Winter Warmers at Bramley’s Brasserie

On a cold, dark night in December, we were lucky enough to be treated to a taste of the new winter menu at Bramley’s Brasserie, onsite at the De Vere Orchard Hotel in Nottingham. This stylish restaurant is already a firm favourite with our team, thanks to its focus on using seasonal, local produce and creating hearty, wholesome fayre. Each season sees a new menu, ensuring the dishes on offer are using the best ingredients and are fitting with the weather outside. You can read our review of the restaurant’s autumn and summer menus on our food blog NottingYum. The winter menu is all about comforting hearty flavours and there are many classics, as well as a few more exotic dishes such as Moroccan Spiced Falafels and the Katsu Chicken Curry. We chose to go for three courses, to fully appreciate the delicious food on offer. We also each chose a glass of wine to go with the meal. The restaurant has an impressive range of wines on offer, and your choice is made easier by the use of an interactive wine menu on a digital tablet brought to your table, so you can search through to pick the best match for your meal. Sarah: It was nearing Christmas when we dined at Bramley’s and my favourite Christmas day starter is a good old prawn cocktail. The Crayfish salad with soft boiled egg in mari rose sauce sounded reminiscent of a prawn cocktail and I was so pleased I picked it, it was delicious. Perfect size for a starter, fresh crisp salad, plenty of crayfish and a slightly ‘chucky’ egg as they would say round these parts. I’m pescatarian so delighted to see quite a few fish options on the new winter menu. I always find it hard to resist salmon, so went for the Roast Salmon Fillet on orzo pasta for my main course. The orzo pasta was a really nice change, cooked with spinach and tomatoes which were really tasty unlike the usual supermarket cherry tomatoes this time of year. I was in the mood for chocolate so had to have the Dark Chocolate Tart with orange marmalade for desert. I wasn’t disappointed, as neither the tart or the marmalade were overly sweet so the dish wasn’t sickly and I managed to eat it all – result! I have to say I tried Erin’s sticky toffee pudding and preferred that though. There’s always next time! Erin: The menu for winter is full of tempting dishes, and it was especially hard to choose a starter – they all sound so good! In the end I went for the Beetroot and Gin Cured Salmon, served with horseradish crème fraiche and croutons. The salmon was delicious, delicately flavoured and perfectly complimented by the crunch of the croutons and the tang of the horseradish. For main, the chef’s Pie of the Day was my choice, a hearty beef pie served on top of roasted potatoes and root vegetables and smothered in gravy – the ideal choice for such a cold winter’s night. My highlight was the dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding with salted caramel and banana ice cream. The whole dish worked really well together and the ice cream is some of the best I’ve ever tasted. We would thoroughly recommend a winter trip to Bramley’s for a cosy meal, there are plenty of comfort food options on the menu perfect for this time of year. Read here to find out more about the restaurant, we hope you choose Bramley’s and we hope you enjoy it as much as us.