It was a lovely sunny day on bank holiday Monday when I headed to La Parisienne in Southwell. I have been on a few dates with a lovely, if very quiet, guy that lives in the town and so I wanted to see his home turf.

He picked the place, not too far from the Minster. I wanted to peruse the menu, however the website seems to be down.

The place is tiny and really lovingly decorated with only 16 or so seats. It is very intimate!

The menu is small and a bit of an eclectic mix, pan european is the best way to describe it. To be honest I assumed that we would be dining on French food, but it had a distinct Moroccan twist, serving tajines and lamb marinated in Moroccan spices. I love Moroccan food and so this was a pleasant surprise. However it was warm, and I wasn’t massively hungry so went for something lighter.

I went for the Calamar au grain de sesame. It was black pepper and toasted sesame calamari with an avocado salad and fries. It was huge. I didn’t expect the amount of food that arrived and I wish I had been more hungry. The calamari was amazing. Really tender and the sesame batter was really lovely. I haven’t eaten calamari this way before and I wish it was a standard! The salad was fresh, however they had run out of avocado – weird when it is called an avocado salad!

My date went for the Carré de porc a la cidre, a gorgeously crisp belly pork with apple flavoured mash and veggies. The pork belly melted in the mouth and was delicious. I wasn’t keen on the mash but I would order this just for the pork!

We both enjoyed the meal, everything seemed home made and fresh. Also the sights outside were hilarious. I think something was going on at the Minster as there were men walking through the high street with guns dressed in old fashioned clothing – medieval battle reenactment maybe?

The staff were lovely and friendly, and had a laugh and a joke with us. It is a small place and noise travels! I would definitely go back to experience more of the menu and had a lovely time here.