Breakfast at Pandora's Kitchen

We'd heard good things about Pandora's Kitchen breakfasts, not least due to high praise from Norwich reviewing legend the Fry Up Inspector.  We have no intention of treading on the great man's toes so we're steering clear of fry ups (well, of reviewing them at least), however we couldn't resist a trip to Pandora's ourselves to check out what they have to offer.

Firstly, Pandora's itself is a lovely little spot.  Right at the top of London Street in a fine old Norwich building, it combines old world charm with a modern touch.  The décor is quirky and knowingly quaint, with just the right notes of kitsch and twee about it.  A very nice setting for breakfast, lunch or a quick coffee and a pastry.  By the way, the pastries look AMAZING, we didn't get round to trying any this time but those croissants will be ours some day.  Some day..........

Downstairs is the main café/bakery area where you can grab drinks and sexy-looking baked goods to go, then upstairs there are two generous dining rooms.  There's a good range of seating for large and small groups alike so it's an ideal spot for friends to congregate as well as for food-loving couples like us.  The atmosphere is relaxed and unhurried, which is exactly what you want for a leisurely breakfast.

The menu choices are excellent, a bit different from the usual variations on a full English.  They have a number of poached egg and muffin combos, including classics like Eggs Benedict as well as their own intriguing-sounding Eggs London Street.  They also serve smashed avocado on sourdough toast with a range of different toppings.  How can you go wrong with options like that?  And that is without even mentioning their gargantuan Fry Up Inspector breakfast.  To cap it all off, if you can't find something that is exactly what you want then you can simply add a breakfast item to any of the menu options for a mere 75p.

We chose Eggs Florentine for Mr (not really) Vegan Man and smashed avocado on sour dough toast with crispy bacon and poached egg with some black pudding added for good measure for the Wife of the Vegan Man - she simply cannot resist black pudding when it's on offer.

The Eggs Florentine (pictured above) were delicious.  The eggs were poached to perfection, the yolk just the right sort of runny and the whites fluffy and light.  The hollandaise was creamy but with a generous enough squeeze of lemon to cut through the richness and we're sure there was a hint of mace or nutmeg around which added an unexpected twist.  The muffins were crispy and managed to stand up well considering the wilted spinach and roasted tomatoes inevitably added a fair amount of moisture to the plate.  The iron-rich greens and succulent tomatoes were a top combination and the addition of a handful of peppery rocket was a nice touch too.

The smashed avocado had a wonderful texture, creamy but with just enough chunkiness to get your teeth into.  The smoky, crispy bacon goes so well with the unctuous green avocado and the oozing poached egg brings it all together.  The sourdough was crunchy with a good, thick crust and subtle tang.  The black pudding was just a gratuitous extra, adding some spice and peppery notes to boost the flavoursome dish further still.

If you want a fry up then this is a great place to get one but there is more on offer too.  Breakfast is having a real renaissance as a dish and it is great to see such variety on show here, with wonderful fresh ingredients cooked well and allowed to shine.  Nothing felt oily, greasy or heavy and yet we both left feeling surprisingly full.

No ratings here, but it won't be long until we return to Pandora's Kitchen to tackle some of their other breakfast offerings.  Get yourselves down there as soon as you get the chance.