The Almanack , 15 Bath House Lane, Highcross, Leicester, 0116 2160705 thealmancack-leicester.co.uk

Now we want to share the joy that we have when we eat there by giving you oh loyal and faithful reader the chance to win a 3 course meal for four with a bottle of house wine.

All you need to do is pop your details below. Closing Date April 23.

Lunya is all about fusion – interesting, brightly coloured, authentic Catalan-style sculptures adorn the walls and the aged brickwork of the interior is in contrast to the sparkly new Liverpool 1 development outside. The mixture worked wonders at the launch. Lunya claims to be ‘passion on a plate’ and we certainly enjoyed our first taste.

Lunya, College Lane, Liverpool 1. Visit www.lunya.co.uk or give them a little call on 0151 706 9770.

Yo Sushi is first up. Just a quick registration form to fill in at yosuhi.com and then you get 40% off all the conveyor belt delivered uncooked fish you can eat.

Las Iguanas have a fantastic 2 for 1 meal offer, print off the voucher by clicking here (we recommend the Xim Xim.)

Pizza Express have a half price pizza sale at the moment, register by clicking here.

Cafe Rouge have a fantastic 2 for 1 offer on main meals from the winter menu just fill in a little form here.

Haha Bar and Grill are also giving you a buy one get one free meal when you give a few details here.

Ask are also wanting you to bring along a friend for free, just visit here.

Zizzi are being very generous with a £1 meal when you buy a full priced main just visit zizzi.com.

So there you have it, a selection of uber cheap dinning this January.

And if you want to have dessert at home Hotel Chocolat have 50% off at the moment.

Tell us about your restaurant experiences below.

The campaign, called “Dine in Nottingham”, is spearheaded by Rachel Pressley, Business Development Executive at the Best Western Westminster Hotel and entitles up to 1,000 Nottinghamshire residents to claim a 30% discount off their entire food bill for up to six people at each participating hotel’s restaurant during the offer period. The 10 participating hotels are:

• Best Western Westminster Hotel
• Park Plaza Nottingham (Chino Latino)
• Hilton Nottingham
• Holiday Inn Castle Marina
• Rutland Square Hotel
• Hart’s Hotel (The Park Bar)
• The Stathdon
• The Nottingham Belfry
• The Crowne Plaza
• The Park Inn

Rachel commented; “Nottingham has a long and established history of quality hotels offering a diverse range of dining options to suit all tastes but hotel restaurants are often overlooked when people are deciding where to have their next meal out. The commitment from all the hotels involved to make this campaign a success has been fantastic and this exclusive offer could save a typical couple around £150 and a family or group up to £450!”

Lucky participants will be given a special ‘Dine in Nottingham’ branded, ‘Things to do in Nottinghamshire card’, which can be picked up at any of the participating venues on a first come first served basis completely free of charge. Only 1,000 of these special cards have been produced with each hotel having 100 cards to distribute and they are already proving popular. The cards which come with an accompanying wallet detailing all of the hotels involved can be used to claim the discount at each establishment. Discounts can be claimed once at each participating restaurant.

In addition, the special card will also enable the cardholder to save even more money throughout all of 2010 at all participating “Things to do in Nottinghamshire” tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and other activity centres in the County.

To learn more visit www.dineinnottingham.com

Ramsay’s nationwide search came to a climax last night when Lasan went head-to-head against British restaurant, The Pheasant, to win the prestigious title of Best Local Restaurant.

Jewellery Quarter-based Lasan faced their toughest service ever preparing a three-course feast incorporating rare breed beef and chicken provided by Janet Street-Porter fresh from her farm in Yorkshire.

Lasan’s Chef Director Aktar Islam rose to the challenge and impressed the F Word diners, made up of the world’s most prestigious food critics. After a night of intense competition, the critics gave Lasan the highest score and Ramsay also chose them as his top restaurant.

Throughout the series, Ramsay has championed Aktar’s talent, calling his methods ‘genius’, but the celebrity chef has also commented on his over-confidence in the kitchen. With the realisation that he may have finally met his match in the kitchen, Ramsay could not doubt the culinary talent of the 29-year-old Birmingham chef.

We had a quick chat with Aktar and he  said,

“Winning The F Word is a dream come true; it has been amazing journey to the final and despite my confidence in the team, I’m still so proud that we’ve won. Chef Ramsay’s support throughout the series has been incredible and I feel very privileged to have cooked in his kitchen.

“Winning the title is a massive step in raising the profile of Indian cuisine beyond takeaways and Tikka Massalas. My menus are designed to challenge perceptions, whilst still retaining authentic and original recipes, and the restaurant aims to be the height of sophistication and fine dining.”

Lasan reached the final after beating off competition from 17 other restaurants chosen from over 10,000 public nominations. The final 18 fought in 9 different categories; Italian, Indian, French, Chinese, Spanish, Thai, The Americas, British, and Rest of the World; with a final six chosen for the semi-finals, which took place earlier this week.

Winning The F Word’s Best Local Restaurant title continues Lasan’s recent successes, which include retaining their title at the British Curry Awards for the third consecutive year and receiving a Michelin Guide recommendation. They were also recently listed in the Guardian’s ‘Top 10 Indian Restaurants in the UK’, joining a similar endorsement from The Independent and The Times received last year.

For more information on Lasan, visit www.lasan.co.uk.

You can find Lasan at 1355  Stratford Road, Birmingham.  B28 9HW

Lasan beat of competition from:

The Pheasant -Cambridgeshire
Chop Chop – Edinburgh
Sweet Mandarin – Manchester
The French Table – Surbiton
The Bouchon Bistrot – Hextot
Curry Corner -  Cheltenham

There’s something about steak specifically and red meat generally that’s kinda primeval, visceral almost. I think we’re meant to eat it. Cue howls of outrage from all the vegetarians, and those folk who witter on about ‘cutting right down on red meat’, but you walk by any decent burger place (basically, one with plates) and you won’t see many empty tables. As for restaurants, would menus still be laden with it if there weren’t plenty of ravenous carnivores chomping at the juicy bit? I don’t think so.

As someone whose relationship with red meat facilitates moonlighting at the Tower of London, when the opportunity arose to review new restaurant, 1573 Bar & Grill, I was first to stake my claim.

Named after the year the building was completed (it’s one of the oldest School houses in the country, and former home to Leicester Grammar School) the restaurant recently opened after a sympathetic refurbishment. The stone walls and beams are intact and it’s kitted out simply with dark wood furniture.

The balance has been struck just right – it’s not so overdone you’d feel uncomfortable popping in for lunch with your dressed down workmates, but the room’s aesthetic and clean lines ensure you’re at ease in your glad rags at dinner. We were warmly greeted and shown to our table, up the statement glass and wood staircase, which dominates the room. There were quite a few people in considering it was early on a Monday night, the proximity of the cinema and Highcross probably have something to do with that.

A balanced wine list and an extensive champagne list are a welcome touch. There’s only one wine (per colour) available by the glass though, and no half bottles – a regular quibble I face as a lone wine drinker when out with my other half.

The menus are short and to the point. None of your florid explanations so common in current restaurant parlance. It’s spilt into easy to read sections, and being a grill, covers seafood and meat with some limited vegetarian options. There’s a separate lunch menu with lighter salads and baguettes at pub food prices too. The starters are well chosen so despite there not being many, it’s unlikely you’d not find one to your taste. The dough balls were good and the garlic mushrooms were served in a huge bowl with a couple of slices of crusty bread. They were flavoursome, but I’d have preferred them a little garlickier and a smaller portion more appropriate for a starter.

We both had steak for our main course – as they are star of the 1573 show it’d be rude not to. A large section of the menu is allocated to them and I particularly liked the cooking preference guide with notes on the six cooking variations available. Ours were cooked to perfection and it’s evident the meat is well sourced. They were served with a mountain of chips and a salad ‘garnish’ that covered half the (large oval) plate. This was a serious amount of food, go there hungry.

In the interests of a thorough review we ordered dessert. I managed a spoonful or so of a yummy apple tart – great pastry and the cinnamon ice cream accompaniment was amazing. The sticky toffee pudding was more cakey than pudding but didn’t suffer for this.

Friendly, patient service (one of the waiters maintained composure beyond the call of duty with the, shall we say, slightly doddery couple on the next table) and the best quality steaks I’ve encountered from a restaurant for a considerable time mean 1573 is a welcome addition to the Leicester restaurant scene.

Food 8 Service 8 Value 9  (£70 for drinks and three courses each)

If you’re looking for a Christmas menu with a twist (no turkey!) then their three course set menu is good value at £24.95.  You have to book for this and they can cater for large groups. Keep an eye out for special offers in January and an announcement for Valentine’s Day.

1573 Bar & Grill is @ Highcross Street, Highcross, Leicester.  Tel 0116 251 6879  fifteenseventythree.com

The pub is the eleventh opened by Peach, an award-winning pub company who run ten other great pubs across the West Midlands and down into Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes. The Almanack – which takes its name from the old English word ‘almanac’ meaning a calendar and is also inspired by the Kinks’ song ‘Autumn Almanac’ – focuses on great quality, seasonal food, freshly cooked in the pub’s open kitchen.

Step inside the pub and you’ll find a large, welcoming bar, finished in natural timber and warm red brick, where you can enjoy a range of real ales, premium lagers and wines by the glass and bottle. Beyond it is a spacious eatery serving top-notch food all day every day, from breakfast until evening. The look is modern but with a retro edge.

On the menu you’ll find a wide choice of seasonally inspired dishes, including traditional pub classics and something just a bit different.  There’s a full à la carte and through the day menu, with plenty of choices in starter and main size portions, char-grill dishes and a great roast of the day, available fast if you need to eat and run.

Great emphasis is placed on the seasonality and the quality of the food that goes onto the plates at The Almanack.  All the chicken, pork and eggs are free-range and all of the meat and fish come from trusted suppliers who take great care to ensure their produce is the best and most ethically sourced it possibly can be.

Upstairs, there’s a stunning private dining room which is the perfect setting for dinner parties, family get-togethers and celebrations of all kinds. It sits 45 comfortably and has its own private bar.  It’s also ideal for business meetings and as a place to work.  There’s free wireless internet access and a flat screen tv you can link up to your PC.

The Almanack has free WiFi access throughout and is offering free toast, now and in the future, when you pop in for morning coffee.

The Almanack is open daily from 8am for breakfast and serves hot food all day every day. It’s right in the centre of Highcross, overlooking the city’s new public square, and a two minute walk from John Lewis.

We were lucky enough to go to the opening night of this fantastic new venue, below are a selctionof merry faces from the night.