Sobar, Nottingham

Sobar is quite a new bar that has opened on Friar Lane, near Market Square in Notts city centre. The name comes from the fact that there is no alcohol served in this bar at all! Although that may be off putting to some, I think it is an ideal place to go for a light lunch as there is a vast range of smoothies, juices, cordials and other soft drinks to tickle your fancy! Not only is this a bar, but they frequently have themed nights held there, such as comedy nights and poetry! It's just something a little different!

Mario and myself like different, so we decided to give Sobar a go at lunchtime! The atmosphere of the bar is lovely. It's so light and airy, full of bright colours! Each table has some upcycled flowers on them, made from drinks cans.

Photo taken from Sobar Facebook Page

I decided to go for a Fentimans fizzy orange drink, which tasted like a delicious version of Orangina! For food, I opted for a BLT - they are the king of all sandwiches after all! There are several bread options to have this on and I chose to have mine served on a baguette. The sandwiches all come with salad and tortilla chips on the side. I also chose to have some chips on the side with my baguette.

The baguette itself was delicious. The lettuce and tomato were fresh and crisp and the bacon was cooked to perfection. The tortilla chips on the side were also tasty, although nothing to write home about. I wasn't a huge fan of the dressing that the salad was drenched in. It was quite an oily texture, that really wasn't that lovely! The chips, although they had been forgotten about initially, were a disappointment. Because they'd not come out with the meal, I feel like they were slightly undercooked and not crispy at all.

Mario had the ploughman's platter, which came with ham hock, pate, stilton, cheddar and a pork pie. This was served with a variety of chutneys and bread. 

Mario was disappointed with his choice, that was clear to me! There was very little in the way of green. We both feel that the platter could have benefitted from some celery or tomato. The chutneys were delicious, as was the cheese, but we just felt as though something was missing! The drink he chose to accompany this was a liquorice cordial, which he loved! It was a little too strange for me to get my head around, so I wasn't so taken with it. To me, liquorice shouldn't be liquid!

Something that I observed that there weren't enough waiting staff working on that day and the manager had to chip in to help the two other waitresses. Having worked in several cafés before, I know how stressful it can be! I also know that you can't appear stressed in front of your customers and this staff really were. There were several people serving randomly and there was no system. It wasn't even particularly busy when we went!

I would definitely recommend this bar to anyone. The burgers and pizzas look amazing, and part of me wishes that I'd have had that instead! The food isn't expensive at all compared to a lot of other places in Notts city centre.

Spanky Van Dykes, Nottingham

Yeah we went back... We enjoyed it so much the first time we went (see the review here), that we went back when my sister visited! Of course we didn't get the same thing again so it is a different review! We went to Spanky's on a Thursday this time so no 2-4-1 offer :( Please see our other review if you'd like more information on the restaurant itself and its staff!

My sister, Charlotte, chose to have "The Hippy" burger (£4.95), which is a spicy spinach and lentil burger with hummus.

This burger was very tasty but it wasn't as spicy as Charlotte thought it would be. She also says that it was impossible to pick up, a definitely knife 'n' fork job, due to the fact that the burger just fell apart. The hummus was a lovely addition to the burger and the chips were tasty, just a little too greasy.

Mario and I decided to have a sandwich this time as, as the saying goes, variety is the spice of life! All of the sandwiches are served with Spanky's handmade chips. Mario chose to have a NY Deli sandwich (£5.50), which was filled with pastrami, sauerkraut, emmental cheese and "dressing".

This sandwich was delicious and had a tangy tomato relish.  The variety of meats were delicious and were truly enhanced by the sauerkraut. An addition of American mustard really made this sandwich that bit tastier.

I decided to go for the American Swiss sandwich (£5.50) which was a BLT with added CC (chicken and cheese), and how can you go wrong with a BLTCC?!

So the BLT is my favourite sandwich and this was no disappointment. The bacon was smoked beautifully and the chicken was delicious, not dry at all. The emmental cheese added a creamy element. The tomato was a lovely flavour and the lettuce added a gorgeous crunch. With a little mayonnaise, this sandwich soared! I was disappointed with this chips this time. They weren't as crispy as I remembered them to be and were even soggy, but that may have just been my poor memory!

Once again, this restaurant is a great place to eat!! We would definitely recommend it. See our other blog post for more information about this great place :)

Lee Rosy's Tea, Nottingham

Lee Rosy's Tea is a lovely tea room with a very relaxing atmosphere located on Broad Street, opposite Broadway cinema, in the Hockley area.

NTU

I decided to go with one of my friends, Tasha, on a Friday afternoon as I am a big fan of tea rooms and tea. Tasha had been doing a college course, which was located near to this tea room, and she raved about the sandwiches to me, so I was obliged to try one! The sandwiches are located in the fridge and are packaged ready to takeaway in plastic containers.

As you can see, I chose to have the chicken breast, green pesto and tomato salad sandwich which was £3.20. These sandwiches are made on site and the ingredients are very fresh. I personally think that the sandwich could be taken out of the packet when it is served to someone eating in the café, instead of just being placed on a plate in its plastic container.

The bread was sliced thickly and was wonderfully soft. There was only a thin layer of pesto in the sandwich which was nice as the flavour wasn't too overpowering and enhanced the other ingredients. The sandwich truly tasted fresh and there's always the worry that a sandwich with tomato in that the bread will be soggy. This hadn't happened with this sandwich!

Tasha had eaten lunch already so she chose to have one of the delicious cakes that Lee Rosy's Tea offers. She chose to have a slice of the lemon meringue pie (£2.40).

The selection of cakes was amazing and part of me wishes I'd had a cake instead of a sandwich! The lemon meringue pie was delicious. Tasha said that the meringue part of the pie was amazing; fluffy and light but also crunchy on the top. She did say that the lemon curd was a little too hard and the pastry base was a little too soft, although this could be due to the fact it was stored in a refrigerated space and may not have been fresh that day.

The tea took a little while to get to us and this is due to the fact they steep the tea for you so you don't have to mess around with the loose leaves from the tea. I chose to have a peppermint tea (£1.40), which is always a refreshing tea.

I was a little disappointed that my tea didn't come in a teapot as I think that's one of the lovely aspects about a tea room. I also didn't like that I was unable to choose the strength of my tea and wish I'd asked for it to be quite strong as the flavour wasn't strong enough for me. Although the tea was very tasty and was exactly what it said it was, I was hoping that the peppermint tea would have been fresh mint.

Tasha had an iced tea (£1.80), which is also available for takeaway. The tea room had run out of black tea so Tasha had a lemon and ginger iced tea.

Tasha said that the tea tasted a lot more of ginger than it did of lemon, but the tea was still very nice and not too sweet, which can be a problem with a lot of iced teas. She did also say that the tea wasn't that refreshing, which could have been amended by a stronger lemon flavour.

Lee Rosy's is a lovely, laid-back tea room perfect for students (due to the free wifi) but also those who want something a little more traditional for lunch. The tea room also sells loose leaf tea in the shop and on their website. In the evenings in the café, there are also events. Most Thursdays sees a film night, Tuesday night is the night for knitters and on the first Thursday of every month, there is a games' night.