The Wollaton - a brunch date with our favourite Nothern pair

We needed somewhere to pop to for spot to eat with our old housemates pre Cheese and Wine party, nothing too heavy but we were all pretty hungry (no surprise there!). 

I've been to the Wollaton a number of times for lunch and once for dinner, it's always excellent food, sometimes can be a little disappointing when there's no tables in the restaurant as you have to eat in the more 'pubby' area and order food up at the bar etc. The menu, however, is still the same wherever you sit though and as I said really very nice pub food. 

We popped down in the car and realised on Saturdays they serve a Brunch menu 12-4 which surely was going to be exactly what we were after. 

On perusing the menu the food, whilst sounding delicious, was slightly more than we were bargaining for, but we ordered what we fancied and chilled out in the pub area catching up on each others news and reminiscing about the old times

I had smoked salmon with scrambled eggs (the pub were really helpful with regards to being gluten free, there just wasn't many options I could have) without the toast!

H had a BBQ burger, this was a surprising addition to a brunch menu but my goodness me it was one of the most tasty things I've tried in a long time.

 

N had a sausage sandwich, and P a fish finger sandwich, served on really fluffy looking white bread, with a little side of parsnip soup.  

I'd love to try the brunch menu again when I had a slightly bigger appetite and having made a booking so we could lounge in the luxury of the restaurant area but overall I can't really fault the Wollaton for an excellent girly lunch. 

We bought the girls a 'Nottingham Cookbook' each. You can buy them in the Wollaton, in Delilahs, Homemade and many others. It makes such a cool Christmas present and has recipes from all the best places to eat in town including many places featured on Two Teas. I couldn't recommend it more 

The Girls team Christmas dinner

This Christmas we tried to have another group Christmas meal out instead of going to the official university ball, we managed it last year, a group trip to Browns. This year we fancied something different. 

When having a look at the festive menus' there was a good deal at Brown's again - 2 courses for 18 pounds. There was a deal at Le Mistral, slightly more expensive but definitely a top favourite of mine, 2 courses for £23.50 and then there was Petit Paris at a similar price of 2 courses for £23.95. Obviously all these had a festive element to their menus and all were incredibly tempting. 

Bistrot Pierre was offering 2 courses for £16.50 if you could dine before 1830. Everyone felt this was going to be the yummiest and cheapest option after we'd factored in a few glasses of wine. I secured the booking, it required a £10 deposit per person, probably due to it being the festive period, we pre ordered our food and the dinner was planned and ready. We had however not anticipated that managing to coordinate 22 people who are placed all around Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire  was always going to be a little tricky. 

It all came together on the night, everyone made it in time to eat their food and we all had a fantastic time. 

The Christmas decorations around the restaurant were so lovely 

We all got crackers!

The food was delicious

I had a smoked salmon salad to start

And wild mullet with MUSSELS for my main!

This was Lucy's duck pate. 

There were some dauphinoise potatoes knocking around that were absolutely delightful!

The puddings were also incredible, the mixture we had on the table was this Chocolate torte with blackberry ice cream, a sticky toffee pudding (below) and a frangipane tart.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was lovely, really rustic and very warm and inviting, I would definitely like to visit again with not such a massive table and outside of this busy period but it was so nice to get all my closest friends together in one room with fantastic food. 

Thanks Bistrot Pierre!

ps. We nipped to Coco Tang for cocktails afterwards, their xmas decs are pretty snazzy too :)

200 Degrees of fantastic coffee!

I visited my housemate A's new favourite revision hangout this weekend. 200 Degrees, a cafe just off market square

She was comfortably sat on a big table in the middle of the cafe, so it didn't turn out to be too much hide and seek. Workstation up and running she had treated herself to a fentimans ginger beer. 

I followed my nose, wandering towards the smell of freshly ground coffee. I ordered myself an Americano with milk and was handed a table number. What a great idea! I'm a Starbucks lover but there's nothing more frustrating than standing waiting for your (usually incorrect) name to be called out amongst a sea of equally as frustrated customers.

Sure enough I was served, at my table, a delightful looking Americano with milk in a cute little can! 

I only wished I'd taken some photos of the cakes for you. They really looked spectacular. I'm not sure of the gluten free options as it wasn't too clear but next time I will definitely ask and update on this!

It's quite a noisy place at lunchtime but if you enjoy the hubbub definitely give it a try. The coffee is delicious and service is great! Think I've found myself a new place to add to the list 

'That Japanese restaurant on Lenton Boulevard'

Last Friday was date Friday. I was taken on a surprise trip to 'That place on Lenton Boulevard' (Lenton, Notts, NG7). It's called Higoi, it's Japanese, they serve mainly sushi and sashimi and my goodness it is to die for.

On slightly untraditional form we ordered a bottle of Pinot. I should've been brave and tried the Sake, maybe next time, it was a really great wine actually. Maybe surprising for a very traditional Japanese restaurant .

I have read tons of fantastic reviews from people all around the country about Higoi. I urge you to have a read for yourself

I'd been before but was excited to introduce Mr M to the world of 'real sushi' 

We ordered a sushi main course to share and a sashimi main course to share. We were treated with a mango jelly appetiser before the sashimi arrived in this magnificent boat 

As it was date night I decided not to take too many pictures, but I can assure you the fish was so fresh, all of it absolutely delicious topped with different caviars and garnished with a variety of salad. 

Here's the sushi. Equally as amazing. I wish I could tell you what each one was but I was enjoying myself far too much! 

Definitely give Higoi a go. It's a little pricey, but worth every penny. I'm a fan of sushi in any form. Yo!, in a packet from m+s, a botched job by myself. But this place really is miles above the rest. 

Have yourself a sushi Friday too!

Boston, a far cry from Massachusetts but cabbage you can't fault this dinner!

Some of my friends and I have been sent to the depths of Lincolnshire for our second to last placement. We're away from Nottingham, away from our houses, our housemates and we thought away from good food. Turns out we were wrong. 

At our midway point we ventured out to Boston Spice, I only managed to take a few photos as I got a little carried away being out of my room and in a restaurant! The food was absolutely delicious, fantastic value for money as we made it early for the 'early bird menu; which was 2 courses for £10.95 they were all great sizes and the service was perfect. It felt incredibly traditional, we spotted others from the hospital that we recognised so clearly word has gotten around about how great it is.

I had these thai Chicken wings (amazing!) 

Here's a vague picture of tempura, some thai prawn crackers, and some strange cucumber water that tasted like sweet chilli without the chilli, brilliant though!

After that I got too excited and failed to take any pics, I had pad thai though, and B (opposite me ) had Thai green curry which she said was excellent. I dipped in, obviously, and I agreed. 

This week has been our last week so we trekked through the fog last night to The Mill. Relatively close to our accommodation and easy to access this experience began to rival our Thai time instantly as the pub was warm and welcoming and we were sat at our table within seconds of arrival. 

We shared the house wine between us, one bottle of the red (Ca'di Ponti) and one of the white (a pinot - Ancora). These were both extremely well received and whilst normally house whites tend to be a little on the heavy side this was light and refreshing and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. 

We took time pondering the menu but didn't feel rushed, we decided on a main and pudding plan. R chose a starter and transformed it into his own main course, adding two sides to his fishcakes making a cheaper but more exciting main course than most of the rest of us! Around the table there was a lasagne, a pair of steak and ale pies, half a cow (A's ribs), salmon fillet and a duck salad and not a complaint from anyone. We had side dishes in abundance, tons of chips to share (they must've been triple cooked as they were incredible!), side salads, onion rings and roast vegetables. We were stuffed!


The fishcakes starter/main

The lasagne with garlic bread

The salmon fillet in a white wine and dill sauce (I couldn't wait to start!) 

The pies! H and B tucked in, the puff pastry was a lone ranger on the top, this actually meant there was no sogginess which we decided was definitely a positive!

Chips, don't let perspective deceive you they really were this big!

Ribs (and some cheeky onion rings, again, as big as my face!)

Roast and herbed vegetables an oily affair but a delightful one!

Then came pudding choices, the special was white chocolate profiteroles, they only had two portions left and we scooped up both, topped with a scoop of ice cream from a Movenpick menu! (pistachio in this case!)

I had a sundae of Movenpick, choosing caremelita and dark chocolate (look at my chocolate straw!)

Treacle sponge with ice cream

A couple of us had a cheeky baileys to top it all off.

We wandered back, not necessarily in a straight line, feeling full, satisfied and merry. If you ever find yourself in Boston definitely give The Mill a try, it was worth every penny we felt. We've also frequented Burton House, the Brewers Fayre, that's great for a quiet drink, lunch is quiet with lots of locals and good value food but nothing on the Mill. 

The buddies i've got here have definitely been what's made this placement great. Without them i'd have had a rubbish time, the food also made it better. Thanks team for a great few months. Hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures! 

A French Affaire

Some of my oldest friends from medical school and I had a much needed reunion last week. Our longstanding seminar group leader picked one of his favourites (one of my favourites too) Petit Paris. It was as good as I'd remembered, if not better. 

The decor is quaint, all the waiters we were served by seemed to have just stepped out of France themselves with strong French accents, the East Midlands twang seems to have not affected them thus far! Whilst it has been said to feel a little stuffy and outdated it can't be denied that it has such a feeling of authenticity this could be overlooked. 

One thing to note is the wine list; all fantastic French wines, we sampled both the Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Grigio. (the Pinot definitely my favourite and one of the nicest wines I've had In a while) 

They do a fantastic value pre theatre menu with 2 courses for £10.95 and 3 for £13.95! We all tucked in some indulging in the chicken liver parfait to start, D had the bouillabaisse and T the Moules marinière. I didn't manage to take any photos as I was too busy indulging in wine and olives!

For my main course I had a pan fried Hake with Atlantic prawns and a white wine sauce. It was delicious! The fish was so meaty and perfectly cooked

Poached salmon with a red wine sauce and crushed peas

The service was always with a smile with a new glass for each wine we tried and bread for the table!

Lamb shank. Mmmm 

Tagliatelle Jean Louis. 

Then came my favourite bit. The wonderful array of puddings 

My cappuccino parfait 

J's poached pear

Frangipane tarte

And finally some gorgeous coffees to top off a lovely evening. After 5 years of med school we still have so much to talk about and catch up on and fantastically still manage to find some of the nicest food in Nottingham. I can't wait for the next reunion, they just keep getting better!