Nottingham Restaurant Guide

“A stalwart of the Nottingham restaurant scene” for almost 30 years, “it can feel like you are eating in France” at this city-centre outfit with a “constantly changing menu, strong on unfamiliar but interesting dishes”. It’s still run by its founders, Corsican Stéphane Luiggi and his Notts-born wife, Louise.

“Fantastic Thai food, Thai people and decor give it the authentic feel of being down a side street in a city in Thailand” at this street-food offshoot from Ban Kaewkraikhot’s Sukhothai brand – “great value and super tasty, with a great atmosphere”.

2019 Review: “Not your average Asian venue” and totally not what you would expect off the foyer of a boring-looking business hotel – “amazing” fusion cuisine and “sushi to die for” have earned consistently high ratings for a number of years at this unexpected modern Pan-Asian mashup. Unfortunately there is another constant: service is often “hit and miss”.

Amita Sawhney’s “fantastic Indian restaurant has been around for ages, but doesn’t disappoint”. It’s “not the cheapest, but friendly service and fantastic food” have earned it a stellar reputation. Top Tip – “try the tandoori ostrich” (free-range, locally farmed, infused with garlic and red chilli).

This “simply amazing” and decidedly upmarket Indian (which opened in 2014) recreates the atmosphere of polo clubs under the Raj, with “delicious food” that is “not overpowering”, and “friendly, knowledgeable staff”.

The Anand’s “family-run restaurant serving utterly delicious food” has stood out on the Nottingham curry scene for 15 years. “The chutneys and sauces with poppadoms set the scene for a faultless performance both with food and level of service”. “The whole place has a real buzz – forget quiet conversation.” Top Tip – “the prawn Manchurian appetiser is absolutely spot-on”.

2021 Review: Tom Brooke, launched this 70-seater in Nottingham in September 2019 by splitting his existing Red Dog Saloon site (sibling to the well PR’d one in Shoreditch, as well as three others around the country) into two. The all-day format will offer Indian small plates cooked on a charcoal BBQ, with influences from Middle Eastern countries such as Persia, Turkey and Lebanon.

2021 Review: “Very reliable and reasonably priced (especially at lunch. or for the popular pre-theatre menú deli dia)” – Escabeche’s lively, city-centre spin-off provides “tasty tapas in a utilitarian but appealing setting”. On a nice day, nab one of the few tables outside.

Near the castle, this long-serving stalwart occupies “comfortingly clubby surroundings” (seventeenth-century Newdigate House also hosts the Nottingham Club for the city’s business and professional community) and remains “a definite favourite” that “sometimes hits five stars”. Following the trend of over a decade, the kitchen is “wildly variable: some dishes can be wonderful, others poorly conceived and lacking in flavour”.

2019 Review: This six-year-old tearoom in “lovely surroundings” (a cute brick building with a terrace, chequered tiles and vintage china cups) is “an oasis of calm”, with “always a tasty quiche or Welsh rarebit to be recommended”.

“High-quality and authentic” cuisine has earned regular inclusion in our guide for this Cantonese venue within walking distance of the Lace Market. There is the odd less-wowed report though: “I was expecting something special, but only just rated the food as good. The ambience only just got average…”

With “a truly dizzying number of very satisfying burgers to choose from” (more than 30 at a recent count), this Lace Market operation has become hugely popular: “the place is always packed”. Success has led to a branch in Derby. Founder Anmarie Spaziano grew up in Rhode Island, where the American diner apparently originated.

This “buzzy tapas bar”, in a “lovely vaulted-ceiling basement” in the Lace Market, serves “a tremendous variety” of “authentic Spanish dishes”. A “cheerful” fixture for more than 15 years, it’s “probably the first choice for tapas in the area” – and “you can have the menú del día for not much more than a tenner”. There is also a spin-off in Hockley.

“Mind-blowing experimental food and interesting wine pairings” continues the acclaim for Alex Bond’s “totally unique” five-year-old, which deserves the comparisons it sometimes attracts with that of his former employer, Sat Bains. It helps that it occupies an attractively converted former Victorian coach house on the Park Estate (just outside the city centre) with very atmospheric, brick-lined vaulted rooms. Tasting menus start at £95 for five courses, and there are also options for seven courses (£130) and 10 courses (£160 pairings). “Very friendly staff, who are very knowledgeable about the offering” complete the rosy picture painted in reports.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

2019 Review: Formerly known as the Wilford Green, this May 2018 newcomer has received a major revamp to re-open as a contemporary gastropub, with steaks and burgers topping the menu.

“Having wanted to visit for a long time, I was not disappointed despite the strange location!". – Amidst motorway flyovers, industrial estates, electricity pylons and the concrete banks of the River Trent, Sat & Amanda Bains’s converted motel remains one of the UK’s more offbeat gastronomic adventures and is entering its twentieth year as a flagship of Nottingham dining. Here, one of the most expensive and ambitious tasting menus is served in a “high-class” if low-key setting: “a stunning 10-course extravaganza” where regulars note “increasing use of subtle spice” and the continual introduction of “many new dishes”. For those who stay, there are “great rooms and a lovely breakfast too”. Having topped our Top 100 UK Restaurants last year, ratings slipped a fraction this year: some regulars noted (as they have at some other top places this year) both pressures on service (“I felt standards had dropped since pre-pandemic days”); and concerns over value (“I have been eating at Restaurant Sat Bains since 2006… prices nowadays are becoming astronomical”).