I really like going to Homemade in the city centre but it is so popular and busy sometimes it is hard to find a table. So bearing that in mind this Sunday afternoon we took a little stroll across the Forest Recreation ground past all the kids young and old playing football on the park to partake in a little light lunch at another one of their three branches of Homemade in the Old Pavilion Buildings.

Inside the Homemade we spent a while checking out their chalkboard menu and brunch menu. If I had walked in a little bit earlier in the day I would have tucked into one of their breakfast plates. To be more specific “The Homemade Mega Weekend Brunch”, for £8 you get a plate of ‘Handmade Sausage, Bacon, Eggs, Black Pudding, Beans, Baked Vine Tomatoes, Hash Browns, Sauteed Mushrooms, and Chunky Toast.’

I pushed that thought and temptation to the back of my mind into the slot set a side for ‘meals to eat at a later date’ and concentrated on the chalkboard. There were plenty of other tempting offerings including a ‘homemade cheddar topped burger with red onion chutney’ and a ‘mushroom and halloumi burger’.

I saw both coming out of the kitchen as I pondered my choices and they looked pretty good. I also saw a rather lovely looking bowl of bright yellowy orange soup on the counter which turned out to be “Butternut squash soup with homemade chunky bread” for just £4.50.

There were quite the plethora of  quiche, salad, sandwiches, cakes and assorted savoury and sweet sundries to be had and it was a touch choice to pick just two things to eat.

So in the end then just what did we eat?

Chicken and Chorizo Stew 

The first choice off the Chalk Menu Board was a bowl of the Chicken and Chorizo Stew that came ‘with handmade bread to mop it up’. This was a very tasty bowl packed with flavour, plenty of chunks of chicken, thick spicy chunks of chorizo sausage, crunchy chickpeas, coriander, and a chorizo and tomato flavoured broth. This was declared to be very tasty and excellent value for £7.

Meatball and Melted Mozzarella Italian Mega sandwich

The next choice was one of their “Homemade Meatball and Melted Mozzarella Italian Mega sandwiches with Wedges”. This came with a small green salad and a pot of creamy coleslaw. Based on the fact that the sandwich itself only occupied about a third of the plate I am not sure that the word ‘mega’ was used in context here 🙂 , having said that it was a tasty little snack. The mini meatballs drenched in a sweet tomato sauce inside the lightly toasted ciabatta roll were a meaty little treat. The melted cheese mixed with that sauce soaked into the soft inside of the bread roll but didn’t make the sandwich soggy the crusty bread held it all together to make a most enjoyable bite. The chunky fries were basically a third of a jacket spud turned into chips, and they sat alongside the green salad to keep it and the coleslaw company as I chomped through my sandwich.

I did like the Meatball sub, but to be honest I wished I had chosen the burger instead, or perhaps the fish finger sandwich, but really if I am truthful I wanted that bowl of chicken and chorizo stew that was sitting next to me in front of my dining companion.

Sunday Food Envy Alert!

I do really like eating at Homemade and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one out there that also loves dining with them. I really like some of the things that they have to say on their website that sum up their thoughts on food;

“Homemade also believes in proper food, that means proper tasty butter not rubbish additive filled margarine, sandwiches made with traditionally baked breads, jacket potatoes fluffy & oven baked and not from a silly microwave, delicious homemade burgers with lovely lean steak mince, sandwich fillings freshly prepared with love and good old fashioned baking.  Basically, we just love real food!”

There are three branches of Homemade in Nottingham, you can follow them on Twitter and on Facebook to see what they are up to

The original Homemade is at 20 Pelham Street just 5 minutes walk from the Old Market Square and about the same from the Lace Market. I have very fond memories of a rather nice Lasagne with salad that I ate there

The second one to open was in Sherwood at 632 Mansfield Road inside the gift shop ‘A Room Full of Butterflies’ 

This one we went to today is in the refurbished Old Pavilion on the Forest Recreation Ground. It is but a short walk from The Forest tram stop and a nice spot to pause on a walk around the rec. I love a walk that ends or pauses at a nice spot to munch!