How Now Brown Cow

Next door to Zaap is another restaurant called the Oaks. It's menu is geared towards meat, which is locally sourced, so too is the beer they serve.

And the link with Notts Wildlife Trust? Well they supply the logs for the restaurant's grill.

Zaaped!

I met up with some former work colleagues at lunch today. We do this occasionally, and tend to visit different pubs, cafes or restaurants each time.

Today's visit was to a new Thai restaurant called Zaap, situated in the new development what used to be the old Odeon cinema.

I quite enjoy Thai food, and sometimes have a really delicious take away from a local Thai place in Beeston.

Zaap have designed their restaurant to look like a street market in say Bangkok, and they have done a very good job. I was a little late for the meet up, due to work, so I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked.

There's also so much to see, with so many things on display; hats, T shirts, number plates. All sorts of things. Just like a real market. In fact I probably missed quite a lot. Seating is interesting too, as you can sit in Tuk Tuks; the little street taxis that are so popular in Asian countries.

I will definitely be going again, as the Pad Thai I had was delicious. I have no idea what Zaap means though. For all I know, it might just be the surname of the owner.

Nothing Left

As it's the first of the month, I thought I would participate in the theme day, which this month is 'ephemeral'.

According to the dictionary, ephemeral means something that doesn't last for a very long time.

Well this meal that I devoured at Restaurant Anna in Piancastagnaio, a small hilltop village in Tuscany didn't last very long. It was delicious. It was actually part of a five course lunch that we sat down to.

The restaurant was packed. There was hardly a seat to be had. Mainly families; mums, dad, children and associated relations. One old lady there was celebrating her birthday, and one of the waitresses bought out a cake, to a chorus of 'happy birthday'.

Saucy

A trip to Ikea tonight. Fortunately we didn't stay too long, as it's such a big store and it can get a bit overwhelming at times.

Gail suggested that we go for something to eat. It was a difficult choice, as there was plenty on offer at the restaurant menus that we looked at.

In the end we plumped for a pizza at Frankie & Benny's. Of course I could have taken a photo of the said food, but instead here's a saucy shot with some bokeh.

Whiskey And Rye

For the past few years Beeston has been home to a great little bistro called Belle & Jerome. But it closed a couple of weeks ago, while some renovations took place.  The bar has also been renamed as 'Rye', named after part of Beeston called the Rylands, which is near the river.

They have also rebranded it as a bar & restaurant, but will be open from 8am for breakfast. It officially opens to the public tomorrow, but there was a special opening event tonight, which I got an invitation to.

The owners looked like they have invested a lot of money into the refurb. I have been following their Tweets over the past couple of weeks, and have found out that the new wooden floor that's been laid comes from a four hundred year old mill in Yorkshire.

The place was buzzing tonight and people seems genuinely impressed with the decor, choice of food and drink and general ambience of the place. It should do well, especially as the previous version always had such a loyal customer base.

Table 8 For 8

A new restaurant was officially opened tonight in Beeston whilst being visited by the lady mayor.

It's called Table 8 and is owned by two brothers Kevin & Chris. Kevin looks after the cooking, whilst Chris deals with everything else.

The place was packed tonight, although they weren't serving any meals yet. That happens on Saturday. Tonight was about publicising the place, telling people that the restaurant is open, as the building itself has been closed for over a year, when the previous restaurant called The Library folded.

I hope it is a success, especially as that section of Wollaton Road seems to be the place to go for food, as there are a couple of other restaurants there, including Cafe Roya where Gail & I go to the film club we belong to. There are also a couple of Indian & Chinese take-aways, which we're ordered from in the past and a fish & chip shop.

Chop Suey

Well it's gone. The Pagoda is no more.

Above is the scene on Wednesday, below, how it is today. Now just a pile of bricks and rubble.

I shall continue to watch what is happening to the site and to try and find out what is going to be built in its place.

Rest U Rant

Not being at work for the last week, I didn't get to visit the city centre at all, so I was wondering what state the old Pagoda Chinese restaurant would be in, now I know that it is being demolished.

So at lunchtime I went to have a look and see if much work had taken place during my time away. Well, as you can see they have certainly raised the roof. Well knocked it down actually!

It's interesting to see that they used the first floor as the kitchen, and I think there are a couple of dumb waiters there, so it saves walking up and down stairs.

I bet it will be fully demolished by the end of the week. Then it will be interesting to see what they build in its place. Be really funny if it is going to be another Chinese restaurant!

Chop Suey

This old Chinese restaurant has been empty for years. I've eaten there once. Christmas 2002 I think it was, with the team I used to worked with. Afterwards we went bowling, which I found a bit boring and never seemed to end.

The food at the Pagoda wasn't bad as I remember. We went for the buffet selection and it was all served on a Lazy Susan, which had been placed in the middle of our table. So round and round Susan went, as we kept picking things from the dishes. I don't think we got that much prawn toast. And I love prawn toast.

Then one day it closed. A few years ago now. Big plans drawn up by Westfield's, the owners of the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre, to extend it to where the Pagoda and some other buildings stand. But then the recession set in and the plans were put on hold and everything went quiet. Lots of shops in the Broadmarsh are boarded up now and others empty. There isn't that much on offer for shoppers at the moment.

Then last year Westfield's quickly announced that they had sold the Broadmarsh to another company called Intu.  and a couple of weeks ago it was announced that the redevelopment was back on, but not to the huge scale that it once thought.

The scaffolding began to go up around the Pagoda a couple of days ago. So as I pass there every lunchtime on my way to the shops and the Old Market Square, I'll be able to keep a watch what happens to it and what sort of business it turns into.

Dragon Dance

I know that I said that I wouldn't be putting any Chinese New Year photos on, but I couldn't resist showing you this one.

As you can see it is of some dragon dancers making their way to Broadgate Park along the High Road in Beeston. The dancers belong to the university's Chinese students & scholars group, and they were on their way to entertain the crowd.

When I took this photo, they were waiting for the traffic lights to change, and by a happy accident, they were standing outside the Dancing Dragon Chinese Restaurant!

Never Hurry A Curry

Gail and I went to The Curry Lounge tonight, as they were celebrating their sixth birthday and launching their new menu for the year.

And as an act of generosity and philanthropy, Raz the owner and head chef was doing a special 50% discount on the cost of the food and also doing a special donation to charity.

The restaurant was heaving with people enjoying some top quality nosh and getting to meet the main man himself.

The food was of course delicious. So it's no wonder that the place had won a number of awards for it's cuisine.

If you do live in Nottingham, or are planning to visit the city and fancy a delicious ruby. Then you know where to go.

Here's a LINK to their website.

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

Bistro Live describes itself as a live entertainment restaurant. It's where offices parties & hen nights go for their do's. What interested me is the location. They are situated in the basement of the building where I first started my working life, back in the late 1970's. The building belonged to a lace company & they used to store all the raw materials in the basement. When it was needed, they used to bring it up, send it to be dyed & then it was put onto cards or bobbins ready to be sewn onto clothes etc.

Curry Favour

This local Indian restaurant made the national news last week. Not because it won another curry house award, but because TV celebrity & compare of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' Chris Tarrant, was arrested there for allegedly throwing a piece of cutlery at another diner.

I don't know what's happened since. But I'll let you know the outcome.

Thai Land

As you can see this restaurant is called the Pretty Orchid, but it doesn't look that inviting from the outside. One reason for this is its location. It is situated down a small lane called Pepper Street, which is basically a paved area that leads to a loading bay for some of the shops. At the side of it is a new retail development. I have no idea what the food is like, but from all accounts it's supposed to be one of the best in the city centre.