Faradays has been open for a couple of weeks now after a refurbishment from it's former guise as Cape. It's refurbishment cost owners Stonegate £300,000 and it's been transformed into something that little bit special. It's a welcoming place where you could easily sit and watch the world pass by outside or meet friends for chic cocktails on a Saturday night.
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| Outside Faradays at the top of Hockley |
Whilst the cheap drinks of Lloyd's will draw in the drinkers of a weekend, Faradays should draw a slightly different crowd. Whilst drinks may be that little more expensive there's a lot more on offer with a great selection of local real ales. When we popped in they even had the excellent Thornbridge Jaipur on tap so it was a great shame to be driving.
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| A selection of beers and ales a level above from Faradays |
The decor is very much that of a modern pub or bar. Clean lines with a degree of eccentricity to keep things fun and encourage the conversation to flow. There are plenty of cosy points to sit together whether you fancy a booth or a comfy sofa or grab lunch with a group of friends
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| Clean and uncluttered interior |
Upstairs is the Static Attic, The old space previously used for private parties is now a very slick extension of the bar and a great space to mingle late at night. There's a section set up for cocktail masterclasses as well as an area to set up for live acts on a Friday night and a DJ on a Saturday.
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| The Static Attic upstairs at Faradays |
The main reason we were at Faradays was the food. After an invite to check out their menu we couldn't turn down but as always the feelings we express are what we genuinely feel. We rate a bar or restaurant as though we were paying ourselves and Faradays ranked highly for us.
Starters at Faradays
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| Starters and Tapas at Faradays |
Whilst there's no real starters section on the menu, Faradays prefer to concentrate on Tapas and light bites on the menu with a small section. With 3 plates for £9 and 5 for £14 it does appear to offer very good value with a selection of continental style dishes which would work great for sharing at lunch or dinner. There's quite a few options that you wouldn't usually see as pub food so be prepared for a treat.
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| Chorizo Bites |
One of the five plates for £14 was chorizo bites, Plated up were 3-4 decent sized chorizo sausages served with a subtle garlic dip. The chorizo had a soft edge of smoked paprika without the roughness you often taste. It worked great with the garlic mayonnaise dip although the cress served was wilting somewhat and while may have been fresh at the start of the day had lost some of it's joi de vivre.
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| Deep Fried Calamari |
Our second choice was the Deep Fried Calamari and we weren't disappointed. Too often have we experienced rubbery, overcooked calamari but not today. Our Calamari was soft in texture and wrapped in a great flavoursome batter that added to the dish. So good I think I could have requested 5 plates worth for £14 with a portion of chips on the side.
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| Smoked Haddock and Coley Fishcake |
We also opted for the Smoked Haddock and Coley Fishcake. We were persuaded by the promise of it's Applewood Smoked Cheddar as well as an oat and parsley crumb. It's presentation was excellent with the fishcake sitting upon an arrangement of fresh salad items and topped with a piece of lemon for obligatory squeeze.
The fishcake featured a very nice crumb adding a great texture to a very smooth interior. The inside had a lovely creaminess from the cheddar and a hint of smoke from the Applewood and the haddock. Very well presented and well worth trying.
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| Beef Tomato and Mozzarella |
We opted for the Beef Tomato with Mozzarella cheese which was very clean on the palate. It came with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar although we'd have liked to have seen maybe some fresh basil leaves and black pepper to season instead of the previously mentioned wilting cress.
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| Iberico Ham Croquetas |
I was really looking forward to our fifth choice of Iberico Ham Croquetas. Beautifully gooey and very tasty with chunks of ham inside they worked great with the garlic mayo they were served with.
Our Main Meals at Faradays
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| Meat Feast Pizza |
With a big selection it was pretty tough choosing what to have for mains. We opted for a Pizza and the interesting sounding Topped Mac and Cheese although there was a little confusion from our order due to not only having two versions of Mac and Cheese on the menu, but a third option of a Mac and Cheese Pizza which sounds wrong yet right at the same time. Fortunately this was resolved very quickly and without issue.
The Meat Feast Pizza featured a pig lovers dream. Plenty of bacon, Cumberland Sausage and Pepperoni adding varieties of texture, colour and flavour making this dish very easy on the eye. Pizza is nothing pretentious or complicated but the simplicity is complicated when you factor in that you're looking for a nice, light and crispy base, plenty of zest from your tomato sauce and a serious amount of quality toppings. Faradays hit these tick boxes to create a very nice meaty pizza.
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| Topped Mac and Cheese |
Mac and Cheese I find to be a great Winter comfort food and whilst it's not quite that time of year just yet it doesn't have to be cold for me when you're adding pulled pork on top. The pulled pork had a nice, warming element in the form of a hint of chili. Too often I've had overly dry pulled pork but today it was lovely and moist with plenty of barbecue sauce. Add that to the stodge of the mac and cheese for a classic meal in my book.
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| Bargain Food Monday to Friday |
If you're eating on a budget it's worth considering that Faradays offer a Monday to Friday - 2 for £8.99 menu including Cod and Chips which must be cheaper than heading to the Chippy.
£2.99 Desserts- Seriously Cheap!
Dessert pricing seems to be an afterthought these days. We've been to plenty of pubs where you can easily part with the best part of a fiver for a pretty standard dessert. We were impressed when we looked at the menu for the desserts at Faradays before we had even seen what they look like. £2.99 is very reasonable indeed.
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| The Faradays Nottingham Dessert Menu- £2.99 bargains |
We opted for the Lemon Meringue Pie with ice Cream as well as the Salted Caramel and Chocolate Bar and were very impressed with what we got.
The Salted Caramel Bar was a chocoholics wet dream. A chocolate biscuit base, smeared with salted caramel and topped with a rich chocolate fondant to create a little piece of heaven for me. It worked very well with the smooth vanilla ice cream to balance out the flavours.
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| The Amazing Salted Caramel and Chocolate Bar |
Almost as good was the Lemon Meringue which was certainly a more modern take on the classic. Featuring nice crumbly pastry with a zesty lemon filling topped beautifully with crushed meringue. It came with a lovely tart raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream.
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| Lemon Meringue |
We really enjoyed our visit to Faradays. The service was excellent with some great enthusiastic staff. There's a great choice of food which would suit everyone in the family, desserts are exceptional value for money. As a venue the changes made seem to really open it up as somewhere to consider to draw you higher up Hockley or out from the Lace Market too. You'll certainly be seeing us in there again soon.
Faradays is at 44-48 Pelham Street, Nottingham NG1 2EW
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