Nottingham has a thriving restaurant scene where you can get a little bit of whatever cuisine you fancy - from French (French Living on King Street) to Polish food at Ania in Sherwood. We also have some amazing Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese options within the city centre.
The newest restaurant to join is Rosa's Thai which can be found on King Street in the former premises of Loch Fyne. The brand has branches across the UK including Cardiff and London, where it all began.
A fan of Thai food, I was curious to see what Rosa's could offer as I'm a huge fan of a plate of Pad Thai or Red Curry on occasion. I also dragged my partner with me so that I could get a second opinion - and also order twice as much.
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The team has given the former Loch Fyne restaurant, which closed during the coronavirus pandemic, a completely new lease of life with red and white tiles. It's great to see the venue reopen and given it was a Tuesday, it was exceptionally busy at 7pm.
One thing I noticed immediately about Rosa's is the warm, cosy atmosphere. The staff made us feel instantly at ease with a big friendly welcome and hello.
Given it was a Tuesday night, I felt no review would be complete without a large white wine so I started as I meant to continue with a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc. I also opted for the homemade vegetable spring rolls as a starter and loved them.
The hand-rolled spring rolls had a beautifully light and tangy flavour which was perfectly contrasted with the sweet chilli dipping sauce that accompanied them. I'm a sucker for rice noodles so this was the perfect dish to begin the meal with as it was light enough that I didn't feel too full knowing I had the Pad Thai ahead of me. I have to add that four spring rolls for £6.50 is not bad going.
My partner opted for the sweetcorn patties which were fried in a light batter with favoured kaffir lime leaves and red curry paste along with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. Both starters were a flavourful choice but left lovely and light without being overpoweringly strong or spicy.
I do love a good classic Pad Thai as you can't beat the flavour and it feels a bit like comfort food especially when the weather is cold. The Pad Thai had a choice of chicken, prawns, tofu and veg so we opted for the same main each.
It was a decent-sized dish complete with rice noodles, thick prawns, tangy tamarind sauce and an egg mixed in throughout. My favourite part is scattering the crushed peanuts on top and adding a good squeeze of lime across the dish for extra flavour.
Pad Thai is a dish where you can experience many different flavours including salty, sweet, bitter, sour and spicy in one go. Rosa's version was exceptionally flavourful and light so it felt remarkably healthy which is great considering I haven't attempted Veganuary or any healthy diets since Christmas.
Following our mains and starters, we were both absolutely stuffed so opted not to have a dessert although there were many on the menu that caught our eye. I'm definitely feeling a repeat visit to try their red curry and mango and sticky rice dessert.
For two starters, two mains and, ahem, four drinks between us, the bill came to £70 which was reasonable considering we had such a lovely meal. We left feeling full, relaxed and already planning our return visit.
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