The end of my exams this week brought with it the excitement of a surprise dinner date.
Much to my delight this surprise was at Sinatra's, the restaurant I and I'm sure many others have walked past and noticed the pictures on the walls and the hum of jazz and swing on your ears for years now.
I've wanted to dine here for a long time, luckily a certain person must take note of my food related requests, i'm a lucky lady! Sinatra's did however close down last year after a 42 year reign over Chapel Bar but was subsequently taken over by the owner of Fat Cat (opposite) and director of the 'Moleface Pub Company' which runs The Wollaton (one of my top favourite Sunday lunch spots). After the recent disappointment of Smythson's being under new management, it had a lot of great reviews to uphold.
On arriving it didn't sound the same. On entering it didn't look the same. We were taken to our seats underneath lightbulbs with glowing filaments swinging from the ceiling. I looked for the library of photo frames on the walls but they'd been replaced by black and white images, much fewer in number.
We were offered some table water whilst we looked at our menus which is always a nice touch.
We weren't given any sort of drinks menu (much to my despair). There was a bar area at the entrance of the restaurant and it felt like perhaps a drinks menu shouldn't have been necessary. We did ask for one though and were offered both a wine and a cocktail menu (the latter without prices - scary student moment!) which satisfied my needs and a cool glass of Pinot was soon in my hand!
The decor is very different to the past and feels very quirky and modern.
I am a big fan of the hanging light bulbs
We had a starter of warm salt beef with a rocket, stilton and mustard salad to share. It was absolutely delicious and just enough to kick start the taste buds in preparation for our main courses.
The restaurant does a brilliant pre-theatre deal before 7pm (for future reference) 2 courses for 9.95 and 3 for 12.95 (I think!)
Mmmm poached egg on salmon, my absolute ideal meal. This was the Salmon Niçoise and was absolutely delicious. None of that posh restaurant small portion business either
And Moules Marinaire, with chips and chunky bread. I obviously pinched a few chips, and they were definitely delicious.
We couldn't stomach a pudding, decided on liquid dessert instead and headed to 'Saltwater' for cocktails.
Overall I had a lovely time, I think it's fair to say they're still in the early days of new management at Sinatra's but with the brilliant pre-theatre deal and it's close proximity to the Theatre Royal and Concert Hall it's definitely worth a visit, especially if the rest of the menu was as fabulous as my salmon
