The Cod's Scallops, Wollaton, Nottingham

Silly name, outstanding product. That is the gist of the Cod's Scallops.

The finest fish and chips I've eaten in a long while, in the Midlands. Who'd have thought. I'm not being Midlands-ist but it's rare to find such mastery of the beef dripping art outside God's own county.

Look at that fish, pictured in glorious widescreen technicolour just for you. Burnished and golden, it screams eat me! Eat me! Imagine the pleasure as your teeth fracture the delicate batter shell and release the sea-steam, the fatty goodness gently coating your lips like the salve of your dreams.

Take another look. Here's an extreme close-up.

I didn't have to imagine it, I lived this dream. And you can too, if you go to Nottingham.

Sorry, got a bit carried away there, but it really was very good. The chips were excellent as well. Peas and curry sauce standard.

£5.90 for fish and chips. 80p for peas or curry sauce. Marvellous.

9/10


170 Bramcote Lane
Wollaton
Nottingham
NG8 2QP

http://codsscallops.com/

Bacon Sandwich Quest: May

I don't know why I'm still bothering with this. I only ate one bacon sandwich in May, from a caff in Nottingham. Here's a photo of it:

Exciting huh? Don't let the uninspired appearance fool you though, it was a fairly good bacon sandwich. The increasingly uncommon use of sliced bread was welcome, and it was good bread too. Not the cheapest of plasticky loaves, but nothing too artisan either. Just right. Soft and accommodating.

The bacon was rough hewn and generously supplied. Maybe a little underdone, the fat could have done with a minute or so longer to crisp, but the flavour was mighty fine. Porcine.

It wasn't oversauced and service was swift. A good all rounder, it's done just enough to creep into the medal positions, like a competent heptathlete at the end of day one. Has it done enough to hold off stronger competitors as the tournament reaches its denouement? I doubt it. My money is on the Ennis of bacon sarnies storming through with a fine performance in the javelin (bread) and a personal best in the 800 metres (service). Or something. Only time will tell.

Leader board:

Sorry it's barely legible, I'm struggling with a better way to display it in Blogger. Suggestions anyone?

June will be more fun. We're only a week in and I've already eaten two bacon sandwiches!

Han Sofrasi, Nottingham

I've often driven out of Nottingham on the A610, straight up Alfreton Road, and thought there'd be some likely candidates for a good lunch in the vicinity. Last week I finally got round to stopping and taking a look, and was pleased to discover my suspicions were correct.

Han Sofrasi was advertising a lunch special, £6.50 for the dish of the day with rice and bread. It was pushing 2pm so I was ravenous and the offer of double carbs appealed. Inside I was pleased to find a proper Turkish grill house, massive charcoal grill in situ.

Sadly the daily special didn't involve anything grilled, but was pretty good regardless. I forget the Turkish name, but it was assorted chargrilled vegetables (peppers and aubergines mainly) stewed in a pepper and tomato sauce with chunks of lamb and potatoes. Very simple but well made. Smooth, sweet, tangy sauce, soft char edged vegetables and tender lamb.

The rice was nicely cooked and the bread had been warmed up, giving it a crisp, slightly oily crust (a bit focaccia like) and light, airy insides. In authentic Turkish style there was also bloody loads of it.

Service was quick and friendly, I was in and out in about 15 minutes for the loss of £8.50 including a soft drink and a tip. Would I return? Well it's not worth a special trip but if I'm in Nottingham and after Turkish food then it's probably a great option. Nice tunes on the website too. Check it out.

7/10

Han Sofrasi
91 Alfreton Road
Nottingham
NG7 3JL

http://www.hansofrasi.co.uk/

World Service, Nottingham

Last week brought one of my rare excursions into more upmarket dining, at World Service in Nottingham. A birthday treat from my sister and her husband, all three of us were working in the city on that day so we’d planned to stay for dinner.

Before I'd investigated it in any detail I'd assumed World Service was a fusion restaurant or something of that ilk. It's described (their words) as having a 'colonial ambience' with 'various unusual artefacts from around the globe'. That in combination with the name put me in mind of a restaurant of empire, serving a mish-mash dishes from all over the place. It's not that at all. Artefacts notwithstanding the dining room is large and airy with a contemporary feel and the food is probably best described as Modern British.

Whatever it is I quite liked it. Opening drinks were a success (Sherry for me. A dry, salty Manzanilla that was great on its own and with my starter), it was comfortable and the menu read well.

A calamari starter was simple but good. Very lightly battered, not at all chewy and just served with a few leaves and some sort of mayonnaise (of exactly what persuasion I can't recall).

Veal shin with wild garlic risotto only served to re-inforce my opinions on veal. I’ve only eaten it a handful of times, but on every occasion the only lasting memory has been ‘this would have been far better with fully grown beef’. The shin had been cooked low and slow to what might have been beautiful moist shreds of meat, then re-formed into a cylinder that had then been browned off. The crusty, browned bits on the exterior were great, all dark and marmitey, but beyond that was just dull. The young shin just didn’t have the fat and sinew to cope with the cooking method, rendering it dry and flavourless.

This was a real shame as the risotto was excellent. Well cooked rice, creamy and packing a wonderfully fresh, fragrant punch from the garlic. This tasted divine with the caramelised edges of the meat, I could imagine the entire dish being a winner if they’d used the oldest cow they could find (or shoulder of mutton springs to mind).

A dish of pork several ways was also a bit of a mixed bag. I tried the belly which was lovely, but also sampled a sort of deep-fried nugget of something or other (apologies I didn't make note of the menu descriptions) that was chewy and tasteless.

Rhubarb cranachan for pudding. This worked for me. I love rhubarb, I love cream and it’s nice to have a dessert where the fruit stands out rather than being drowned in sugar. This was barely sweet at all, just thick folds of cream, tart rhubarb, and a few oaty bits providing contrast. Lovely.

A little bonus dessert arrived in the form of a birthday treat. It wasn’t requested honest! I’m beyond the stage of attending restaurants purely on their tendency to chuck freebies at those celebrating birthdays, really I am. (Although the three shots of tequila and a silly hat at Mex in Wakefield is always tempting).

Anyhow my birthday greetings must have been overheard, so here it was. A chocolate, a strawberry and a scoop of cherry sorbet. A nice touch really, reflective of the service which was good throughout. Fairly formal but not stuffy or over-attentive.

I've no idea how much the bill was, but I ate from the set menu at £26.50 for three courses. A la carte would probably be more like £40 or so. Overall this was a fine experience, service was good, the drinks list is excellent, but there were one or two duff notes with the food. Oh and the company was excellent too of course. Thanks!

7/10

World Service Restaurant

Newdigate House

Castlegate

Nottingham

NG1 6AF

www.worldservicerestaurant.com

French Living, Nottingham

Dinner for three in Nottingham last Tuesday night. It's not often I eat French food, so I had high hopes for French Living. It's a well established fixture on the Nottingham dining scene, serving classic French bistro food.

We started with a few nibbles; - bread, vinegar and oil, olives and saucisson sec. The bread and olives were nothing special but pleasant enough. I enjoyed the saucisson, which was mildly cured, fatty and moreish.

Onglet à l'Echalote for me, a large slab of skirt steak in a shallot and veal stock sauce. The steak itself was a beauty, properly rare as requested and strongly flavoured. It was also impressively tender, tricky to pull off with this cut. I picked the winner with this, a pricier rib-eye across the table looked a little thin and weedy in comparison, though it was declared a success.

The sauce was rich and reduced, perfectly nice but superfluous really. Every time I eat a sauce covered steak it just re-inforces my view that the main purpose of steak sauces is to mask inferior meat. If it's a good quality piece of beef, which this was, let the meat take centre stage I say.

The sauteed potatoes and vegetables were both fine, nice crispy bits on the spuds and al dente veg.

Cassoulet Toulousain was, I think, a classic rendition. It's not a dish I'm very familiar with but all the components were there;- soft, stewed beans, sausage and duck hidden beneath a breadcrumb crust. I tried a bit and really liked it. Definitely something I'll be ordering in the future.

The puddings we had were, putting it bluntly, a bit rubbish. Peach melba was made with crap ice-cream. You know the yellow coloured Cornish stuff from the supermarket? That. A chocolate cake was rather dry and needed a more generous hand with the custard to save it.

Dessert aside a good meal. Service was efficient and suitably Gallic, and prices are reasonable. Our bill came to £85 but that did include two bottles of decent Pinot Noir and 10% service. Worth a visit.

7/10

27 King Street
Nottingham
NG1 2AY

http://www.frenchliving.co.uk/

Lime House Café (and Welbeck Farm Shop), Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire

I've been planning a visit to the Welbeck Estate ever since I discovered it was the home of Stichelton. I struggle to find some of my favourite cheeses outside London, so when I found out that the cheese I love perhaps more than any other is made less than an hour away from home it was only a matter of time before I made the trip.

Friday was the day. I was in Nottingham for work and it's not too much of a detour off the M1 on the way home. Welbeck is one of those great big whopping country estates that's been turned over to tourism, a slightly less famous Chatsworth if you like (perhaps because it's half way between Mansfield and Worksop rather than in the middle of the Peak District). There's an art gallery, a school of artisan food, a working farm, a garden centre, a café and a very good farm shop, of which more later.

After a visit to the farm shop to pick up a few goodies I stopped off at the café for a quick afternoon tea.

A fat scone (£2.25) was fresh and light, and came served with very good raspberry jam. A pot of good tea was a reasonable £1.35. I didn't have anything else, but the sandwiches arriving on other tables looked excellent.

The room is also lovely, a spacious, airy modern conversion of a building that formerly housed part of a Victorian gasworks. The staff were nice too.

First impressions of what I've bought from the farm shop are also very good. I have a lovely looking piece of beef, a bulb of smoked garlic and some cheese. The cheese selection is exemplary, as you'd expect when it's all sourced from the Kings of British cheese at Neal's Yard.

I don't think it'll be long before I start thinking of reasons to visit Worksop more often.


8/10

Welbeck Estate
Worksop
Nottinghamshire
S80 3LL


http://www.harleygallery.co.uk/index.php?pg_id=20

http://www.welbeck.co.uk/experience/visit/farm-shop/home

Philo's, West Bridgford, Nottingham

I wasn't supposed to be having lunch here. I was supposed to be going to Nando's with my sister. Nando's you say? Yes. I like Nando's. Crispy, charred skinned chicken with hot sauce. What's not to like? The sides are crap though.

Anyway now I've got that confession off my chest I didn't make it to Nando's. The M1 intervened and spoiled my plans. A two and a half hour drive to Nottingham and a cancelled lunch later I still needed to eat, and West Bridgford is handier for work than Nottingham city centre.

Philo's looked like the pick of the casual coffee shops in town, and lunch there turned out pretty well despite the lack of spicy chicken.

A big wedge of frittata was moist, light and well seasoned and the salad was properly dressed. Not sure what the little grape buttons were doing though, but they didn't harm anyone.

£3.75 for the frittata and salad meal, prompt service and good coffee too. Philo's is a nice little place.

7/10

22 Tudor Square
West Bridgford
Notts
NG2 6BT

Homemade Café, Nottingham

This week, for the first time since I started writing this blog, I really haven't been able to devote enough time to writing for it. I never imagined back in January that nine months later I'd still be churning it out at almost a post every other day.

The truth is I'm rather addicted, and the fact that I've not had time to write this week has been a bit frustrating. I have three or four half written posts on a variety of topics, but they're going to have to wait.

They're going to have to wait as I'm going to take a little break. I'm heading off to the Middle East for a fortnight of relaxing, exploring, and of course eating and drinking. I'm probably not going to post anything on here while I'm away, as two weeks away from the computer screen will do me good.

When I return I'll write up some of my holiday dining experiences, no doubt houmous, falafel and shawarma will feature strongly!

In the meantime, here's a salad. A late lunch at the Homemade Café in Nottingham on Tuesday.

Chicken caesar, simple but good. Soft, chicken flavoured chicken, hefty home-made croutons, crisp cos, the whole well dressed. Nothing particularly exciting but it hit the spot on a warm day.

The service was very friendly, but the food was perhaps a little expensive (just under £8 for the salad).

7/10

20 Pelham Street
Nottingham
NG1 2EG


http://homemadecafe.com

Atlas Deli and Espresso Bar, Nottingham

Nottingham is not a city I know well. One brief visit for a night out years ago and that was about it until recently. For the foreseeable future I'll be visiting for work on a fairly regular basis, so hopefully I should have the chance to see the sights, and more importantly have something to eat.

I didn't get off the to the best start on Tuesday. A Twitter request gave me a couple of interesting suggestions (thanks!) including the Homemade Café, which is where I headed on account of it being two minutes walk from the car park. It's obviously a popular spot, as there was a lengthy queue. I was in a bit of a hurry so had to leave Homemade for another day and head further down the street.

Less than a minute away I found Atlas deli which looked interesting, but turned out disappointing. Prawn, guacamole and a squeeze of lemon on granary bread was much duller than the description. Bland prawns, bland guacamole and little evidence of lemon. Not very generously filled either, it was all front-loaded like you sometimes get with pre-packed sandwiches. Decent quality bread though, and the coffee was very good.

At £4.20 I thought the sandwich was overpriced. The place seems to have received a lot of praise though, so perhaps I just caught them on an off day.

I'll certainly be back to try the Homemade Café, and would love to hear your recommendations for Nottingham. Places to eat, things to see, all suggestions welcome.


5/10

9 Pelham Street
Nottingham
NG1 2EH


http://www.atlasdeli.co.uk/