Back in the day when the LeftLion team were young enough to think that organising gigs was a fun thing to do The Orange Tree on Shakespeare Street played host to some of our events, even going back as far as our NYE Extravaganza in 2005. Ten years on and they’ve still got the same commitment to quality live music and a high grade drinks selection.
Sat on the corner plot of Shakepeare Street and North Sherwood Street it’s smack bang in student-ville but the clientele is a good mixture of skiving scholars and Nottinghamians.
When offered a cocktail at The Orange Tree it’s good counsel to accept. My dining partner loves a good espresso martini (£5.50) - Sailor Jerry spiced rum with Kahlua coffee liqueur and espresso. I was too thirsty for a cocktail so opted for a pint of IPA (£3.50) instead - man cocktail.
We perused the menu to a soundtrack of Motown, new wave rock, blues and a little chilled hip hop. A mixture of british classics, american burgers and hotdogs with some Japanese influenced curveballs - obviously.
We started with Japanese style hot wings (£4.95) which were bloody huge. Coated in chunky panko breadcrumbs served with hot sauce. The endive and black pudding salad (£6.95) was delicious despite the lack of endive (the kitchen was fresh out).
The specials board shone with several tempters but a choice had to be made and the deep fried goats cheese coated in poppy seeds (£7.95) was a winner. The coating was crisp and the cheese had just reached melting point inside, served with griddled pears (a lovely compliment) and honey and mustard dressing. The presentation was exquisite and wouldn’t have been out of place in a top notch restaurant. I suspect that the five hour beef chilli (£8.50) employed several types of chilli pepper, it had layers of heat from smokey to sweet. Served with coriander rice and two big twirls of crispy, homemade tortilla.
Famous for it’s rum selection we had a liquid dessert of Elements 8 (£4) and Ron Zacapa (£5.60). We hung out for a while sipping our rums and enjoying the tunes. When we return we’ll try the Notorious P.I.G burger for cool factor or we’d shut our eyes and choose a special at random as they all sounded awesome. Ash Dilks
38 Shakespeare St, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ
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