Nottingham is recognized as one of the leading destinations in the UK for its cuisine; pub food, greasy spoons, cafes, stylish restaurants and award-winning eateries total more than 300 in the city centre alone. Every year the Nottingham Restaurant Awards are held in the city due to its reputation as a top gastronomic destination. The awards highlight the many fantastic restaurants and aim to encourage people to eat out and enjoy them whenever they can. They also have an award for Young Chef of the Year.

Nottingham is where the original Red Hot restaurants started out. The menu features fresh ingredients, no artificial colourings and an in house bakery. The venue has a live cooking station and offers six of the worlds most popular cuisines. The great thing about eating here is that you can visit as many of the food stations as you like, as many times as you like! The chefs are creating the food right there in front of you so you know it is fresh and can eat all you like for a fixed price. Desserts are also made freshly in house by top pastry chefs.

Standing on the site of the walls of Nottingham's famous medieval castle, the award winning Hart’s Restaurant has a busy atmosphere and a modern British cooking style. Well-known throughout the city for their use of top quality ingredients, often locally sourced, relaxing atmosphere and delicious menu, Hart’s won the award ‘Restaurant of the year’ in 2008. Choose from lobster and mango salad with mango dressing, fillet of beef, braised beef and wild mushroom ravioli, or pan fried halibut to make your mouth water. Desserts will send you to heaven with combinations such as hot chocolate pudding with Jersey milk ice cream, apple tarte tatin or the berries, fruit foam and goat's cheese sorbet.

Based in Chapel Quarter, Tonic is being talked about all over Nottingham, awarded Best Newcomer and Runner Up in the Best Design and Best Use of Local Produce categories of The Nottingham Restaurant Awards 2007, and following this up with runner up in the overall category of Nottingham Restaurant of the Year in the 2008 awards. Its décor is something else consisting of a striking cinematic art installation and featuring an open kitchen. The menu regularly changes with the seasons, choose from pea soup and smoked bacon scone, millefeuille of woodpigeon for starters or herb crusted Derbyshire lamb rump and organic salmon for the main course. Anyone with a sweet tooth will appreciate the self-indulgent chocolate fudge with nut brownie and butterscotch bananas.

The Griffin Inn Plumtree is an interesting venue to look out for as it serves steaks and fish on volcanic granite heated to 440°C. The rock allows people to cook food to their own tastes at the table as the pub has 30 of the rocks and keeps them hot in a special oven. Quite a unique concept, it is also delicious!

The Lace Market is a quirky and stylish area to dine, here you will find Geisha, Nottingham's hottest arrival with a spicy pan-Asian menu; Merchants, a venue built into a converted former textile mill with a décor of chain mail chandeliers, horsehair wall lights, sumptuous red leather seating and Nottingham lace panels; The Pitcher and Piano pub, a converted church, and plenty of other contemporary bars and eateries.