Bilborough Restaurant Guide

“About as good as fish ’n’ chips gets” – some 20 varieties of catch come ‘baked, battered or naked’ at John Molnar’s award-winning restaurant and takeaway, now with five outposts across Nottingham and Birmingham; nor is the venue, launched in 2011, just a mere chippie either: alongside sashimi-grade tuna, the menu offers the vegetarian ‘Momma Bains’ menu of samosas and curries, conceived by local Michelin hero Sat Bains plus his ma (hence its name).

“Repeatedly superb, inventive cookery” (“not only the sole vegetarian restaurant I frequent, but one of the best restaurants I know”) has made the name of this sophisticated venue, whose owner Roya Bishop honed her skills at sadly shuttered Leeds veggie icon Hansa’s, as well as alongside Sat Bains. The classy food takes its cues from across the world, Lebanese and Japanese dishes sitting alongside “truly knockout Sri Lankan” choices too.

Exceptional ratings were the norm this year in feedback on Alex Bond’s well-established foodie destination: “a beautiful, cavernous, low-lit” space occupying the Victorian brick-vaulted space that was once the coach house on the Park Estate. It’s “not cheap” of course, but provides a “brilliant night out” for which you can choose between a three-course à la carte menu at £75 per person or a seven-course tasting menu at £130 per person: “unusual flavours” but “fabulous food, and with the right level of interaction from staff”.

2021 Review: An “extensive” and “interesting tapas menu” (plus a “very good-value lunch”) is the formula behind this relaxed but reliably busy spot.

2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.

2022 Review: A “long-standing favourite”, this “brisk and friendly” red-brick late-Victorian boozer serves a “splendid range of beers” and a solid food menu[e]. One great fan and regular, though, feels “the dining room feels utilitarian and a little underwhelming compared to the bar”.

Amita Sawhney’s “smart and wonderful Indian restaurant” excels for “delicately spiced food” that is “not at all heavy or greasy” and comes in “decent portions”. “It’s a huge place and a clear favourite for birthdays and other celebrations, so the excitement level can be high, but beautiful decor and furnishings mean the noise level is fine”.

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”.

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.

“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.

“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 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.

2021 Review: “Very reliable and reasonably priced (especially at lunch. or for the popular pre-theatre menú deli dia)” – Escabeche’s lively, city-centre spin-off provides “tasty tapas in a utilitarian but appealing setting”. On a nice day, nab one of the few tables outside.

2021 Review: Tom Brooke, launched this 70-seater in Nottingham in September 2019 by splitting his existing Red Dog Saloon site (sibling to the well PR’d one in Shoreditch, as well as three others around the country) into two. The all-day format will offer Indian small plates cooked on a charcoal BBQ, with influences from Middle Eastern countries such as Persia, Turkey and Lebanon.

This “great” Lace Market Hispanic of 15 years’ standing serves tapas with international influences – and impressed sweary chef Gordon Ramsay when he brought his family to celebrate his daughter’s graduation from Nottingham Uni last summer, declaring the food “XXXXing delicious”. Top Tip – “the express menu is a great option for a speedy lunch”.