Birmingham Foodies Festival

Laura and I were lucky enough to visit the Birmingham Foodies Festival in Cannon Hill Park. It was a lovely day which is probably why there was such a good turn out! Every midlands based food blogger seemed to be there. Why wouldn't they be? There was some exceptional food on offer for reasonable prices. On entry there was a band playing an acoustic set with lots of people chilling with a drink sat on the grass. Laura and I had a very quick walk around to check out what was available before we decided on our first snack of the day!  There was lots of choice including Goneburger, Piggie Smalls and  Exotic Tagine to name a few. There were also several demonstrations and tasting session with the likes of Glyn Purnell and Dhruv Baker.  Being unable to resist the urge for Asian food I decided to start my glutinous day by ordering the Lamb Teriyaki from Wing Wah. I love watching the Tepenyaki chefs preparing the food on a hot plate. After waiting for roughly 10 minutes I was given a generous portion of delicious spicy noodles with succulent lamb and peppers. It was a great start to the day and the spice on my tongue forced me to get my first drink of the day!

I followed the advice of several other midlands bloggers and hunted down the Two Towers Brewery and ordered a pint of 'Complete Muppetry' which I have reviewed in my Beer Review Page

We then were drawn in by the smoky aromas of the Goneburger stand. Some very appealing sounding burgers on the menu made for a tough choice of what to have. We settled on 'The 5.0'  Organic Pulled Pork with Whiskey Smoked BBQ Sauce and Chilli Coleslaw in a Bun.  The staff were very welcoming and looked like they were enjoying themselves throughout the day.  

 The burger itself was fantastic, it came with a good pile of meat which had a deep smokey flavour. The slightly spiced coleslaw was also delicious

Next for me was an artisan sausage roll from 'Pig In The Middle' just to top me up. I went for the Jack Daniels BBQ Pork. It was a well flavoured and well filled sausage roll with buttery flaky pastry. Laura also bought a sweet chilli scotch egg to keep for later on.

We had a stroll around the stalls and sampled lots of food and drink and were even given free bottles of marinade from Tabasco which we are yet to use. We sat and listened to some of the live music whilst I enjoyed a pint of scrumpy and Laura took out a new mortgage and had a pint of Pimms.

Unsurprisingly I was soon after some more spice! I was drawn to Exotic Tagine due to the rising steam and vibrant colours coming from the food in the large iron pans. I went for a mix of all the food on offer in order to try everything. The mixture included 2 Tagines, one chicken and one lamb, a lentil dish and finally a chickpea dish, finished off nicely with a side of cous cous and a large dollop of chilli sauce.

All of the food was excellent, well spiced and packed with flavour. The Lamb was a bit tough and fatty in places but I still finished off every last morsel.

We had lots of tasters throughout the day, far too many to tell you about. We also were lucky enough to watch demonstrations from Glyn Purnell and also Jackie Kearny of The Hungry Geko. Jackie Kearny specialises in Asian Street Food and mainly cooks vegan dishes. We were lucky enough to be able to try some of the Khmer Style Yellow Cambodian Curry that she demonstrated in the Chef Theatre. It really took me back to my time travelling Cambodia. It was a very authentic dish with a huge smack of lemongrass, chilli and lime, and a dish that I will definitely be recreating at home.

It really was a great day out and an event I will be looking out for in the future. 

Facebook / Twitter

En Place Pop Up Dining Experience

We were lucky enough to be invited to a pop up dining experience at Millennium Point in Birmingham. En Place is a 3 chef pop up restaurant who provided us with a  6 course tasting menu and wine for £35.
This experience was set next to the Thinktank museum in Birmingham in a small cafe called 6/8 Kafe. From the moment Laura and I arrived we were made to feel very welcome and even though the venue was a small cafe it really felt like we were being treated like customers of a fine dining restaurant. We were shown to our seats by one of the chefs and had a little bit of the background explained to us. 
The first course was advertised as 'Snacks' and consisted of a Gruyere Cheese Gougers (Filled Choux Buns) and small slices of crusty sourdough with slow roasted pork and a gremolata. 

The choux pastry was really soft with just enough flake. They had a generous amount of filling which had a delicate cheese flavour. When i have had these in the past they have been quite overpowering but these were very subtle. One of my choux buns did have a slightly raw base.

The pork on the sourdough was delicious. There was an excellent contrast of textures which all complimented each other. The pork was juicy and succulent whereas the bread was thin and crispy. The gremolata added a sourness to it which was balanced well with the salty pork.

The next course that came out was Veal Tongue, Toasted Sourdough and Sauce Gribiche (Like a cold mayonnaise) 

I thought this course was presented particularly well and again gave the feel of a fine dining experience. Veal tongue is not something I have eaten for a long time so I was looking forward to having another taste. The meat was well cooked and quite delicate. The flavors were quite mild and not too overpowering. I did not pick up a lot of flavour from the Gribiche and thought it was quite plain. Again the sourdough added texture and the micro herbs were attractive and fresh.
At this point in the meal we were offered wine which we both agreed would be to hard to turn down! I was served a Pinot Noir. I am not a huge wine connoisseur but I really enjoyed this particular glass.
Our next course was Mackerel, Pickled Radish, Samphire and a Tomato Water

  This was one of my favourite dishes of the evening. There were many different flavours that went well together which made this dish a success. The salty tender mackerel really fell apart when cut. The pickled radish was very delicate and very delicately flavoured so it did not overpower the water. The samphire was salty and cooked al dente. The best thing on the plate for me was the tomato water. A clear, slightly tanned liquid that packed a huge punch of tomato flavour with a bitterness of onion and garlic also on the palette.
The main course that was served was the Roast Chicken Thigh, New Potatoes Glazed with Thyme and Marmite and Peas a'la Francaise

I was looking forward to this dish as it read quite simple with ingredients that go well together. My only concern was the marmite potatoes as I am on the fence still as to whether I actually like marmite and also I thought the marmite would overpower the potatoes.  Great attention was again paid to the different textures, sticky potatoes, firm vegetables and crispy chicken skin. I though the roast chicken was quite bland and parts were also dry. The rest of the dish I thoroughly enjoyed. I was hesitant about trying the potatoes, but I thought they were incredible. The balance was excellent and the marmite taste was not as strong as I thought it would have been. It gave a stickiness to the potatoes. The marmite flavour was cleansed by the buttery and fresh spring vegetables. The only element that could have been improved for me was the temperature of the dish which was luke warm, however, this is me being very picky!
The dessert was Lemon, Meringue, Iced Tea. I love Lemon meringue so I was really looking forward to this course.

I thought that this presentation was excellent and I found I was looking at all of the different aspects of the dish searching for a starting point. The earl grey iced tea was different but a taste I liked as it was lemony and married well with the lemon curd. The curd was very tart and sweet which I loved. There were small thyme infused meringues on top which were sticky, crunchy and aromatic. The thin wafer of filo pasty added further texture. This dish really entertained the palette as there were so many sweet and sour elements.

The final course was advertised on the menu as Petit Four. I was expecting some small french style pastries. I was wrong.

We were served a trio  of retro sweets! There was Whiskey gummy sweets which had a really strong whiskey flavour. They melted in the mouth and the warmness of the whiskey was delightful. I am not a huge fan of liquorice but I ate it anyway. The star of this plate was the homemade lemon sherbert. The sweet icing sugar and bicarb foamed in your mouth with an intense lemon flavour which I assume was citric acid of some sort. There were stray bits of lemon rid in which added to the perfumed powder.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this experience with En Place and I would definitely recommend it to others. The customer service is excellent and the food was excellent. I will definitely be looking for a future visit!  Facebook / Twitter

The Red Lion, (Jewellery Quarter)

My girlfriend and I decided to venture out for our Sunday lunch this week and after a quick 30 minutes of internet research we decided that we would visit The Red Lion in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter. As we pulled up outside of the pub I was not expecting very much in the way of good food, as the street was scruffy and desolate and the exterior wasn't eye catching! Upon entry I was immediately happy to see a good choice of real ale including 2 of my favorites, Butty Bach and Bathams, as well as several guest ales.I went for a guest draught ale 'Riders on the Storm' which can be seen in my beer review tab.
We had not booked a table but luckily there was a table available upstairs that we were warned that we may have to share with other customers. This was not a problem as it was a large table big enough for 10 people so we had plenty of space.  I can't speak for my girlfriend, but I was quietly over the moon that the bar and restaurant both had TVs that was showing the football! Despite my love for football I do understand that having a TV on whilst eating out is possibly a deterrent for some. The volume was not on so this really shouldn't put people off visiting this pub. (However, if you do like having the football on in the background then they show matches from all of the top leagues!)
The menu had a reasonably large choice of meals including some pub classics, Sunday roasts and a good selection of appealing burgers. There was also a specials board to choose from. We both decided to have a roast. Laura went for the Braised Roast Lamb and I chose the Topside of British Beef which were both served with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, mashed potato, Yorkshire puddings and proper gravy!  I also had a starter of Sautéed Mushrooms with Roast Garlic and Blue Cheese served on Toast.
I did not have to wait very long before my sizeable starter was served. I have to apologise at this point as I did not take a photo of this starter. I was so keen and hungry I jumped straight in! It was served in a large immaculately clean white plate, a large slice of crusty toasted bread slightly charred around the edges, a good amount of sauteed mushrooms with copious amounts of creamy blue cheese. The saltiness of the blue cheese was complimented by the subtle hints roast garlic. A generous hand full of vibrant rocket leaves were also placed on top. I have to say that this starter was excellent and something I would definitely order again.
Again, we did not have to wait long before the very friendly and polite waitress cleared the starter and served our main courses. 
Both roast dinners were very large portions and came with a good amount of meat.  The beef was very tasty and was surprisingly succulent for a roast dinner. The vegetables were well cooked, Yorkshire pudding was crispy on the outside and soft inside. The mash was smooth and buttery and the swede mash was exceptional. I did find the roast potatoes a little firm still and not as crispy on the outside as I personally like them, but apart from that I thought the meal was great.

   I always insist on trying Laura's food as well as my own! Her lamb tasted great but was a little dry and could have done with more gravy which i'm sure could have been brought if we had asked.

I will definitely be visiting this restaurant again as I thought that the service, food, drink and atmosphere was excellent and was not overpriced. I would urge anyone looking for a traditional relaxed Sunday dinner to try the Red Lion. 
Good beer, good food, and the football in the background! ;)


Facebook / Twitter