OUT IN BRUM

Epi by Nathan Eades – One to watch…

Posted on February 12, 2014 by outinbrum

Chef Nathan Eades formerly Sous-Chef at three AA rosette awarded Fishmore Hall in Ludlow, has been running pop-up Epi Restaurant at The Courtyard Café in Bromsgrove since 2013. Given its success there it’s only natural that Nathan should seek bigger things, and sure enough he’s chosen Birmingham to expand to. Thus we attended the first of Epi Restaurant pop-up nights at The Kitchen Garden in King’s Heath, on a bleak January Monday night.

The venue is not a fine dining establishment. It’s more of a hodgepodge of kitchen, conservatory, and shed. It’s a popular venue for random music events, and I can see that live music would work well there. Nathan wondering around in his chef’s whites did look a little out of place though, and I was apprehensive about what exactly we’d let ourselves in for with a wobbly table and imperfect service. It really was quite random, not least because we had to enter via another venue down the street.

The format for the evening is a fixed menu for £32.50, and dinner started with a canapé cracker of Shropshire goats cheese with foraged sorrel, and some curried popcorn. I’ve never understood popcorn but the other half liked it, and I thought the cheese was good, and what’s not to like about hand foraged herbage. While we were nibbling on those we realised it was foodie central, bumping in to Dr. Roz the Foodie, Dine Birmingham, and the Doyen of Brum grub Paul Fulford from the Birmingham Mail – we were in good epicurean company it appeared!

The first course was “Lamb, Shallot, Walnut”. Rectangles of slow cooked mildly spiced lamb fried in panko crumb was cut diagonally and arranged on shallots three ways, walnut crumble and walnut oil. Sweet onion and lamb is a classic combination and I enjoyed it. The crumble wasn’t as walnutty as I expected it to be but I liked the dish, so a good start to dinner, we thought.

Next course was simply called “Fish & Chips”. Given it was on the menu in speech marks it couldn’t of course have appeared as chip shop fayre, and we weren’t disappointed. Paper wrapped glass plates held well cooked Hake with a mouthwatering thin slice of preserved lemon, crispy fish skin, clever tubes of fried potato, and curried split peas. That’s fish, chips, and peas, if you’d not made the mental leap. The flavours worked well together, and the food had good texture, my only criticism would be it was a bit colourless overall as a plate of food.

The next plate was veritably verdant with green broccoli and purée served alongside succulent pork fillets with apple slices and a crumbed fried cube of other piggy things. The cube wasn’t quite crisp enough for me, but it certainly tasted of oink.

Served for the final course of the night was a de-constructed Tiramisu with microwave hazelnut sponge. A shot of reduced espresso was on the plate that was ultra bitter, but with the chocolate and sweetness of the ice cream, it calmed down somewhat and I really enjoyed the dish.

Now the service may not have been perfect, but bearing in mind the venue it was taking place in, the lack of a full kitchen for chef to work in, and the fact it was the first pop-up there I think it was a really strong start to Epi Restaurant in Birmingham. Nathan is passionate about his food and showed some good technical skill as well as flavour pairings. I look forward to eating his food again, no doubt soon in his own restaurant rather than a pop up. He’s ambitious, and definitely one to watch.

You can attend his Bromsgrove pop-up every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until 29th March ’14, or his King’s Heath pop-up on 25th February or 31st March. For details check out the website here: http://www.epirestaurant.co.uk/ Also, probably worth following @RestaurantEpi on twitter to see whether he’s popping up at any other venues *nudge wink*.

Posted in Area: Kings Heath, Cuisine: English, Cuisine: Fine Dining, Cuisine: Modern Mixed, Price: Average, Venue type: Restaurant | Tagged Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, eating out in birmingham, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, restaurant review, where to eat in birmingham, Where To Go In Birmingham | 2 Comments

Chung Ying Central

Posted on February 6, 2014 by outinbrum

Let’s start with a horribly-misquoted line from Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ……….. it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had plates before us, we had no plates before us, we were all going direct to Topokki, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the restaurant was so far like the state of many Chinese restaurants in Birmingham, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”. From that you’ll guess that I don’t love many Chinese restaurants in Birmingham, and we’d heard both great and awful reports of this new branch of stalwart Chung Ying. Time to see what the fuss was about…

Badged as a cocktail bar and Chinese restaurant this third branch of Chung Ying has opened on Colmore Row in the unit previously known as Saffron Indian, which was totally dreadful. Glad to see it’s been redecorated for it’s new incarnation, although it feels a bit bare and didn’t project the luxe image that the hype suggests.

As the waitress came over to take our food order, to avoid confusion, I specifically asked whether we could have starters, then duck as a separate course, then mains. This was confirmed. What followed was a comedy sketch show of Walters/Wood Two Soups proportions (see the hilarious sketch on YouTube). There arrived two of four starters, then the duck with the other two starters, then the duck was taken away and we ate the second two starters, then those we’re cleared and we were laid for mains with plates and rice bowls, then the rice bowls were removed, then the plates removed, then the duck arrived, then different new plates arrived. They were very apologetic about it.

For starters I ordered steamed pork buns. If you’ve not had this dim sum before then go and try these moist fluffy sweet barbecuey porky delights, they are seriously tasty. Like delicious clouds. We also ordered Yuk Sung which was good, prawn toast, and very crispy chicken curry spring rolls. Then followed the crispy shredded duck with pancakes and accoutrements which was very well done.

For mains we tried the crispy shredded beef. It was crisp, with a gooey sauce that tasted hot and sour. We also tried the salt and pepper chicken which had a good peppery flavour (pepper is used at its best in Chinese cookery in my opinion). Also we enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken. We had a bit of a problem with the pineapple rice, which originally arrived without the pineapple but with prawns, but was apologetically replaced – no good for a shellfish allergy though as it did have prawns in it with the pineapple – I enjoyed it however.

We had cocktails after dinner – they’ve got one to go with each of the Chinese zodiac signs. They were good. Although, predictably, there was a mix up between what we ordered and what we had delivered, we did get a freebie very nice old fashioned though to compensate.

A large table of fifteen or so merry people provided entertainment as one of the ladies was so drunk that every time she went to the bathroom she face planted on the floor. Full on Superman style complete wipeouts.

With cocktails, starters, duck, mains, rice, and beers, dinner came to about £30 a head, which I think was very reasonable for the superb quality of the food we had. Don’t get me wrong the service needs quite a bit of work, it was the day after Chinese New Year when we went, and I have to say the service was apt for the year of the pantomime horse – but the food was lovely. We will be back soon.

We can’t end without these final horribly-misquoted Dickensian lines, also from The Tale of Two Cities “It is a far, far better thing that I do eating at Chung Ying Central, than I have ever done at other Chinese restaurants in Brum; it is a far, far better rest that I go to after that many beers and cocktails than I have ever known”.

Update 27/02/14: We’ve been back a couple of times since and the service has been much better!

Posted in Area: Colmore Business District, Cuisine: Chinese, Price: Average, Venue type: Cocktail Bar, Venue type: Restaurant | Tagged Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, eating out in birmingham, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, restaurant review, Where To Go In Birmingham | Leave a comment

Edmunds Restaurant

Posted on January 25, 2014 by outinbrum

One of our very first reviews was of Edmunds Restaurant on Brindley Place, after we’d enjoyed a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner there while it was under the patronage of Chef Andy Waters. Since then Andy has moved on to other things (see review for Waters on the Square) and French Chef Didier Philipot has taken up the knives in this fine dining restaurant. The interior has had some subtle changes, it now for instance has brighter lighting, but the feeling is still luxe and comfortable with white linen, fine glassware, and elegant silver butter cloches.

There are a number of ways to dine here, you don’t have to take an enforced taster menu as is the case with quite a few of Birmingham’s nicer restaurants. There’s a Carte d’Hôte (£24.50 for two courses, £29.50 for three) available most of the time except after 6pm on Friday and Saturday, a nine course taster menu at £75 plus £55 if you want the wine flight (a glass of wine chosen to pair with each course), and an à la carte menu (£40 for two courses, £45 for three). The wine list is fairly extensive with wines ranging from £30 to upwards of £150, we settled on a £40 bottle of Coopers Creek Marlborough Pinot Noir after a G&T aperitif.

We ate from the à la carte menu, but before our starters arrived we were given an amuse bouche of silky butternut squash and ginger puree with a toasted sesame foam. I never know how to feel about foam. The puree was rich and creamy with just a hint of the ginger zing. We also had breads, including a wholegrain bread with bacon flavour, which I want to have every morning from now on as toast.

I opted for the Lobster & Crab starter, a golden orb of Devon lobster and crab risotto arancini accompanied by mushrooms and a lobster bisque. Being in one of the UK’s most landlocked cities I don’t eat a lot of seafood but I do love it. The bisque wasn’t overly heavy, sometimes I find it overpowering, and the flavour of the lobster and crab was fresh. I like the texture difference between the crisp coating of the arancini against the gooey unctuous inside. Our other starter was a warm beetroot and goats cheese salad from the vegetarian menu. The beetroot was served two ways, a sweet beetroot mousseline was topped with beetroot cubes and goats cheese, with tart pear puree on the side to compliment. For more textural contrast walnut and pine kernels were used. I’ve not seen the term “mousseline” before so I’ll assume you haven’t either, although I can’t find a definitive definition I think it means a sauce that’s been passed through a very fine sieve. I always like the way beetroot dishes are so striking because of their colour and this dish delivered on that front as well as taste.

For mains, I stuck with the seafood, medallions of Cornish monk fish with a pillar of buttery potatoes, grapefruit, a coconut sauce with toasted dessicated coconut pieces and a watercress and pea puree. Coconut, grapefruit, and Monkfish – who knew that was a thing? It was though, the combination was both different and excellent, I may steel it for a dinner party. My only criticism of this dish was that I would have liked another chunk of Monkfish, but that might have been greed because I certainly wasn’t hungry by the end of the meal. Our other main was a fillet of black Welsh beef, served with a beef Bourguignon croquette, potato gnocchi, parsnip, parsley cream, and port jus. The beef was good, and the port jus rich, contrasting with the welcome simplicity of the gnocchi and parsnip. The beef croquette was delightful reminding me of a grown up version of a meat Dutch croquette, although I didn’t get the promised boeuf Bourguignon flavours.

As an extra course we were given a pre-dessert. A small square of mango cheesecake (it probably wasn’t a cheesecake but I can’t think of a proper word to describe it) with a perfectly ripe raspberry – I’m always impressed with a good restaurant’s ability to pick produce that looks and tastes spot on. I usually refrain from dessert favouring cheese, but there was a chocolate dish on the menu with cherries, and I really liked the sound of it. I was not disappointed. A scoop of pistachio ice cream was served on the side of a wide but shallow dish of what looked like cherry dotted sponge. When the sponge was cracked it revealed a lava flow of chocolate heaven. The theatre piece of dessert though was the hot toffee soufflé, puffed up a good inch or so above its bowl. Presented at the table whole the waiter cut a slit in the top and placed a scoop of bitter chocolate ice cream on it which slowly sank in to the soufflé and melted. Novel and very very tasty.

Service was pretty much impeccable throughout despite it being an almost full house.

Our bill was around £150 – 3 courses for two people plus a bottle of wine and G&Ts. Although that’s not a cheap night out, I genuinely think it’s good value for the quality of food and service that you get.

Although it’s badged as a “French fine dining restaurant” the food style is more modern mixed in my opinion. I don’t think there’s anyone who couldn’t find a lovely menu for themselves here, take your parents, take your partner, go for a business lunch, and you’re sure to enjoy.

Posted in Area: Brindley Place, Cuisine: English, Cuisine: Fine Dining, Cuisine: French, Cuisine: Modern Mixed, Price: Get your dad to pay - above average, Price: My eyes are watering - expensive, Venue type: Restaurant | Tagged Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, restaurant review, where to eat in birmingham, Where To Go In Birmingham, where to go out in birmingham | 1 Comment

Hoots mon! Offally Good Burns’ Night Haggis

Posted on January 22, 2014 by outinbrum

This year’s Burns’ Night, 25th January, is on a Saturday which will surely mean an even boozier one for the Scottish diaspora with the whisky flowing freely, and haggis, neeps, and tatties aplenty. To celebrate the birth of that most revered of Scottish poets, Robbie Burns, Selfridges are stocking Staggis at £5.99. That’s Venison Haggis to the uninitiated. Usually haggis is made from sheep heart, liver, and lungs, onion, oatmeal, spices, and other goodies. It can be pretty offally. As a Black Country boy I grew up eating faggots so I don’t mind a bit of random internal organ, but many people aren’t so keen (and thas roight, ar bay a brummy, om from the black kontree). This Macsween haggis is much less offally than a normal haggis or a faggot, and I think most people would enjoy it. It tasted of a cross between lamb and venison with a plenty of other balanced spices.

We’ve been asked to try out a few random things over the previous year or two, and usually politely refuse, but how could I opt not to try this delight. Macsween of Edinburgh, the brains behind the haggis overhaul (NB, there are no brains in the haggis overhaul), has launched Staggis, made from wild Highland red deer, to tie in with the firm’s 60th anniversary. They’re exclusive to Selfridges, so your nearest place to get these is Brum Selfridges food counters on the ground floor. Although much smaller than when the store first opened, the food hall still has plenty to offer.

If you’ve not cooked haggis before, then this is a good starter, and it really isn’t scary. These small Macsween haggises which serve two take just half an hour in boiling water on the hob. Traditionally it’s served with neeps (in England we call it swede, not turnips) and tatties (potatoes, usually mashed), and a glass of scotch. I had a whisky sauce with mine and swapped the mashed for roast potatoes (which, like a domestic god I had frozen from leftovers on Christmas day – no one should have time on a random Wednesday night to make roast spuds from scratch after work).

Some haggis comes in an edible casing which can be eaten, these smaller ones don’t and the casings must be cut off, be careful of it spitting and escaping steam when you remove the case. I’d also suggest that the haggis can be quernelled nicely with serving spoons so you don’t just end with an unattractive splodge of it on a plate.

Delicious easy home made dinner.

Thanks to DK for the home delivery, Mike for collecting and fridging it while I was working, and Phippsy for eating it with me. It’s been a very complicated way to get a haggis.

Posted in Article | Tagged Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum | Leave a comment

Celebrity Indian

Posted on January 5, 2014 by outinbrum

The thought of leftover turkey sandwiches and Christmas cake on Boxing Day is too much for us to bear, so we always head out for food, usually to an Indian restaurant to have something spicy. This year we took the ‘rents to Celebrity Indian Restaurant in Brindley Place. There are dozens of Indians to choose from, but this is our go-to favourite place when we want tasty Indian food and good service. Price-wise Celebrity is in the middle tier of the Indian food establishments around the city. If you want pricey but perfect Indian food then head to Lasan or Asha’s, or maybe Pushkar if you want something a bit trendier and with super cocktails. If you want cheap as chips head to Royal Bengal on Smallbrook Queensway, which despite being inexpensive still offers great tasting food and friendly service.

We had papadums and chutneys with Cobra beer while we looked at the menu. I’ve no idea what the wine menu looks like as I’ve simply never found wine that seems to match Indian cuisine. I’m told fruity rose works, as do some sweeter wines like Gewurztraminers, or even something perfumed like a Torrentes. I’ll stick to my lager, thanks. Any of my friends tempted to chip in here with the red-wine-boxing-day-curry story should remain silent.

The menu is split between “traditional” dishes (jalfrezi, korma, tikka massala, pathia – all around £10) and “signature” dishes. The latter are twists on traditional dishes like a starter of Machli Tikka (tandoor roasted Scottish salmon marinaded in herbs – £5.50), or Horin Steak (marinaded venison fillet – £14.95).

For starters I had Prawn aur Puree, which was spicy and fresh. We also tried the chicken wrap, chicken and red pepper samosa, and a newly devised version of an onion bhaji. Rather than it being a traditional ball of doughy onion which can be virtually raw on the inside and unpleasant, Celebrity gave us a loosely connected pile of spiced-tempura battered sweet onion slithers. Crisp, different, and moreish. For mains we tried the lamb biryani, vegetable pathia, and chicken tikka achari. The pathia was sweet, sour, and spicy, and had a nice mix of veg. The biryani was also very good, with tender lamb. Service was chatty and pleasant as always.

With a couple of beers each and two courses the bill came to about £25 a head. Very enjoyable.

http://www.celebrityrestaurant.co.uk

Posted in Area: Brindley Place, Cuisine: Indian, Price: Average, Venue type: Restaurant | Tagged birmingham eating out, Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, Where To Go In Birmingham | 1 Comment

Epi: A Taste of Ludlow in Birmingham & Bromsgrove

Posted on December 19, 2013 by outinbrum

The market town of Ludlow is well known across the country as a great foodie destination. With two Michelin starred and eight AA Rosette awarded restaurants to choose from, as well as the legendary Ludlow Food Festival, it was exciting news to hear that a little bit of Ludlow can now be tasted here in Brum.

Nathan and Grant (normally Sous Chef and Pastry Chef) have a keen interest in foraging for wild food, and using local artisan suppliers. This led them to create Epi Restaurants in 2013, which started with a few pop-up dates at The Courtyard Café in Bromsgrove. After resounding success and sell out nights this was extended and they have now been awarded a semi permanent residence of 12 weeks there every Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 16th January to 29th March.

The chef’s can normally be found treating us to delights in the three AA Rosette awarded Fishmore Hall. They first met working together in 2010 in the kitchen of the award winning Lainston House in Winchester.

They’ve decided to expand Epi into the ever growing and improving food scene that Birmingham already has to offer. They will be starting their foray into Brum with Epi at The Kitchen Garden at Kings Heath on three dates in January 2014. Each date offers a different, exciting menu and promises great taste combinations if the comments of friends that have tasted the offering in Bromsgrove are anything to go by.

The current dates and menus are:

Monday 13th January: Goat, spiced quinoa, fennel ooOOoo Mackerel, cucumber , yoghurt ooOOoo Ox Cheek, parsnip, Horseradish ooOOoo Blood orange, vanilla, rhubarb
Monday 20th January: Pig, Gribiche, Sour Dough ooOOoo Salmon, Cauliflower, Chicory ooOOoo Mutton, Spiced Parsnips, Brussels Sprouts ooOOoo Our interpretation of Chocolate & Orange
Monday 27th January: Lamb, Shallot, Walnut ooOOoo ‘Fish & Chips’ ooOOoo Pork, Broccoli, Almonds ooOOoo ‘Tiramisu’

To purchase tickets for their pop up, visit www.epi-KGC.eventbrite.co.uk. For more information visit their Facebook page www.Facebook.com/epirestaurant or follow them on twitter @RestaurantEpi.

Posted in Area: Kings Heath, Cuisine: English, Price: Average | Tagged Birmingham Preview, Birmingham Restaurant, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum | Leave a comment

The Balcony at Selfridges

Posted on December 17, 2013 by outinbrum

I can’t bear shopping. I hate the queues, the people, the prices. Even the politest pressure applied from a too-friendly shop assistant is enough to send me “just browsing” elsewhere. Or more likely to the sanctuary of a bar or restaurant. So I’m always pleased when in the midst of Christmas shopping frenzy in a department store I see the sign “Bar”. Some of them may as well be titled “man-crèche”, where weary gentleman seek refuge with the football and a beer whilst their other halves max out their credit cards. I recognise that’s sexist as I know plenty of ladies who’d rather join me for a vino than fight through an escalator to beat someone, sometimes literally, to the last box of Christmas crackers in the shop.

Selfridges has a couple of possibilities for a mid-shop beer stop, but most of them are on the noisy ground floor with millions of shoppers prepared to queue for sushi and burgers. On the top floor though, where the ladies super-brands are purveyed to the beautiful and the wealthy, there’s always been an oasis. Although it’s been there since the opening of the store, last month it was refurbished and reopened as “The Balcony” by catering company Searcys. The space was desperately in need of a refurb, and the look they’ve achieved is high-end restaurant. It’s comfy and relaxing, somewhere to sit and recuperate with a coffee, or to gossip with friends over a glass of champers.

Opening at the same time as the store, you can start your shopping day here with a hearty breakfast. We tried the Eggs Benedict and Eggs Norwegian (both £9), with tea. The eggs were well cooked, and the hollandaise silky smooth. It was nice, although if I was being really picky I think the plates were too big. We did not however like the tea which was supposedly an English breakfast blend, but tasted suspiciously astringent like Darjeeling. Teapots were stylish and practical. You can also get a bacon sandwich (£4), or if you want something heavier then how about Southern fried chicken on waffles with poached egg and maple syrup (£12), I bet you can taste the calories in that one.

Onwards from breakfast, nip back for lunch. We enjoyed the sliders (mini burgers), trying all three styles – beef, squid & chorizo, and Falafel (£7). We also tried the “Searcys club sandwich ‘martini’” (£9) – a descontructed club sandwich served in a Margarita glass (the pedant in me must point out that mistake). It was a striking dish, enjoyable, despite it being quite tricky to eat. The fish fingers ‘n’ chips (£5) was excellent. The latter was served in a metal bucket on a wooden chopping board. I absolutely want my restaurant food to look good but impractical dinnerware is one of my pet peeves as regular readers will know. Well done to them on taking the time to net the lemon though so I didn’t get pips in my food. Other larger plates on offer include a monkfish green curry (£12), salmon fishcakes (£10), and rib eye steak (£26.50).

Of course all of this needs to be washed down with something and there is plenty to choose from. You can have a glass of champers for £12, or a bellini or other classic cocktails for £9. We can highly recommend the “Polish Flower” cocktail. Peroni by the bottle is £4, with the wine starting at a reasonable £20. It’s worth noting at this point that we’ve been several times, we didn’t manage to eat and drink around this whole menu in just a single day!

This venue won’t rock your world, but I think this is considerably nicer than the other options in the vicinity, although probably a few pounds more per person. Perfect for a business lunch, a retreat from the hordes, or a catch up with friends.

Posted in Area: The Bullring, Cuisine: English, Price: Average, Price: Get your dad to pay - above average, Venue type: Cocktail Bar, Venue type: Restaurant, Venue type: Wine Bar | Tagged Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, restaurant review, Where To Go In Birmingham | Leave a comment

Cackles and Cocktails at Island Bar #WhatWouldBeyonceDo

Posted on December 11, 2013 by outinbrum

On 18th and 19th December Luisa Omielan will be performing her debut solo stand up show “What would Beyoncé do?” at Island Bar in Birmingham. The show, which Luisa says is “for the girls and the gays”, has been so popular it’s already seen four sell-out runs at the Soho theatre, and been greatly received at the Edinburgh fringe.

What better way to watch comedy than with a carefully crafted cocktail in hand. Being part of the small Birmingham group Bitters ‘n’ Twisted you can guarantee that the libations here at Island Bar will be great. We have first hand experience of all of the cocktails on the menu, as when the staff training on the new cocktail menu took place a couple of months ago (doesn’t time fly!) we were invited along to Island Bar to try all of the 50+ cocktails they offer. I particularly liked the Breakfast Martini – Chase Seville Orange gin, curaçao, and marmalade, served with a slice of toast. Also, for dessert, the Key Lime Pie. Yum. The Marmite Martini was of course controversial, and I was in the haters camp! Upstairs at Island Bar is the Tiki lounge which has a specialist rum cocktail menu and a suitably Polynesian decor.

Most cocktails are around £6 with great value offers in their daily happy hours. You can get yourself a loyalty card to earn points across all of the six Bitters ‘n’ Twisted venues here.

We will be there to laugh with Luisa, so do tweet us up if you’re going!

WHAT: Stand Up for Girls and Gays by Sell Out comedian Luisa Omielan
WHERE: Island Bar
WHEN: Wed 18th & Thurs 19th of Dec, doors open 20.00, show starts 20.30 with support from fabulous local boy Aaron Twitchen. Cocktail offers all night.
£10 on the door, £8 in advance by either emailing info@iloveluisa.com or tweeting @luisaomielan.
Show approx 90 mins

Posted in Special Event | Tagged Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, Where To Go In Birmingham | Leave a comment

Digmas ft. Left For Dead Records

Posted on December 8, 2013 by outinbrum

No doubt by now the Birmingham city dwellers among you are already bored of the marauding hoards of Christmas shoppers around town who, this year, seem drunker than ever before. The Custard Factory is running a market – Digmas – on Saturday 14th which could prove to be an Alternative Independents antidote to the twee commercialism of the Frankfurt weihnachtsmarkt.

Running 10 till 6 it will feature:

Digmas discounts at the Custard Factory shops including the new Left For Dead Records (see below)
Live Music by the Glamophones, High Society, the Three Belles and The Rebel Party Band
Street food by Digbeth Dining Club – featuring The Meat Shack (wowser!), Jabberwocky, Platinum Pancakes and Hungry Toad
Stalls selling handmade, modern and vintage clothes and gifts
Roller Disco
Mulled wine and hot cocktails
Dancing by Strictly Jitterbug dancers
Workshops for kids and and adult’s workshops (including robot making, graffiti and wreath making)
Facepainting

Taking part in the Digmas festivities for the first time will be independent record store Left For Dead. The shop was opened just a few week’s ago next to Scott Lake in The Custard Factory, by music shop geek Andy. His wife spent a year’s honeymoon being dragged around music shops the world over: Red Eye in Sydney, Polyester and Greville in Melbourne, Real Groovy in Wellington, Amoeba in Los Angeles.

We caught up with Andy in his store (that he’s finishing off) and asked him what made him take the risk of opening his own business:

“It was while I was browsing through the racks in Junction Records in Fremantle that I decided that when we got back to England I’d try to start up my own record store. I got the name Left For Dead from the opening track on Ryan Adam’s Heartbreaker. Or was it my ironic take on people’s perception that downloading is the death of record stores? For me, Left For Dead is a lifelong dream. At the moment I’m concentrating on building up my range on vinyl and CD. I stock catalogue & new releases across all genres: folk, blues, jazz, metal, hardcore punk, hip hop, electronic stuff. I also want to stock recordings by local artists. In fact, I’d love for Left For Dead to be the place where musicians can meet and connect over new music. For me, that’s one of the great things about working in a record store, being introduced to new music by punters. I’m also looking for bands to play in store. With Record Store Day in April I’ll be looking to put on loads of stuff to make it a real day out”.

You can follow Andy’s new shop in twitter @LeftForDeadShop and like his page on Facebook. Get in touch if you have any questions for him!

Further details on Digmas 2013 can be found here.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Waters on the Square

Posted on November 8, 2013 by outinbrum

Sandwiched between a newsagent and a hairdressers, Waters on the Square, has opened on Chad Square in Harborne opposite The White Swan. One of Birmingham’s prodigal sons, Andy Waters, has returned to the city to open this new neighbourhood restaurant after departing Edmunds in Brindley Place to take up proprietorship of The Queens in Belbroughton in March 2012. Those of you in the West of the county will know that village to have been home to several gourmet delights over recent years. He and his team will continue to run The Queens as well as this new venture. Chad Square has a special place in Andy’s heart as he opened his first restaurant there, The Bay Tree, over ten years ago.

The thirty cover restaurant has been gutted since its previous incarnation as Pinocchio Italian, and is now warmly decorated with red sumptuous accents. Other than the ceilings being a little low (which makes a noisy table seem noisier) it feels like a fine dining restaurant. I liked the comfortable seating, and the stylised cutlery and glassware and overall I think the look is a winner and would be a great spot for a romantic meal, a business dinner, or a catch up with friends (incidentally all of those things were happening when we were in there on a Wednesday night – it already seems popular).

To start I had the chicken and Cognac parfait with apricot and almond chutney. The parfait was pleasantly strong and set off nicely by the delicately flavoured and not too sweet apricot chutney. It was decorated with pea shoots which I love. We also had the carpaccio of beef, which was deeply purple and inviting, and was served with artichokes, sun blushed tomatoes, black olives, quail’s egg, and twenty month aged parmesan – all very tasty and a pretty dish.

For my main I had the belly of Wiltshire pork with black pudding, sage & onion crumble, and apples steeped in red wine. It also came with some perfect crackling. It was a good meaty bit of pork belly, not all fat as it sometimes can be. The sage & onion crumble took me back to making stuffing with my nan, a sparing but pungent sage hit working well with the meat. I didn’t dislike the red wine steeped apple but it didn’t have the acidic kick I was expecting to work against the sweetness of the belly. It was an attractive dish on the plate, as was all the food we had there.

Our other main was a corn-fed breast of chicken with leeks and creamed morel mushroom sauce. Again, an attractively presented dish. The chicken had a crisp skin and was superbly seasoned bringing heady chicken flavours out of the meat to accompany the strong morel mushroom sauce. The mains came with sides of potatoes and green beans and carrots doused in garlic butter. Despite the elegance of the food at this restaurant, you needn’t worry that you will leave hungry – the portions are hearty and the winter menu is rich and filling. For dessert we tried the chocolate and toffee tart with a vanilla crumble (yum yum), and I had the cheese plate which had a delicious chutney.

Not only will you not worry about leaving hungry, you will also not worry about leaving stony broke. Two courses is £21 and three courses is £27 with wine coming in around £20 for the cheapest bottle. In my opinion this is great value for food of this quality.

Good luck to Andy, Beverley, and the rest of the team, but if you keep churning out great stuff like this you won’t need it!

http://watersonthesquare.com

Posted in Area: Harborne, Cuisine: English, Cuisine: Fine Dining, Price: Average, Price: Get your dad to pay - above average, Venue type: Restaurant | Tagged Birmingham Restaurant, birmingham restaurant review, birmingham review, Out In Birmingham, out in brum, OutInBrum, restaurant review, Where To Go In Birmingham | 2 Comments