please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I Still like this pub for it's good cheap beer and grub, and the fact it's nearly always busy. I have to say I am very slightly disappointed with the refurbishment work as in some ways the place doesn't to be seem too much bigger; despite the fact that more of the old Bell Hotel building has now been opened up for use by JD Wetherspoon. The reason for this is that fair sized chunks of the original seating/dining areas have been reduced in size by the improved toilets (upstairs and downstairs) and longer bars. Maybe the place is just busier than it used to be!
Regardless of my minor criticisms the Bell Hotel is well worth a visit if you are in Norwich city centre at anytime.
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I passed this at the end of April 2017. It is completely CLOSED FOR REFURBISHMENT and it looks like it'll be shut throughout May 2017, so check before you include this pub on a crawl. I was sad because it looked very nice, very big.
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Desperate for a steak and it was snowing, so had to dive in here. Woodfordes wherry, poor condition. There were several other beers on but did not look at what. Ordered my steak, none left and it was only 7:15. However,staff polite if rather pushed and the prawns and grill was ok. Shame about the beer.
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Typical Wetherspoons. Decent food served promptly and courteously. The real ale was very pleasant and a good price. It would have been nice if it had a little more atmosphere.
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Have to give them credit - it is a 'spoons and most suffer from lack of staff but this one was OK and we were even offered different beers upstairs by the downstairs barman so we had a selection from both bars!! Nice old hotel building (ex.Trust House Forte for those who remember) with a Santander bank included!
Very close to the main shops and the castle - worth a look in.
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went in the front lower bar after waiting 10 mins asked for a pint of abbot.was told not being served in that bar and asked to go up to the upper bar. after waiting 5 mins finally got my abbot. a good spoons apart for waiting time for the pint
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Standard Wetherspoons. Beer was good, staff were friendly and helpful, so no complaints. There are two parts to the pub, we only found the lower bit when we had breakfast. One of many good pubs visited.
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The Bell is long overdue for a redecoration, its quite scruffy now. It also seems to attract a fair number of what are best described as losers, not a very pleasant clientele. But if you want a swift reasonably priced pint of Ruddles then its ok, but nothing else. Last time we visited in September 2010 the service was dire.
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Went in here yesterday afternoon (saturday). Noticed the pub on the way in to Norwich. After a long walk we popped in and went upstairs to the larger area.
Beer was excellent, food looked good but unfortunately we were unable to order. By 2.45 there was still an hours wait and the place was so dirty that we couldn't face it. We'll stick to our Wetherspoons in Rayleigh - city centre pubs are not our ideal choice.
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Its a wetherspoons,so fill in the blanks..............
.....I only ever use for daytime pints on a saturday.bog-standard food at cheap prices.cheap booze at good prices and generally well kept.Thus, wide cross section of punters,with the inevitable odd pratt that may freak you out.
I have never had any hassle in here.
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Full of loosers.
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You get what you pay for so have no reason for complaint. Its dirty, often smells of sick, the food is rubbish and is generally too packed; but you can easily get change from a tenner when buying a round for five, you can get a filling meal for four quid and here is never any trouble.
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Usual spoons - absolutely bombed with kids on a Saturday evening but don't be put off. Atmosphere was lively but not threatening. Beer was good quality and the mixed grill was properly cooked and totally edible. Some like spoons, some don't - The Bell is OK.
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I've been here once, spent the whole evening being persued by a man who'd just been let out of prison that day he was proud to tell me. This pub is dirty, dingy, the staff are gormless and unfriendly and its really not worth the cheap drinks.
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Went in for a glass of red. The barman had to steam clean a glass, and when I took it off him and looked, it was still dirty. I refused it and he got out THE other glass. That was just as bad, so I walked out.
Royed - 26 Feb 2009 14:52 |
I haven't visited this pubs many times and it used to be my favourite place to pop into, for dinner, when I have been in the city but this is no longer the case.
T
he overall standard of this place seems to have gone down. Getting served at the bar can be a nightmare, the staff seem like they can't be bothered to offer good service and the food quality is not as good as it once was.
So after a few unsatisfactory visits, I now have given up and go elsewhere for dinner.
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good prices but no good men
joshm - 11 Apr 2008 17:55 |
I've been in this pub many times. And often enjoyed meals out with my family. However, tonight I had a very unsatisfactory night out.
Me and my friends finished college this year and many are leaving for university in the coming days/weeks. We decided to meet up for a goodbye drink. We got to the pub about half 7 and went to get our drinks. I was one of the last up and ordered a coke at which point I was asked for ID. Not knowing that I needed it to buy soft drinks I hadn't brought any. They couldn't serve me, fair enough. But then they said I wasn't allowed on the premisis without ID. Not only this but they would not serve anyone I was seen to be with until I left the premisis.
This was a very upsetting experience for me and meant that instead of haveing a good night out with friends I may not see again in a very long time, I spent most of the night walking to my house and back in the pitch dark to get my passport.
This is not to say that I have any problem with the new challenge 21 custom. In fact I think it is a positive step. What I do object to though, frankly, is that there was no warning, before I got to the bar, that I was not allowed in the pub without ID at 7.30 in the evening! This does seem rather early. There were no bouncers on the door and no one even gave me a second look in the 10 minutes I stood around with my friends before going to the bar.
On entering the pub I saw at least one young person sitting down with adults. And they had no trouble buying soft drinks.
What gets me is that I could easily have stayed outside, got my friends to buy me alcohol and got totally drunk. But I wanted to have a sober night with my friends and was unable to do so.
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Previous ratings seem to back-up my opinion that it (your experience) truly does depend on what time of day and week you go in here. I've been in a few times, though the evening occasions were only brief meeting-up couple-of-pint affairs before we moved on, so I didn't really see any trouble/shifty characters. Also been in on an early evening after the footy and had a nice uncomplicated St Georges day meal here - for a decent deal as expected with this chain. Ales have been good too, and service was ok from what I remember.
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Lot's of people use this place so what would I know. Typical Wetherspoons, I've never liked it much. Meals are the usual fairly good value but most times I've eaten there they've managed to get the order wrong. Staff as usual seem inexperienced, pissed off and don't wanna be there. Typical Wetherspoons clientele. Day time it's alcoholic business men and in the evening the light weight chaff brigade with a few students and families thrown in for good luck. Never will understand this type of venues 'no misic' policy.
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usual wteherspoons to be honest
bar could be cleaner as well as tables
not the best or worst
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An ok Wetherspoons. My opinion varies on this pub according to the time of day and the customers present. It occasionally attracts loud-mouthed louts and when it does I don't hang around for the fights to start. When all is peaceful and the ales are good it is not a bad boozer though.
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Centrally located Wetherspoons with a good well-kept selection of Real Ales. Above the standard of most others of the chain, the staff are also friendly and helpful
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Looked in last week as wanted somewhere for a quick drink and a sit down before the flicks.
What a god awful place! Full of sad locals nursing a sad pint.
Had no inclinations to stop and sup
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My god, avoid at all costs. Sullen bar staff, crap beer, excruciatingly slow service, the place just stinks..........Chav heaven
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what can I say...another depressing witherspoons, possibly why Steven Fry was in there!!
bad service
Dreadful beer
cheep....but Iwas waiting for a beer for almost half an hour...no danger of getting drunk.
could invest in either competant, or more staff
Its only good point is that it was close to the murderers
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It can't be that bad. I've seen Stephen Fry sitting there with a few friend and a pint. We've only been a few times and its always seemed OK
anonymous - 21 Nov 2005 15:43 |
absolute hole. terrible beer, clientele inbred stella swigging violent chavs. bar staff unmentionablly rude, stupid and slow. would go on but dont need to, dont go unless you enjoy stella fueled violence. a travesty.
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As Weatherspoons go this isnt a particularly bad pub, although I concede that isnt saying much.
Like all spoons it has the whiff of the conveyor belt about it despite its lame attempt to add some character with �oldie� war photos on the wall and a perplexing statue in the centre of its garish up stairs. I`ve never found this forced style effort very convincing, it just reminds me there was probably once an above average pub where this one now stands. And, like all spoons its clientele counts a large number of townies and Chavs amongst its number, especially on Friday nights which is, of course, fight night. Indeed the odd thing about The Bell is that it seems to be a magnet for all the pent up violence in the Norfolk area - not admittedly a lot as this county is the geographical equivalent of a coma when it comes to crime, but still it gets an above average number of punch ups and general agro for Norwich.
However, despite all this the pub does have more of a distinctive character than most weatherspoons, especially the smaller downstairs portion that with its minimalist d�cor and surprisingly wide ale`s selection, could almost pass for a pub. And in the summer its location right in the centre of Norwich makes it a good starting point for a few cheap pints, although anyone with taste will want to move on to something better after that.
6/10
anonymous - 30 Mar 2005 16:55 |
Generic crap wetherspoons.
Useless braindead manager unwilling to engage his admittedly deceased mind to understand that if a customer is attacked in his pub and everyone tells him that and he infact admits that maybe he should apologize RATHER THAN THROW ME OUT.
There is an old guy who often comes in and walks around a bit whose jumper i quite enjoy though, makes me reminisce back to the old days of seafaring and empires that i never experienced. That�s what the one point is for, if you cant see the old guy anywhere deduct the point.
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