west bridgford’s newest venue: Hemisphere
West Bridgford’s newest venue is here, Hemisphere self-described as an Australasian inspired restaurant and bar combines flavours of modern European, Asian and Australasian cuisine, offering everything from an Aussie brunch to tapas style small plates, speciality coffee and even a selection of bubble teas.
This family run business is the realised dream of head chef and owner Paul Thacker who has already made a name for himself in his city of Nottingham and beyond for his talents in the kitchen over the years and is now super passionate about his latest project- his own restaurant in his own city and it was really great to see both his passion and excitement on my recent visit…
I have known Paul and his wife Rachel for many years and so being able to see and experience for myself what he has created in Hemisphere recently, made me not only want to return time and time again, but to shout from the roof tops what an incredible place this really is as a local independent, family run business.
We ate from the plant based night menu – I am vegetarian, but my husband is not, so this was a little out of his comfort zone being the big meat eater he is, however he really enjoyed the dishes, including some he would never have usually gone- for purely in his words because they are ‘too veggie’!
We enjoyed a Butter Board of Foccacia bread and the most incredible lemon, salted butter to begin with a glass of rose wine. Next came Corn Hotcakes with white radish, red shisho and green curry – so tasty.
The Woodland Scallops were a real showstopper- made from king oyster mushrooms made to look like scallops, served with wasabi peas and the most delicious shisho pesto and jalapeno aioli- give me more!
Other small plates that arrived included Crispy Tofu and ginger teriyaki, green onions and black garlic (a firm favourite with hubby), Vegetable Tempura of bell pepper, green bean, mange tout, asparagus with zucchini black garlic ponzu and finally Crispy Eggplant Roll from the plant based sushi section of the menu.
Our large plate option was the Nasu Dengaku, baked eggplant, goma miso, truffle and vegan parmesan- strong, addictive flavours, yet light in texture and so came very much with the ‘more’ factor.
It would have been rude to leave without trying a dessert, however this was a tough one, as all of the options were so tempting, but given our vast amount of savoury dishes, we decided to opt for one of the lighter sweets – the Pineapple Fritter, served with coconut custard (yep!), matcha green tea and lime- wow is all I can say, this was epic.
Of course if you were inclined you could finish off with a speciality coffee, bubble tea or dessert wine, however by this point we were sufficiently satisfied enough to call it a night- this time, but I will be returning again very soon with friends and cannot wait to sample their brunch and Sunday dinner offerings too.
From the stylish interior, low lit atmosphere and friendly service to the incredibly creative food dishes, reasonable pricing and of course the family run element- this is definitely one to visit sooner rather than later.
Check them out here – https://hemispherewb.co.uk/
The Sleepy Vegetarian
