Its been a while, I think its time we got back together!

It feels such a long time since I was part of the blogging world, but well, I miss it. Ive been inspired to rekindle my passion by a lovely lady starting her own blog, its brilliant id urge you to check it out (www.haneats.com) for if ever you're in Birmingham (or surrounding areas).   I might not have been writing about my adventures but I've certainly still been enjoying them. Still residing in Beeston I am gradually working my way around the restaurants in this quirky little town. Ive infrequently visited Nottingham city centre but I have to say when I have done so there's been some great finds. I've ventured to Yorkshire most recently too so have a few cracking recommendations for there if you're ever up that neck of the woods. I have been to Cafe Roya in Beeston recently, and it certainly didn't fail to disappoint once again. But i'll start with somewhere in Nottingham, seems appropriate for the first venture back.


RED's True BBQ: Let there be meat
I visited REDS for a girlie dinner. I am a big meat eater and never shy away from a large portion (this is what I'd heard on the grape vine) so I was excited for my first RED's experience. My Mr has always been a fan of RED's and he tends to be good with meat so again I was looking forward to it. IT was however, a big disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the company was exceptional, and I had a great time. The food however, not a patch on my friends in terms of satisfaction. 

I went for the half BBQ chicken, a safe choice I know, but one I've grown to love at places like Turtle Bay, like Bill's and even Nandos (sometimes!). I chose the normal fries as my side order, perhaps a bad choice in hindsight, never go for normal when there's sweet potato available.


The food came, it looked delicious, sadly didn't live up to its appearance. My chicken was incredibly dry, I couldn't actually finish it as it had the same effect as a number of ryvita! The chips were good, but nothing to write home about.


One of my pals opted for the ribs with a side of macaroni cheese, I heard no complaints from her and the macaroni cheese sure did look tasty!


Another friend, the pulled pork sandwich, she enjoyed it but said again, nothing special.


The atmosphere in REDs is very cool, feels very trendy. You sit on long tables with other meat eaters, there are anglepoise lamps (difficult to manoeuvre with big groups, but cool nevertheless)


The wine was good, we enjoyed a bottle of Jarrah Wood Pinot Grigio (Australia) - nice and refreshing.


I would probably visit again, but definitely not if wanting to impress guests with food options. I'd be wary of disappointment.

I hope you have better experiences but this one wasn't for me!

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!  

I mexiCAN!

Fast food has given itself such a bad name in the past, things are about to change. There's so many fantastic places to buy a quick and easy meal these days, take Tossed, in Westfields White city and the Wahaca Experiment Centre on the South bank, it's not long before they make their way further north. In Nottingham we've got Mexican! Mexican has always been a firm favourite of mine, and whilst flour tortillas are off the menu there's still taco's which are super yummy!

This Saturday took me on my second trip to BarBurrito, this has the fastest and friendliest service of anywhere I've been in Nottingham, and the food is fantastic. 

First you're greeted by the bright colours, outside furniture and comfy booths, with a large serving counter at the far end. Our favourite server was there again to talk me through (again) the options, everything sounded so tasty but in a panic I ordered the same as I had last time. Maybe it can't get any better.. I'll find out next time 

I had hard shell tacos; two with Char Grilled Chicken and one with Slow Cooked Pork, then was the choice of spicy or mild beans I had mild (chicken!), optional guacamole, sour cream, salad, jalepenos, salsa (mild, medium or hot) and of course cheese. It all came in a snazzy basket lined with BarBurrito initialled paper. 

M had a burrito, a warmed, soft tortilla with meat of your choice (he went for chicken, chicken), with spicy rice, mild beans, medium salsa, guacamole, salad, sour cream, a few tentative jalepenos and again, of course, cheese. 

We munched into our Mexican with massive smiles on our faces and left full enough to take on the rest of the days revision/shopping, maybe mostly shopping. I definitely would recommend BarBurrito if you're ever in town and need a quick bite to eat, it'll keep you satisfied til dinner and certainly won't break the bank, mine came to a comforting £6.15 (and you get student discount!) 

For any coeliacs, there's no specific gluten free menu but you're able to have the hard taco's, nacho's, the burrito bowl and any of the fillings (except the cheese sauce) Amazing!

It's 'Food that mex the world spin faster!' 

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 :) 

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

Spa Day Sunday

My friend Penny and I took a well earned break last weekend

We felt cheeky but also that there was nothing wrong with visiting the local Q Hotels spa, even if just for a spot of research!

Sunday afternoon took us to the Nottingham Belfry Hotel for their pamper break. At £99 it felt like a huge spend, maybe not one to be taking in the middle of our University term but it has to be said it was definitely worth the money. 

We arrived shortly after lunchtime and wandered over to the restaurant for our buffet lunch. There were all manner of different dishes to try, roast chicken with peppers.  Chorizo pasta, a wealth of different salad ingredients. With the 'and finally' being all the little puddings to try

All were quite delicious, it was tricky weighing up how much to eat given we were eagerly waiting to get into the pool!

Waiting for our room to be ready we were treated to our complimentary 'detox' cocktail, for which the bar were apparently missing the 'detox' ingredient. So it was just a juice mocktail

Tasted pretty nice to me!

We had an afternoon in the pool leisurely doggy paddling up and down. Sat in the jacuzzi avoiding the usual awkward jacuzzi chat you often get in the local swimming baths. After a quick stint in the sauna we headed up to the spa reception to wait for our hour long massage and facial. 

To our surprise Penny and I were ushered into the 'couples' treatment room, whilst we enjoyed the fact we had each others company whilst wedging our faces into the massage couch we did find it a little strange and unexpected

The massage was fantastic, worth every penny. We wandered, dazed, with terrible scare crow greasy hair back to our room for a shower and a drink before heading down for our dinner

Our room was lovely, the duvet looks a little lumpy here but just imagine how fluffy that meant it was when rolling around in there!

The best thing about spas? The free slippers and bathrobes!

Little bit of Dancing on Ice time before dinner while Penny did her hair

We surprised ourselves with our cheekiness and requested an ice bucket, some glasses and a toothbrush through room service. The Cava was just begging us to be popped open 

For dinner in the restaurant we had a £26 allowance which was more than enough to have 3 courses. Our only expense of the weekend was our glass of Pinot which was incredibly nice and worth a mention

For starter I had Ham Hock terrine, which they kindly served with gluten free bread and a fennel and mustard slaw. 

Penny's pork belly with caramelised red onion and potato dauphinois 

My Sea Bream with an incredibly creamy and rich risotto

Gluten free bread roll, as expected a little dry, but I was very pleasantly surprised they had this to offer

Creme Brûlée for pudding, in a deliciously large rammekin, the bigger the better!

Served with chocolate ice cream and on Penny's plate a short bread for dipping!

The next morning we ambled down to the restaurant for our buffet breakfast, there was a good selection of cooked and cold breakfast items. To our excitement there was also a 'do it yourself' hot chocolate stand complete with whipped cream and marshmallows. Brilliant!

Overall we had a lovely break away. Although £99 feels like a lot, with a buffet lunch, a detox cocktail, an hour treatment at the spa, dinner, breakfast and a comfy nights stay it was definitely worth every Penny (with a Penny!)

If you're in need of a break, check it out!