Upstairs
THE BIG MATCH BRUNCH
A more recent review of their small plates menu (September 2022) is available to read here
A more recent review of their Sunday roast (July 2022) is available to read here
I take brunch very seriously. It demands a proper hangover, but given England’s run to tonight’s Euro 2020 final, there have been a few too many of late and there’s one booked for tomorrow too. To keep the booze at bay, we planned a game of tennis this morning and it’s the first time I’ve played for over ten years. I’m highly competitive, never more so than with my wife, who is a member of a tennis club.
The stakes are high enough already, even before we’ve agreed the loser buys brunch. So, it’s probably the freshest I’ve ever woken up on a Sunday morning, although I can’t say I’m feeling fresh on arrival.
Hearing the news Upstairs was opening up at Grace + James has been a silver lining on the many dark clouds of extended lockdown. From 1st August they’ll be doing Sunday roasts, then later this summer evening meals too, but for now it’s just breakfast and brunch with booze available (as it should be). We order a Bloody Mary and glass of pink fizz that’s got more than a hint of raspberry. I’d be jealous but for my Bloody Mary with its peppery kick.
Bloody Mary & Le Roc Ambulle Pink Pet Nat
I want two items off the menu and given this morning’s exertions, I feel I’ve earned that right. Chivalry then gets the better of me, and I suggest we go halves on the Guinness and Lincolnshire Poacher rarebit, given we both want the hash brown. We ask the waitress if that’d be too much food and thankfully she’s quick to reassure us it’s not at all unusual.
With post-match tiredness now taking hold, the rarebit looks like a voluptuously soft, brown mottled-mustard duvet, luxuriously draped over a divan size piece of toast. In the grilled béchamel topping there’s plenty of savoury sharpness from Lincolnshire Poacher, perfect for the soft malty sweetness and bitter bite of Guinness. They combine to deliver fully unrestrained umami offset by the sweet, lightly spiced fruitiness of the house brown sauce.
Guinness and Lincolnshire Poacher Welsh rarebit, house brown sauce
Next up is the aged beef fat hash brown; mandolin sliced potato layers with softened onion that’s crispy-almost crunchy, giving way to an almost melt in your mouth centre. The sweetness of the onion is a dream combo with the intensity of aged beef fat pleasuring the taste buds in every bite.
Aged beef fat hash brown, black pudding, fried duck egg, brown sauce
Two generous discs of black pudding provide earthy spiciness and a perfectly fried duck egg adds rich-creaminess. This plate of food is one extra fried egg short of total perfection. Halfway through, I ask for more brown sauce, but next time I’ll beg them to sell me an extra fried egg.
Champion’s brunch
It’s every bit the champion’s brunch we’d hoped for. With an extra glass of fizz and a wheat beer, the aches and pains are a distant memory and it’s easily the best £58 plus tip I’ve never spent.
What a day to be alive… house tennis champion, a sublime (free) brunch and now home to open the bar, watch the Wimbledon men’s final and then we’ll see if football is coming home… or not.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
25 York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7SR
