The Frustrated Chef in Broxtowe

Wow! We returned to Frustrated Chef last Friday to celebrate my birthday, giving it another chance after a less-than-perfect visit a few years ago. Having heard fantastic reviews recently, we were eager to see if things had improved—and I can confidently say it exceeded all expectations! As a big fan of tapas and someone who has explored many tapas restaurants across the Midlands, I can honestly say it will be hard to go elsewhere after this experience. The food was simply sensational—freshly prepared, perfectly cooked, and bursting with flavor. Each dish arrived promptly, and we enjoyed it so much that we ended up sampling most of the meat dishes on the menu! My personal favorite was the halloumi fries with marmalade jam—a taste sensation that was an absolute delight. Close contenders were the succulent prawns, melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, crispy chicken, and the rich, flavorful Serrano ham croquettes. It was all so good that I’d have to order them again on my next visit! To top off an already incredible evening, the chef surprised me with a complimentary dessert to mark my birthday—a thoughtful touch that made the night even more special. The warm, cozy atmosphere, combined with the lively buzz of a full restaurant and impeccable service, created the perfect setting for a memorable celebration. If you haven’t been recently, I highly recommend experiencing the new menu and refreshed interior under the restaurant’s new ownership. In such a short time, they have truly elevated Frustrated Chef into a world-class tapas destination. I can’t wait to return! I’m not usually one to leave reviews, but this is something worth shouting about

Wonderful lunch as always with excellent service and a relaxed atmosphere. Let's hope an increase in customer leads to it opening for more lunches. It deserves every success

I have been to this lovely restaurant many times as the food has been fantastic, however, the last time we visited, some of the same dishes were less than half the size of previous visits (food was still tasty), so unfortunately, we probably will not be going again, which is a shame as it was our favourite restaurant.

Had yet another fabulous meal here. The place has had a refresh with new furniture, signage and decoration. It looked great and the service was spot on too. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful local restaurant.

I have visited many times over the years and have always been a fan of the food and service. I was very disappointed with this visit. The portion sizes have reduced by half. I ordered the Cod bites which are a favourite however you now only get 4 small fish nuggets for £9:50 which is a joke. Other dishes were equally small. I want be returning until it improves

Had a really wonderfully relaxed time, but more importantly the food was brilliant. Great selection... well worth a visit

Couldn't find a single thing to alter a great experience

I think the restaurant has changed hands and we noticed a difference. The portion sizes of the slaws and salads have shrunk and some of the favourites have gone from the menu. Service was slow even allowing for tapas not all coming out together my pick of dishes was about 20 minutes after my friends. What had was nice though and the waitress was lovely

A brilliant spot with lovely ambiance! The food is delicious, and served with care and integrity. Highly recommended.

Nice polite service and the venue felt relaxed and clean. Food is incredibly overpriced and I felt vaguely described on the menus. Ordered two of the tapas options for £22 each! Expecting a lot of food but as you can see pictured not an awful lot especially not £44 worth. The food itself came out warm, I guess great if you are a pensioner or child. I found everything pretty bland/underwhelming overall only having two strong flavours of garlic on the prawns and a borderline sickly sweet flavour on the goat cheese parcels and the potatoe chorizo dish. This might just be me not liking these dishes and no fault with the restaurant but at no point did I feel like I was getting my money worth nothing seemed of high quality. Feeling confused with my experience with what the selling point is to this place, but happy I can say I've been and been able to form an opinion on it Save yourself the money and go to the hungry horse beekeeper around the corner and have a proper meal with money to spare

Fantastic food, service and overall ambience. The staff were so friendly and the food was incredible. Credit to the chefs for the garlic potatoes - the best I’ve ever eaten! Can’t wait to go back

Lovely, comfortable place. Great tapas menu with plenty of choices. Food cooked and served well with great taste. Staff are attentive and very friendly. Reasonable prices - set menu if preferred. Can definitely recommend this great place for an enjoyable meal.

Spent an evening with friends. This was our first time at Frustrated Chef and found it to be a lovely relaxing, comfortable atmosphere, very friendly and attentive staff which made our experience pleasurable. The food was amazing and spoilt for choice. We tried the practical set menu as our preference having an array of tapas dishes between the four of us. All the food was nicely cooked, appropriately garnished and looked appetising when served. All our dishes tasted great and complimented each other. One favourite of the table was the Korean Chicken, just amazingly the right spice! Every dish was good! Great selection of drinks at reasonable prices. The service overall was excellent and with a smile - nothing too much trouble. Would most definitely recommend this little place as a great place to eat and will most definitely return as thoroughly enjoyed it.

So lucky to have this utter foodie gem only walking distance from my house. Tapas fusion/plate sharing... whatever you call it, it all tastes great, service was impeccable and the place is so relaxing

The restaurant was ice cold. The waiters girls giggled behind the bar, no recommendation, drinks order does not taken. The food was average with the ridiculous high prices. We ordered a churros as a desert. It was so dry, and it soaked in oil. Obviously, I am not going back again...

A quiet evening but delicious food and friendly staff

Poor quality fare; all the hallmarks of pre-prepared microwaved/boil-in-the-bag food. The ham & cheese croquettes contained some kind of mush but couldn’t find any ham. The sweet potato dish was just mush. To add to the disappointing food, the bottle of wine arrived already open -why? The bottle should be opened at table; it’s standard practice. Nobody enquired about allergies. Won’t be going again, very disappointed. This used to be our go-to venue. Very sad.

Turned away because no reservation but there were literally 10 tables free. Really..?

Absolutely bunged. A nice Tapas bar in Beeston. Quite a wide ranging menu. Great atmosphere. Nice spot on a Friday evening.

I had booked a table for dinner as all my friends rave about the food. They weren't wrong!!! We ordered the set menu as well as an additional three dishes and everything was super delicious and freshly prepared. The Asian slaw is absolutely incredible, best I've ever had! As usual we had ordered too much food but I took the leftovers home to have for lunch. The staff were welcoming and seated us straight away and we're attentive taking our orders etc. It's not the most romantic place to go and eat but overall the atmosphere was nice and the restaurant was really busy. I cannot wait to go back!

An absolute gem of a restaurant. This place is a firm favourite for myself and other family members. The set menu makes it very reasonably priced for the quality and quantity of food you get and the service is always friendly, warm and inviting. We visited on a Friday evening and would advise booking a table via the website to avoid disappointment as it can get very busy. We went for the bread, chips, Korean chicken, goats cheese parcels, holloumi, duck spring rolls, churros and cheesecake. We probably didn't need the pudding as there is an ample amount of food without it but everything was just the highest quality and rich in flavour. We love this place and will be back again soon!

I have been to the Frustrated Chef a handful of times now and each time I have the same experience. The food is amazing! So delicious and the portion sizes are great. Such great value for money and for the food I would return again and again. The Goats Cheese Parcels, Pork Belly and Croquettes are amazing. I also love the crispy fried cod and churros!!! However the staff are not very welcoming or attentive. There have been several visits where the staff let the whole experience down and if the food wasn’t as good as it is, I wouldn’t return. The most recent experience I can recall is that we had a table booked for 4 people on a Friday evening. 3 of us arrived and 1 was joining a little later. The staff left us without taking a drinks order for around 30 minutes until the friend arrived. Working in hospitality myself, it’s courteous to come over to the table and ask if we would like anything whilst we wait (even a jug of tap water would do!) or if we would like to wait until the friend arrives to order. The staff generally are quite slow and don’t seem to be very welcoming at all, standing behind the bar all evening. I would return and recommend The Frustrated Chef to people for the food but not the service.

Excellent food, nice relaced venue and everything arrived quickly....but ordered way too much! Would be helpful if the menu stated how big the portions were for each plate size, but overall was very pleased and would go back again

Great food. We visited as a party of 11. Most of us took advantage of the 2 Tapas & 1 side for £21.50. All the dishes were well presented & delicious 😋. The portions were generous, but "doggy bags" were available.

The tapas were ok - but not freshly-prepared, as was evidenced by the speed of arrival at table from ordering. The dishes were over-complicated, to the point that the accompanying sauces, side by side, became overpowering. Worst of all - everything arrived virtually at the same time, and it became a hopeless race to consume it before it went cold. Some dishes were stone-cold by the time we got to them. The eating of tapas should be a relaxed and leisurely affair; done over a whole evening with plenty of drinks, in between nibbling at simple but well-executed dishes - in my view. This problem of timing isn’t unique to this establishment, and until British tapas restaurants get the hang of how it needs to be done - I’ll be voting with my feet.

I came in on Tuesday and got served by both Dan and Meg who were both very welcoming, and charming people. Food was good, but the service better. Even though the duck spring rolls were cold in the middle, Dan and Meg’s presences were warming. I’d happily come here again and say hello to these lovely people!

Food was just OK. I had the lamb samosas which were cremated. They were replaced when i complained. The plates we were eating off were on the table as we arrived. On top of the plates was a old/sticky vessel containing our cutlery. My glass was dirty. Both my chair and table were uneven so I rocked everything I moved. Not a great taoas experience so I will not be returning.

Lovely world tapas restaurant. Lots of choice and the set menu is very good value

Great place and great food, will definitely visit again

The food was lovely as ever but unfortunately the service was appalling.

Excellent food and service as ever, thank you!

The food here is good. It was less imaginative and next level as it used to be, but was still good and tasty. Service can was a little slow, but was perfectly amenable. Cheesecake was good too.

Great choice of tapas, will go again. Guess what went again, still as good. Still as good, glad the news of your closure is not happening. Will be back.

Food was excellent but the service was very poor. When we walked in the door we waited for someone to take us to our table but we were ignored for several minutes and had to go and ask about our booking despite it not being busy. When we approached to ask about the booking we were met by a very unapologetic girl who couldn’t find our booking then pointed to a table for us to sit on; it wasn’t a warm welcome and we weren’t even brought over and shown to our table but alternatively pointed and told to take our seats which around the corner. They sat us on a table of 4 despite booking for 2 people. After being seated no drinks orders were taken and no one came to take our order for over 10 minutes; we had to ask again and it was not a busy time. Certainly a lot better places to eat with much better service, I wouldn’t personally come here again

An interesting mix of flavours and presentation. We thoroughly enjoyed each dish and the service was very good.

Arrived at 5.30 doors locked no one appeared to be in although said it opened at 5 No sorry to keep you waiting door just unlocked eventually Glasses for the wine were dirty Waitress spilt cocktail but didn't offer to replace When serving food their jumper dragged across the other drinks and plates of food Food was lovely and good sized portions but won't rush back

Great food and served by lovely staff. Be sure to book, particularly Friday/Saturday nights

First time visit. Lunchtime menu. Food amazing and service great. Cannot praise too highly. Will be back. Thanks to the young lady who served us. Only rated the atmosphere as four star because it was not busy.

Excellent food, very generous portions, and very good value for money if you get the lunchtime set menu.

Excellent service and quality of food. You get plenty ended up taking some home

Food was unfortunately sub standard. Fish heavily battered and ruined the fish making it not edible . The other dishes were average and didn’t taste fresh . Sorry but wouldn’t recommend.

Went for celebration meal but was v disappointed and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Went on 30th Jan was that the chef’s night off?!! ‘Beetroot, apple and feta salad with feta and almonds’ was good - but too heavy on the mayo unfortunately, especially since menu didn’t mention mayo - I cannot eat mayo! See photo. Too thick batter on tempura sea bass - made it too heavy with such a delicate and fine fish - see photo. Too much salt and sugar used in many dishes - like the calamari (v salty) and the sweet potato/halloumi dish (v sugary glazing). Said ‘Breads, with extra virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar’ on menu but only one type of bread came - was one of those cheap supermarket baguettes you buy in plastic then reheat in oven. Offering just one type of bread is not ‘breads’ ( which means more than one type of bread) so mis-sold there - which is rare in restaurants. Server said bread was sourdough but it didn’t taste at all of sourdough - had that pre-baked supermarket baguette taste instead. Olives were 2 black olives and rest were all green olives - need variety please! The ‘Halloumi, sweet potatoes, sweet chilli and cashews’ was 90% sweet potato (see photo) which was disappointing especially since halloumi was the first named ingredient in menu description. Generally very disappointing quality of food.

Cosy and casual. Great menu choice, excellent service. Fantastic food

Dined here again on Saturday early evening, Been here many times but this visit was particularly good Food excellent, Belly Pork is next level,service spot on ( can be hit and miss) Al in all great evening , definitely will be coming back soon 👍

Really lovely little restaurant with lovely staff. Pace was perfect for a tapas place. Very yummy, we will be back

It's a very nice place to go and enjoy some fine and practical food. Everything we asked for was really good and in very generous portions as well. Service was really good as well. Our attendant was super nice and had enough patience to answer all of our questions with a smile. Nice music and ambience. Toilets were impeccable. The chairs could use a small upgrade, though :)

The food here is out of this world! You are missing out if you don’t try this place!! Staff very friendly. Very relaxed atmosphere. Can’t recommend enough.

we had the best time here, will definitely return!

The food is lovely here but on our third visit left feeling disappointed again. Well aware that the dishes come to the table when they're ready but when you're waiting for the final dish and everything else eaten it's not great. Had warm prosecco this time without an adequate alternative offer, ice or popping it back in the fridge wasn't good. Sadly this is likely our last visit.

Great place, lovely atmosphere with great service. Food was excellent served just at the right time. Choices was good too both meaty and vegetarian. Finally a reasonably priced.. We had 8 dishes with wine and beer came £25 each (x4)

First time here for a birthday meal. Can't fault the food, very nice, however the service wasn't great... four of us were 'pointed' over to our table & we'd barely sat down (6pm) when we were told, they we're very busy tonight & this table was booked again at 7.30.... made us feel very unwelcome immediately.... service was without any smiles, no personality.....therefore, no tip. We were there less than an hour & a half and £150 lighter.... full up.... but very disappointed

Beautiful food as always but the gluten free options seemed to have reduced since the last time we came which is a shame. My wife is coeliac and it's getting more difficult to find good places to eat.

Warm atmosphere, delicious food and a friendly & welcoming team. Well worth it for a night out.

Lovely food for 8 of us celebrating a friends special birthday. Service was very slow, took over 20 minutes to be asked, and served a drink. Ordered breads and oil to graze on, but this came out mid meal so most of it was not eaten. It does say dishes will come out when ready but I was sat with ust Patatas bravas (an accompanyment), another with all her ordered dishes and one friend with nothing for ages. Very disjointed. Set menu choices were already running out at 7pm! alternatives made to original order just to be told 10 mins later they were sold out as well,when asked to replace with a dish off the set menu we were told no so ended up spending more than expected. Overall a disappointing experience.

Shut on Monday, didn’t have an open time list in window.

Excellent dining experience on our first visit to this lovely little restaurant in the heart of Beeston. A great selection of dishes and I genuinely didn't have a bad mouthful of food for the whole night. Would highly recommend

Best tapas we've ever had. Huge portions too! Would thoroughly recommend.

Had good experience at this restaurant for a special occasion on a weekend. Easy booking process with good availability. Friendly staff and speedy service. Tasty food and drinks. We really enjoyed the Patatas bravas and chorizo. Should not the £20 evening dinner time offer works best when ordering non-vegetarian mains. Would like to come back on a lunchtime to try their lunch offer, which is even better value.

Food was fabulous, and the set menu provides slightly better value (although less choice) with 3 dishes for £20. The two of us ate all vegetarian dishes, and they were excellent. I particularly enjoyed the port mushrooms. Service was occasionally slow, but friendly. There was a small problem with my hot drink which they rectified quickly when I brought it to their attention. I would recommend and return. It's also a popular option so booking is advised.

Excellent restaurant. The tapas food was delicious with great variety and very well priced. The churros were an excellent dessert as well! Highly recommended!

We have been many times and loved the food but it was over seasoned or tasteless, nothing inbetween. I had a warm cocktail that had half the liquid missing. We went for a special anniversary and I'm sad to say it will be our last visit. The menu seems much smaller and lots less gluten free options so I had very little choice.

Very good quality generous sized portions Asian slaw very nice could eat on it's own just be careful how much you order we had loads of food 3 tapas each bread olive oil and balsamic fries with paprika 4 drinks and water £116

Great food, attentive, friendly staff. Didn't wait long for food. Reasonably priced.

Great selection of tapas style dishes, food is fresh and delicious and the service is friendly! Prices also very reasonable, great for a night out or a quick lunch!

Really tasty food at a reasonable price. Served quickly by friendly staff.

Food was ok, wouldn't race about it, really nice cocktails (:

Amazing food, lovely staff. Always busy so book ahead

Really gorgeous food and setting. Good amount of veggie choices, of both more filling and salad options- some of the best salads I've ever eaten in fact. I really hope they bring back the fine bean and corn salad because that was sublime. Also the churros are great. Reasonable prices for such high quality food. You will need to book several weeks in advance for peak times

Dissapointing, was in the area and drove for lunch as sounded good. 1220 and front door locked despite seeing staff inside and online displaying 1200 opening. No signs or notices explaining in window. Dissapointed

Lovely Tapas food in Beeston. I ordered 3 dishes which was plenty, food portions are generous and very tasty. 3 dishes cost approx £20. Great value for money.

Amazing food. Everything we ate was delicious! Highly recommend coming here. Service was fab, super quick and friendly.

Great choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian tapas plates. We started with bread, oil, and balsamic vinegar. For our main course, we had 4 plates and some paprika fries. Everything was really tasty. Great service, which was attentive but not overbearing.

Lovely food. Very quiet midweek.

Had a great evening meal with family food was excellent

Really delicious food, well priced with a good atmosphere.

Wonderful tapas place - good cocktails too! Would advise booking ahead as it gets busy

Fantastic restaurant hidden away in Beeston. The atmosphere and setting is perfect for special occasions, or just to meet with friends.

Ist visit and we'll definitely be back. Great menu choice and lovely food.

The food is incredible. So delicious! And the service is fantastic. One of the best tapas in Nottingham!

Great food let down by surly, lazy service. We weren’t seated at our table, instead the waitress pointed in the direction of our table from behind the bar. This was followed up by taking our drinks order and then telling us that “just to let us know that the table is booked for another party at 7:30”. When I informed her that we booked fhe 6pm table and that their next booking wasn’t really our problem and that we might or might not be finished by then the waitress became quite annoyed and cold.

Loved loved this beautiful little place - food was amazing thank you

Frustrated Customers !!! We arrived for our reservation, we waited at the little podium which states 'wait here to be seated' We were then shouted to from the bar, asking if id booked, yes we had ! then was pointed to the table that was ours. We were given menus and decided what to order. Upon ordering we were told two of the items we asked for were not available they had run out. I asked if there was anything else NOT available was told no it was just those two items so we altered our order. The waitress then came over to say another one of the items we'd ordered was not available! The food started to arrive and was put on the table by a young man who grumbled what the items were and sort of chucked them on the table. The service was incredibly slow. I understand its cooked fresh but when we had all finished and still not received one of the dishes which we had asked for previously it was dissapointing. I had to ask for plates and cutlery. Not the experience I'd had before here and will definitely not be rushing back.

Food fantastic Staff to start with were great but as time due near to having to leave table, seemed to rush us. Would I return, yes!

Amazing service and delicious food. We ordered a bit too much, so took it home. Kept us fed for a few more meals. Can't wait to go back

Fantastic restaurant hidden away in Beeston. The atmosphere and setting is perfect for special occasions, or just to meet with friends. Food, well just so good at such good prices. There is something for every one to try. Service's is great with very friendly staff and a must go to place in nottingham. It is that good you have to book for evening tables in advances. Whilst in was their, it become apparent that this restaurant has a large number of repeat customer that just can get enough of the food and services . We were celebrating my wife birthday and it was perfect for that family event. Thank you To all staff at Frustrated chef.

Excellent range of international tapas. Delicious, and more filling than you think. We ordered too much.

Excellent food and service. A must for lovers of tapas.

The dishes are amazing, the belly pork was simply gobsmacking. Will absolutely be visiting again, and again, and...

Food was excellent 😋 The only negative was that the place was a little cold - my wife had to loan my quilted jerkin to get to the end of the meal. Will go again but will dress for the cold.

Super food great menu. Would have preferred longer at the table, felt a little rushed.

Amazing food and great service, will definitely return.

We wanted a pre Christmas meal with a calm atmosphere where we were able to chat and not have to shout. This was our first time at the Frustrated Chef. The woman who greeted us was lovely and friendly and pointed out our table, we sat down and the ambience was perfect. We could hear the music but it did not drown our conversation. The waiter was attentive but at the same time not intrusive. Food was WOW, the best tapas we have tasted, the wine was a perfect accompanient. We had a lovely exoerience and will definitely return in the New Year.

Consistently 5stars. The food is always amazing, both in the selection of dishes and quality of the food. Such a lovely place to eat with lovely staff. Perfect for any occasion!

Fantastic meal. All home cooked fair

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal last night here. The food was amazing (I went for the £19 set meal). I loved the ambience, the bright decoration, the retro music which wasn't too loud. It wasn't too hot (which is often a problem for me). My friends and I had a lovely time. My only (small) criticism was that it was a bit hard to call staff over when we wanted to order desserts / get the bill, as they tended to stand out of sight at the other end of the bar. It was a minor issue though, and overall the experience was great. I'm returning in a few weeks with different friends, and I am confident that we will have a fantastic meal. Thank you.

Nice cheeky work diner in Beeston. They kindly squeezed me in despite them being busy on a Thursday night but I was alone. Would definitely visit again for the great food, wine and service.

1st visit.Went following visit to Arc cinema. This world tapas was lovely.Food is excellent and fairly priced. 2/3 per dishes will fill the biggest of appetite Staff Really efficient and friendly. Will certainly be returning.

Used to be great a year or so ago, but unfortunately we won’t be returning for a long while, if at all. The pork belly was so tough my partner struggled to eat it. A couple of other dishes didn’t taste very fresh. And overall the food is far too rich, leaves you feeling awful after. Much better tapas places within a couple of miles radius

Very basic food options, the quality of food and the choices were a let down. Definitely not authentic tapas.

Omg amazing food. recommended to friends we are differently going again as a group