The Adam & Eve, Bishopgate
Everyone wants to know how Rita McCluskey got her hands on the Adam & Eve but she's not telling. Reputedly established in 1249 to serve workmen building the cathedral, and with a Saxon well under the floor in the lower of its two bars, it's reckoned to be Norwich's oldest alehouse and therefore a natural tourist trap. So it's no wonder that a few noses were put out of joint when McCluskey previously licensee of the Eastern Counties Newspapers social club won the lease of the Unique Pub Company-owned business three years ago. Tucked behind the cathedral and law courts and a stone's throw from the River Wensum, the Adam & Eve is a striking building in a primelocation but, like McCluskey, is thoroughly unpretentious. Food, served at lunchtimes only, is low to mid-price, as are the beers, which include Adnams bitter and Greene King IPA. Clients are a "real cross-section", says McCluskey. "We get tourists,business people, the people who are up in court, the people who aredefending them, the juries. I get a lot of people who are doing theriverside walk, and I'm right next to the cathedral car park." With this history and location, the Adam & Eve is cushioned from the full impact of Wetherspoon's and the other mega-pubs, and from thegrowing binge-drinking problems. But McCluskey is still concerned that Norwich may not be attracting the right kind of customer. "I can weather the storm because we've got the oldest pub in Norwich. But there are places that don't have that uniqueness." She adds: "I haven't got any flashing lights or pool tables here. You have to do what you're good at, and here that's simple, mostly home-cooked food, and beer that we look after well and price as well as we can. But I don't have happy hours.
