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 Whilst it has been said to feel a little stuffy and outdated it can't be denied that it has such a feeling of authenticity this could be overlooked.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!  

Date night with the wife and the Mr

 I can't believe I've never written about this place before. After a long ago valentines date, a house meal out, a birthday date with the Mr and a girlie night out with P, I'm finally sitting down to write about the place where I ate the best meal of my life!

It sounds like a gross exaggeration. But when I think about it. I don't think I've had so many different tastes, textures and flavours in one meal that worked oh so well together 

The incredible underground haven is 'Iberico World Tapas' having its pride of place underneath the crime and punishment museum in lace market. This place is far from a punishment but could definitely be likened to a crime. 

The idea is they've taken the normal Spanish tapas restaurant and added some foods of the world. Food from England, food inspired by the Far East, American style chicken wings and green inspired lamb. 

You're in the basement, in a small alcove. A delicious wine menu is offered and a little advise with regards to the menu. Definitely ask for some help as they just want you to enjoy all it has to offer

The recommendation is that you have a ham platter and a cheese platter. Either the 'world ham or the Spanish ham' likewise with the cheese. I've tried both. They're both fantastic. 

Then it's choosing from the huge variety of dishes. The 'inside out chicken wings' are a must. The beef kebabs also a fantastic recommendation. Most recently I indulged in the mussels and I'd say if you're a fan of mussels give them a try. You'll never want plain mussels again! 

We tried the mushroom carpaccio. Served in a cool wooden platter 

Here are the infamous chicken wings 

When I went with P we tried the express dinner menu. It's just 14.95 and you get Catalan bread (like bruschetta - I had olives) two tapas dishes and a pudding

The pudding was definitely worth it even if we were a little full. I had a strawberry parfait 

P had a cotton cake! Exciting !  She said it was incredibly smooth 

The 'Express menu' really is fantastic value for money, with the bread as a starter and the two tapas dishes with pudding, you get world class food for such a bargain. Definitely give it a go, or wait for a special occasion and the whole menu can be your oyster :) 

Better than my pantry, A PUDDING PANTRY!?

Hello!!

So I've been off the radar for AGES, I had exams, I had holidays, I was shipped out of Nottinghamshire for 3 months. But whilst i'm doing my studying in Boston, Lincolnshire I'm still back in Nottingham on the weekends. 

I haven't stopped exploring the culinary joys of Notts in this time tho! There's been some great additions recently and whilst journeying through town today I saw some exciting new developments yet to be opened as well!. 

So a few months ago saw the opening of 'The Pudding Pantry', when people ask me where this is I find it a tricky one to describe as it popped up in a place where there wasn't anything before. The best I can do is that it's in trinity square, just down from Harvester and GBK. Theres a white picket fence in the middle of the path, a nice outside seating area reminiscent of when it was warm and sunny outside.

F and I went for a much needed catch up and a very satisfying soup and salad. We sat in the window and prepared ourselves for great chat and some good old people watching!

The salad was delicious; puy lentils and butternut squash (I added ham), i felt sad as it was quite a bit more expensive than F's soup (butter bean, parmesan and italian herbs) but the lentils and ham was a fantastic combination and I was definitely not disappointed. 

F got some gorgeous sourdough bread with her soup and we both indulged in some fancy ginger beer and rose lemonade to accompany our meals!

I was frustratingly left a little unsatisfied but the puddings were so tempting we needed an excuse. This was the honeycomb parfait with hazelnuts, popcorn and chocolate sauce, and all gluten free too! and it was absolutely incredible. 

If you've not been already I definitely recommend a trip to the 'Pudding Pantry', i've heard (and seen) fantastic things about their breakfasts and particularly the milkshakes. Let me know what y'all think! 

Sinatra's (but not as we knew it)

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

An oldie but a goodie..

3 Years ago 3 single friends and I were looking for a place to 'drown our sorrows' / probably have a nicer time than we usually would, on Valentines day. It seems like Valentines day is an excuse for restaurants and cafe's alike to hike up the prices to try and ensnare unsuspecting boyfriends/fiances/husbands who are all in a panic having left it too late and there's nothing left at their usual haunts.  

This meant our search spread further than the usual places we'd visit in town. We came across Fothergills, we'd never heard of it, and subsequently i've found out there aren't many people who have. But we booked ourselves in for the 3 course Valentines menu and had a truly lovely time. 

I've since been back a few times, once with the same girls for an impromptu dinner and once with my Dad for a more laid back lunch. 

Pork Belly, the girls said it was fantastic, I'm not a one for crackling but it doesn't look 'alf bad!

Dressed Crab Salad, the crab was fantastic, left me feeling a lot fuller than I expected, never a bad thing!

The strange thing I found about Fothergills is how different the atmosphere can be each time you visit. On going with my Dad it felt extremely laid back, there was a very 'pub-esq' feel to lunch which although was nice and appropriate for the occasion I think had I been going for a slightly nicer lunch out with family it may have been a bit disappointing. 

It's very quiet during the day though, and by quiet I don't mean empty, it's just quite a nice place to chat with not too much noise or hustle and bustle that you do sometimes get in another favourite of mine 'Brown's'. Perfect for my hard of hearing Dad it has to be said!

I can't remember the exact name of this dish, it looks like a 'Hunter's Chicken' the mushy peas a really nice touch

Here he is having his Chicken and Ham Hock pie. No complains from Dad camp 

I really love the exposed brick in the background here

 Tackling dessert of course!

Warm Chocolate Brownie for Dad

Quite a lot of attention to detail with the snazzy sugar structures

And ice cream for me. I think this particular day they had some fabulous flavours so I couldn't really say no. 

It has to be said, for a change of scenery Fothergills is somewhere you should try. It is a really nice place to go for Valentines day (cheeky reminder to the boys!) but sometimes feels a little less 'smart' than you expect during the day. 

Valentines evening table

It's in a really nice part of town, with really lovely architecture; right opposite the Robin Hood statue in the shadow of the castle and is very welcoming to those just looking for a pint or a cup of coffee.

At the moment they're doing a 2 course lunch for £10.90, it'd be a shame to miss out!

My, my, my Delilah

Another more recent amazing find has been Delilah Fine Foods, 

4 years ago when we all first moved to Nottingham, Delilah's was a small shop at the top of Low Pavement with a covered outside seating area, however to passers by, myself included, it appeared to be an interesting specialist food shop, but not an obvious cafe and not somewhere I thought of visiting.

In October 2012 Delilah's moved to Victoria Street, to the old HSBC bank, a gorgeous building which features a mezzanine level for eating in, a grade 2 listed ceiling complete with beautiful chandeliers and a fantastic array of foods from all around the world.

Delilah's has been voted Best Cafe/Deli in the Nottingham restaurant awards so it would be an obvious shame not to check it out! 

On my first outing to Delilah's we felt it necessary to sample the brunch after a big (although fairly infrequent) night out on a Friday night. 

Scrambled egg and bacon on a muffin, look at that latte!

The granola (which most people feel is a sad choice) was delicious, lots of nuts and seeds with a good helping of greek yoghurt on top

Sausage sandwich dusted with herbs and a latte served in a really exciting plastic latte cup (it didn't burn your hand!)

We waited a while before deciding it was obviously necessary to have cake after brunch!

Here's our 'cheesecake' 

Definitely not what we were expecting, a 'do it yourself' cheesecake really

Didn't stop us from enjoying every last mouthful!

Our second venture to Delilah's was a long time coming! We had seen the cheese fondue on the menu many moons ago, this was when the glorious day arrived!

We had our 'Swiss lady' with us so naturally went with the Swiss Cheese fondue

Much to my delight at Delilah they're so accomodating to gluten free diners, there was special home made bread on offer for the fondue which was so so moorish, I couldn't leave without telling the waitress how yummy it was!

Mmm, delicious meat and cold potato, one of my top favourites!

We've been again since (oops!) sampled both the French and the Swiss cheese fondues. The French has a stronger taste, I personally liked the Swiss but both really were fabulous, such great value for money and in a really picturesque setting. All the ingredients they use come from the Deli, you are able to spend ages choosing various cheese and meats to sample should you wish, they have a fantastic selection of wines and are extremely helpful when it comes to choosing which one would go best with your meal. 

The only downside is Delilah's shuts at 7pm, this makes for quite an early dinner if you were looking for an evening out. Perfect for pre-theatre dining though and a brilliant brunch and lunch destination. 

After a food filled Christmas it wouldn't be fair not to mention their hampers, a few of my family received one and are extremely impressed with the variety and quality of its contents. 

Definitely pop in if not just to browse the shelves and take in the atmosphere.