“Blackfriars Tavern, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

Not as heralded as the West Country, but Norfolk has a great pedigree of making cider and many passionate drinkers. It is also home to passionate landlords, too, by all accounts, for the Blackfriars Tavern won Camra cider pub of the year in 2025. This is all the more remarkable given the pub was derelict a little over five years ago. Today, this solid Victorian pub is wearing its win with pride, as it should, with more than 30 different traditional ciders available, including a big focus on local Norfolk makers.”

It’s behind a paywall (https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/best-pubs-taprooms-drink-cider-uk-pommelier-4663435), but you may be able to see the whole thing using a method of your choosing.

The post The best pubs and taprooms to drink cider in the UK, by a pommelier first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

The resulting video, titled I visited the UK’s OFFICIAL BEST cider pub, is a proper look at what makes this place tick. Rose called it “the dream British pub” — and we’re inclined to agree.

Robbie and Rose spent time in the bar sampling the ciders (including a rather good rhubarb number), took in the bar billiards, tucked into some pies, and soaked up the atmosphere that makes Blackfriars what it is: homely, community-driven, a hidden gem, and very much a real local neighbourhood pub.

Watch the feature

Video: I visited the UK’s OFFICIAL BEST cider pub
Channel: Robbie Knox on YouTube
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch/D-klzZhikPg

We’re proud to have had Robbie and Rose visit, and grateful for the kind words about the pub, the ciders, and the atmosphere. It’s a lovely reminder of what happens when people who care about good drink and good company find their way to Great Yarmouth.

The post Robbie Knox Visits the UK’s Official Best Cider Pub — Full YouTube Feature first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

Presentation will be from 13:00 on 1st October 2025, this is an open event and all are welcome!

CAMRA’s overall Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025 has been won by the Blackfriars Tavern in Great Yarmouth.

The competition recognises the best pub or social club that champions real cider and perry across the UK. Judges are looking for great atmosphere, décor, welcome, service, inclusivity, overall impression and, most importantly, quality cider and perry.

The Blackfriars Tavern is a Victorian corner pub, which has quickly become a must visit destination for cider and perry lovers. With more than 20 locally sourced real ciders available, and some from further afield, it is easy to see why!

Next to the historic 13th century town walls, the pub offers a warm welcome to families, dogs and cyclists, serving renowned home-cooked pies and hearty meals.

Not only has it won this top accolade, but it is also in the running to win CAMRA’s overall Pub of the Year title, after being announced as one of the UK’s top 16 pubs in August.

Along with East Anglian ciders and perries, the pub stocks eight ever-changing cask beers with two permanently on the bar from the on-site Blackfriars Tavern brewery, plus a wide choice of bottled Belgian beers.

Blackfriars Tavern landlord and freeholder Pharez Smith said:

“Oh my word, oh my word! We are overjoyed to be named CAMRA’s Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025. This award is a tribute to our wonderful customers who create the welcoming atmosphere that makes our pub special. We also thank the incredible producers, whose skill and dedication fill our cellars with variety and quality. 

“Five and a half years ago we began major renovations on this disused pub, and what a journey it has been. We’ve loved connecting with our customers through a shared passion for real cider and perry. Finally, we are hugely grateful to CAMRA for their tireless work in championing these traditional drinks, and we are proud to be part of that story.”

Cider and Perry Pub of the Year coordinator Sarah Newson said:

“Congratulations to the team at the Blackfriars Tavern – it is a real gem of a pub and well worth seeking out. With the pub winning CAMRA’s ultimate cider and perry accolade, and also in contention for winning overall Pub of the Year, this is an exciting time for pubgoers in Great Yarmouth and East Anglia.

“Along with the Blackfriars Tavern, our three finalists and all the regional and national winners in this competition show just how wonderfully varied the UK cider and perry scene is today. If your knowledge of cider or perry is limited to the large commercial brands sold cheaply in supermarkets, I urge you to seek out these pubs to see just how amazing and varied these traditional drinks really are.”

The other finalists in the Cider and Perry Pub of the Year 2025 are: Carpenters Arms in Westrip, Gloucestershire; That Beer Place (last year’s winner) in Chester, Cheshire; and Bull and Dragon in Meeth, Devon. 

The post Blackfriars Tavern named CAMRA’s best cider and perry pub in the UK first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

The Good Beer Guide, the UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide, is celebrating its 53rd edition and features 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK.

The post Good Beer Guide 2026 is out today! first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

The post We’re In The Telegraph Top500 pubs first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

In 2021, we were awarded “Recommended” status, and we were over the moon, but since it was never republished and now the website record has gone, we thought that there was no record of the achievement.

Well, after a bit of digging, we found that the Wayback machine has a record of the page showing that we were awarded the status (see the screenshot).

For context, the next nearest pubs to hold this status are the Fat Cat in Norwich, and another pub on the North Norfolk Coast.

The post Awarded “Recommended” status in the Good Pub Guide first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

The post We’re In the 2024 Good Beer Guide! first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

“Firstly, my apologies that I wasn’t intending to write up the day that Nathan I spent visiting all the Good Beer Guide pubs in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. This means that I didn’t burden myself with taking many photos, so my extensive readership of two will just have to use their imagination a bit more than usual. I am slowly, but very surely, visiting every pub in the Good Beer Guide which is an impossible project but that doesn’t stop me. This pub in Great Yarmouth (94 Blackfriars’ Road, NR30 3BZ) is just a little out of the way, so credit once again to the Good Beer Guide for listing this venue.

Let me start by writing up-front that this is a very good pub and I was absolutely unable to fault it. The warmth of the welcome, the engagement from who I am guessing is the landlord, the range of the beers and the inviting nature of the environment. This is going to be one of those feel good posts where just everything went well. As a pre-cursor to the below, the landlord mentioned to us that he had just written a blog post that day about the beer Nathan ordered, so for some extra context have a read of https://www.blackfriarstavern.co.uk/the-story-of-the-starry-night-stout-and-the-three-wise-men/. That web-site is a work of art on its own with the width of their offering being clearly evident.”

“I went for the Recessive Red from the reliable Mr Winter’s and this was a well kept quite punchy 6% red ale. There were two darker beers with Nathan going for the Starry Night Stout from Tindall Brewing and checking through his Untappd he was happy with it and its smoothness. He probably told me at the time, but I doubt I was listening. We were on one of our random days out with occasional shots (it’s a long story, but we should probably be supervised by a responsible adult if I’m being honest), which is why there’s a delicious shot sitting next to my real ale. I don’t actually want to focus on the beer choice for too long, but it was excellent for a venue of this size with five real ales and an extensive Belgian beer selection. And the pub wasn’t just offering beers, the landlord was positively enthusing about them. This is a landlord that cares about his beer.

The reason that I don’t want to linger on the beer is that this wasn’t the highlight of the visit, and in many ways, it shouldn’t be. The star of the show was the friendly landlord, engaging and welcoming. He also didn’t demur about our random shot and just slightly odd behaviour, he positively embraced it and so no criticisms there. There were plenty of board games and Nathan rushed over with chess as he’s from a chess winning family. Privately I suspect that’s as he didn’t want to play monopoly for four hours which is what I would have ended up doing. Although he quite rightly mentioned that it would have been no hardship staying here for several hours. Incidentally, he won at chess, but I like letting him win as it cheers him up.

There’s also a very decent refurbishment that has gone on here, it’s traditional but yet on-trend which is a hard thing to achieve. There’s nothing formulaic about this pub, it’s laid-back, it’s slightly quirky and it does the welcoming thing well. I’ve mentioned before that one of the key measures of a pub is that someone coming in on their own, perhaps new to the area, feels like it’s a venue they’re part of and a community to which they feel they can join. I absolutely got that feeling here, this is absolutely right to be in the Good Beer Guide, it’s glorious. Anyone coming to Great Yarmouth who likes pubs should pop in and linger here for some time.”

The post Thanks Julian White first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.

“the cask was secondary to the joy created by landlord and locals, welcoming taxi drivers and port workers…”

“I felt part of the pub.”

TAKING A WEDGE OUT OF GREAT YARMOUTH

Take a look at Martin’s lovely review from back in April, which we just spotted on the interwebs.

Since then, we have progressed to 8 ales on as well as 14 ciders, and we a just pausing (closed to public) until August 4th, to enable us to extend our offer.

The full text of the blog post is below:

Is it a wedge pub ? I’ve no idea. I hardly noticed that shape till I just looked at these photos from last Tuesday.

A first overnighter in the campervan this year, saving me the £120 it costs in the Imperial with FREE (0) parking along the South Pier. Which looks best in black and white, I can tell you.

You even get the best view of this art installation called “Norfolk”.

More attractive art installations awaited on the short walk to the Blackfriars Tavern. This one is called “3rd best town walls in UK after Chester and York”, apparently.

My pub is well sign-posted.

Oh, perhaps that pile of old cars was the Banksy. Has he changed his style ? Or is that a sign to where you get your cash out in Yarmouth ?

GY doesn’t have a lot of Guide pubs, but a fair few of them have been dotted in these back streets between the southern docks and amusement arcades.

So how had I missed it ?

I enter to “You Can Call Me Al“, which has been playing continuously in Norfolk since 1986, and breathe a sigh of relief that my last county tick is a corker.

It’s bigger on the inside. I’m sure someone else has said that.

With a trio of regulars at the bar, I put my trendy* Gandhi jacket over the nearest chair and prepare to annoy the landlord, faced with a row of five similarly interesting looking pump clips.

“What beer should I have then ?”

“It depends what style you like“

“I like beer. Choose me a beer, any beer“

I am such a prat in pubs like this.

“Would you like a taster ?”.

“NO !!! A pint’s a taster“. You know the script by now.

Anyway, something by Fat Cat,

followed by a Vanilla Stout by Mr Winters, observed by little Buddy (everyone loved Buddy),

and then something the landlord did rave about from Bull of the Woods which brought back memories of Steve Earl programmes in Bungay.

It’s a drinkers’ pub, but to be honest the cask was secondary to the joy created by landlord and locals, welcoming taxi drivers and port workers and tickers.

“I had eight large doubles last night. Well, you’re not gonna have eight SMALL ones, are you ?”.

I loved the fact it served Carling and San Miguel (with slice of lemon). I loved the relentlessly upbeat ’80s soundtrack (“Wishing Well”, “Don’t Give Up”). I felt part of the pub.

But I was, of course, horrified by the art in the Gents.

I wish I’d been there for their home-made pies and 10% Imperial Stout, but after three (3) beers in an hour it’s probably best it was off.

A great way to complete any county. Shame about the big smudge over Thompson, which isn’t something you get to write every day.

But was I done with Yarmouth ? Oh no.

*Mrs RM’s word, not mine

The post Great review of The Blackfrairs Tavern! first appeared on The Blackfriars Tavern.