All tagged Birmingham city centre
Sliced onions continue to cook on the hot plate, soaking in the juices of the meats that are piled high—succulent tandoori wings, slabs of chicken in a green tikka marinade and juicy shish kebabs with a spicy kick—topped with three generous pieces of fish pakora… READ MORE
Where the salami fails, the Orkney Scallop crudo leads the way, dissolving in the mouth with sweetness-intensified roasted grapes, soft caramelly crunch from toasted pine nuts and aromatics from herb-intensified EVOO… Sicilian no doubt READ MORE
The East-West fusion as a theme reveals a fuller expression with the ‘mains’; First, cod, cured for four hours to firm up the flesh, with fermented koji onion providing the umami magnifying glass with cauliflower and the multiple flavour complexities of goma dare… READ MORE
We’ve got two 7/10 pizzas, Calabrese and Pepperoni; 5/10 sticky teriyaki wings; 4/10 sriracha fries; and the most disappointing of all, a gristle-loaded ‘Reuben’ with bread cut too thick (yes, I know it’s meant to be like that) but it suffocates any flavour… READ MORE
My ‘big carpaccio di manzo’ needs to be relabelled as ‘massive’; it’s a table ‘sharing’ plate of wafer thin, melt-in-the-mouth beef, topped with rocket, semi dried tomatoes, 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano and rich, sweet balsamic vinegar… READ MORE
It’s certainly a flavour bomb, spraying all the taste receptors with salty funk from blue cheese, eventually giving way to sour heat from buffalo sauce and umami loaded, salty-sweet candy bacon crumb all… READ MORE
What we’ve got is dry-grilled, pre-cooked stewing steak that whilst not chewy per se, it’s far more of a jaw exercise and massively less joy than its name promises. A benign bacon ketchup provides no real support other than wetness… READ MORE
My favourite of the lot—an almost impossible decision… so, let’s go joint first—was the smoked and pickled Cornish mussels, with its umami-charmed sour in harmony with the sweet, warming heat of fatty Iberico ‘nduja… READ MORE
We’re advised steaks are cooked ‘French’, so ordering it medium means it sits perfectly between medium and medium rare ensuring enough of the fat marbling has pumped succulence into the aged-tenderised meat, under the caramelisation of its fired crust. It’s pure carnivore heaven… READ MORE
The biggest surprise is whilst the Kagoshima wagyu A5 is indeed the fat-primed meat bomb that’s expected and further boosted by an umami-loaded 4-year-old soy sauce, it’s matched stride by stride by a buttery, crusted pommes Anna-style hash brown… READ MORE
There’s more crunch fail from the deep fried Mars Bar that should be the eponymous hero of the dish, but the under cooked batter is an unpleasant texture. Whilst that’s a huge disappointment, the rest is a sticky, sweet, crunchy and chocolatey dream and then there’s the smile inducing Irn Bru sorbet… READ MORE
The seared and sliced hanger steak is perfectly medium rare and very easy on the jaw, although it’s totally let down by the accompanying herb-lite and vinegar heavy ‘chimichurri’ featuring what seem to be coriander seeds providing a hugely unwelcome grittiness to proceedings… READ MORE
First up is gol gappa; crispy shells filled with chick peas, potato and vermicelli, accompanied with a sweet pouring sauce with a spicy kick, loaded with tamarind and mint. We clash knuckles going for the final shell, but I’m there first and they’re far too addictive for me to even consider any act of chivalry… READ MORE
My dressed crab is everything I want from a plate of food; there’s lightly sweet buttermilk with citrussy-anise attitude from a dill coulis swirl, freshness and crunch in abundance from rainbow radish and tart, green apple, but the sweet, delicate flavour of the crab still takes centre stage… READ MORE
I’ve no plate envy whatsoever, with my herb flecked pappardelle, topped with a white ragú of slow braised shreds of lamb. It’s surprisingly light and fresh, allowing the sweetness of the lamb to rightly do all the hard work, although there’s a third too much pasta than the sauce requires… READ MORE
With the last two dishes having merely teased my sweetness receptors, this next one goes straight in, on full seduction mode, yet it’s the salty, fatty crunch of pork scratchings that’s putting honey sweetness in the spotlight from a chocolate ‘mousse’ and a velvety orange curd… READ MORE
Wonderfully densely meaty frankfurters with a quiet kick of chilli that builds slowly. And credit to the curry sauce that offers no more sophistication than generic curry powder. It’s perfect and exactly as I remember it in Berlin, although they’d be goose stepped out of there with a price tag of £16.50… READ MORE
Next up is beetroot poached in a red wine sauce. It’s another ‘oh wow’ dish for both the eyes and palate with sweet earthiness of beetroot, pungency rather than heat from wasabi and subtle nutty earthiness and crunch from the linseed wafer… READ MORE
My ‘New York style hot dog’ looks like it’s been flown in from JFK, but that thought is snatched away with the first bite, with the flavour of pure British banger. Although it’s the soggy, barely warm, mess of shoestring fries, that rings the alarm bell… READ MORE
Our only conversation is to marvel at impeccably crunchy and fluffy in the middle roast potatoes; perfectly gnarly Yorkshires, beef that’s every bit the pink, tender fillet you’d expect; subtle sweetness from the roasted roots; and gravy that’s bolder than a drunken stag party… READ MORE