tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108943982008-07-05T14:08:53.371+01:00Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-16521452760232851072008-07-05T14:05:00.003+01:002008-07-05T14:08:47.483+01:00

This guy seems to know how to have a good time...

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-76811413753482543742008-05-05T21:05:00.006+01:002008-05-11T13:17:34.410+01:00

Google has rarely let me down. A few weeks ago I used it to successfully diagnose a neurological condition in a friend which was of such rarity that the senior neurological consultant in Nottingham had only seen it twice before in his career. And I am not a doctor. Google is silent however on the matter of cats who eat runner bean leaves. Either Ernest (pictured) is unique in this respect or

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-10264510602523913142008-03-13T09:53:00.001Z2008-03-13T09:56:04.235Z

I remember when Higoi first opened my thoughts ran as follows: A classy Japanese restaurant in the heart of Studentland? - I give them a month, tops. Tonight, twenty years later, I decided to go back and find out why they are still there. The Japanese are masters of miniturisation and in the compact Higoi we were served a multitude of tiny dishes by a very small waitress. We went for the Kaiseki

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-7935321026799256212008-03-07T08:49:00.003Z2008-03-07T09:38:31.280Z

After Lawrence I suppose Alan Silitoe must be Nottingham's most famous writer so it was pretty much obligatory to go and see him in conversation at The Broadway followed by the film of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. At 80 he cut a sprightly and dapper figure full of good humour and interesting anecdotes. The story of how Saturday Night and Sunday Morning came to be written was startlingly at

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-53534778534799017202008-03-01T18:21:00.002Z2008-03-01T18:28:27.852Z

I followed the recipe exactly this time and it was a complete failure - not even a hint of sourness. For 1.2 I am going to feed and warm the little beastie until it goes off. And if that doesn't work I'll make it with milk and leave it on a radiator until the whole place stinks. I've also bought some rye flour to try, though I suspect that will only affect the texture and consistency.

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-46818744723368270262008-02-27T13:11:00.002Z2008-02-27T13:17:03.036Z

My first attempt at sourdough was borderline success. The consistency and crust was good but somehow it lacked the real bite and bitterness of the bread that I remember. There are a couple of things I think I may have done wrong. My starter sprang into life with such vigour that I decided not to feed it or refrigerate it and when the time came to use it, it had developed a hard crust on top

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-28973698497442117882008-02-27T07:31:00.004Z2008-02-27T08:54:06.559Z

Like everyone else it seems, I have been swept up by the online poker boom. As a graduate of mathematics and psychology I'm suprised that it took me so long to get involved. I've got to the point now where I can pretty reliably get into the money on a $10 PartyPoker single table sit & go. Last night I was playing just before bed time in a tournament which was going pretty well for me. We

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-89126531884719687912008-02-22T22:44:00.003Z2008-02-26T22:41:54.520Z

No, not the pub. After years of hearing people talk about how great automatic breadmakers are and not believing them, I finally acquired one and have to admit that I was wrong - they are fantastic. I've been gradually working through the recipe book and the best so far was an olive bread with oregano. Now I'm starting to get a bit more adventurous and the quest is on to find a viable method

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-78464765995741264472008-02-02T00:11:00.000Z2008-02-02T00:59:13.434Z

Our friends said to meet at the tapas bar by the Galleries of Justice. I thought I knew the place that they meant - it had to be La Tasca on Weekday Cross. Dreadful, the last time I visited but our friends assured us that under the new management of World Service the restaurant had been transformed into a world class venue. We arrived in good time and told the waiter that a table for 4 was

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-8586018940595836462007-10-12T12:45:00.000+01:002007-10-12T12:52:49.520+01:00

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-944060093745412752007-09-30T22:00:00.000+01:002007-10-01T20:15:42.224+01:00

I haven't written anything for ages because, well, nothing has happenned. I got a bit bored of going to the same places over and over again and writing about how great they were. But behold! My cup runneth over. There is a new show in town. Today we went to sample the Nottingham Tram Walk. This involves riding the tram to Hucknall and then walking through deprived, gun-ridden and

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-89594220581061830542007-04-06T02:06:00.000+01:002007-05-19T00:14:09.132+01:00

It's all happening at MemSaab. After allegedly assaulting a fellow diner with cutlery the TV presenter Chris Tarrant was arrested in his hotel room by "Four flak-jacketed police officers". He is apparently "bemused" by the incident. From the 4th to the 7th of June, Atul Kochhar (gasp!), the first Indian chef to achieve a Michelin star (he now has two!) will be making a guest appearance at

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-4693632397014558832007-03-04T00:32:00.000Z2007-03-04T00:38:08.452Z

For years I thought I had forgotten everything that I learnt in my university mathematics degree. However, it all came flooding back with the help of this magnificent piece of maths geek humour. Non-mathematicians are likely to respond with "Huh?" but I can only applaud the unknown genius who turned my second year group theory classes into song.

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-78417675396907487522007-03-04T00:03:00.000Z2007-03-04T00:22:57.054Z

Dogma is located on Byard Lane, opposite Paul Smith's original shop. It's above the smoke-filled bar of the same name. The menu looks as though Gordon Ramsey has had a go at it, telling them to pare it down to the achievable minimum and then build up from there. I could have cooked everything on that menu, and I wouldn't have needed a recipe book. It's really very pedestrian indeed. I had

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1171320118485182512007-02-12T22:36:00.000Z2007-02-12T22:41:58.496Z

Dear God... Well, at least its non-smoking abd I suppose the beer was OK.

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1166487324361187062006-12-18T23:36:00.000Z2006-12-19T00:15:24.406Z

I have a problem with oysters - for years I was determined to disbelieve it, but I think I really must be allergic to them. Nobody could be as consistently unlucky as I seem to be. I mean every single time that I eat them, I end up with my head down the toilet. Strangely I do seem to get the much-denied aphrodisiac effect. I eat them, I turn into a sexual Tyrannosaurus and then I throw

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1166484833538319142006-12-18T19:28:00.000Z2007-01-14T00:35:26.330Z

French Living has changed. And not for the better. One bad meal could be a forgiveable blip - chefs get sick, waiting staff resign without notice, these things happen. But two bad meals is starting to look like a pattern and three is a definite trend. I'm not sure what can have happenned - according to the website nothing has changed. But recently, the staff that I used to recognise (and

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1162662910291355752006-11-04T17:23:00.000Z2006-11-07T16:47:42.210Z

I couldn't help but smirk over the demise of two prominent US evangelicals this week. Ted Haggard, who claimed to be some sort of spiritual advisor to George W Bush, has been fired after allegations of methamphetamine fuelled gay sex with a male fitness instructor. Even amongst the worst of the American religious right, Haggard has stuck out as unusually prejudiced and ignorant. He believes that

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1161606192200512932006-10-23T13:16:00.000+01:002006-10-23T13:28:23.496+01:00

The title is that of a philosophical work by Oolon Colluphid which completed his series, “Where God Went Wrong”, “Some More of God’s Greatest Mistakes” and “Who is This God Person Anyway?” Oolon Colluphid is a fictitious minor character in “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. Richard Dawkins might well have chosen the title for his own recent work, The God Delusion It would

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1160606447947247092006-10-11T17:32:00.000+01:002006-10-15T01:38:27.643+01:00

Something is going on - this is starting to look carefully orchestrated. First Jack Straw http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5411954.stm Then Ann Cryer and Shahid Malik http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/07/nveil07.xml Then Gordon Brown! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6036377.stm Trevor Phillips! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6040016.stm Now

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1158756606237924142006-09-20T13:08:00.000+01:002006-09-20T14:02:15.846+01:00

La Tour des Beaumes is the gorgeous villa that we rented in Provence this year. On the scant basis of the proprietors names, Eric and Jean, I fabricated an elaborate fantasy of a romance between an English schoolmistress (Jean) and a French restauranteur (Eric). Then I got an email at New Year which caused me to rethink: Dear Paul, Bonjour, We want to send you our very best wishes for a

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1156807890339888312006-08-28T23:47:00.000+01:002006-10-11T22:02:57.183+01:00

Nottingham, I am sorry to say, is not one of the cities conquered by the Nobu empire. They did briefly take over Chino Latino on Maid Marian Way, but quickly retreated back to the capital, concluding perhaps that Nottingham was not ready for their brand of Japanese exotica and their decidedly London prices. The London venue continues to thrive however; it was packed out on Sunday night when our

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1156115708505846552006-08-20T23:58:00.000+01:002006-08-22T19:20:53.933+01:00

Google Earth is a great product with only one flaw - I can't see my house on it, or indeed much of Nottingham. Now it seems that Microsoft is in on the act and with their system you can see my house, in an alarmingly high level of detail. http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=str9b4gx36rs&style=o&lvl=2&scene=4296749 One has to wonder, if imagery of this quality is available free of charge

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1152135945162391782006-07-05T21:25:00.005+01:002006-11-15T00:57:35.750Z

When does a pub become a restaurant? Or vice versa? Scruffy's looks like a pub. It smells like a pub; fag-ash and beer-fumes being the predominant odours that greet you as you cross the threshold from Derby Road. Oh let's face it, it is a pub. There is nothing wrong with pubs of course, in fact I am a big fan of them. And some pubs serve excellent food and not all of them smell of fag-ash. But

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10894398.post-1151659257660829802006-06-30T10:16:00.000+01:002006-06-30T10:20:57.673+01:00

The entire Dutch government has been brought down by the Ayan Hirsi Ali affair. Most gratifying.

Nottingham Dinerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06550524292378773843noreply@blogger.com