
There certainly has been a spate of restaurant/bar openings in Norwich of late, hasn’t there? With Lust & Liquor and Platform Twelve both opening on St Benedicts Street in recent months, there’s a lot for me to blog about!
Before I get to those restaurants though, I’ll start with 7Heaven.
On Friday last, the Chap and I found ourselves at a loose end, unsure where to have dinner. “I have an idea,” he said. “Let’s go to 7Heaven. I went there last week and had a rather spiffing burger.” (Okay, I confess, he doesn’t actually talk like he’s stepped out of an Enid Blyton novel, but you’ll have to allow me artistic license!)
And so we did. We ambled down to the former Bella Italia on Exchange Street, where we found the restaurant largely empty, except for a family in the window. That, combined with the decor, meant I wasn’t immediately impressed by our choice. Bella Italia’s interior has just been painted magnolia and a few posters have been put on the wall. I will confess that I started to wonder why the Chap had bought me here when he normally has such good taste. But I’ll get to that shortly.
Lucky 7s
As we chatted and people-watched through the huge windows, we were given menus and water by our waitress, who then left us to ponder. In keeping with the restaurant’s name, there are just seven burgers to choose from, plus waffles and sides, so it did make my decision-making easier. That said, there seems to be something for everyone, with basic burgers, chilli burgers and veggie burgers all on the menu. You can also choose to have your patty without a brioche but with a salad, which is a nice touch.
I opted for the Trotter7 fairly quickly, swung by the fact that it came topped with pulled pork, bacon, cheese and BBQ sauce. Basically it was a heart attack on a plate. The sides are extra, so we opted for sweet potato fries and onion rings between us (yes, I know there are no vegetables on that order).
Pickle Station
The meals were brought out to us within ten minutes, at which point we were informed of the self-service Pickle Station, a little table with homemade dill pickles, chutney and relish located at the side of the restaurant. Because I am a simple soul, the prospect of unlimited pickled gherkins is very exciting to me and I can safely say that I ate rather a lot. I am all kinds of classy.
And if I thought that was good, it was nothing compared to the burger. It was amazing. The pulled pork was perfectly cooked – succulent and juicy – as was the beef patty, which was rich and meaty. The cheese got a little lost amongst so many flavours, but everything was punctuated by the rich taste of bacon. It was divine. I even ate all of the brioche because it was so light and soaked up all the juices.
The sweet potato fries were crisp, moist and tasty, while the onion rings were light but slightly chewy. I nearly ate the whole plate before the Chap could work out what was going on! My first impressions had definitely been wrong about this place!
I must add that the waiting staff were very sweet too. Super helpful, really attentive (for instance, when I mentioned to the Chap that a fly had landed in my water, a new jug appeared without me even needing to ask) and chatty, putting up with the Chap’s silliness without once rolling their eyes!
The price wasn’t too bad either. The Trotter was £7.95 and the sweet potato fries were £2.50, as were the onion rings. The only gripe I would have is that the 10% service charge was included, with the disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the menu. That said, the service was great, and they thoroughly deserved it, so I can’t really grumble!
Take a look at their menu online here.