Three Nottingham restaurants named in list of UK's best 100 places to eat

Three of Nottingham’s best restaurants feature in a guide of the top 100 in the UK. SquareMeal’s list is a celebration of the country’s finest independent restaurants and bars, giving a shout-out to chefs and hospitality teams going above and beyond to give their diners top-class experiences.

The results are a combination of the views of Squaremeal’s in-house critics and thousands of diner votes. The guide says: “We say it every year, but this year truly must have presented the highest calibre of restaurants yet.

“Whittling down the UK’s burgeoning dining scene into just 100 top spots was an excruciating job that took months of planning and deliberation by both our team and you, our readers. Despite incredibly tough economic circumstances, our homegrown hospitality professionals have overcome it all and managed to deliver top-class experiences for diners, with flair, ingenuity and individuality.”

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The guide includes a host of new openings but the Nottingham entries rank amongst some of the classics and old timers, who have been on the scene for a while but remain at the top of their game.

The highest-ranking local restaurant is Alchemilla in 14th spot. Alex Bond’s one Michelin star restaurant in Derby Road, near Canning Circus, is described as a “powerhouse” which creates brilliant tasting menus which are as innovative as they are delicious. The restaurant prides itself on unique, imaginative fine dining, with dishes such as hogget, aubergine, miso and apple and chocolate, fermented mushroom and spent coffee gracing the menu.

Restaurant Sat Bains, in Lenton Lane, appears in 31st position. The guide reports: “This small but mighty restaurant with rooms has held on to its two Michelin stars for over a decade now, not least because it’s turning out some, of the most exceptional plates in the UK both in terms of style and quality.”

Confit salmon, seaweed, Oscietra caviar, cream cheese and lime at Restaurant Sat Bains

Diners are blown away by what they describe as an amazing and memorable meal. Chef patron Sat Bains and his team expertly craft dishes of potato, caviar and ash and artichoke, Bellota ham and truffle.

Taking 65th place is Kushi-ya, a small, laid-back Japanese restaurant tucked away in Cannon Court off Long Row, in Nottingham. It is hailed: “Inventive, refined and affordable in equal measure, Japanese sharing plates restaurant Kushi-ya is an immense addition to Nottingham’s dining scene. Pop by for a staggering display of skewers, small plates and sake.”

A concise menu of flavour-packed small plates and skewers include braised pork shoulder, lettuce and condiments, prawn katsu sando with gochujang marie rose and chicken tsukune. Desserts include matcha cheesecake and amazake pudding, umeshu-soaked cherries and almond.

Number one spot in this year’s Top 100 UK Restaurants list goes to Pine in Northumberland – a restaurant in a renovated cow barn where chefs use boundless creativity and techniques from all over the world to create exciting new flavours and dishes.

The guide adds: “When we say this list is months in the making, we really mean it. We take huge care and pride in making sure only the very best in the industry find a place on the list, and have eaten at hundreds of restaurants over the past 12 months to whittle down the winners.