I've wanted to go to the Pelican Club since it opened, I am a huge fan of cool and friendly Nottingham cocktail bar Tilt and this is a venture by the same people. The Club is all about dinner and jazz - Italian food and cocktails. Obviously this is proving popular with Nottingham's movers and shakers as sadly we could only get a table early doors, 18:30 to be precise, with a polite request that we vacate our table by 20:30. Our table was in the bar area, which is decked out with loads of old jazz record sleeves. Said sleeves also serve as cocktail menus. The atmosphere on Saturday was lively, with a good crowd seated around the bar.
We started with a Spritz, Aperol and Prosecco, the perfect aperitif in my book. I'd made the mistake of reading a few Tripadvisor reviews and was concerned about the accusations of stingy portions being levelled. However we need not have worried. We shared antipasti; a board of good quality charcuterie and cheese meant for two, between three. We also shared another starter of Tomino cheese wrapped in more charcuterie and baked, delizioso! I skipped the primi and went straight for a secondi of pork belly served with chicory salad leaves. Crisp, unctuous and terrifyingly salty, but in a good way, this pork meant business. My amici had primi pasta and a burger from the specials board which I tried and coveted. So a meal consisting of mainly meat and cheese, washed down with a good Orvieto. Heavenly, Just a crying shame we missed the jazz, as the music was not scheduled to start until ten. We were sitting right in front of the stage, so as we were finishing off our meal the musicians were setting up and tuning up, what a tease. Well at least I'm briefed for next time and will be booking a late table well in advance.
http://www.thepelicanclub.co.uk/
