The Wine Cellar in Norwich

What a fantastic place this was for Norwich city centre with a hard working long suffering director who even paid her way through Covid to stay open. Our cities small independents similar to this have a bleak future ahead as the burden of an increased VAT bill is the result of price increases to cover the forced minimum wage increase, higher taxes and raw material costs. To be brought down by this mess of scaffolding seems an absolute tragedy and certainly an exit with no dignity- but does prove that our independents are disappearing fast.

Visited recently and there was a sign on the door saying the business had been repossessed as of the 30th Nov'24

I'm terrible sorry the business is now closed I have visited many times and been super impressed, however Friday the 1st I purchased a £50 voucher for my grandparents Christmas present. You accepted my payment potentially knowing the business will be no longer open in the 4th. very disappointed and out of money.

I'm terrible sorry the business is now closed I’ve visited many times and been super impressed, however Friday the 1st I purchased a £50 voucher for my grandparents Christmas present. You accepted my payment potentially knowing the business will be no longer open in the 4th. very disappointed and out of money.

I am writing this review soon after learning of the very sad demise of this business caused by factors outside their control. This was about my tenth visit with my wife and friends. As always the food and wine were excellent and only topped by the superb attentive and engaging service. Like so many others I hope this business can emerge phoenix like from the ashes.

So sorry you have closed. We didn’t visit often, but you were always very warm and welcoming. Great food and friendly atmosphere.

I love this place— go with friends— wonderful service and food.It’s a great place to sit outside in the summer. I have heard it has closed— only temporarily,I hope— one of the nicest places to be on Norwich.

Went here for lunch on Saturday 26th October, just myself and my sister for a long overdue catch up. I had prebooked a table and asked if we could be seated in the restaurant and not the bar. Arrived and was taken to our table by a lovely lady who was very friendly, given menus and a jug of iced water. We both chose the lambs liver which was absolutely gorgeous which we followed with the treacle tart and black treacle ice cream.....wow! The whole meal was faultless, drinks were lovely and we had a leisurely 2 hour lunch, we didn't feel that we had to hurry and vacate the table but could just take our time......just perfect! I have eaten here on about 4 occasions now and it never disappoints, it is my go to place in Norwich. The lovely lady that served us that day was exceptional, such a lovely happy lady who clearly wanted you to have a wonderful dining experience, she really was the icing on the cake. Thank you for a wonderful afternoon. Will be back to visit very soon.

I used to love this place. Its really gone downhill. I prebooked a table for 8 people for a birthday. Its a Wed night. Nobody else in there. It took ages for them to take our order. So long my friend went to find them! We then waited another 45 mins. The food came out luke warm. My friend and i sent ours back. The food was poor. The desserts were small and cost nearly £9. . The only nice thing they done was give my friend a glass of prosecco on the house. The place was cold and no atmosphere. Been going there for years. Wont return

This is a little gem in Norwich. I've never been here before, and it's well hidden. I went with my wife for lunch. The service was great, and the food was lovely.

A real treasure tucked away along with Molly. Fantastic natural personality, she added to the great vibe of the city. A real asset to the business. Thanks for your time yesterday from table 33. Apologies the bar confused me.

We went hear for a meal with friends. Everything about it was fantastic and the service was amazing from Hanna. Well done

The food was very good (special whole plaice well cooked though the sauce was quite bland). The starter of hummus with 3 small toast "soldiers" was over-priced at £8.50. The quality of the wine - given the name of this place and its publicity - was disappointing. The server was very friendly.

It’s not often I go all out and give a 5 out of 5 but this restaurant utterly deserved every mark. The crispy beef was so delicious, a real change from my usual. My partner’s fish pie was equally tasty and as the main cook at home (who knows a thing or two about flavours) raved about the dish too. The wine (obviously) was amazing as was the customer service. We will be back.

Food average, service shocking. Dead atmosphere. Would never come back.

So many may miss this gem of a bar... just off the market place... you will not find a friendlier welcome.... the food is absolutely quality and the service is amazing.. thankyou

Excellent food service and atmosphere, will definitely be returning

Mixed feelings: the welcome and service were good and I did enjoy the goats cheese starter and the duck main although it was, for me, overcooked. My friend had a goats cheese risotto with walnuts and he was disappointed that the walnuts were sweet (candied) so hardly ate any, but fair enougb they did not charge for that. Probably won;t go again though as there are so many better places to eat in Norwich.

Went to the weekly Jazz jam session which they have every Monday. Was a great fun night. Good musicians who were happy entertaning everyone. Worth a visit

Lovely location. We came in Friday at 7pm and it was very quiet so lacked a little ambiance. The menu was lovely and our food delicious. Good value and lovely hosts. Would come again.

Casually attired Restaurant and Winebar with friendly service and a food menu containing a number of tempting and non-formula options, and the food sampled was surprisingly good. On a recent dish a 'special' of ‘Chickenbreast on a Vegetable & Potato Rosti and a Wild Mushroom and Broad Bean Fricasse was a superb and delicious dish that displayed real acumen in the kitchen. Their House Merlot is also highly recommended! Mu initial visit here made me want to return to sample more of the dishes on their menu.

Fabulous food and ambience. The only reason I am giving 4 instead of 5 stars is because the service was a bit slow. Friendly staff The treacle tart was sublime! Will be back.

I stumbled across this lovely little tucked away venue by chance. I was in Norwich doing a bit of sightseeing and shopping and had seen a sign outside pointing to this place and looked it up and discovered there was a Monday Night Jazz Jam so thought why not give it a try and so glad I did, tucked away in the heart of Norwich is this lovely little Bar and restaurant and out the back is a lovely little venue to eat, sit and watch a wonderfully talented group of people that were a delight to listen to live and watch them perform with or without their instruments and the 2 cheeky waitresses were lovely too. Would recommend to get there early as it does get busy. I do have 1 little gripe it shuts at 10pm but I suppose it is a Monday after all xx

This was our 4th visit to The Wine Cellar and by far the best. We were there for a group birthday booking and the staff were friendly and the service very efficient. With excellent service, fantastic food and a range of drinks second to none, The Wine Cellar makes itself the ideal location for a night out.

Thoroughly enjoyed lunch here yesterday, the seafood chorizo dish was incredible. Sadly they had no gluten free bread to soak up the juices. Wonderful friendly atmosphere and staff very attentive. Will definitely return.

Sunday lunch with good friends, We lived in Norwich for 11 years and for some reason never ate here, perhaps because the entrance doesn't look appealing; well whatever the reason, we missed out. My Omelette Arnold Bennett was perfection, its a shame you rarely see it on menus today, and Sue loved the deep fried Brie wedges. Friends had the Sunday lunch roast beef, which looked really tasty and portions were generous. The restaurant was quite quiet, perhaps because of the weather, but my only reason for deducting one star was that service felt a bit slow and grudging.

Visited for my wife's 40th birthday meal as we had our first date here 11 years ago and loved it then. The Food was amazing. The Restaurant was amazing. Best of all the staff were amazing. I bought a cake along to do the whole blowing out the candles thing and they happily took it away to look after in the kitchen and brought it through lit up without me even asking. That's finesse. Thank you so much. We will return.

Corporate group outing and everyone complemented on the food, great pre order menu with a variety of choices to suit all , being 20+ party they catered the rear restaurant to us which added to the evening.

Very underwhelming. The food was fine and nicely presented but overpriced for what it was. I’d got the impression from photos and reviews that it was more special but it was essentially reasonable quality pub food. Starter (breaded goats cheese) came out frozen in the middle, though this was sorted quickly and taken off our bill. The atmosphere was a real disappointment. It was really quiet (not even any background music) and no real character or energy to the place. The decor felt very tired and dated. It was oddly empty for a Saturday evening.

Beautiful venue I would highly recommend to anyone thinking of going for a casual drink or to enjoy the amazing food the staff are great

A group booking of 22 adults on a Saturday lunch time with a pre booked time slot . Absolutely brilliant from the pre arranged menu choices and the welcome we received. Full credit to the staff for their professionalism . The food was first class and from my feed back my group will certainly be recommending this restaurant to there family and friends..👏👏👏👏

I love to try out new places for Lunch / Dinner, and had never visited The Wine Cellar previously. What a fantastic meal we had. The staff were attentive, food excellent and I left very happy to have found this place. If you've walked past the sign near Norwich Market and wondered if you should give it a go, definitely do!

Somewhere we go every time we are in Norwich and it did not let us down this time. Food and service are very good

Very nice food, hearty portions, cosy ambience. reasonably priced, friendly service. I recommend it

"Where everybody knows your name" ... the moment you enter this gem of a place you are welcomed like a friend and served all the ingredients for a perfect visit; warm and enticing with wonderful hosts and fabulous staff, great wine list and delicious food; the best hot, garlicky bread EVER, a melt in the mouth rolled lamb shoulder main followed by apple and blackberry crumble with homemade ice-cream ... What's not to love. A big 'Cheers' to the Wine Cellar, fantastic visit. Suzanne and Mike - Herts

I recently visited the Wine Cellar as part of a friends group for a lunchtime get together in the City. There were 14 of us for lunch as well as a full Restaurant and Bar however this did not affect our service one bit. Our starters were all served together without delays and were enjoyed very much by all. I chose the Warm smoked salmon with braised fennel and quails egg which was very tasty. Our mains then followed after a little break, again all were served without delays so we could all enjoy eating together. Several of us including myself had the slow cooked rolled lamb shoulder with roasted root vegetables, braised reg cabbage, mash and a minted jus. This was delicious and perfectly cooked. We really couldn’t fault any of our dishes and some even found room for deserts! I opted for another glass of the Viognier which was perfectly chilled. The wine list is very generous and offers a great choice. A big thank you once again to the very attentive owners and their staff. We all had a great lunch and couldn’t fault any part of it. Would definitely recommend for a couples romantic meal or for groups of friends!

Had a lovely long lunch, food was excellent, as was the service and fantastic value for money, will definitely be returning. Easy 5 stars from me👍😃

Having always visited for a glass of wine, this time my husband and I decided to entertain some colleagues. Food is excellent and the service is one of the best we ever experienced in the UK. Highly recommended for any type of occasion and really hoping they will carry on with the hard work they clearly put into running this little gem in the heart of Norwich

Needed more Cheese & breads with the olives for the price. Great Jazz Jam on a Monday 7pm till 10pm

Sat out in the courtyard yesterday and enjoyed a lovely meal of sea bass and beautifully cooked fresh vegetables including samphire and sugar snap. Desert was chocolate pave with cherries. Totally delicious. Service was prompt and friendly and prices reasonable. Would recommend the Wine Cellar for good value, well prepared food and a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

A really wonderful place, a hidden gem off Norwich market that needs more custom! The food was some of the best me and my partner have tasted in Norwich and the service was so attentive and lovely, thank you Tom, Maria, Kelly and Kyle! Wow, blown away.

The food was really nice and the staff friendly and helpful.

Great for lunch. Had skate wing - delicious 😋. A little pricey. It's best to book.

We arrived as a group of 10 on a weekend evening without any booking. Wine Cellar team were super accommodating. Tables were moved. Chairs were brought. Wine is as you'd hope excellent 🍷 Decent choice of beers. The one real ale was Lacons Encore which was tasty 😋 Our group had a great time. Highly recommended

Nice building Liver over cooked

Great food and drinks and a lovely atmosphere, highly recommend a visit

The Wine Cellar is a hidden gem in Norwich. The food and service were excellent, and I'll definitely be going back!

Really good place. Lovely staff, food and atmosphere.

Great place. Intimate restaurant. Beautiful food. Jazz evenings.

Really friendly staff. Will definitely be trying the menu soon

Jazz Jam on Monday evenings, great music and friendly company

We booked in advance a table for five people, a Sunday. Staff were all very welcoming on arrival, drinks were all very good! Starters and main course were absolutely amazing, congratulations to the Chef! Staff service was swift, very polite, on our visit, absolutely faultless. Thank you so much See you again very soon. Regards Clayton and Clare.

Went as part of The Moveable Feast. Food was delicious, house wine excellent. Very funny pictures in the toilets. Historic venue in Norwich, well worth a visit, particularly for wine lovers.

Still a great place to eat and drink after many years away from Norwich. Excellent staff and service.

Lovely food and great atmosphere. Staff very attentive.

Always have a lovely time and meal here. Food, wine and service always spot on. All 3 generations very happy. Thank you :)

The venue is tucked away through a courtyard near the Market place. This is a gem although not easily accessible for those with mobility issues or prams unless you eat in the courtyard as the wine bar and restaurant are down steps in the 'basement'. Apologies if we missed the accessible entrance. The staff were fantastic and understanding of additional needs and did everything they could to make our meal enjoyable. The food is excellent too! Would thoroughly recommend this place.

We may have wandered into an alternative universe with a different experience to most of the positive reviews that led us to try the wine cellar. It may be different at lunch service, but the only interactions we had were strange and rude. Initial reaction to ask if they were open for lunch service was met with an instruction to go outside and wait for service. No greeting or welcome. When lady came out with drinks for another table and our menus , the menus were placed on our table, no eye contact or personal greeting as if we weren't there and lady more concerned with saying hello to her friend who had walked in.this is something that is a bugbear in a supermarket with teenage staff not being aware of basic customer service and etiquette, but it's different from a lady who seemed like the owner or in a manager role.It doesn't take much to say hello to your customers and value their custom. Needless to say,,we went somewhere else where we were made feel our custom was appreciated and receive a reasonable level of customer care and not feel like a nuisance. It's a shame as I like to support independent restaurants when possible but it is experiences like this that remind me why a lot of them are going out of business.

Thanks, Nickki for an incredible dining experience on Friday July 29! Ballotine chicken, beef short rib and hamburger without the bun. A dinner to remember. Having arrived from Canada the day before, thanks for making me feel like one of the locals! Cheers!

It's been a very long time since I've visited...I had a fantastic evening as I was with fantastic company..your meals were amazing. So was the prosseco ... I need to buy a bottle or two..can't wait to come back again.. thank you

What a great place in the centre of Norwich! We were really pleased with our meals- rib of beef, burger, scallops and prawns and a burrata salad. Service, quality of dishes and value were all very good. If you want a fine dining meal without the ponce and supplement then look no further. The Wine Cellar is going to be one of those places that when you go you keep going back.

Stumbled across an alleyway hidden along a row of shops which came out onto this hidden gem in Norwich city centre. Quiet courtyard up from main wine cellar where you can enjoy a very nice lunch very reasonably priced with a nice glass of wine or gin ( in our case ) and loose a few hours catching up with friends whilst the city hustle and bustle would seem far away .. magical 😃

Very good, would defo come back. Good food and wine.

Good food and Wine at a reasonable price

Wonderful food and service, eat bar side for the vibe.

Food and ambience was excellent

Busy venue Saturday,friendly staff, will try the food next time

Let me cut right to the chase: DON'T GO TO THE WINE CELLAR! Did I shout that loud enough for you? Here is a restaurant that claims to be 'Gourmet Heaven'. It isn't. Here is a restaurant that claims to serve 'Gorgeous wine and Great Food'. It doesn't. I have never had such terrible food and wine. Everything was swimming in over used cheap cooking oil. The wine was plonked unceremoniously on the table and already open which made me suspicious of a re-filled bottle. This is a restaurant run by amateurs of the worse kind. I did manage to get one dish removed from the bill but it was small compensation when you have go hungry for the night. My partner and I left through the not so beautiful courtyard whose only hint of history came from the bins. As we left, the 'carefully selected soundtrack' started.... Elvis.

Great place to go for a drink and food. Friends 60th Birthday, had a room to ourselves, comfortably had 40 guests. Great venue

Popped in for a quick lunch. We had a burger and the seatrout. For £11.50, a large piece of seatrout with two scallops and a safron risotto is a bargain and was perfectly cooked. Burger was very tasty also. Definately recommend!

Top quality, freshly prepared British style food.Good beer and wine.Good value. The toilets could do with an update.It is through a small opening into an alleyway on the side of the market place.We will definitely return when next in Norwich.

Wonderful atmosphere with excellent food.

Me and my partner booked the valentines meal on the 15th, but was told when we arrived that the valentines meal was only for the 14th, despite being advertised for the 14th and 15th on their website. Maria responded exceptionally to this and provided us with the best she could accommodate for. Thank you so much to Maria, our night did not disappoint and would still highly recommend!!

Two of the wines we asked for they said they couldn't serve them as they weren't chilled. Nice spot down an alley but not that attentive.

Great food, great staff and a overall fantastic afternoon of entertainment. Thank you

The review comes solely from the fabulous waitress who is a font of Norwich knowledge. She was polite, professional and exceptionally knowledgeable about the history of Norwich. She is exactly what a member of the hospitality trade should be. Outstanding.

Not sure what all the fuss is about

Never disappoints. Fabulous food, really nice staff and good reasonably priced wine.

Really lovely meal, great service and a lovely bottle of Pinot for a very reasonable price. My wife and I both went with the seafood medley off the light bites but had a large portion. My wife had a sea food starter with salmon etc that was lovely, I wasn’t as keen on my my ham hock and chicken liver starter, nothing wrong with it, just poor choice on my part. The Pinot, of which I think we polished off 3 bottles, was really nice. I can’t wait to visit again!

Absolutely smashed it again! We've never been disappointed with ambience, fabulous food and wine, outstanding service by friendly and attentive staff. An absolute dream to eat and relax, thank you once again, soon to return. Linda and Martin

Liked this place, although it was pretty quiet when we came. Both starter and main courses were good and service was attentive without being too fussy

Had a very nice meal here - food all perfectly cooked and good service. The place lacked atmosphere due to not many other diners, but at the current time this wasn't surprising. I will be back.

We eat out a lot and we enjoy good food served by genuinely nice people and we got both here in abundance!! We were a party of 6 and all of us were delighted with the starters, mains and desserts. My main course was one of the best dishes I've had all year, stunning!!The atmosphere was really nice too and the staff were polite, professional, attentive and good fun.We will continue to eat at the Wine Cellar and thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

We came on a Wednesday lunch time (22nd December) for our annual Christmas meal. We had one of each of the starters on the menu, to share, and we loved all of them, especially the cauliflower bites. We had a range of different mains (Steaks, Chicken, Cod, and others) and all of them were amazing. The steak was cooked perfectly, and the Norfolk chicken was a massive hit. We also had 3 desserts, and yet again, all were incredible. Every single meal was delightful, it all came out nice and quickly, and the staff were friendly, and really attentive. We have been coming to the wine cellar for a Christmas meal every single year for the past 9 years, and have never ever been disappointed. We also come here throughout the year for lunch, and always love it. We are already looking forward to our next visit!

This used to be one of both my wife's and I favourite places in Norwich but she refuses to visit anymore due to lack of consistency and I haven't gone as often as I used to for the same reason. I have just been there for Xmas Lunch with friends and all 6 diners had a terrible three course meal and unfortunately, the staff had no interest in resolving at all. This isn't acceptable as if things are not right, resolve them, dont take a plate away and bring it back exactly the same. all of the courses where disappointing and mainly flavourless, beef was very dry and looked like leather. Such a shame as they used to be excellent all the time

Excellent service from start to finish, the meals were freshly cooked, a good choice in the menu, wines and beers, overall a lovely experience and we will be back.

Food excellent but the back room was very cold we couldn't take our coats off

I was surprised by the limited wine options from a place called wine cellar. Wines by the glass were supermarket-kinda of quality. Funnily enough most people around us were drinking beer and not wine. Ambience is good but nothing special. Food looks good but there’s def room for improvement: risotto was a bit hard and I had to add salt and pepper as it was bland, fish dish with scallops was not fresh and it was literally soaking in a bowl of oil. It’s a friendly environment but that’s not enough to make us come back.

Lovely food and a great atmosphere

Oh my goodness, went for lunch, absolutely amazing food, service, wine with friendly, warm and welcoming staff, to top it all an awesome ambience. Arrived home and immediately booked for my husband's birthday. We were very lucky as we hadn't booked however a very kind young lady said that they could accommodate us in a short space of time, so book in advance. Thank you wine cellar for an awesome meal. Not a 5 out of a 5 but a 10 out of 10!

Excellent place to meet in the middle of the city serving a good choice of wines and food at reasonable prices.

Thanks for a super meal (the seafood dish was delicious) and for being so friendly + welcoming. My first visit - I'll definitely be back.

We went for Sunday lunch, the food the service and the wines were exceptional. The owners daughter was brilliant with our little one, nothing was any trouble. Can I say, it was the food that we found to be so good. The rest was a bonus. Thanks

We visited the wine cellar as a group of 9 for my wifes birthday in early october, and everyone had a fantastic evening.Great food,Great atmosphere, lovely wine.Our waitress ,Charly was brilliant, and made us feel so welcome, as did everyone else there. I really couldn't recommend a place more .See you all again soon I hope

We found this restaurant completely by chance as we walked around Norwich on a day trip. We had a lovely roast and will happily return when visiting Norwich again 🙂

Really nice food, great service, fine wine in a restaurant that really deserves to be busier

Nice feel, a bit of a time capsule in a good way. Friendly. Menu a bit limited (wine and food) but it was a pleasant evening. Not crowded. The CD of smooth cover versions on constant repeat was not relaxing, however.

One of the nicest places to eat and drink in Norwich.

Love this place friendly and great atmosphere definitely one of the best if Norwich

Great quality fine dining food. We both had three courses of top notch food. the wine quality could in my opinion have been better at the price which seemed odd given its name. Service was very good though it was a shame that there were only 9 other covers there when we went which was a midweek evening. Go and enjoy !