Raymonds Nottingham has found its stride I feel, this restaurant no longer reaches for greatness, it just cooks like it’s already there.
Hey Lolly
This Raymonds Nottingham Restaurant Review is a little different, because I went back already hoping to love it again.
At A Glance
- Where: Raymonds, 8 Stoney St, Nottingham NG1 1LP
- What was ordered: Oysters, bread & butter, fish crackling, grilled leeks, crispy potatoes, BBQ cabbage, beef tartare, chicken schnitzel, lamb belly, Basque cheesecake, chocolate crémeux, a bottle of Malbec
- Total: £164.45
- Best for: Date nights, long lunches, and anyone who believes small plates should still feel generous
- Worth knowing: You’ll finish every plate, you should absolutely order the fish crackling, and tables are booked in two-hour sittings, so factor that in if you’re planning to properly linger.
Better the Second Time Around
I’d been wanting to go back to Raymond’s Nottingham almost since the moment I left last time.
My 2025 visit had given me more than enough to remember, clever plates, good wine, that particular kind of dinner where you keep mentioning it afterwards. So when I finally went back this spring, it wasn’t with a list of faults to find. It was with appetite, curiosity, and a genuine hope that it would be just as good again.
It wasn’t, it was better.
Somewhere between the oysters and the lamb belly, I realised Raymond’s hadn’t just held its own since my last visit. It had moved up a gear.
The food felt more assured, more considered. Pairings were unusual without being performative, genuinely delicious rather than clever for the sake of it. Nothing felt like it had been built around whatever happens to be trending that month. These were dishes with thought behind them, and more importantly, pleasure at the centre of them.
That’s the bit worth writing about. Not that Raymond’s impressed me again, but that it gave me an even better reason to come back! And write an updated Raymonds Nottingham Restaurant Review.
The first few plates do not mess about
The oysters arrived first, bracing, clean, no garnish trying to make itself the main event. They did exactly what oysters should do, a bit of a showstopper and a lovely way to start the meal.
Then came bread and butter, which sounds simple because it is. But simple only works when it’s done properly. The butter was slightly salted, whipped to a gloss.
Then the fish crackling. My word.
Crisp like shattering glass, rich, salty, and completely ridiculousy umami in the best possible way. Order it as a nibble; spend the next five minutes wondering why you didn’t order two!
And that set the tone of the meal right there.
Veg That Doesn’t Stay On The Sidelines
The vegetables at Raymonds Nottingham are not there to politely fill the gaps.
The grilled leeks arrived soft, sweet, and just caught at the edges, with enough sharpness in the dressing to keep you going back for whatever was left on the plate. The BBQ cabbage was even better, smoky, indulgent, intense in that way cabbage has absolutely no business being, unless someone in the kitchen knows exactly what they’re doing on the hibachi grill.
And then the crispy potatoes.
Rough-edged, golden, properly crisp, and dangerously easy to keep “just having one more” of until suddenly there are none left and you’re giving some serious side eye.
A Cut Above The Rest
The beef tartare arrived immaculate, neat, glossy, smartly seasoned, but it wasn’t all presentation. It had depth, balance, and just enough restraint to let the beef actually taste like itself.
Then the lamb belly, succulent, sweet, tender, with that caramelised fat doing exactly what it should. Carrying meaty flavour without weighing everything down. It was probably the clearest expression of where Raymonds Nottingham is now.
The chicken schnitzel with vadouvan butter was the only plate that didn’t quite reach the same height. The escalope itself was huge, crisp and beautifully cooked, but I expected more from the vadouvan, more warmth, more curry-scented depth, more of that aromatic hit you imagine when you see it on the menu. Instead, the butter landed a little flat: rich and salty, but not quite punching.
Which felt unusual for Raymond’s, because so much of the meal did have had that lovely punch and precision. Still, when the least convincing dish of the day is a very good schnitzel, you’re hardly in trouble.
Sweet Closures
You don’t need dessert after all that. Of course you don’t. But I’m having it anyway.
Our table had run over the two-hour sitting, so we were moved to the window to finish dessert. I can see how that might bother some people, and it is worth factoring in when booking, especially if you like to linger. But, honestly, I didn’t mind it. The window gives you a different view of the restaurant.
The Basque cheesecake arrived gorgeously burnished. Rich, soft, slightly scorched at the edges.
Then the chocolate crémeux, darker and more composed. Silky, deep, not overly sweet, with that grown-up bitterness that stops chocolate from becoming a one-note ending.
It is probably this balance, somewhere between informal ease and formal structure, that keeps Raymonds Nottingham just outside Michelin-feeling territory for now. Not because the food lacks ambition, because it doesn’t, but because those little details still matter at that level.
Still, these were two proper desserts, closing the meal the way it had been cooked from the start: confidently, generously, and with pleasure very much still in mind.
Wine, warmth and the rhythm of it all
A bottle of Malbec moved through the afternoon beautifully, rich enough to hold its own with the lamb, but soft enough not to flatten the earlier plates.
And really, that was the mood of the whole meal. Nothing felt rushed, nothing felt overworked. Plates arrived with ease, the wine kept everything gently stitched together, and the afternoon stretched out in that lovely way good lunches do when nobody is quite ready to leave.
That’s what sets Raymonds Nottingham apart from my first visit back in 2025. Everything feels more assured. The kitchen has found its rhythm, the dining room feels relaxed, and the whole experience a genuinely delightful one.
Final Thoughts on Raymonds Nottingham
Raymond’s Nottingham in 2026 feels like a restaurant that has settled into itself. No ego, no “look at us” plating, just a confident team delivering one excellent dish after another.
The food, the wine, the pacing, the room, everything seemed to know where it belonged.
I arrived already hoping it will be as good as I’d remembered.
I left knowing it was better than I had hoped.
P.S. If you want to see where this started, my Raymonds Nottingham Restaurant Review 2025 visit is still worth a read – you can find it here, a slightly different Raymond’s, but one that already had something about it.
