Southwell Restaurant Guide

This relaxed Keralan venture (with, rather unusually for a subcontinental, a Greek name meaning ‘fellowship’), has won a good reputation for its “excellent South Indian food”, which comprises enjoyable dosas and “particularly good” coconut sambal. Top Tip from one reporter who over-ordered – it can be “tricky to gauge portion sizes” so don’t get carried away.

This Hong Kong-style diner near the Lace Market is “reliably excellent” across its 250-item menu, whose “varied delights” include a selection of fiery Sichuan dishes. Billed as a “Chinese restaurant for the Chinese”, it does a lively trade with Nottingham’s large community of East Asian students.

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”.

“Excellent burgers in a vibrant environment” have made this Lace Market independent the stuff of local legend. Founder Anmarie Spaziano hails from Rhode Island, where US diner culture first took root, and serves a “great variety” of burgers – including the Lemmy, which comes with Jack Daniels-infused mustard and is named after the late Motörhead leader, who visited in Annie’s early days. An offshoot in Derby closed at the end of 2023.

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.

A tapas veteran that has set a “consistently high standard for many years” in the Lace Market, with a “great variety of lovely dishes” (some with international influences) on its menu. It has a “special atmosphere under its vaulted ceiling” too, which it owes to its intriguing location inside a 15th-century gaol (‘Shire Hall’).

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.

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”.

“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.

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”.

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.

A “wonderfully atmospheric place, with idiosyncratic but comfortably plush surroundings” that was born when founder, the late Imogen Skirving, decided to open the doors to her family home three decades back. This country house oasis is now run by her granddaughter Lila Arora, with chef Gary Booth continuing their longtime focus on locally sourced produce, from Belvoir game to “truly delicious soufflés of the savoury and sweet variety”. Further praise this year for the “professional yet friendly service” – clearly this “quirky place knows what it’s doing” after all these years.

“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!”

In an “unassuming location adjacent to the A1”, this is a “great little restaurant” (with rooms) where the victuals – from nostalgic classics like prawn cocktails to burgers and pizzas – are never less than “steady” (and sometimes “delicious”, say fans). Top Tip – “the special themed evenings are particularly great”, and might take in tapas or surprisingly upscale Japanese and Indian tasting-menu nights.

Things look cute and ivy-clad on the outside, and properly quirky on the inside (copper kettles hang from the eaves, there’s comedy taxidermy and, most dramatically, an 18 feet-deep well between the lounge and restaurant), at this gastroboozer in one of the villages on the outskirts of Lincoln. The British pub grub (steak and ale pies, Grimsby-landed haddock) is largely locally sourced and was soundly rated.