If you have typed “gyros Nottingham” into your phone, you are after a short answer rather than a history lesson. Who does one, what turns up in front of you and how far you have to go for it.
Here is ours. ZHUG is a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern kitchen with two restaurants in the city, one on Broad Street in Hockley and one on Bramcote Lane in Wollaton. Gyros chicken is on the menu at both, either in a pita or in a bowl.
Are we a Greek restaurant?
No, which is rather the point. We are a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern kitchen, so the gyros you came for arrives on a menu that runs a good deal wider than one country’s cooking. Turn up with three other people and nobody is stuck ordering around the one dish you came in for.
The gyros itself is exactly where you would expect it. Gyros chicken sits at the Mediterranean end of our menu, next to the Mediterranean Lamb Kebab Pita and the Halloumi Pita. There is a Greek Salad in the mezze as well, with feta, olives, tomato, cucumber, onion, oregano and glaze. Alongside them sit Speciality Hummus, Labneh, the Falafel Bowl and Lebanese Spiced Chicken, which is a bigger table than a gyros on its own.
We do not serve it the traditional way either. We do not use the Greek flatbread a gyros normally comes in. Ours goes into a pita, the same bread the rest of the menu is built on, which makes this our spin on a gyros rather than a copy of somebody else’s.
That is how the whole menu works. It draws on several cuisines from the region and puts our own turn on each of them. The gyros is one of those. It is also one of the most popular pitas we sell, so the version we do seems to suit people.
So, no label we have not earned. Here is the straight version of what turns up, so you can decide before you set off.
Pita or bowl
This is the only real decision. We do it both ways.
The Gyros Chicken Pita is the one you hold. Our Mediterranean pitas start with handmade, light and fluffy pita, tzatziki, crisp iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion, then the gyros chicken goes in on top of all of that. Order this one if you are eating on the move or you want the whole thing in one hand.
The Gyros Chicken bowl is the sit down version, served with fries or rice. Same chicken, more of a meal and easier to pick at across a table.
One practical difference between them. Our menu marks the bowl gluten free while the pita is not, so the bowl is the one to look at if that is part of why you are reading this. There is also a Gluten Free Pita on the sides list. Our kitchen is not an allergen free environment, so have a word with the team when you order rather than relying on a web page.
What to put next to it
A gyros on its own is a fine lunch. It is a better dinner with something in the middle of the table.
Halloumi Fries are the usual answer, coated in our spice blend with tzatziki, pomegranate molasses and seeds. Loaded Fries come topped with tzatziki, melted mozzarella, zhug, tomato fusion and chickpeas. If you would rather keep it plain, there are Fries and Sweet Potato Fries.
Add Pita Pieces for the table and an extra Tzatziki to dip them in. If someone in the group wants the sauce the restaurant is named after, Zhug is on the same list. It is a chilli sauce and it is not shy.
The full ZHUG menu is worth two minutes before you come, because it is easier to order the moment you sit down than to read it cold at the table.
Hockley or Wollaton
The menu is the same at both restaurants. The evening around it is not.
ZHUG Hockley on Broad Street
Our city centre kitchen is at 15 Broad Street, NG1 3AJ, in the middle of Nottingham’s independent quarter and a few minutes on foot from the Lace Market. The Motorpoint Arena is a three to four minute walk away, which makes this the one for a gyros before a show or a Panthers game.
It opens 12:00 to 23:00 Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00 to 20:00 on Sunday and closes on Monday. Hours move around bank holidays and big event weekends, so the live times are always on our Google listing for Hockley. There is more about the site on our Hockley restaurant page.
If you are eating before curtain up, our guide to pre-theatre dinner in Nottingham has the timings worked out.
ZHUG Wollaton on Bramcote Lane
Our Wollaton restaurant is at 189 Bramcote Lane, NG8 2QJ, a short drive from the gates of Wollaton Hall and Deer Park. It opens 12:00 to 22:00 Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00 to 16:00 on Sunday and closes on Monday, with the current times on our Google listing for Wollaton. Our Wollaton restaurant page has the rest of the detail.
Coming as a group
Two things worth knowing before you book a table for six.
All our meat is halal, at both sites. Every pita on the menu is vegan until you choose what goes inside it, so the person who is not eating the chicken orders from the same menu as everyone else. A Falafel Pita, a Halloumi bowl or Falafel and Roast Veg all sit alongside the gyros rather than off to one side.
Food comes out together rather than in courses. Most people prefer it that way with this kind of menu. If you would rather have it in order, just ask and we will send it out that way.
For anything larger than a table will hold, our event and group catering covers it.
Book a table or order in
If you came here looking for a gyros in Nottingham, you now know where two of them are.
Book a table at ZHUG Hockley or book at ZHUG Wollaton, or order online for collection or delivery and eat it at your own table instead. 🥙