When El Borracho De Oro opened as a Spanish tapas restaurant just off Five Ways at the end of Broad Street, we were initially unimpressed, mainly due to the interior decor.  However Emma, the owner and hostess, has made big changes over the last few months to the lighting, decoration, and furniture, which have really made the place feel warm and comfortable.  This area of town is becoming a new centre for good food.  Rofuto, Fiesta Del Asado, JuJu’s Cafe, and Blue Piano are all now just a short walk from Five Ways.

We’ve been a couple of times to El Borracho De Oro since its makeover, for quick bites to eat, and for a full on group dinner.  A quick dinner for three on a Thursday evening with a couple of beers each was around £25 per head.  We loved the jamón croquetas (crispy croquets of cured ham & bechamel), the sticky glazed chorizo in red wine, the earthy beef cheeks, and the meatballs.  My personal favourite is the chicken livers, cooked till tender and smooth with heady flavours of the brandy it’s cooked in.

Tapas style dining appeals to us for its informality and friendliness, a great inducement to conversation and gossip.  In fact the Spanish have a word for the time chatting post-meal over a table – it’s la sobremesa.  We’re spoiled for Tapas in Birmingham now.  If you’re on the run in town then you can stop by Tapas Revolution in Grand Central, if you want cheap eat there’s Rico Libre in Digbeth, the town centre can also offer you Amantia for a more formal setting, Comida in Harborne can offer you a quirky intimate and tasty dinner for you and friends, and El Borracho De Oro can now offer an entertaining evening for the largest of groups.

We dined as a group of around eighteen people on a Friday evening.  We started at the bar with canapés of meat, truffled crisps (you may not know it, but you need these in your life), olives, focaccia, and manchego, with coupes of chilled Cava.  For mains we had pork ribs, beef cheek, Spanish tortilla, croquettes, salads, and the pièce de résistance (or rather the Spanish equivalent), a massive Fideuà de Marisco – a Catalan speciality of sea food with pasta noodles.  I’d not had that dish before, it’s an alternative to seafood paella with pasta noodles replacing the rice.  It was full of sweet prawns, mussels, fish, and veg, and was very tasty – and it looked great as a big sharer dish for the whole group to tuck in to.

Dessert wise, we’ve tried a few now.  The Tarta de Santiago was good, as was a Creme Caramel with exotic tonka beans.  I wasn’t so big a fan of the almond Creme Caramel.

This is an ideal spot to bring your work colleagues for dinner or even lunch, or for an evening get together.  There’s even some outdoor space should it be a sunny day requiring outdoor beer, or if you’d prefer sit in the lounge area with a beer or cocktail and just a couple of plates of tapas.  The terrace and the lounge area welcome well behaved dogs.  The restaurant is well suited to larger groups and the front of house staff made us feel very welcome.  We’ll be back for more of the lovely tapas, and the warm welcome.

We paid in full for our meals here. We do occasionally have a freebie and we’ll always make it clear if we’ve done that, though I’d add we’ll always give you our real feelings regardless – see our Reciprocity Promise for details.