Not quite the Tonic**

Tonic

At the weekend I took a little trip back to my parents home in Nottinghamshire. It was Mother’s Day weekend so I wanted to treat my folks to something special in the city on Saturday. Usually my restaurant of choice is World Service but unfortunately it was fully booked. Instead following the excellent reviews on Tripadvisor I booked Tonic.

From the reviews I had high expectations. I was half expecting to be intimidated by a discerning crowd of Nottingham’s fashinistas. The first impressions of Tonic are that of a huge cruise ship. Downstairs there are 2 bars; one as you enter that had one lone guy propping up the bar, then a large bar on the 2nd floor that had a few groups of people. I was really underwhelmed. I noticed that a few people were going up the stairs and promptly back down again. I had to briefly scamper upstairs to check whether we stay or whether I quickly make an escape plan. The restaurant was busy, so I assumed that the walk-ins didn’t have a reservation. We ordered a round of weak Martini’s and took a seat in the bar. The barman then decided to turn the lights down low and pump up the heavy techno music. Yikes. We quickly took the stairs to the restaurant, hoping it would be a haven away from the decibels.

We were greeted by a cheery waitress, immediately shown over to a comfy waiting area, swiftly asked whether we would like some bread and olives and then we were off on another experience. Our seat was in one of the comfy booths that look out onto the restaurant. The atmosphere was relaxed; it’s not trying too hard. The staff looked like students, my father mentioned that the cooks in the kitchen are from a local culinary college, which I thought was a great idea.

The menu is a mix bag but I was surprised at how fairly priced it was. I started with a fishcake with a poached egg (they called it Welsh Rarebit). I found the fish far too smoky and luke warm, although my egg was perfectly runny. My father enjoyed his scallops, although from my wee bite I thought there wasn’t much spice and were on the rubbery to over cooked side. My mother had gnocchi with a tomato sauce. The sauce was more like mushed tomatoes with some dry green gnocchi around the side. Well we were going through the wine, so were quite merry and were hoping that the main course would be better.

My lamb could only apparently be cooked pink which I didn’t mind, although there is pink then there is undercooked and unseasoned. The meat itself was good quality, but it was bland. On the plate there was undercooked ravioli, a carrot, roast potatoes and other vegetables that didn’t add anything to the dish. It was just too much of blandness. Such a shame as I’m sure there is promise, but I was really disappointed.

The service was lovely although you can tell inexperienced as the girl struggled to open the wine and when asked how spicy the scallops were- she didn’t know.

Anyways I was having fun with my parents and finished with some liqueur coffees that rather finished us all of.

All in all, I felt like I was a customer in some culinary experiment. I give it marks for effort but Tonic didn’t quite make the mark on the food or service. The bar and the restaurant don’t mix; the ingredients on the plate didn’t quite mix. Not sure I’ll be back as I am sure there must be better restaurants in town.

http://www.tonic-online.co.uk/
Chapel Bar, Nottingham.

Food: **
Service: ***