OUT IN BRUM

Chef Kray Treadwell opened his restaurant ‘670 Grams’ in early summer in the Custard Factory, Digbeth. The restaurant is named after the weight of his daughter when she was born four months premature. We weren’t able to make it to the 16-seater restaurant before the winter lockdown so we’ve had to do the next best thing and try one of their heat-at-home meal boxes.

The week we wanted it for he was offering a vegan meal box – that’s not the restaurant’s norm, but we thought we’d give it a go, after all we’ve always got emergency pepperamis on-hand should the lack of meat make us feel faint. Not that we knew it at the time but Chef Kray would earn himself the title of the Michelin Guide’s Young Chef of 2021 just two days later – no doubt this accolade will make tables at his restaurant even harder to come by when lockdown ends.

I think you can tell a lot about a chef by what they’re able to produce with only plant-based ingredients, and the food we ate was interesting and tasty.  Forgive the plating, we tried our best but I’m sure the restaurant make a better fist of it!

We started with a shot of strawberry kimchi ‘soup’.  It gave an initial impression of summer freshness but became progressively more savoury, maybe even with fermented funkiness, with lingering fruit and slight heat on the sides of the tongue.  Super unusual but not unpleasant.

Next was a more conventional course of dahl samosa, rice bhaji, and spring onion chutney.  The bright chutney tasted vibrant and green, with a ginger heat and tang from the onion.  The samosa and bhaji were lightly spiced and had some crunch.

On from here more East Asian flavours with Thai green crispy noodles with daikon and finger lime.  The green liquor had good heat and was fragrant with coriander and lemon grass, on crispy noodles and soft earthy daikon.

The tomato, smoked bread, and crispy wontons were tasty with tomato sweetness, but it could’ve done with a couple of more crackers to offset the soft texture.

Perhaps my favourite course was the potato kiev, with truffle ajo blanco and crispy capers.  The breaded potato was crumbed with a slight crunch but the truffled ajo was so delightful I could eat it with anything, the salty capers cut through its richness.

The Teddy Bear bean curd was fun, and the coconut rice pudding wasn’t too sweet, with the pineapple giving it a top-end piña colada feel.  I particularly loved the lotus pretzel and they look really interesting as petit fours.

Can’t wait to get to the actual restaurant!

In prior years Deliveroo may not have been where one would naturally have gone for fine food, but since the pandemic and attendant closures many venues have entrepreneurially reached beyond their usual platforms to keep their ovens burning, and to continue delighting us with their food.

From this Wednesday 13th January one of our favourites, Harborne Kitchen (HK), will start to offer a new exciting delivery – Makan Tabao, eastern flavours with a western technique. HK’s Head Chef Tom Wells spent 6 years in Singapore and, inspired by his time living there, he has been busy working with Sous Chef Dave and Chef Owner Jamie Desogus developing the Makan Tabao concept. Why the name, you ask? They tell us that Makan is a traditional Singaporean greeting that also translates as ‘eat’, and Tabao translates as takeaway.

We were lucky to get a sneak peak, and taste, of the Makan Tabao offering (yes a freebie before they opened to the public, see our reciprocity promise here). Of course coming from the HK stable it’s a refined and quality centric offering – no MSG and E-number colouring here. The menu is compact but has something for everyone from vegan to committed carnivore, with starters from £6 and mains from £8.

For starters we had the chicken yakatori with ponzu and sesame, and the smoked pork ribs with red miso and preserved plum. The chicken was succulent, with a barbecue flavour, garnished with sesame seeds, and served with a tangy ponzu sauce with nutty sesame oil. The pork ribs were lightly smoked and the preserved plum and miso dressing was sweet and fruity.

The Pork Belly ramen is a meal on its own without needing sides, starters, or dessert (not that it stopped us). The pork was tender with the fat rendered down, an unctuous joy. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the broth full to the brim with umami, with a runny boiled egg adding its rich yolk, and spring onion a punch of freshness. We also had the Malaysian beef rendang. The beef was falling-apart soft, with a good heat, and packed with fragrant spices.

As a side dish we had the salt-baked turnip with almond and Szechuan pepper. Turnip isn’t usually a go-to side for me but here they were elevated with fragrant Szechuan peppercorns, rubies on the alabaster turnips. I could happily have eaten just the turnips for a main meal. We also had a generous portion of delicious egg-fried rice, nothing like the burned greasy offerings that so often are offered up by late-night takeout joints.

For thorough research, we obviously tried the desserts. The sago pudding was creamy with strong coconut and notes of vanilla, and topped with a sharp tropical hit of fresh passionfruit. The lime cheesecake was lip-puckeringly tart with a delicious sweet crumb. A fine end to a fine meal.

For those of you missing restaurant trips, Makan Tabao is a great home alternative – this isn’t just takeaway South / East Asian food, it’s excellent quality that you’d be happy having served to you in any restaurant.

Makan Tabao officially launches on Wednesday 13th January. It will be available to order click and collect or delivery via Deliveroo between 5 – 9.30pm Wednesday to Saturday.

Find them here:

https://www.harbornekitchen.com

This Veganuary the teams from The Pineapple Club and LAND Restaurants are teaming up to bring the Vegan experience to your home!

The Pineapple Club which opened in September 2020 is teaming up with the Great Western Arcade’s popular Vegan restaurant LAND. Veganuary or Vegan January, promotes veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January.

Owner of The Pineapple Club Samuel Boulton said “We have many members of our team who are Vegan so we’ve always had a focus on this for our food. Being over the way from LAND we’ve tried their food many times and they are honestly at the top of the Vegan food game. We love what they do, so for us this was a obvious collaboration”

Veganuary boxes start at £35 per person, these will include one savoury and one sweet dish prepared by LAND and a drinks package of your choice from The Pineapple Club.

Drinks will include a choice of WineFreedom Wine, a cocktail selection prepared by The Pineapple Club or a wine/cocktail pairing selection with an aperitif. Of course all are vegan friendly!

The first Vegan and Gluten Free menu launches on the 4th January with two courses:
Roasted Cauliflower – Satay Sauce – Coriander Pesto – Chilli Jam Vanilla & Black Pepper Panna Cotta – Blackberries – Miso Caramel – Oat crumble

You can learn more by following on social medias. Facebook and
Instagram @PineappleBrum and @land_restaurant