As some of you may have spotted, the long established Loft Lounge in Bromsgrove Street has had a bit of a makeover. And by “bit of” we mean very extensive.

They’ve dropped “Lounge” from the name and are now advertising themselves as an all day venue for food, drink, and socialising, and the changes to the interior and menu have brought it bang up to date.

Gone are the velour seats and sparkling lamp shades, having been replaced with stripped wood, random pieces of what look like agricultural machinery, and for the keen eyed, the odd turn-style (let’s see how many find that one). We liked the new style and feel, reminding us as it did of some of our favourite bars around the world like Flaming Saddles in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen – I’m sure The Loft could introduce Coyote Ugly style cowboy line dancers on the bar, right?

The menu, which had perhaps turned stale, is refreshed and stripped back, focused on a smaller range of styles of food, done well.

We have now eaten at The Loft four times over the past few weeks, both as a couple, with friends, and as a large group of friends with all of our mothers before the ballet.  All times have been a great success.

My personal favourite so far has to be the buttermilk fried chicken burger (£8.50) served with bacon jam, ranch mayo, and lettuce, in a seeded bun. A friend at our last meal there commented “It may just be the best buttermilk, or in fact any fried chicken, that I’ve ever had”. Match this with the beef dripping cooked chips (£2.75) and I doubt you’ll be finding much to complain about. Plus with the wonderful Independent Birmingham card you get 25% off all food (we’re not affiliated, but we think it’s great compared to the other cards).

We’ve also tried out the beer battered haddock with a green peppercorn sauce (served on the side before you worry about your crispy batter), the tikka spiced seabass fillet with coriander, heritage tomato and onion salad, and the braised pork, celeriac and roasted apple sauce which despite looking very pretty, is the only dish so far that we weren’t keen on.

The Loft also offers a pretty varied breakfast and brunch menu in addition at weekends but we have not tried this yet. That’ll be another return visit with @brumbrekkieclub  http://www.birminghambreakfastclub.co.uk

You can find The Loft website here.