Lust & Liquor, St Benedicts Street, Norwich

A whole wealth of new eateries are appearing around the Lanes area of Norwich.

With an impressive facade, with big shop-front windows and an inviting decor, Lust & Liquor stands out amongst them on St Benedicts Street.

Inspired by travels through the Americas, Lust & Liquor have an extensive BBQ menu and also a high quality cocktail list. For a casual Tuesday night out, it seemed like a logical place to head to. 

First up was the cocktail menu. Feeling in the mood for gin and partial to a sour, I decided on the Rose Tea Sour - gin infused with rose tea, with lemon juice and sugar (£7). Beautifully decorated with rose petals (not edible... I tried!), a lovely, slightly sour cocktail. 

Rose Tea Sour, £7

Then onto food... I was torn with so many options! My dinner guest for the evening spotted the Big Boy burger (£14), double burger patties, bacon, brisket AND pulled pork (the menu online shows a slightly different variation). It sounded seriously good. But I was really in the mood for brisket and figured that Texan Style Beef Brisket Feasting plate (£13) would be bigger than the amount in the burger. We also ordered the Jumbo Wings (£4.50) to share. 

First out came the wings. We chose a BBQ sauce with them and they came with celery and a blue cheese dip. They were pretty average. Not a lot of meat and the BBQ sauce was more tomato based. 

Jumbo Chicken Wings, £4.50

Then out came the burger. And it was a beauty. Burger topped with cheese topped with a big chunk of brisket topped with another burger topped with cheese topped with bacon and pulled pork and accompanied by fries and coleslaw. Piled so high with filling, I was immediately jealous of my decision, but still held out hope. So big that it had to be split into two burgers, I was told that it was seriously good. 

Big Boy Burger, £14

Burger money shot...

All hope faded when my plate came out. A relatively small piece of brisket topped with BBQ sauce accompanied by corn on the cob, coleslaw and fries. I had epic food envy - it happens to the best of us. The brisket was tasty, but the BBQ sauce just wasn't quite right again. I like a smokey BBQ sauce, this was too tomato based. The coleslaw tasted homemade and was really good - creamy and slightly spiced. The fries were cooked well, but the corn on the cob was a little on the watery side and lacked flavour. 

Texan style beef brisket, £13

A slight disappointment. I've had better brisket at Dray Yard and Harbercue.

I'm not sure if I would try Lust & Liquor again - the drinks were delicious, but the food wasn't outstanding (although maybe if I'd had the burger, I would think differently...) There are so many places in Norwich offering this style of American cooking that competition is high. A nice venue if you want a few drinks and a casual bite to eat.

The food plus 3 drinks came to £54, so not an overly expensive evening.

Food - 7/10
Service - 8.5/10
Atmosphere - 7.5/10 
Value for Money - 7.5/10