Go Bifanas por favor

Remember Loose’s Cookshop in Orford Yard, Norwich? It is now known as Pivotal House and home to one of the hottest places to brunch in the city. Go Bifanas serves world food with Portuguese flavours, being the sibling eatery to Jorge’s Restaurant. On a special foodie night, nourish went along to sample some of the amazing food that Go Bifanas has to offer.

Arriving at Orford Place at night is quite magical. With lights twinkling in the windows of Pivotal House, it all makes for a very inviting space – and you just know that, on a sunny day, it is going to be glorious in there.

Go Bifanas opened last December and is the brainchild of Jorge Santos – who owns next door Jorge’s Restaurant with his wife, Eleanor. With Chef Daniel Clare at the helm, they share the space with The Yard Coffee, who opened in September, and the two companies work perfectly together making for a great dining experience.

Inspired by Portuguese street food, Go Bifanas is named after the famous ‘bifana’ sandwiches in Portugal. Packed with flavour, and traditionally made with sautéed pork, Jorge has tweaked the flavours of his bifanas, sharing inspiration from around the world with Japanese and Caribbean versions available.

Go Bifanas serves food all day, offering brunch (from £3) until 1.30pm and then from midday, bifanas (from £8), main dishes (from £7.50), snacks (from £3.50), sides, sauces, and desserts (from £2.50). Between 4pm and 8pm, sharing boards (from £16.50) are available, covering meat, vegetarian, fish, cheese, and vegan. There truly is something for everyone here, and the flavours have to be tasted to be believed, they are so good!

Served tapas style, all the dishes came together and they made for happy eating. The Portuguese breakfast hash, topped with a fried egg, was rich and delicious, and is firmly on our brunch radar.

The piri-piri chicken thighs were a revelation; Jorge makes his own sauce, and it was so balanced, full of flavour and with gentle heat. Very aromatic, this was a stand-out dish – as were the salt cod croquettes! They were light and airy, and you can taste the love that goes into not only this dish, but all of the food served here. The croquettes were truly amazing and came with a lemon and garlic aioli.

We also enjoyed the totally delicious goat cheese, honey and olive empanadas, a fresh Mediterranean salad, and one of the special vegan offerings – tempura banana blossom bites. This nori-wrapped banana blossom comes with a vegan lemon aioli and Jorge explained that they had spent a long time working on enticing vegan dishes and they have definitely hit the mark.

We finished, of course with a pastel de Nata, and the farturas, Portuguese churros looked amazing. Add in a wonderful coffee from The Yard and a raspberry and lime virgin mojito, and it was a great evening.

All the flavours were incredible – so harmonious, and balanced – and we are sure that Go Bifanas is going to become a go-to favourite for many.

Go Bifanas serves food all day, from 10am, with brunch, lunch, dinner, and snacks all on offer, as well as wines, beers, Portuguese liqueurs, cocktails, and more. There is is a takeaway option available for those on the move.