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Belle and Jerome is a stylish and sophisticated continental cafe which serves delicious lunches and snacks during the day and transforms into a glitzy wine bar in the evening. At either of their locations, in Beeston or West Bridgford, the ambience is chic European, and diners can sit back and relax with friends over a fine meal. Lighter bites, cakes and delicious fair-trade coffee ensure that there's always a lively buzz around the place.

Home smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast might be a popular choice for breakfast while later on for lunch you could opt for a grilled steak burger on a toasted bun with melted Cashel Blue and homemade onion jam and chips. For dinner, typically there might be a duck and apricot terrine served with toasted croutons and mango chutney, followed by smoked haddock fishcakes on creamed lemon spinach and fine beans, ending with a rich chocolate brownie with butterscotch ice cream. The wine list is diverse with numerous New and Old World selections.

Pizza Express remains a hugely popular bedrock of casual eating. Its popularity is testimony to the fact that across the country, they have restaurants where you will always be guaranteed a good nosh, with children's tastes being well catered for.

Pizza Express has gone even more Roman, and following the success of that particular example of listening to their public have introduced Romana pizzas, including the scorching Etna and the hearty Siciliana.

These pizzas are now thinner, bigger and crispier, and if that sounds like a marketing line, it is. However, unlike many such lines, this one is true, and their quality is always consistent, though cleverly they have still managed to retain a homemade feel to their pizzas.

As an alternative to pizza, try their pollo pesto - cavatappi pasta with torn chicken breast, mushrooms, red onions and mozzarella in a creamy gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce and finished with grana padano - or the niçoise salad with mixed leaves, yellowfin tuna, free range egg, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes with olives, anchovies, capers and house dressing.

Many of the big chains have come a long way, and Pizza Express is certainly amongst them. One of the first to be quoted on the Stock Exchange - in 1993 - Pizza Express is not a franchise operation and retains tight control through its own staff.

Their wine list - though short - contains some surprisingly good offerings, especially their intense Australian Chardonnay, and a big, full-bodied Merlot from Cusumano, Sicilia.

The Ye Olde Bell hotel is one of England's oldest coaching inns, dating back to the seventeenth century. The hotel successfully marries a traditional atmosphere and features such as oak panelled rooms, log fires and leaded windows, with the high standards of comfort and facilities expected from a modern hotel.

Restaurant 1650 has twice been awarded an AA rosette for its excellent cuisine and extensive selection of wines, and is considered one of the finest restaurants in the area. It can accommodate forty guests and is a good venue for civil ceremonies, post christening celebrations and other happy occasions. Its short, but well thought out menu offers lovingly prepared home cooked food and features some signature dishes like baked pepper stuffed with wild rice and nuts served with a tomato and strawberry and champagne roulade.

Formerly known as The New Ferry, The Farndon Boathouse is now an attractive, recently refurbished dining destination, welcoming customers from a building that sits beautifully on the banks of the River Trent. The fashionable bar and restaurant has carefully been rebuilt with features such as exposed roof trusses, warehouse style lighting, stone floors, and glass and by-fold doors.

The Boathouse believes in championing home-cooked and locally produced food; meats, fish, spices, and cheeses are often smoked in-house and many of the herbs are grown in their own back garden.

In the winter, roaring open-fires greet one and all, while in the summer you could gaze over the river and across the rolling country shires as far as the eye can see, and of course, enjoy gastro pub food and regularly changing real ales, wines, and continental beers.

Their evening menu could open with Thai fishcakes, or a smoked chicken and orange tart with Parmesan pastry. Main courses yield pork cutlets with bashed jersey royals, fried Savoy cabbage and bacon, and pan-fried sea bream with gnocchi, peas, and smoked pancetta.