Hall Green Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: “About as good as fish ’n’ chips gets” – some 20 varieties of catch come ‘baked, battered or naked’ at John Molnar’s award-winning restaurant and takeaway, now with five outposts across Nottingham and Birmingham; nor is the venue, launched in 2011, just a mere chippie either: alongside sashimi-grade tuna, the menu offers the vegetarian ‘Momma Bains’ menu of samosas and curries, conceived by local Michelin hero Sat Bains plus his ma (hence its name).

“Consistently top of the list for fine dining in Nottingham” – Alex Bond gives his former boss Sat Bains a good run for his money in this intriguing, subterranean Victorian brick-vaulted space, which sits just outside the centre in the desirable Park Estate, for which it was built as a coach house. All reports attest to a “hugely enjoyable" experience all round – “service is efficient but also with real style and joy de vivre” and the food is “stunning all-round” from either a three-course menu for £85 per person, or a seven-course menu at £140 per person. Top Menu Tip – “seafood and fish offerings are always top notch!”

“What a stunner” – this “hidden gem in an old brick building on an unlikely side street” near the M1 serves “fabulous, beautifully composed” dishes in a “slightly playful style – a simple description defies the complexity of the cooking” – from chef-patron Nick Gillespie which “rivals and beats better-known names”. His very individual meals are complemented by an “extraordinary drinks list” and an interior which mixes untreated oak table tops with black granite.

Amita Sawhney’s “excellent Indian restaurant in the centre of Nottingham” celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and lives up to its reputation as one of the city’s more reliable destinations for a good night out – “the food is reasonable value as well”.

2023 Review: 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”.

Inspired by Bangkok street-food markets, “with a great atmosphere, authentic Thai cuisine (often with plenty of spice), plus tuk-tuks for good measure” – this “buzzy” and “good-value” chain now has eight branches scattered across northern university towns. It’s a funkier spinoff from founder Ban Kaewkraikhot’s Yorkshire-based Sukhothai group.

2024 Review: “A Nottingham lunch place of choice” – Corsican Stéphane Luiggi and local wife Louise’s relaxed city-centre Gallic fixture is a real local treasure; they “also do good dinners and speciality evenings” where you can explore a specific region of France through more elaborate six-course dinners with matching wines.

“As good a biryani as you’ll find” is among the star dishes at this family-run Punjabi specialist, which was founded in 2007. “Monika is a fabulous host” alongside her husband Sunny Anand, whose brother Shelley runs the kitchen.

“A staple in the area for vegetarian and vegan options” run by Roya Bishop, who honed her knowledge of Gujarati cuisine at Leeds icon Hansa’s (RIP); finessed her flair alongside no less than Sat Bains; and then struck out on her own here in 2010. The “incredibly creative” food picks and mixes influences from right around the world – Cuba, Persia, Sri Lanka – and the results are “always delicious”.

2024 Review: “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.

For “lovely Keralan food in nice surroundings with very pleasant service”, this South Indian with spin-offs in Leicester, Leamington Spa and West Byfleet, is hard to beat – one reporter “even booked a holiday in Kerala on the strength of the food eaten here!” (namely curries, thalis, dosas and the like).

Nisha Katona’s Liverpool-based operation has two branches in London (Charlotte Street and Westfield Stratford) offering her “very tasty” Indian street food – “with the occasional hint of raw spice”. The Lancashire-born former barrister launched the business in 2014 and now has 28 outlets around the country, whose “enjoyable, authentic food” is “really great for a chain”.