Julia Head, AKA Instagram’s The Nottingham Food Guide, takes us to Beeston’s plant-based Indian street food café SuRano.
With the recent surge in new restaurant openings in Nottingham, food bloggers, journalists and self-appointed critics alike are scrambling for fresh angles (I should know, I’m one of them), confidently branding every eatery in town as a hidden gem. I draw the line, however, at describing Nottingham’s most celebrated Japanese restaurant - once tucked away up a nondescript alley and crowned The Guardian’s Restaurant of the Year - as an undiscovered treasure.
But I digress. Today I’d like to introduce you to SuRano, a bona fide diamond in the rough.
Step through the door of this plant-based Indian street food café, and you’ll find yourself among a bustling Sunday morning crowd: some savouring potato-stuffed parathas bathed in vegan-friendly butter alongside fragrant chai, others tucking into colourful thali platters heaving with vibrant Punjabi snacks, curries and chutneys served in dainty stainless steel katoris.
Pull up a chair on the terrace, and you might just meet the café’s namesake and chef-owner, Rano. Over a steaming cup of chai, she’ll regale you with how a life-altering brain haemorrhage prompted her to swap a long career in finance for her love of cooking. Since opening the doors in 2022, SuRano has flourished the old-fashioned way: through word of mouth. Locals know her by name, and some even travel from as far as Chesterfield just to taste her onion bhajis and spring rolls made with her signature plant-based "planeer," all from recipes lovingly passed down by her mother.
SuRano is the definition of a neighbourhood café, and it draws in both vegans and meat-eaters alike (and those somewhere in between) who can’t resist the fresh, punchy, Punjabi flavours.
Despite its low-key location, it’s just a five-minute walk from Beeston train station and right next to a bus stop too – so there’s really no excuse not to visit this dog-friendly café. They 100% deserve the local support – and you’ll be rewarded with some of the best Indian food in Notts.
Head to SuRano at 56 Lilac Cres, Rylands, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 1PX. You can also check out more of what Nottingham’s cuisine has to offer by following The Nottingham Food Guide on Instagram.
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