Eating Out

Café du Commerce, Norwich

It is one of the tragedies of humanity that no-one has yet made broccoli or a carrot taste as nice as good chips. If this feat had been managed, and a few others involving chocolate, butter and so on, no doubt we would all be slimmer and healthier, rather than a nation of cholesterol-laden fatties heading for diabetes, heart disease and an early grave. But until then I guess all we can do is eat chips in moderation - and make sure they are really, really good chips.

I reflected on this fact as I dipped my crunchy, irresistible chips into the creamy, gloriously calorific home-made mayonnaise. These were the best chips I had in a long time.

We were not in a chip shop, but a classy little café-bistro which opened last month on King Street in Norwich. The street is not an obvious destination for food, and Café du Commerce is not necessarily the obvious destination for chips. Omelettes, croques-monsieur, luscious pastries, or French-style tapas, if such a thing is not a contradiction in terms, are the stock-in-trade here.

And this being a French-influenced joint, these were not chips but frites, although my experience of pommes frites in France is that they tend towards the skinny, like French women, whereas these were more of a chunky Anglo-Saxon nature. They were advertised as twice-cooked, which all good chips are - you should cook them first on a lower heat, allow to cool, and then turn the heat up for that crispy outside. I don't know how the chef did these ones, for they were exceptionally crispy but still fluffy inside, and the little dish of home-made mayonnaise was so good I had to ask for a refill.

There was much to delight in at Café du Commerce. This was an evening visit, so tapas was the order du jour. The dishes are chalked up on a blackboard, allowing regular changes according to what is good on the market that day. The menu is simple rather than over-written, just single words in some cases like squid or mussels, together with the price. Pork meatballs in a tomato sauce were lovely, both meat and sauce having a richness and depth of flavour. The meat, like that in the excellent, flaky-pastry sausage rolls, is locally reared and butchered at Swannington Farm to Fork.

Aubergine rolls were unusual and downright delicious, the strips of aubergine wrapped round a filling of pine-nuts and herbs, topped with melted mozzarella and bathed in a sweet tomato sauce. Provencale tomato was a single, large baked tomato, stuffed with rice and flavoured with garlic and olive oil.

Risotto balls came as a pair, the size of golf balls and stuffed with courgette and herbs (there is a smoked salmon option too). They were tasty enough but lacked the impact of the other dishes, which I suspect might be a weakness inherent in risotto balls, and someone had been heavy-handed with the vinaigrette on the accompanying baby leaves.

After the chip triumph, funnily enough it was something else from the deep-frier that was a slight disappointment. The portion of squid looked a touch mean-spirited, and the batter, though crispy in places, was a little soggy in others.

The wine list starts at £13.50 and has plenty of choice - we drank a reasonable Malbec at £15.50. During the day you can pop in for a coffee, or - my favourite - hot chocolate with cinnamon doughnuts to dip into it. At breakfast there are pastries, sausage baguettes or eggs Benedict, while at lunchtime there are dishes like risotto or plates of cheese or charcuterie, and they are hoping to be popular lunch stop for those who work nearby.

This is the second venture from Simon Turner, who runs Elm Hill Brasserie. Suzanne Pulford, former head waitress at Elm Hill, is running front of house single-handedly at the moment. Chefs are City College-trained Sam Bagge and Sam Cramp. Elm Hill has just won the best Norfolk Menu category of the EDP Norfolk Food awards, and the same love of local ingredients, many of which come from Norwich market, is on display here, but in a more casual setting. It brings Norfolk ingredients together with a French ethos in rather a lovely way.

And don't forget to try those chips - just not every day.

Café du Commerce is housed in the building that was home to Femi's restaurant.

Café du Commerce, 42 King Street, Norwich

Parking? No.

When is it open? 7.45am to 9pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm Saturday.

Do I need to book? Not generally, although it is fairly small, so call if you are in a large group. 01603 665880.

How much? £3.50 for soup of the day, £6 for croque-monsieur, £8.50 for roast chicken leg with salad, evening tapas dishes £3-£6.

Is there vegetarian food? Yes - you can have omelette, cheese or risotto during the day, and in the evening usually a few vegetarian tapas options.

Wheelchair access? It is on the ground floor, as is the toilet, but the toilet is not specifically adapted.