice small cafe with good service and nice food. Came here for breakfast on a Sunday, there was plenty of space when we arrived but the limited tables did fill up quickly. Food and drinks were very nice, and selection for a breakfast was plenty. Prices are good. Recommended

There are two parts to this establishment, a restaurant that serves traditional British fayre and a Café next door. The restaurant is a little dark and gloomy though this is somewhat fitting for the traditional feel, so not a bad thing, but they serve the most amazing Sunday roasts that are cooked fresh and are simply delicious. The prices are above average but worth it in my opinion in the restaurant. The Café is in a similar vain with a choice of hot plated meals or cold sandwiches and cakes and awesome sausage rolls. Reasonable choice on the menu and price is about right. The place does get very busy but the staff are quite attentive.

Visited Roots for the first time over the bank holiday weekend. Grabbed a table in the courtyard outback. Not the most picturesque setting but a great little sun trap. The staff were very friendly and we had some good banter. When it came to the coffee they were spot on. The flat white was excellent and whilst some may say a little on the large size I couldn't fault the flavour. For food I tried the Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Ciabatta. This was quite good and the fries were cooked just right. My only criticisms was that the Avocado seemed puréed and so ran a lot and I would prefer my bacon cooked a bit more. This is just personal preference though as I prefer avocado a bit chunky and the bacon I should have remembered to ask as this often happens. It is definitely a place I would visit again if ever in Norwich.

I visited Roots for an evening meal with some friends. The atmosphere, decor, and welcome was top notch. Staff were extremely friendly and knowledgable about the restaurant's offerings, they never seemed too busy to pass on information and help in deciding on what food to eat. We weren't rushed, we felt at home, and in fact ended up sitting around until they closed up as it was so comfortable and cozy. The quality of the food is extremely high and priced very well considering that fact. Locally sourced produce features highly as it should being in Norwich! and you really get to see the difference that makes. Locally run national chains and franchises should be embarrassed churning out pre-cooked, re-heated packaged food when they're right in the middle of some of the most plentiful farm land in the UK, and eating at Roots really brings that home. The only negative thing I would be able to pick on was that there could be a few more vegetarian options. The food I ate was delicious, I couldn't fault it, but it would be nice to have at least one other option for the main course on the veggie side. It's not like they don't do vegetarian food really well, so it'd be nice to see what else they can do with it. The meat eaters in our group had a huge choice of dishes which all looked, and tasted I was told incredible. So just a couple more options of a similar quality for vegetarians would be great, just to keep us going back to try something new. Would have been 5/5 if there was more veggie choice, otherwise excellent.

I visited Roots a while ago with a friend, and had a lovely a la carte lunch, with an excellent choice of wines. Last week I went again, only to find the standard and service has deteriorated considerably. I looked on line before booking. The only menu was for Valentines Day, even though it was after 14th February. The web site STILL only showed the Valentines menuon 20th February. Assuming the standard would be as it was before, I booked. What a mistake. At lunchtime they only serve a very, very limited menu. No proper starters except soup; ciabatta rolls and FROZEN chips; very few main meals except for a duck dish, beefburger and cod goujons; no desserts except cake or a doughnut. We were very disappointed as we had fully intended to have a proper meal. NOWHERE on the website was there any indication that the lunch menu is basically only light lunches and café snacks. There is now, but there wasn't in February until the 24th. The service was appalling. We placed our order and asked for tap water and a large glass of red wine from the severely depleted wine list of the past. Only 4 reds now, and only 2 of them by the glass. The waitress brought the water, then asked if I wanted a bottle of the wine. I repeated I wanted one large glass. Fifteen minutes later the wine still had not arrived, so we had to remind her. She had totally forgotten it. The food arrived a full 40 minutes after ordering. The duck dish was very good, but the beefburger was unacceptable. Frozen fries, which is totally against their ethos of “using only the freshest seasonal produce from Norfolk and East Anglia”; a dry, stale brioche bun, untoasted, and not even a smear of mayonnaise on it; undercooked streaky bacon which was just unpalatable; a good quality burger, but not enough binding ingredients so as soon as cutlery touched it, it fell into a pile of mince; the red cabbage slaw was good. We asked for the bill, but weirdly were told we couldn’t pay at the table. We had to go to a desk downstairs, where there was no-one available to take our money so we had to wait. Eventually a man dealt with us and we said we were disappointed with the menu. He told us that “people” don’t want proper lunches nowadays. Well, we are “people” and we do. In fact we regularly eat out at lunchtime, usually in an establishment where we can have a 3 course lunch. Roots was not our first choice this lunchtime. We tried to book another restaurant a couple of streets away, but they were fully booked – with “people” who wanted a 3 course lunch! Don't pay too much atttention to the photos etc on the website. The place has changed hands and is nothing like it used to be.

Loved it! Friendly staff served us quickly and the overall atmosphere of the place was very welcoming and homely. I highly recommend the 'Super Amazing Hot Chocolate'!

Managed to squeeze us in at very late notice, incredibly accommodating and friendly staff and fantastic food in a very relaxed and welcoming environment...and all locally sourced food too!! Cant recommend enough, already booked a table with friends to return in a couple of weeks!

First visit after revamp. Absolutely awful. Nachos were burnt rubbery cheese on cheap supermarket crisps with a single stick of spring onion chopped and put on top. For this, they charge £6. Basic bagels £7. Won’t be visiting again.