I love putting the spotlight on great family friendly restaurants with my reviews, especially in my home city of Nottingham. This time we visited Bills as a family, to check out the new menu.
Bills is in a pretty impressive building on Queens street, just off the Market Square in the centre of Nottingham. It’s close to great shopping, the cinema and The Royal Theatre and Concert Hall. I actually used to work in the building opposite nearly 20 years ago. It’s really quite a large restaurant on two levels. We were seated in a lovely area by the window, with only two tables, a great place to do a little people watching. We were asked if we had any allergies as we were seated, which I’ve got to say was a great and modern way to start the meal so that the kitchen could be prepared.
Menu reading is taken very seriously!
I’d describe the feel of the restaurant’s decor as eclectic, vintage, industrial in places and relaxed old school charm.
We ordered drinks and then started to read the menu. My youngest opted for a watermelon and raspberry drink, which she loved.
Pink lemonade was the order of the day for Nia.
I’d not realised that Bills did their own branded items, like the drinks. I would say the drinks were well priced, and there was a selection of cocktails too on offer. I opted for a really drinkable pinot grigio wine though, as I always think it’s such a treat to have wine with a meal out.
The menu was very good. Some unusual dishes, lots of choices but not too much choice, and a good range of lighter dishes as well as filling meals. We had a table booked for 3 pm, so went for the Lunch menu which is available from 11.30 – 5. Now I’d say as a family we are all food lovers, but the youngest is probably the pickiest of the bunch. We did ask to see the children’s menu, but she didn’t fancy anything on there and opted for the adult menu, and she was not disappointed.
Sharing.
Oh, how we loved the starters. We opted for sharing in the centre of the table, which is how we prefer. I’m veggie, so I insisted we got the crumbed halloumi sticks with lime aioli. They were amazing, I would definitely recommend them. Crunch, but gooey and the aioli had just the right amount of lime, I had trouble keeping everyone one from eating them.
We also went for Bills sharing plate, which had devilled chicken skewers, calamari, niçoise olives, toasted focaccia, smashed avocado, hummus, purple basil & pine nut pesto, red pepper tapenade and mixed seeds. Everyone loved this, the focaccia was perfection and the tapenade and pesto delicious. So much so I think I’m going to have a go at replicating them at home. They also do a vegetarian version of Bills sharing plate, which I think I would order next time as I really do think that they do vegetarian and vegan food very well.
On to the main courses :
EGGS ROYALE WITH FRIES
Nia went for two poached eggs, smoked salmon and hollandaise served on a toasted muffin, instead of standard fries she ordered the alternative of sweet potato. This was a dish right up her street, real comfort food and she said it was cooked perfectly. I do think all f the food was very well presented and had an attention to detail with the garnishes too.
BUTTERMILK CHICKEN BURGER
As my youngest loves chicken she went for the buttermilk crumbed chicken breast. It’s served creamy coleslaw, chipotle mayonnaise, sesame bun and fries. We cut the burger in half as we knew she’d not be able to finish it. It was very generous! However, it meant that the rest of the burger was then shared between Nia and her Dad.
We did order some of the Mac n Cheese for the table to share, as this I think is one of the signature sides of Bills, and it was really delicious, creamy and cheesy I could really taste the nutmeg too.
STEAK AND EGGS
As I’m veggie, and I openly admit to not really loving cooking meat, it came as no surprise that my Husband (aka The Tall Fella) ordered a steak. He opted for wild mushroom sauce, and its served with roasted garlic butter and fries. The steak was cooked to perfection, and very tender.
BILL’S WELLINGTON
Now onto my main. Oh boy, I’m not sure where to begin, it was truly one the nicest veggie dished I have ever tried. It has everything that I love including the crispiest pastry. It was a carrot, cashew nut & mushroom Wellington with butterbean mash, tenderstem broccoli and rich vegetable gravy. The butterbean mash was a revelation, so tasty and well seasoned. I’m sure there must be something in there that was bad for me because it tasted so good! I would definitely not order anything else, in fact, if they could deliver it to me every Sunday for the rest of my life, I’d be happy. Yup, it was that good!
Only the girls had room for pudding, but there was a small selection of what looked like very tasty sweet delights. I did taste one of the cinnamon doughnuts and dipped it in the salted caramel sauce and it was delicious.
Nia and I sharing the doughnuts! Can you see my hand creeping in for the kill?
Whereas A opted for ice cream, in vanilla and coconut flavours.
Overall we received fantastic service, the meals were really quickly delivered to our table and piping hot. I think our server was Connor (apologies if I’ve got the name wrong) and he was so lovely. Connor really made us feel welcome and joked with us throughout the meal. Even supplying us with extra napkins, as my youngest kept spilling things on herself. I would definitely recommend Bills in Nottingham and can’t wait to dine here again.
Please Note: I was asked to review the new Bills menu, so I didn’t therefore pay for the meal. My thoughts and words here, however, are 100% my own and truthful.
Nikki Thomas says
Oh my, that all looks and sounds so delicious. I love that the veggie options sound so good too, your meal sounded amazing. I will have to see if there is a Bill’s near us
Amanda Cottingham says
You really must, so darn delicious and great service!