Bar de Nada

Bar de Nada is a friendly, locally run, bar/eatery on the corner of Broad Street and Lower Parliament Street, at the north end of the hippest strip in trendy Hockley, with a clientele that's both laid-back and hedonistic, and definitely a style that is all it own. It lays claim to being possibly the most genuine of Nottingham's bars.

Eclectic sounds, cheap drinks, convincing Spanish and World tapas and lack of a dress code make it a favourite among the city's cognoscenti. Meanwhile the dazzling selection of world beers tends to keep the most demanding dipsomaniac satisfied.

They offer a special deal from 5 to 7 pm; eat from the special tapas menu between five and seven on a weekday evening and the price you pay is the time you arrive, and that allows for three tapas and bread. So if you arrive at 6.15, it costs you £6.15.

What's more, while other venues in the neighbourhood increasingly play host to townie drinkers and two-for-one vodka teenies, Bar de Nada remains an oasis of bohemian sensibility and barbarian-free good times. Tapas are served Monday to Saturday till 9.30pm in an informal and spacious environment, from a menu that is an interesting mix of classic tapas with a handful of well chosen world variety, adding vibrancy to proceedings and preventing it being just another tapas experience. There is plenty of choice for vegetarians making a welcome change from traditional meat dominated tapas menus.

The range of classic tapas is such that even prolonged attendance at this buzzing restaurant should not dull the appetite for what has become an increasingly popular form of gastronomic grazing. Consider the traditional Spanish casserole of haricot beans in tomato sauce with chorizo, black pudding and ham, or prawns fried in olive oil with sliced red chillies, the delicate pickled white anchovies in dressing, or lamb's kidneys in sherry - a real dish for the connoisseur.

Too often I find that tapas tend to lose in the making, so it is refreshing to find the simpler dishes such as mature Manchego cheese served with tomato and olive oil, or Spanish mackerel pan-fried in garlic, the two strong flavours blending rather than competing with each other.

Amongst the world-style tapas expect to find pork dumplings in Chinese pastry, the celebrated tom yum soup with choices of chicken, mushroom or prawns, the Indonesian deng deng chicken, or chicken Caribbean jerk style with red bonnet and chillies.

Thirty beers from around the world, with the likes of Anchor Steam Beer and Erdinger on draught, are regularly enjoyed by a crowd of friendly, appreciative types who lap up the continental vibes and are about as troublesome as a day-old kitten. Spacious and inviting, the serving of tapas till 9.30 encourages the social imbibers but doesn't deter determined drinkers from joining in the fun.

More information including the full tapas menu is available on their Website.