A sexy deli in Nottingham

Hungry after walking around town all day on my blogging quests, I called into what I could truly describe as my favourite delicatessen and café in Nottingham namely, the Atlas Delicatessen at 9 Pelham Street. As always, it serves up a delicious array of fresh creations for its regulars and new clientele.

The deli is run by a genial fellow called Marcus and although he and the staff are often occupied with preparing the daily dishes (they do catering as well) he always has time to say “hello” and remembers his customers. The food may be special but this last aspect is, to me, a great sign of excellent customer service.

The small, oblong shaped venue has zinc counters to sit at along each side and a middle aisle unit exhibits a range of fine foods from fresh, on tap, olive oil to imported delicacies.

Today there was a great buzz about the place which in turn led to a great atmosphere to enjoy a late lunch in. After queuing for a few minutes I ordered a large tea and discussed my sandwich choice with one of the helpful staff. What should I have (and this was from a choice of about thirty plus combinations!). My thoughts were thus: ciabatta bread sandwich with prosciutto, mozzarella, basil,pesto and sliced plum tomatoes or walnut bread containing a confection of local Stilton, mango chutney and fresh green salad. Could you choose? I went for the first one and it was scrumptious.

The staff here are extremely helpful and more than happy to be flexible. As you can imagine I found it hard to chose from the tempting array of sandwiches displayed on the two colourful boards that change regularly to give great variety.

Not only was the sandwich good when it came but it was a lovely change to see the sandwiches in general being prepared fresh rather than coming from a proverbial conveyor belt. I’ve been a regular here for years and never do the dishes disappoint. Sometimes I have just popped in for a coffee on the way to work and a hot buttered bagel. Bliss!

My large cup of tea was hot stuff indeed and I had to wait for it to cool so I busied myself chatting to the lady at the side of me who was probably wondering why I was taking the photos that accompany this blog!

Thanks Marcus and the staff of Atlas Deli for a super lunch. As Arni said “I’ll be back!”.