Opium, Nottingham
I'd been to Opium about 8 years ago, with the ladies from my National Childbirth Trust group when I was pregnant with Lauren. I remember having a very enjoyable evening and that the food was gorgeous and I vowed to go back again "soon"...."Tony we must go" I said with confidence, of course, I was totally under estimating the effect a child has on your life and so 2012 arrived and I had not returned.
So, when my friend The Not So Hairy Biker announced there was a Group On offer for Opium and did I want to go, I jumped at the chance.
Our table was booked for 7pm on a Friday night, mid February and there was a group of us from work, current teams members, old team members, new team members and one departing team member, 8 ladies and one gentleman.
I was the last to arrive with Sue, who I picked up on the way, after a rush to get ready following Laurens swimming lesson. Opium itself is spread over 3 floors, there is a bar downstairs, the restaurant on the first floor and a little drinking room up from there. It's got that old Lace Market feel, large room, high ceilings, airy but not stuffy, still a modern touch. The restaurant was busy, but not heaving and as we ate and other diners left, their tables were joined together and readied for a large party.
The 7 other diners were champing at the bit to order and were already tucking into a huge bowl of both prawn and cassava crackers. The prawn crackers were crisp and light and not at all greasy and the cassava crackers, crunchy with a little fire! We were sat at a large round table, with a lazy susan in the middle, the perfect way for a group to dine, excellent for allowing everyone to be involved in the conversation, unlike long tables where pockets of conversation and little groups form rather than the whole group sharing the experience.
Four of us were on the Group On offer, we paid I think £13 for a starter, a main and a rice and a cocktail downstairs in the bar afterwards. Most of those who were not on the Group On, decided to have the "Friday - Try as Much" menu at £16 per head. The premise being that you get an Opium Platter to start (Prawn Toast, Peking Spare Ribs, Seaweed, Opium Chai Spring Rolls and Crispy Wontons), then from a choice of 12 dishes and rice you can order what you like and as much as you like as long as you don't waste, if you leave an excessive amount you will incur an extra charge. Our group took the advice of the waitress and ordered about 6 dishes (including broccoli and Chinese mushrooms, chicken curry, satay lamb, beef in black bean sauce, Singapore noodles) and some egg fried rice. As I was on the offer I ordered some Opium Wok Fried Dumplings for a starter and for a main Opium's Special Duck Stuffed with Prawns in Plum Sauce with egg fried rice.
Our cracker basket was replenished and we sat and waited. Don't get me wrong, we were out for a night of catching up, so we had plenty to talk about and we were all enjoying the crackers and drinks, but the starters did take a long time to come. The waitress was good at bringing us extra drinks and some of the group requested cutlery in case the chopsticks didn't work out, although we had an "expert" amongst our party who was showing us the way, however, the same waitress dropped food on one of us and in the end I wasn't sure if she was new and nervous or generally not suited for the job.
Once the starter was finished our plates were cleared away and we faced another long wait for our main courses, but eventually they started to come out. We had one false start, when 2 dishes arrived and we were all looking at each other puzzled over who ordered them, when the people on the table next to us claimed them as their own!
Ours began to arrive, Melissa was one of the first to receive a dish, her noodles, she waited for her accompanying main, however, the "Try as Much" mains started to amass on the lazy susan, the other Group On members got their meals, one of the highlights being Tammy's Fried Rice with Pineapple, a gargantuan portion of rice, studded with pineapple and served in half a hollowed out pineapple.
I waited patiently for any sign of my meal, Melissa did the same, everything else had arrived, we had to grab the waitress and explain we had items missing, Melissa got her main, but a good 10 minutes after her noodles and finally I got first my duck and then after another prompt my rice.
I have to say my dinner was worth waiting for. It didn't look particularly amazing or eye catching, although it did look like a very big portion, which was good as I had had to pay an extra £3 on top of my Group On as it was classed as a seafood dish! The duck was soft and flavoursome, the skin was crisp in the parts not soaked in the sticky and sweet but still light plum sauce. The minced prawn was stuffed between the flesh of the duck breast and the skin. It was like nothing I've ever had eating out at a Chinese before, and even though I was becoming very full I refused to leave a bit, it was packed with flavours of meaty duck, soft prawn taste and plum sauce and even though they are quite individual tastes, they all worked perfectly together.
All the other dishes got good reports too, except for the broccoli and mushrooms, Flair said she's ordered it as she loved Chinese mushrooms, but everyone who tried them pulled disgusted faces, playing devils advocate I couldn't see what all the fuss could be about, they were just shitake mushrooms, but goodness me they were horrible, they were a little cold and almost jellied, in fact they seemed to be covered in a clear jelly like substance, not pleasant.
All in all we were pleased with our meal, but when the bill came and it included a service charge we had to be blunt and explain that we wouldn't be paying it. We reiterated that the food had been amazing but the service had not backed it up. We explained our concerns and they were understanding, so we hope we didn't leave on a bad note as despite the service, I could live with it to eat there again and I would recommend this as a nice place to eat out in Nottingham.
As we finished our mains a large party arrived taking up several big tables and the restaurant became very noisy and it was hard to hear each other. We felt sorry for any couples there out for a quiet night, but the party was light hearted and just enjoying being out as a group.
So as I say, I would recommend eating there, although maybe if you are a couple looking for some peace and quiet, Friday may not be the night!
So, when my friend The Not So Hairy Biker announced there was a Group On offer for Opium and did I want to go, I jumped at the chance.
Our table was booked for 7pm on a Friday night, mid February and there was a group of us from work, current teams members, old team members, new team members and one departing team member, 8 ladies and one gentleman.
I was the last to arrive with Sue, who I picked up on the way, after a rush to get ready following Laurens swimming lesson. Opium itself is spread over 3 floors, there is a bar downstairs, the restaurant on the first floor and a little drinking room up from there. It's got that old Lace Market feel, large room, high ceilings, airy but not stuffy, still a modern touch. The restaurant was busy, but not heaving and as we ate and other diners left, their tables were joined together and readied for a large party.
The 7 other diners were champing at the bit to order and were already tucking into a huge bowl of both prawn and cassava crackers. The prawn crackers were crisp and light and not at all greasy and the cassava crackers, crunchy with a little fire! We were sat at a large round table, with a lazy susan in the middle, the perfect way for a group to dine, excellent for allowing everyone to be involved in the conversation, unlike long tables where pockets of conversation and little groups form rather than the whole group sharing the experience.
Four of us were on the Group On offer, we paid I think £13 for a starter, a main and a rice and a cocktail downstairs in the bar afterwards. Most of those who were not on the Group On, decided to have the "Friday - Try as Much" menu at £16 per head. The premise being that you get an Opium Platter to start (Prawn Toast, Peking Spare Ribs, Seaweed, Opium Chai Spring Rolls and Crispy Wontons), then from a choice of 12 dishes and rice you can order what you like and as much as you like as long as you don't waste, if you leave an excessive amount you will incur an extra charge. Our group took the advice of the waitress and ordered about 6 dishes (including broccoli and Chinese mushrooms, chicken curry, satay lamb, beef in black bean sauce, Singapore noodles) and some egg fried rice. As I was on the offer I ordered some Opium Wok Fried Dumplings for a starter and for a main Opium's Special Duck Stuffed with Prawns in Plum Sauce with egg fried rice.
Our cracker basket was replenished and we sat and waited. Don't get me wrong, we were out for a night of catching up, so we had plenty to talk about and we were all enjoying the crackers and drinks, but the starters did take a long time to come. The waitress was good at bringing us extra drinks and some of the group requested cutlery in case the chopsticks didn't work out, although we had an "expert" amongst our party who was showing us the way, however, the same waitress dropped food on one of us and in the end I wasn't sure if she was new and nervous or generally not suited for the job.
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| Opium Wok Fried Dumplings |
Eventually the starters came, the promised platter placed on the lazy susan and spun around until everyone had had their share.
My wok fried dumplings came on a lovely little oblong earthenware dish, served on a bed of shredded Chinese vegetables, with a soy dip. There was no explanation of their filling, but I would hazard a guess that they were minced pork and prawn. They were piping hot and absolutely gorgeous, crunchy tops, chewy dough bottoms and a soft fragrant stuffing, delicious dipped in the salty soy.Once the starter was finished our plates were cleared away and we faced another long wait for our main courses, but eventually they started to come out. We had one false start, when 2 dishes arrived and we were all looking at each other puzzled over who ordered them, when the people on the table next to us claimed them as their own!
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| The mains start to arrive |
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| The spectacular pineapple rice |
I have to say my dinner was worth waiting for. It didn't look particularly amazing or eye catching, although it did look like a very big portion, which was good as I had had to pay an extra £3 on top of my Group On as it was classed as a seafood dish! The duck was soft and flavoursome, the skin was crisp in the parts not soaked in the sticky and sweet but still light plum sauce. The minced prawn was stuffed between the flesh of the duck breast and the skin. It was like nothing I've ever had eating out at a Chinese before, and even though I was becoming very full I refused to leave a bit, it was packed with flavours of meaty duck, soft prawn taste and plum sauce and even though they are quite individual tastes, they all worked perfectly together.
All the other dishes got good reports too, except for the broccoli and mushrooms, Flair said she's ordered it as she loved Chinese mushrooms, but everyone who tried them pulled disgusted faces, playing devils advocate I couldn't see what all the fuss could be about, they were just shitake mushrooms, but goodness me they were horrible, they were a little cold and almost jellied, in fact they seemed to be covered in a clear jelly like substance, not pleasant.
All in all we were pleased with our meal, but when the bill came and it included a service charge we had to be blunt and explain that we wouldn't be paying it. We reiterated that the food had been amazing but the service had not backed it up. We explained our concerns and they were understanding, so we hope we didn't leave on a bad note as despite the service, I could live with it to eat there again and I would recommend this as a nice place to eat out in Nottingham.
As we finished our mains a large party arrived taking up several big tables and the restaurant became very noisy and it was hard to hear each other. We felt sorry for any couples there out for a quiet night, but the party was light hearted and just enjoying being out as a group.
So as I say, I would recommend eating there, although maybe if you are a couple looking for some peace and quiet, Friday may not be the night!
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| Opium Special Duck Stuffed with Prawn in Plum Sauce |
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