Lunch & Mocktails @ The Magic Garden

I love a themed bar and The Magic Garden really takes theming to a whole new level…

The creative masters behind The Hockley Arts Club, Penny Lane and Das Kino to name a few of their impressive portfolio, The Magic Garden is another that does not disappoint.  Located within a grade || listed building (formally Jamie’s Italian) in the heart of Nottingham’s Lace Market, this vibrant bar, restaurant ticks all the boxes for good food, creative cocktails and stunning surroundings, so off I went to go check out the new menu and newly opened outdoor space- wow!

The first thing you notice upon entry is just the vastness of space in this venue, with it’s endless rooms, all themed differently, with colour at the forefront, you can essentially have a different experience in every room, depending where your mood takes you.

We chose to sit in the main central restaurant area overlooking the garden – a beautiful view if ever I saw one, especially now they have transformed it into even more of a botanical oasis of tropical plants, vibrant colours and secret doorways.

To the far end of the garden, now resides a wooden outdoor bar, with plenty of seating surrounding it- great for Spring and Summer gatherings and a cheeky bottomless brunch or two and the lighting comes as hanging bulb string lights- which I Imagine create a cosy, warm effect during the evenings,

The new menu is substantial, with a lovely selection of small plates, which is exactly where our direction headed. As a vegetarian, I particularly found this area of the menu appealing and so went for the Crispy Halloumi Fries, with sweet chilli sauce (always a winner), Patatas Bravas – a generous portion piled high and the Vegetable Gyoza dumplings, with teriyaki sauce – yum!  To add more carbs to the mix, we decided to try the Seasoned fries, which came perfectly seasoned to my liking and finally we shared the Goats cheese and pear salad, which to my delight came with a drizzle of honey (always a bonus on a salad).  This mash up was shared between myself and my dining partner who is also a veggie and was just the perfect amount of food at three small plates, a salad and a side.

For dessert, we discussed sharing (which we generally always waste time doing), before inevitably deciding on a dessert each and in doing so, were totally distracted by the words Banoffee and Lemon meringue; both of which were ordered before we could say ‘abracadabra’ totally missing the part where it said ‘sundae’.  This however, was not an issue as actually these flavours in ice cream sundae form were both delicious and a welcomed lighter option than the cake/tart form we would usually go for.

The drinks menu is also something The Magic Garden clearly take pride in, with an impressive selection of cleverly themed cocktails and mocktails including the Fruit salad (which tasted exactly like the retro sweets!).

This was a really lovely experience from start to finish- the food, the drinks, the magical setting and the service all delivered and it was nice reminder that this unique venue in our city of Nottingham exists and as such will be making a booking for bottomless brunch with friends to enjoy their new look garden in the sun.

Fiona Duncan-Steer aka The Sleepy Vegetarian

For more information- https://themagicgardennotts.com/