British, Modern Restaurants in Duffield
1. The Fork & Furrow
British, Modern restaurant in Alfreton
The White Hart Inn, Inns Lane, Moorwood Moor - DE55
After undergoing a £50,000 renovation in March 2023, The White Hart Inn restaurant became brand new restaurant concept – The Fork & Furrow.The expertly designed menus offer culinary experiences to surprise the senses, partnering with local suppliers to...
2. The Horseshoes Long Lane
British, Modern restaurant in Ashbourne
Long Lane - DE6
“A lovely (if small) bar and outside space” add to the appeal of this “nice old pub in the middle of nowhere but set in a pleasant Derbyshire Dales setting”. Run by chef Gareth Ward (a namesake of the chef-patron at Ynyshir in Wales), it offers “a good modern menu” with beer-battered haddock about the only dish on the menu that might qualify as ‘pub grub’.
3. The Duncombe Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Ellastone
Main Rd - DE6
An “absolute gem just north of Uttoxeter” – this rather glamorous peak District venture is “the local we all wish we had”, to quote The Daily Mail’s Tom Parker Bowles; “the tarte Tatin alone is worth the visit” but the modern British menu (more casual in the bar) also features “excellent dishes such as omelette Arnold Bennett and crispy belly pork” and their rooms are “brilliant” if you stay overnight.
4. Hart’s Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
Standard Hill, Park Row - NG1
When the original venue of this name opened in 1997 in a different location, it became a modern British icon (Times critic Jonathan Meades was a major fan) and there‘s a pool of goodwill towards Tim Hart’s (of Rutland’s Hambleton Hall) hotel brasserie, which relocated to his nearby boutique hotel in 2019. Fans say “it is heartening to see the place getting busier with each passing year since the downsizing, as service is impeccable and the kitchen can produce some lovely food”. Even they, though, can find the menu too “mainstream” or “frustratingly samey” nowadays or results “run of the mill”. But they say “nonetheless, this is a cherished neighbourhood option”.
5. Stones
British, Modern restaurant in Matlock
1C Dale Rd - DE4
Kevin Stone (the chef), wife Jade and sister Katie Temple provide “very good cooking and service” at this converted pub, whose glazed dining room, opening onto an outside terrace, makes the most of its “lovely setting” overlooking the River Derwent. Despite the heritage of the building, the menu – with a tasting option – is restaurant-style fare, not pub grub.
6. Bar Gigi
Italian restaurant in Nottingham
15 Flying Horse Walk - NG1
On the first floor at the 14th-century Flying Horse Walk building, complete with beams and stained-glass windows, this offbeat venue was inspired by Milan’s Fashion Week, and imports Italian tapas into a space above Gigi Bottega boutique. It’s entering its third year of operation: too limited feedback for a full review but such as we have on its small plates and low-intervention wines is promising.
7. Darleys
British, Modern restaurant in Derby
Darley Abbey Mill - DE22
2021 Review: This “old mill overlooking the river and weir” – part of the Darley Abbey Mills World Heritage site on the Derwent – has an “interesting menu and consistently high-quality cooking”. “Lunch here is always a pleasure, thanks to its setting, space and service as much as its food”.
8. The Saracen's Head
British, Modern restaurant in Shirley
Church Lane - DE6
2021 Review: “Really pleasing food”, “very good service” and a “lovely location” have earned plaudits over many years from the locals for Robin Hunter’s Derby Dales village gastropub, which has recently added the Church Lane Deli to its attractions.
9. La Rock
French restaurant in Sandiacre
4 Bridge Street - NG10
2023 Review: With its untreated oak tables, black granite surfaces and antler candelabras, chef-patron Nick Gillespie’s unusual and “very quiet” venue makes an appropriate showcase for his distinctive modern British cooking, which provided some reporters’ best meal of the year. “Staff cannot do enough for you.”
10. Victoria Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
Dovecote Ln - NG9
2022 Review: A “long-standing favourite”, this “brisk and friendly” red-brick late-Victorian boozer serves a “splendid range of beers” and a solid food menu[e]. One great fan and regular, though, feels “the dining room feels utilitarian and a little underwhelming compared to the bar”.
11. Alchemilla
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
192 Derby Road - NG7
“There is a real buzz to this serious foodie venue near central Nottingham” where an “energetic team of chefs deliver a top gastronomic experience” with a “high, Michelin-starred standard of innovation and flavour”. Occupying a converted former Victorian coach house on the Park Estate with brick-vaulted rooms: “once inside, it has a cellar-like vibe that certainly distinguishes it from other culinary destinations in the area”. Sat Bains alumnus Alex Bond focuses on a tasting menu format with five courses for £95 per person and seven courses for £120 per person: “the selection is long on interesting ingredients, and the wine pairings very diverse and excellent”.
12. Restaurant Sat Bains
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
Lenton Lane - NG7
“Still at the top of its game” and “very much worth the trip” – Sat & Amanda Bains’s converted motel remains Nottingham’s flagship destination, even if its location leaves a little to be desired (just off a large dual carriageway, next to an industrial estate, beside a National Grid pylon and the concrete banks of the River Trent). Once inside, the stylish interior lives up to the high ambitions of the extensive tasting menus: either ten courses for £195 per person; or blow out with the 15-course option at £275 per person. In either case, reports say “the flavours are so well-crafted that you want to give each mouthful plenty of time, and before you know it you are well into your third hour”. One or two reporters find it hard to get over the “extortionate price tag”, but even they describe the cooking as “outstanding”. (Aside from the main dining room, which seats 28, other options for a meal include the Tasting Room for 4-6 diners, and the kitchen Tasting Bench for 4 people).
13. World Service
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
Newdigate House, Castlegate - NG1
“Always a real treat to visit” – this well-established local institution is to be found near the castle in the atmospheric surrounds of the seventeenth century Newdigate House (also home to networking haunt the Nottingham Club), and – especially in summer when its terrace comes into its own – provides “a calm escape from the city streets”. Its rather ambitious food has proved “consistently good” over many years (and even “fabulous” on a good night) and reports this year suggest that it has attained a more consistent standard of late.
14. The Peacock at Rowsley
British, Modern restaurant in Rowsley
Bakewell Rd - DE4
This “old manor house” handy for Chatsworth (and “not to be confused with the Peacock Inn in nearby Bakewell”), may “feel old-fashioned”, but its “great food and interesting menu” (from tasting menus to more “relaxed” options, both taken in the “fine dining room”) make it “a pleasure” by all accounts. Local ingredients (beef and lamb, say) are sourced from the Haddon Estate on which it sits.
15. Cleaver & Wake
British, Modern restaurant in Nottingham
1 The Great Northern Close - NG2
“A very welcome addition to Nottingham’s foodie scene” that is attached to the upcoming Island Quarter regeneration project, and thus is “somewhat stranded on a ring road”, but with “great views of the canal” and a superb waterside setting in compensation. ‘MasterChef: The Professionals’ winner Laurence Henry masterminds the “very accomplished and tasty food” (two- or three-course lunch £37/£47 per person, dinner £75 per person), while there’s also praise for the impressive interior – “upscale without being too grand”.
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