Cast
Cast has a website at the link above but, appropriately enough, it isn't working as I write this.
An unprecedented warm and sunny May-day morning found the EatNottingham.com household and its four weekend guests snoring in their beds and then groaning with hangovers until the early afternoon when it began to seem as though lunch (rather than death) was an immanent prospect.
We found an outdoor table at Cast, the new-ish restaurant at Nottingham Playhouse. Anish Kapoor's flawed, but nonetheless impressive, Sky Mirror sculpture was gleaming in the sunshine and a lone mallard duck was paddling happily in the water at its base. Cast does have a unique environment for alfresco dining and drinking - the peaceful and largely traffic-free island of Wellington Circus in the shadow of St Barnabus's Cathedral makes a pleasing contrast with the Grade II listed monstrosity of the Playhouse and its shiny new piece of public art.
A round of Bloody Marys restored us all to an interest in life and conversation and appetite - just as everything started to go wrong in the kitchens. Brunch is served until 4.30pm at Cast on a Sunday but it was to be be long after that before our desserts would arrive.
The seared beef carpaccio was excellent in my opinion, but one of our party thought it overdone - "that's not seared - its cooked!". It was followed by an exceedingly long intermission as the overwhelmed kitchens struggled to cope with an influx of diners and the waitresses became ever more flustered, surly and un-cooperative.
Still feeling somewhat delicate, I had ordered the safe, vegetarian, wild mushroom risotto for a main course but soon realised the magnitude of my error when everyone else's meals eventually arrived. Cast seems to be one of those places where vegetarians (even temporary ones like myself) are second-class citizens. My risotto was dwarfed by the Full English Breakfast which suddenly looked so maddeningly desirable and comforting compared to the junior portion of pallid rice and (button?) mushrooms which they had served to me for pretty much the same price.
The service difficulties then became a shambles. By 5pm the kitchens claimed to have closed so that we could not order any dessert. They had to be forcibly re-opened under protest and another long delay ensued before our puds arrived.
Cast was a fine venue for an evening meal the last time I tried them, but sunny, crowded, Sunday lunchtimes seem to give them a few problems. They put a "discretionary" 10% service charge on bills for tables of six or more - but our discretion was not invited and the credit card slips came closed.
An unprecedented warm and sunny May-day morning found the EatNottingham.com household and its four weekend guests snoring in their beds and then groaning with hangovers until the early afternoon when it began to seem as though lunch (rather than death) was an immanent prospect.
We found an outdoor table at Cast, the new-ish restaurant at Nottingham Playhouse. Anish Kapoor's flawed, but nonetheless impressive, Sky Mirror sculpture was gleaming in the sunshine and a lone mallard duck was paddling happily in the water at its base. Cast does have a unique environment for alfresco dining and drinking - the peaceful and largely traffic-free island of Wellington Circus in the shadow of St Barnabus's Cathedral makes a pleasing contrast with the Grade II listed monstrosity of the Playhouse and its shiny new piece of public art.
A round of Bloody Marys restored us all to an interest in life and conversation and appetite - just as everything started to go wrong in the kitchens. Brunch is served until 4.30pm at Cast on a Sunday but it was to be be long after that before our desserts would arrive.
The seared beef carpaccio was excellent in my opinion, but one of our party thought it overdone - "that's not seared - its cooked!". It was followed by an exceedingly long intermission as the overwhelmed kitchens struggled to cope with an influx of diners and the waitresses became ever more flustered, surly and un-cooperative.
Still feeling somewhat delicate, I had ordered the safe, vegetarian, wild mushroom risotto for a main course but soon realised the magnitude of my error when everyone else's meals eventually arrived. Cast seems to be one of those places where vegetarians (even temporary ones like myself) are second-class citizens. My risotto was dwarfed by the Full English Breakfast which suddenly looked so maddeningly desirable and comforting compared to the junior portion of pallid rice and (button?) mushrooms which they had served to me for pretty much the same price.
The service difficulties then became a shambles. By 5pm the kitchens claimed to have closed so that we could not order any dessert. They had to be forcibly re-opened under protest and another long delay ensued before our puds arrived.
Cast was a fine venue for an evening meal the last time I tried them, but sunny, crowded, Sunday lunchtimes seem to give them a few problems. They put a "discretionary" 10% service charge on bills for tables of six or more - but our discretion was not invited and the credit card slips came closed.
1 Comments:
Oh dear, that does sound grim. Pre-theatre is quite a different story, though: bright, brisk, efficient, with sensibly sized portions so that you don't nod off during the performance. I have lunch at the Cast deli 3 or 4 times a week: great sandwiches and lattes, friendly service from Helen and her staff.
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