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.
arranging our social events and Raich Carter designed and arranged our first kit order. The Bullets was by now well under way and had started to gain a good reputation in the local area.
We first visited Rofuto just after opening in early 2016. The former 60s carbuncle that was Auchinleck House on Five Ways at the end of Broad Street was well and truly stripped and whipped into shape as the UK’s first and only Park Regis hotel. The swanky Park Regis brand of course needed a destination restaurant and bar, and Japanese inspired Rofuto is just that. Situated on the top of the building, which is itself at one of the highest points of Brum, the restaurant and bar offers 360 degree views across the city and out towards the leafy suburbs of Harborne and Edgbaston in the west. This visit was the result of a competition win – a business card draw at an event they were hosting – no funny business, we all watched them draw my card out of the bowl of 50!
The bar, with its triple-height glazing, is a wonderful place for a Friday evening drink after work, watching the red brake lights of cars rushing home for some peace and quiet, and the white lights of cars rushing in to the city to get the weekend party started. The interior lighting is subdued and the decoration chic. The design is more restrained than theatrical, think bamboo and light woods, rather than geisha, with subtle detailing like polished concrete columns imprinted with a water design.
with two people with allergies (one shellfish, one gluten) we were given the allergen guide for the menu which was really helpful as we didn’t have to ask a thousand questions of the waiting staff about each dish.
roe (caviar? I really must make more notes). Actually, I think it has to share its prize with a sashimi dish of sea bass with passion fruit dressing, petals, and maybe a hint of Yuzu? We also had some super fresh sushi, and a wonderful tuna tartare with a nose-tingling wasabi dressing, cassava crisps offering visual height and theatre, and a crisp edible spoon to set off the soft cool tuna.
the mushy peas had a mild wasabi flavour, and it was served with a passion fruit tartar sauce – a great riff on the British classic. We tried two of their desserts – a sharp lemon tart and a coconut panna cotta, both were good.
att, to the uber modern at Hotel La Tour (I still use their Welsh-rarebit-fondue recipe that I knicked off the chef), to the travesty at the Macdonald Burlington hotel. 
the head of the field in Brum – for their tea-pots can now contain a selection of Hendrick’s Gin cocktails. For the purposes of research, our table tried each of the three concoctions on offer: Flora Dora (gin, lime, raspberry, and ginger); the Martinez (gin, orange bitters, vermouth, and marasschino); and the Chelsea Rose (gin, apple, raspberry, and lemon). My favourite was the Martinez, a herbal mix but not too dry, my partner preferred the sharp but sweeter Flora Dora. You can of course also take normal boring tea, but why would you want to? January is blue enough without abstaining from booze.
tasty salmon and dill quiche with crumbly pastry, and a pigging great ham hock terrine served with a piquant-tingle-your-nose piccalilli. I often think that afternoon tea can end up too cake heavy, but with the addition of these non-sandwich savouries it really balanced it out.
(excuse the third horse racing reference, there), it’s an evening out in itself. They also offer a vegetarian option.
introduced to the previous designer-in-residence at Birmingham City University, Thomas Parry, perhaps better know as Made On The Canal. We’ve had such a wonderful response to our new logo and banner that we really want to share this designer’s wonderful work with you – and at the moment you might still get some stocking fillers from him in time for Christmas!
mucky!”) he’s finding success now, alongside his full-time non-design job, in working on commission design pieces, and selling his iconic line drawings of Birmingham’s landmarks, in a similar style to our logo, under the moniker Made on the Canal. Why that name? Because, of course, he lives and designs on his narrow boat – The Menace – that travels the Grand Union Canal network.
After almost a year of mourning the closure of The Butchers’ Social on Harborne High Street, Wednesday night we were able to celebrate the opening of its replacement – Harborne Kitchen. Co-creator of The Butchers’ Social, Jamie Desogus, is now Executive Chef Proprietor of his very own restaurant, an elegant and friendly place that is going to tickle the taste buds of most of Brum’s foodie set over the coming weeks.
deep blues and beech woods offer a warm Scandi vibe, with a massive hand painted bull alluding to its decades as a high street butcher’s shop. Entering from the street you’ll find yourself in a cosy bar inviting you to take a seat and have a coffee from local roastery Quarter Horse, or indulge in a beer, a wine, or a well-made cocktail from Josh. As an aperitif we had an excellent espresso martini, combining the wonderful Quarter Horse coffee with Josh’s skills with a cocktail shaker.
energy for his profession, and the service from him, the general manager Kinglsey, and restaurant manager Ben was remarkably good. All of the staff are proud of the transformation of the building, and of the fine product that they’re offering. The kitchen team, entirely on display in what must be the most open of kitchens in Birmingham, are equally buoyant to be dishing out top quality food, and there is some established young talent on display alongside seasoned Chef Jamie who’s worked for some of the UK’s finest chef’s such as Gordon Ramsay and Mark Askew.
and was not disappointed as we had a great view of all the kitchen stations. HK offers an à la carte menu (two courses £26.50, three courses £32.50), but as it was a special occasion – a miserable and wet Wednesday in November – we thought the seven course tasting menu (£55), with matching wine flight (£40), was in order.
unusual roasted yeast butter, adding a strong sesame flavour with a hint of malt. I finished the lot. This was served with an English sparking wine that I’d not had before from Bolney in Sussex, a light and simple wine, quite fizzy, cut through the richness of the doughnut; it’s always nice to start with some fizz.
seasoning. This was served with a Navaherros Blanco de Bernableva which was minerally with a creamy mouthfeel.
fried ear was salty and crisp, great contrasted with the firm white monk fish and soft leeks. Unusually this was served with a red wine, a Lagrimas de Garnacha. I was quite ready to dislike this pairing but found I couldn’t, the wine was light and the dish was rich with the meaty monk fish and the salty piggy ear, and the match worked well.
was just a mere suggestion of them both, adding a wonderful depth to the venison flavours. The wine with this course was my favourite, a gorgeous jammy St Emillion Grand Cru Bordeaux, full of autumnal blackberry.
some required crunch; I had earlier enjoyed watching the burly pastry chef make these dainty shining jewels from molten sugar. The final pairing was a Royal Tokaji, a familiar delicious dessert wine.
OUT IN BRUM 