Archive for July, 2009
Guide to Indian restaurants in Nottingham
With a huge variety of Indian restaurants in Nottingham, as a diner you can be forgiven for being a little confused with which is the right Indian restaurant for you. Go dine has been created as a guide to only the best restaurants in Nottinghamshire, so why look any further…
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Here is a quick aid to help you choose:
Traditional Indian restaurants
The Laguna restaurant use a genuine Tandoor clay oven and offer an astonishing 2 course lunch option at only £6.95. Laguna Restaurants is a sure bet for traditional food and good service at a great price.
Lively Indian restaurant
Chutney Restaurant is awash of colour and oozes vibrant Indian cuisine within a buzzy atmosphere. Peshwari Chicken is always a winner for those wanting a mild speciality dish.
Indian Restaurants with a touch of glamour
Try The Viceroy Restaurant in Sherwood. John Lander and his team have created an opulent restaurant boasting purely authentic Punjabi cuisine.
Bargain Indian Restaurants
If you are looking for an Indian after a couple of drinks in the city centre of Nottingham, why not visit City Spice restaurant Nottingham. With a 2 for 1 deal on main courses diners can enjoy premium Indian cuisine without the premium price tag.
Best Indian south of the City
Bombay Indian restaurant in West Bridgford is an excellent choice looking for those looking for that little extra. If it’s a sleek decor and tasteful images of India Bombay Brasserie is for you.
Restaurants in Nottingham City Centre
Nottingham City centre is a vibrant area with an excellent range of amenities for all, with things for visitors to do throughout the year, including dining in some of the UK’s best restaurants…
Steeped in history visitors to Nottingham’s city centre can enjoy the oldest pub in England – Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem or the Nottingham Castle which is famed for its links with Robin Hood, based in stunning grounds. Alternatively more modern day attractions can be enjoyed including the range of cinemas, bars, restaurants and shops bringing together new and old attractions in a small and vibrant city. Nottingham has become famous for its plentiful boutiques and retail outlets, being home to the flagship store of Sir Paul Smith and with other stores such as Hugo Boss and Diesel, all of which can be found in a concentrated area making Nottingham a shoppers dream.
Nottingham City Centre carries some delightful hidden features, found away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre, including the Nottingham Caves which are everywhere beneath the city and have housed generations over centuries dating from Anglo-Saxon time. If caves are not your thing, the city centre of Nottingham has the most bars in a square mile in Europe and some of the finest restaurants the UK has to offer. Visitors can enjoy modern bars and restaurants such as Tonic at Chapel Quarter or more traditional bar restaurants including Merchants in the Lace Market.
The restaurants in the area range hugely from modern contemporary sophistication that is the essence of Tonic Restaurant through to buildings steeped in history but given the modern edge such as Iberico World Tapas restaurant, which is based in a former galleries of justice all of which have help install Nottingham as one of the finest places to eat out in within the UK.
Whatever the reason for your trip to the area Nottingham City Centre, the restaurants on show are a true winner, whether you enjoy an authentic curry or a classic British dish.
Why not click here to view restaurants in Nottingham city centre.
Function rooms in Nottingham
- View photos, maps and more at function rooms in Nottingham
Go dine also offers services geared towards our corporate clients and for those looking for function rooms in Nottingham. Corporate and function room bookings can be best placed at restaurants, some of which are located in hotels. Go dine can help clients who require added features on top of good food and excellent hospitality.
Using our local knowledge Go dine can help co-ordinate booking a function room in a hotel or a restaurant in Nottingham by giving recommendations based on your needs for location, party size, cuisine type and budget.
We understand that events may need added features such as Internet connection, conference facilities, a private room or simply a good venue to host hospitality events enjoying excellent finger food. Here is a selection of Restaurants in Nottingham with function rooms that are suitable for large parties and corporate hire – function rooms Nottingham.
Alternatively visit our Good For section above to view restaurants with particular offerings such as ‘Wi-Fi’.
For further assistance call the Go dine team on 01159 506 804
Coolest Restaurants in the World – Acquadulza Restaurant, Italy
The Acquadulza restaurant in Italy is renowed for being one of the coolest restaurants in the world, with breathtaking design taken from a theme of water. The restaurant lighting of blues and whites creates a slick and exclusive ambience that can only be matched by the world class food served at the restaurant.
Whilst the Acquadulza restaurant in Italy may not be everyones cup of tea, it would be hard to argue that the interior at the restaurant and general ambience is not one of the coolest to be found at any restaurant in the world.
Cooking steaks | How to cook the perfect steak
Cooking the perfect steak is not as easy as you might think and can take a little experience to create time after time whether you like your steak rare, medium or well-done.
There are however tips to this art form that should ensure you are on the right path, after all there is nothing worse than spending £6+ on a large matured steak garnished with a side salad and making your first cut and thinking “oh no, its over done”…. its too late!
Preparation:
Steaks vary hugely in flavours and texture and the old saying “you get what you pay for” is most prevalent in this instance. So choose your steak wisely, where possible purchase your steak from a butcher and if not your local butcher steaks should be purchased from the fresh counters in supermarkets.
Tip:
Look for faint lines of white running through the steak, (marbling gives the steak more flavour).
Darker meets are tastier, avoid the bright red cuts you find in packets, despite looking good there will be a lack of flavour.
Ask your butcher to trim the fat, steaks are not cheap but there must be some fat for flavours, 0.5cm is ample.
Grilling or Frying??
Frying tends to cook the outside of the steak and takes time for the temperature to cook through the whole steak where as grilling heats through quicker but does not seer the outside as much. Both methods can create the perfect steak but the general rule is grill marinated meats and fry ‘plain’ steaks.
Rump- Entry level approx £9 / kilo
Rump is a perfect steak for BBQ’s, dicing to put in dishes such as Stroganoff or simply grilling or frying. Rump is the most flavoursome of the steak family but lacks the soft texture of others.
Tip- rump can be tougher than other cuts, to tenderise beat with a mallet or even a clinched fist, this tenderises the meat and gives it the texture of more expensive cuts.
Rib-Eye- Approx £11 / kilo
Generally the least famous of cuts but combines the flavours of the rump steak with the texture of Sirloin. The delicious eye of the steak is on a par with fillet.
Sirloin- Approx £14 / kilo
Has this King of cuts been knighted…? It is rumoured that Henry VIII knighted this cut of meat but in reality Surloin became Sirloin in the 18th century.
Sirloin is a versatile cut that when compared to rib eye is softer in texture but not as flavoursome. A truly delicious cut cooking this perfectly is a must.
Fillet- Approx £19/ kilo
Fillet is the true king of Beef cuts. Fillet steak is extremely soft in texture and can be cut with a butter knife. There are two ends to the fillet, the tail reserved for steak cuts and the head, ideally seared and placed in the oven, Château Briand style.
Fillet needs no tampering, marinades, tenderising and other previous tips are withdrawn for this cut.
Fillet is best shallow fried and can be thick due to the narrow nature of the tail cut, cut open a fillet to find no red middle is a waste of this fine cut.
Cooking:
Stage 1
Leave the meat to reach room temperature, (this will ensure at least the middle is heated through rather than seared on the outside and fridge cold in the middle!
Stage 2
Either the Grill of the frying pan must be red hot, don’t be shy to put the stove or oven on full blast.
When frying use a small cube of butter adding with it Virgin olive oil, this will stop the butter from burning.
Stage 3
Season the steak with a little salt and plenty of pepper and place in the pan away from you avoiding splash back.
Rare: 1 or 2 minutes each side, rest for 5 minutes
Medium rare:2- 2 ½ minutes each side, rest for 4 ½ minutes
Medium: 3 minutes each side, rest for 3 ½ minutes
Well done: 4 ½ minutes each side, rest for 1 ½ minutes
Experienced cooks will simply press the steak lightly to feel how it is progressing. To better understand this try the following method.
Touch the end of your thumb to your index finger and the meaty part of the base of your thumb feels like rare steak should.
Touch the end of your thumb to your small finger the meaty part of the base of your thumb feels like well done steak. The fingers in between represent Medium Rare/Medium/Medium Well acting as a guide to how well cooked the steak is when you carefully press a finger down on the meat. Once cooked to your own version of perfection why not serve with chunky chips and a glass of red wine… Perfect!
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View our recipes section or if you would prefer to eat the perfect steak without the washing up try Shaws restaurant in Nottingham who serve Char-grilled Local 28 day hung Sirloin Steak with Pink peppercorn butter with thick cut chips.
Food Festival Nottingham
- James Martin to launch food festival in Nottingham
Announcing the Nottingham Food and drink festival 2009:
Celebrity chefs James Martin, James Tanner, Brian Turner and Simon Rimmer are visiting Nottingham in September to take part in the city’s first Food and Drink Festival. Funded by the Nottingham Leisure Partnership and supported by the City Council and the Greater Nottingham Partnership, the 5 day event will be held in the city centre’s Market Square from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th September.
The festival will play host to a chefs’ theatre in the Market Square in which the celebrity chefs and well-known local chefs from restaurants in Nottingham and personalities will entertain audiences with cookery demonstrations, challenges, classes and competitions. There’ll be no entry charge for any of the activities in the chefs’ theatre and visitors will have the chance to meet the celebrity chefs face-to-face at book signing sessions.
James Martin will launch the event on Wednesday 16th, James Tanner is confirmed for Thursday 17th, Brian Turner for Friday 18th and Simon Rimmer for Saturday 19th September.
In and around the chefs theatre a regional speciality food and drink market with 30-35 stalls will give visitors the chance to taste and purchase speciality and local produce. There’ll also be gourmet competitions and special food and drink events, such as gastronomic gallivants, in the city’s restaurants, bars and pubs, and complimentary booklets packed with special offers and discount vouchers for the city’s licensed venues will be handed out over the 5 days.
Pat Parkes of the Nottingham Leisure Partnership commented: “The Nottingham Food and Drink Festival is being launched to celebrate the high quality and culturally diverse food and drink available in the city. With a wide range of fun activities for all ages from morning through to the evening, there’ll be something to suit everyone. We’re all looking forward to making the event a huge success, and one which can be continued every year.”
Jailhouse Cook – The First Prison Restaurant Opens in the UK
The Clink is no ordinary restaurant and it is fair to say it’s not one of the most accessible either… As the first commercial prison restaurant in the UK, The Clink can be found behind the rather austere looking walls of Her Majesties High Down Prison; a category B prison based in Surrey. Once diners have handed in the usual array of keys, mobile phones and loose change the serving security guard will guide you to the restaurant, past 30 feet high walls covered in razor sharp wire, through a series of security gates until you arrive at a rather inconspicuous looking brown door. To ensure diners are even more freaked out, what’s behind this door is a World apart; a restaurant with a slick and modern feel, waiting staff who are well trained and attentive to the clienteles needs and a general feeling of confusion as to how a restaurant like this could be found behind the grey walls of a rather drab looking prison.
All the staff at the restaurant share one thing in common – their criminality, which surely add to the drama and theatre of the occasion as diners are left to ponder “what you in here for” when the waiter collects the orders… The food itself has received some rave reviews for its freshness and the skill that goes into the dishes served, showing the commitment and interest the inmates take in cooking and running the restaurant. As the brainchild of Alberto Crisci The Clink successfully uses cooking as way of rehabilitating those who are serving thyme.
Belle and Jerome Restaurant joins Go dine
Belle and Jerome can be best described as a continental café, wine bar & bistro that is proud to be that little bit different. The wine list at Belle and Jerome is not secondary to the food and the importance placed upon the high standards of service and remarkable coffee has been inspired by the café culture of European neighbours. By day, Belle & Jerome presents itself as a café, serving breakfast from 8am and simple but fresh lunches from 11am onwards. In the evening Belle and Jerome transforms into a suave, modern wine bar and bistro transporting diners to a little corner of the continent.
The food menu at Belle and Jerome has been crafted in order to complement the drinks menu, which is unique as it is so often the other way around. There really is something for everyone at Belle and Jerome be it a full 3 course meal while working your way through our incredible wine list, or simply a slice of freshly homemade cake to accompany your afternoon Fair-trade coffee.
There is nothing ordinary about Belle and Jerome as a café, wine bar or bistro offering friendly and attentive table service throughout, allowing you to avoid the usual Saturday night crush at the bar and providing a totally relaxed and refined feel… We are delighted to welcome Belle and Jerome on to Go dine.
To book Belle and Jerome call 01159 940 779 or view the menus and photos in more detail before booking Belle and Jerome restaurant online.
Beef Wellington Recipe
As a new feature, Go dine.co.uk will bring you classic recipes with simple cooking instructions so you can enjoy restaurant grade food at home. Today see’s the turn of an absolute classic dish – the beef Wellington…
Ingredients for beef Wellington:
- 450 grams of beef fillet
- 450 grams of flat mushrooms
- 5 slices Parma ham
- English mustard (for brushing the meat)
- 225 grams of puff pastry
- 2 egg yolks
- Approximately 10 new potatoes
- 1 clove of garlic (crushed)
- 1 Sprig of thyme
- 1 baby gem lettuce
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Mustard vinaigrette
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Cooking instructions for a Beef Wellington:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 200c.
2. Heat a couple of table spoons of olive oil in a large pan before searing the beef all over until brown. Once seared, allow the meat to cool to ensure you keep the flavours and juices in the meat. Brush generously with English mustard once the meat has cooled down.
3. Dice the flat mushrooms and add them to a food blender to form a puree. Add the puree mixture to a hot, dry pan and allow the water to evaporate from the mushrooms. As soon as the mushroom puree starts to stick together removing from the heat and leave to cool in a bowl.
4. Cut a long piece of cling film and stack the slices of Parma ham ensuring they are slightly overlapping one another. Spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the ham once the slices are laid out.
5. Place the beef fillet in the middle of the sliced ham and keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the outside edge, neatly roll the Parma ham and mushrooms over the beef into a tight barrel shape. Twist the ends to secure the Clingfilm. Keep this refrigerated for 10 -15 minutes to allow the beef Wellington to set, helping keep its shape.
6. Take the pastry and roll it out fairly thinly to a size which will cover the beef fillet. Unwrap the meat from the cling film. Egg wash the edge of the pastry and place the beef in the middle. Roll up the pastry, cut any excess off the ends and fold neatly to the ‘underside’. Turnover and egg wash over the top. Chill again to let the pastry cool for approximately 5 minutes. Egg wash again before baking at 200c for 35 – 40 minutes. Rest 8 -10 minutes before slicing.
7. Part boil the potatoes in salted water. Quarter them and leave the skin on. Sauté in olive oil and butter with the garlic and thyme, until browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme and garlic before serving.
8. Separate the outside leaves of the baby gem (leaving the smaller inner ones for salads) and very quickly sauté them in a pan of olive oil with a little salt and pepper – just enough to wilt them.
9. Serve hearty slices of the Wellington alongside the sautéed potatoes and wilted baby gems. A classic mustard vinaigrette makes a great dressing for this dish too… Enjoy!
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Don’t fancy cooking? Why not view the best fine-dining restaurants in Nottingham
View our guide the best restaurants in Nottingham
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Go dine Labs
Bringing you the latest new additions to Go dine.co.uk.
Recent posts include:
Go dine joins twitter. View special offers at restaurants in Nottingham through twitter and keep up-to-date with the best deals. Click here to add the Go dine Nottingham restaurants twitter to your RSS feed reader.
Go dine joins Juno web design to improve the way we find and book restaurants in Nottingham. Based in Nottingham, Juno is ran by young entrepreneur David Wiltshire and offer exceptional all round web design and front-end development.
Got any ideas to improve Go dine?
Why not let us know and can test them in the Lab! The best ideas also win prizes including free meals at the best restaurants in Nottingham and luxury days out. To enter simply email the Go dine webmaster with your ideas.
The Most Expensive Meal in the World
The wine cellar from where 15 people enjoyed £128,000 of booze over diner!
Served at the Dome restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, the World’s most expensive meal came in at around £150,000 during February 2007. The 15 diners at the meal were gaming and property moguls from America and Asia who elected to fly in six of the best chefs from France, Germany and Italy. The food bill itself came in at around £22,000 (excluding tip and tax) and the wine, which included a rare bottle of from the Rothschild estate cost around £128,000. Numerous bottles of champagne and cognacs were also available by the gallon with diners enjoy the best food and drink in the world.
The food menu on the night:
- Crème brûlée of foie gras with Tonga beans
- Tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belons oyster
- Mousseline of pattes rouges crayfish with morel mushroom infusion
- Tarte Fine with scallops and black truffle
- Lobster Osso Buczco
- Ravioli with guinea fowl and burrata cheese, veal reduction
- Saddle of lamb “Léonel”- Sorbet “Dom Pérignon”
- Supreme of pigeon en croute with cèpes mushroom sauce and cipollottiVeal cheeks with Périgord truffles
- Imperial gingerbread pyramid with caramel and salted butter ice-cream
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In the mood for fine dining? View the best fine dining restaurants in Nottingham.
Vote for the F Word’s Best Local Restaurant and Win!
Gordon Ramsay’s F Word is coming back and there on the hunt for The F Word’s Best Local Restaurant.
Tell us about the place where you love to eat. A well known hotspot or a hidden gem – anywhere you think deserves to be crowned F Word’s Best Local Restaurant.
Plus, once you’ve nominated you could win a seat in the F word restaurant. Visit the website to give your suggestion!
Nominations close at midnight on July 17th.
