Eighteen months ago we struggled to find a single place in Birmingham where we could get Sunday Lunch.  There was basically the Mal Maison and The Hyatt, and that was about it.  Now, everyone is in on the game including Stirlings Bar.  It’s been around a while and is the classic bar, club, restaurant triumvirate.  It’s based in The Jewellery Quarter just off St. Paul’s Square.  We popped along to try their Sunday Lunch offering after a very big night out.  They serve Sunday Lunch right up until 6 o’clock, which is worth remembering if you’re just dragging yourself out of bed post noon.

Stirlings Bar feels masculine, 1980’s slick with lots of black leather and sharp corners.  The menu fits with that and has an American style including nachos, burgers, steaks, chilli, and ribs.  Mains are between £10 and £15.  When we were in there was Rugby playing, thankfully silently, on the TVs.  It was a day for quiet background music while the hangover subsided and that’s what we got, with a medicinal pint of full fat coke on the side.

We ordered the Roast Chicken for 2 which arrived whole on a large chopping board with the other components of Sunday lunch including: broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy.  It was all lovely.  The chicken was succulent with a crisp golden skin, and the potatoes were fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.  I couldn’t criticise it.  Although I didn’t like the mismatched and rather cheap cutlery which didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the venue which is pretty high end.

Desert was, I’m afraid, a bit of a let down.  There was only one of the two options available, and we ended up not eating ours as it wasn’t very nice.  That said, the waitress did an excellent job in terms of service, taking it off the bill completely, and I wouldn’t let that one poor dish stop me from returning.

There is a cocktail list which we didn’t sample, given our delicate state, and we really need to make a trip back on an evening so that we can properly sample what the bar side of the business is about.  We’ll definitely be there next summer as there is a nice outdoor area with umbrellas which will be perfect for watching the world pass by on St. Paul’s square.

In summary, rubbish cutlery, but delicious food and good friendly service.  We’ll be back.

p.s. after we posted this the nice people at Stirlings tweeted to tell us that they’ve already sorted the cutlery!