Diners can enjoy one of Norwich’s most popular breakfasts again after a city café launched takeaway meals.

Norwich Evening News: Olive's on Elm Hill. Picture: Ian BurtOlive's on Elm Hill. Picture: Ian Burt (Image: Archant 2018)

The cooked breakfasts at Olive’s, on Elm Hill in the city centre, have attracted a legion of fans over the last few years.

But on March 23, as the prime minister announced the country was going into lockdown, the café said it would close for the foreseeable future.

It has spent the last few weeks preparing to reopen in some capacity, and at the start of the week revealed it would be returning with take home breakfasts.

Its menu includes its full cooked option, which includes fried eggs, sausage, streaky smoked back bacon, bubble and squeak, Heinz baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and fried bread for £8.50, including black pudding as an optional extra for £2.

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There are also vegetarian and vegan options.

Mick Marsden, the café’s owner, said they had been looking at the potential of takeaway and delivery options for some weeks.

“We looked very early on at doing takeaways and deliveries but we couldn’t be sure it was going to get there in good condition,” he said. “We knew we could do a collection, but it wasn’t until they changed the guidelines and said you can go out multiple times that we thought it was fine.

“We didn’t want people using their one exercise a day to come and get breakfast.”

He said for many businesses, takeaways had become an essential part of their work.

Looking forward, he said they had given thought to how they would cope in a socially distanced future.

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“We are luckier than a lot in that above the main shop we’ve got several different rooms, so we could create zones,” he said.

“But we don’t know what’s going to happen one week to the next.”

He said demand for the breakfasts had been “amazing” - by Friday morning there were just a handful of slots left for Saturday.

Initially, they will allocate a slot every 10 minutes to customers to avoid queues building, but said the arrangements could change over time.

Those interested need to have a PayPal account and should preorder by emailing olives2go@gmail.com with an email address linked to their PayPal account.

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