Doors at seven. You are in town by half five with an hour and a half to fill. That time goes one of two ways. Either it disappears in a queue for something forgettable, or it becomes the part of the evening you talk about on the way home.
If you are looking for restaurants near Motorpoint Arena, the good news is that you do not have to choose between eating properly and getting to your seat. ZHUG sits at 15 Broad Street in Hockley, a three to four minute walk from the arena doors. Close enough to take your time. Far enough to feel like you have actually gone somewhere.
A short walk from the arena
Broad Street runs through the middle of Nottingham’s independent quarter, a few minutes on foot from Bolero Square. Finish your meal, settle up then walk. No taxi, no car park, no watching the clock over pudding.
That walk is the whole argument. Plenty of places will feed you before a show at the Motorpoint Arena. Fewer of them put you back at the doors in the time it takes to finish a conversation. There is more about the site, including how to find us, on our Hockley restaurant page.
Timing your table around the doors
Support acts are the thing most people forget. Doors at seven rarely means the headline act at seven, so there is usually more room in the evening than the ticket suggests. A useful rule of thumb for an arena night:
- Book your table for around 90 minutes before doors.
- Order everything at once, mezze and mains together, rather than in courses.
- Settle the bill when the food lands, not at the end.
- Leave ten minutes for the walk, which is generous.
That gets you to your seat unhurried, which is a better start to a gig than arriving warm and out of breath during the first song.
What to order when the clock is running
Middle Eastern street food suits an evening with a start time printed on it. It is built to be shared, it arrives together rather than in sequence, so nobody sits politely waiting for the last plate.
Start with the Speciality Hummus, made from scratch with za’atar, chickpeas, harissa, zhug and paprika, with a stack of warm pita to pull apart. Add Halloumi Fries in our spice blend, a bowl of Olives and Pickles, then Za’atar Potatoes if the table is hungry. That is a proper spread and it lands quickly.
If you want one plate to yourself, the pitas are the fastest route. A Gyros Chicken Pita, a Chicken Schnitzel Pita or a Falafel Pita finished with sumac onions all travel well from kitchen to table. Order an extra sauce pot of zhug alongside, which is the medium spiced chilli sauce the restaurant is named after.
Two combinations worth knowing. Speciality Hummus followed by a Lamb Kebab meal bowl gives you something to share then something substantial, without a wait between them. Halloumi Fries with a Pomegranate Mojito is the order for the person who wants the evening to start properly before the support act does.
There is a full bar too. An Espresso Martini before a late show is an honest tactic. An Aperol Spritz suits a summer evening on Broad Street. If you are driving into town, the Passionfruit Mule and Secret Garden do the same job without the alcohol.
If the timings are kind there is room for pudding as well. Baklava travels well with a coffee when you are watching the clock. Kanafeh is the one to order when you are not. Lebanese Panna Cotta sits somewhere comfortably between the two.
Have a look at the full ZHUG menu before you come, so you can order the moment you sit down rather than reading it cold at the table.
Panthers nights and the National Ice Centre
The arena shares its home with the National Ice Centre, so the crowd on Broad Street is not only a concert crowd. Matchdays bring their own rhythm. The walk is exactly the same.
If you are after somewhere to eat before a game, check the Nottingham Panthers fixtures then book around the face-off rather than after it. Skating sessions work the same way. Cold hands, warm pita, a fair trade.
Bringing a group with different diets
Arena nights are group nights. Groups almost never eat the same way. Somebody is vegan, somebody avoids gluten, somebody wants meat and plenty of it. That combination sinks a lot of pre-show plans before they start.
All our meat is halal, at both ZHUG sites. Every pita on the menu is vegan and a gluten free pita is available. The Vegan Schnitzel Pita and the Falafel and Roast Veg bowl are full plates rather than afterthoughts. A mixed table can order across the whole menu instead of negotiating around it. Nobody ends up with a side salad and a long face.
If your group is larger than a table will hold, a birthday, a work night out, a party heading to the same show, our event and group catering covers it.
After the show, not only before
The other half of an arena evening is the walk back. A city centre that empties in one direction at half ten is not always a promising place to find something to eat. The queue at the nearest fast food counter tends to be longer than the walk to Broad Street.
Our Hockley kitchen runs until 23:00 Tuesday to Saturday and until 20:00 on Sunday. We are closed on Monday. Hours do move around bank holidays and big event weekends, so the live times are always on our Google listing. If you would rather be home with your shoes off, ordering ahead works just as well.
Book ahead on event nights
Broad Street fills up whenever there is something on at the arena. Everyone has the same idea at the same time. An hour before doors is the worst possible moment to be walking between restaurants hoping for a free table.
A booking removes the whole problem. Your table is there, your food arrives together then the walk afterwards takes four minutes.
Reserve a table at ZHUG Hockley before the next show, or order online for collection or delivery if the night is going to be a quiet one at home.
Heading to a play rather than a gig? There is more on that in our guide to a pre-theatre dinner in Nottingham. If you are eating on the other side of the city, our Wollaton restaurant has its own following.