Nottinghamshire Restaurant Guide

Sat Bains’s “special” cuisine “doesn’t miss a beat” at his much-acclaimed foodie Xanadu, which remains one of the country’s foremost culinary destinations. “Much is made of the bizarre location” – a converted motel amidst flyovers, “on the fringe of an industrial estate at the edge of the city” – “but once inside, you are cocooned in luxury” (including, if you stay, in the “quite reasonably priced bedrooms”). Both seven-course and ten-course tasting options are “hugely inventive and utterly brilliant with a superb matching wine flight”. The “chef’s table is an exceptional experience” and many regular diners also report “experiential touches like a tour of the busy kitchen after dinner with a signed menu”. “Top waiting staff too: friendly and knowledgeable, but more importantly, keen”.

“A great addition to the city’s food scene, whose food is getting better and better” – Alex Bond’s “restored Georgian stables” on the Park Estate (a little way outside the city-centre) opened in summer 2017 and his “amazing and very creative” approach and “modish” design makes it Nottingham’s hottest rising culinary star of the moment. You can eat from either a five-, seven- or ten-course tasting menu (everyone at the table should have the same option) and results are “exceptional”.

A Belvoir Valley institution for 30 years, this family home-turned-country-house hotel is “ideal for good, old-fashioned courtship” thanks to its “beautiful grounds” and the “lovely” environment created by founder Imogen Skirving, who, after her inheritance, converted her family seat into a hotel – “it’s extra special if you stay over”. Four years on from her death, her granddaughter Lila has continued the good work, and even if the odd old-timer feels it’s “lost its sparkle since the loss of Imogen”, it still inspires little but praise for “first class cuisine delivered with flair”.

“Freshly cooked food to a high standard” and “really excellent service from Monika and Sunny” make the Anand family’s Punjabi specialist stand out from the crowd on Nottingham’s ‘Madras Mile’ of curryhouses.

“Amid the hustle and bustle of Nottingham Lace Market”, this “go-to” cellar in a historic building elicits real raves for its “London-quality tapas” and “lively” atmosphere. A “cheaper and cheerful” no-reservation sibling, on Carlton St, is also a hit.

“Very good food” allied to “friendly and efficient service” wins considerable praise this year for chef-owner Nick Gillespie’s accomplished venue. It’s a rustic, brick-lined space with bare wooden tables in a rather offbeat location, close to the M1-A52 junction, but a “special occasion go-to” for its fans.

“Coffee that packs a punch and plenty of good food options” set the tone at this “simply fab” indie coffee shop, now the HQ of a national group with 10 shops and five barista schools in the Midlands, the North and Cardiff. The name derives from the Centigrade temperature at which they roast coffee (slightly lower than most rivals) and the Fahrenheit temperature at which they serve it.

“The smells, the sounds, the buzzy atmosphere” that transport you (via tuk-tuk) to Bangkok – “it’s all wonderful” at this outpost of a Leeds-based group, and so convincing that “I honestly believe this is how street food is in Thailand”.

“A stalwart of the Nottingham restaurant scene” near the castle, whose “clubby setting” owes much to the intriguing seventeenth century building and courtyard garden which it shares with The Nottingham Club. Its ambitious contemporary cuisine has always tended to divide opinion – exceptional to its fans but “somewhat overpriced and bland” to its foes (with the latter a bit more in evidence this year).