please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
paul_d102 says it all. A must to visit near the castle. I was really pleased to get a beer from Lacons from Great Yarmouth for the first time and very good it was too.
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Also known as the Gardeners Arms, this historic (1696) building has various nooks, crannies and split levels to sit in. It also has a larger area at the back which hosts live music and we spent a couple of hours there on Saturday night listening to a local bluegrass band. London Pride, Doom Bar, Wolf's Edith Cavell and Woodfordes Wherry are the regular ales, also on sale were Burton Bridge's Burton Ale, Woodfordes Sundew, Borough Brewery's Full Blast, North Yorkshire Brewing's Dizzy Dick, Lacons Falcoln Ale, Winter's Geniuss and Grain's Blackwood Stout. Cider was from Farmer Jims. The beers I tried were all good so add in the history and this is a place worth visiting.
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Had a good range of interesting beers, plus certainly an interesting bar & room layout. However, did I like it - not really, just a feeling.
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I called in with my wife and step-daughter this afternoon for a bite to eat. The food arrived after twenty-five minutes: my bacon and brie baguette was lukewarm, with the brie barely grilled; my wife's stew was hot but tasteless and the mashed potato was cold. In fairness, my stepdaughter's toastie was okay, the beer was fine and the barman offered me a drink on the house, but by then we'd had enough. Wouldn't go back.
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Good range of beers, in good condition, and a good pub food menu.
Rambling pub with quite a good atmosphere, very convenient for the shops. I'll be back next time I'm in town.
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This is a cosy pub with several different small seating areas, including an outdoor patio at the front. It's slap bang in the centre of the shopping area and near to the castle. There's a good range of ales - Woodfordes City & Wherry, Murderers Ale, Brass Castle Tail Gunner, Fakir Easy Old Fakir, Elgoods Prawn Free, Sharps Doom Bar, St Peters Ale & Winters Geniuss Stout were all on yesterday. Live football was advertised, but there was nothing on during our visit. Music was being played at a volume that still allowed conversation. The pub has plenty of memorabilia relating to famous murders. Information pamphlets state that there was a murder on the premises, giving the pub its name.
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Historic pub with plenty of framed prints of infamous murderers/gangsters. Some of the wooden beams looked rather old, hope pub doesn't collapse. Pub a bit ramshackle and there are 4 very annoying games machines at the front of the pub. 7 ales on (inc a lone GK) and I enjoyed a pint of Wilbur Wood Identity (5%) at £3.60 - the 2nd most expensive pint after the Adam & Eve at £3.70.
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Called here after the match on Saturday, beer was fine, staff were friendly. Not bad at all.
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OK I suppose, but too much emphasis on Murderer theme - and not enough on beer quality on my visit. Would not hurry to return.
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Good range of beers, all of the ones we tried were served in excellent condition. Service was really quick, bar staff and locals very friendly, and the wall displays interesting. Not too far from Carrow Road, then again, not too far from Primark, the castle, Poundland or the bus station! Worth a visit.
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Went in yesterday before the football, great place, the "theme" perhaps distracts from a pub that does great ale, good food and enough tv's to wtach games from every angle.
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One of the better pubs in Norwich, has a good range of beers, nice staff and a little friendly :)
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I am not quite sure what to make of this seemingly two-in-one pub which trades as both the Gardeners Arms and the Murderers.
For me, drinking beer surrounded by photographs of an electric chair and convicted and executed murderers and is a TOTAL turn off. It may appeal to some ghouls, but not to me.
On the positive side, it is one of the few pubs we found that serves real ale in Norwich city centre. And when buying your drinks you are invited to roll a pair of dice. If you roll a double six, your drinks are FREE.
Another novel feature (for the men) is whilst you are pointing �Percy at the Porcelain� (having a pee), you can watch England showing the Aussies how to play cricket because there are flat screen TV�s embedded in the wall behind the urinal stalls.
On the positive side it does serve real ale which seems to be a rarity in Norwich city centre pubs. The bar staff were friendly and the beer quality was pretty good too. But for me the �gimmicks� rather put me off.
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One of my fav pubs, lots of character, the staff are all lovely, well maintained, great atmosphere and a real mix of customers! The only down side is the food(although i only had a baguette!) and it can be a little pricey(but then it is a city centre pub!). Definately worth a visit!
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Nice little city centre pub - so why all the TV screens - even in the loos?? Do people really want to watch TV in a pub on a Saturday night? Murderers Ale was pretty good
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Nice interior- the space is broken up with lots of wooden beams which creates the impression of a warren of small spaces, quite like a London pub. Signs outside adverise it as Norwich's premier real ale venue but it's very far from being that- in fact there are only 3 or 4 real ales, predictable choices from national brewers eg London Pride, and whilst drinkable they aren't served in great condition. Quite food orientated and definitely less 'themed' than other city centre venues- worth visit.
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I think this is a very lovely pub and i am happy with the service. I think the dude who supports ipswich is very fuuny even tho ipswich are rubbish. i am a southend supporter myself.
joshm - 11 Apr 2008 17:52 |
great little pub with a great little sotory about it...
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nice city centre pub
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I visited this pub for the first time last Friday, for a colleagues leaving do. I'd never been there before but was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the cheap, generic city centre bar I had been expecting, I entered into a cosy, warm pub, full of life and atmostphere, with a GREAT range of drinks.
A few friends complained about the prices, but the quality of their Beers and Wines was by far superior to any Wetherspoons shite you can drown your sorrows with nowadays.
I didn't sample the menu, but i've been told that the food is hearty and flavoursome. The staff were very friendly and happy to help.
I give this pub a well deserved 9/10.
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Not a bad pub. Decorated in early demolition. Bit grubby but decent prices and good staff.
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I always head this pub when I'm in Norwich. The patrons are friendly and beer is quality. It's a great winter pub.
Avoid the Bell at all costs and walk round the corner.
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I can't understand some people, this is genuinely the only real pub left in Norwich city centre. So what if they are more expensive than witherspoons around the corner, if you want a fantastic meal with your wife, do you take her to McDonalds...No.You pay for what you get.
Of course you get the big brands..if that boring, every pub must be boring! Kids today really don't know what a real pub is. The staff are always helpful, and I can only presume that anyone who does not get a warm response must be a miserable old f!*#er
As a city centre pub, they have it all...special offers, more live sport than you can shake a stick at, the best big sreen, and football atmosphere I have ever seen. SEVEN real ales ALWAYS available. Cheap, local and the old favourites
As for the decor, its a Grade II listed building, how can it possibly be manufactured, it's the real mccoy.
Pay it a visit, the manager has been there for ages, so you are always guarenteed a good chat and a friendly face.
anonymous - 12 May 2006 17:44 |
Nice little pub the music they were playing was a bit of a wierd choice. But overall well worth a visit. This is quite a roomy pub all the locals opting to hang around the bar. I think the name of this pub is great.
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I`ve always found it very difficult to raise even the slightest pinch of emotion for the Murderers, as despite some slight signs of character and the odd commendable element, this city centre pub really longs to be a spoons.
The interior, for example, has certainly been put together by the owners themselves, but despite the slightly different furnishings and wall regale, the pervading sense is that youre sitting in a spoons with a marginally higher budget and a different set of interior suppliers. There may therefore be an element of distinctiveness, but essentially it`s smaller than Abi Titmus` sense of modesty. The booze selection is also taken from the chain pub guidelines that emphasise cheap crap over real choice, being both commercial lager heavy and restricted to the boring booze (Fosters, John Smiths etc) that you find in all conveyer belt establishments.
That said there are good points to the Murderers that have managed to survive the cloning process. The service is very efficient and extremely homely (with a number of older members of staff that are prepared to actually talk to you), the prices reasonable, and the clientele, while certainly on the sedate side, at least doesn�t contain the usual assortment of pond life that always infest your average spoons.
However, not only does the pervading desire to be a chain pub baffle me, it leaves me on the whole, very cold.
A deeply average 5/10.
anonymous - 3 Jul 2005 09:31 |
a huge amount better than the terrible bell hotel (weatherspoons dump) down the hill. good ales for not that much more than spoons (and good for Norwich prices which arent that much better than london ones)
good atmosphere and proper wooden beam pub style interior. bar staff arent that bad compared to the rude raving idiots and inbred morons at the bell hotel.
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a good local for the shopper during the day. beer's good but should be at these london prices. get's crowded later on and staff don't bust a gut, so don't expect to be served with any speed or a smile.
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Great pub.
If you want cheap piss and the scum that go with it, go to a Witherspoons pub. All I can say if your wallet said ouch, the pub can't have been that bad if you stayed all night!!
Tom Franks - 27 Jun 2004 23:55 |
ouch said my wallet
trill - 16 Mar 2004 18:30 |
Great little booser. Little more expensive than these Witherspoon places,but then you do get a great atmosphrere in these traditional pubs. Great sports shown in here when I get in with the wife on a saturday afternoon. Good selection of real ales.
Barry T Bone - 16 Jan 2004 11:48 |
I often pop into this place on a Saturday afternoon if the missus has dragged me around the city on a shopping expedition. It's good for that at least.
gareth - 7 Jan 2004 09:08 |
Prices are good? I had to take out a second mortgage to get pissed. One of the more expensive pubs in the city.
Bloik! - 24 Jul 2003 12:21 |
Great pub.
7 real ales ranging from �1.85.
Local micro brewers and national brands
Fantastic quality beers
Phil - 9 Jul 2003 00:49 |
A cosy pub in the centre of the city, the atmosphere is great and the prices are good.
Tabs - 18 Feb 2003 15:31 |
