Benoli Restaurant

Since opening in July 2019, Benoli has quickly become renowned as one of the best Italian restaurants in Norwich – not just because of our fantastic food, inspired by top quality ingredients, cooked with skill and care.

We focus on great service and our friendly, knowledgeable staff are on hand to explain the menu and recommend dishes for you. Combined with a lovely, modern décor and great atmosphere, we offer an experience that motivates customers to return again and again.

An Italian meal is a real culinary experience and one to be savoured. It is our intention to give you authentic Italian recipes with a modern twist that will delight the senses. Follow our social media channels (links below) to see what recipes we’re currently working on!

Why Benoli is probably the best Italian restaurant in Norwich
Chef/owner Oliver Boon and his talented kitchen team bring all their experience together to bring simple, but creative Italian inspired cuisine to Norwich. They have worked in, and headed up, some of the country’s top restaurants and have been heavily influenced by Italian cuisine whilst travelling.

Oliver has loved Italian food since childhood and has been cooking since the age of 16. He started work at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze, before moving to Bryn Williams’ Odettes in London. After reaching the final of MasterChef: The Professionals in 2012, he was asked to work for Michel Roux Jr and went on to be appointed Head Chef of Roux at the Landau in Regent Street, London.

Despite cooking a great deal of French food during his career, it was always Oliver’s dream to return to Italian cuisine and open his own restaurant, so in 2019 Benoli was born.

We’re well known for our handmade fresh pasta, however we offer far more than a standard pasta restaurant.

Our pasta is freshly made every day by hand, rather than machine. This means that we can adjust the dough according to natural variances. Some days the eggs are larger or smaller, and other days the weather is more humid or dry, which affects the flour. Hand mixing guarantees that we achieve the perfect texture every time. We also experiment with different types of flour, seasonings and pasta fillings. When you’re thinking of the best pasta near me, we want you to think of Benoli!

Norwich is blessed with a wide variety of pizza and pasta places, along with fine Italian restaurants. We want to deliver a new style of cuisine that goes beyond the traditional and makes us the best Italian restaurant in Norwich and the surrounding area. At Benoli, you’ll find a wide choice of Italian dishes on the menu, and we not only cater for meat and fish lovers, but vegetarians and vegans too.

A wide choice of Italian cuisine
Whether the occasion calls for a three-course meal, lighter eats or just coffee and dessert, we’ve got you covered. Italian food is a celebration of produce, and our menu changes regularly and often with the seasons, to give our customers the very best Italian cuisine experience throughout the year. Many of our ingredients come from Italy to achieve the most authentic flavours, but we also source our ingredients locally and are passionate about supporting other local businesses.

Italian cuisine is surprisingly diverse, and each of the twenty Italian regions have their own distinctive flavours, ingredients and recipes. Many dishes have only two to four ingredients, with the emphasis being on quality of ingredients rather than complexity or elaborate preparation. Our chefs and kitchen team are consistently researching and trialling new Italian recipes that not only preserve traditional values, but also deliver something new. If you’d like to see what we’re currently working on, follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

Please visit our about us page to find out more.

We love to make customers happy
“Firstly, I really enjoy running Benoli and we’re very excited to be cooking the food I believe people love to eat. I wanted to create a new Italian restaurant that serves the kind of food that I was brought up on as a child whilst travelling around Sicily and Italy,” says Oliver.

“Secondly, judging by the fantastic reviews we’ve had from customers (see below), they adore our food. Many say the restaurant is the best Italian they have been to outside of Italy. We love to make them happy!

It’s great to be part of, and contributing to, such a creative city as Norwich that has such an exciting food and art scene.

What’s better in the world than being surrounded by good people eating fresh pasta, amazing cheese, great wine and strong coffee? That’s what Benoli is about.”