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De La Vie’s is a new addition to the Bearwood dining scene that has recently opened.  It occupies the site previously used by the Ruby Chinese restaurant on Barnsley Road, just off Hagley Road, Edgbaston.  There’s some parking on site in their car park plus free, on street parking too.  The new proprietors have clearly done a lot of work on the decor of the restaurant and whilst the basic layout remains the same, the finish and feel is very upmarket. Seating is a mix of bench seating, or tables with cosy velvet chairs, plus some larger tables for groups. There is also a pleasant bar seating area.

De La Vie’s is a grill restaurant specialising in steaks and meat dishes, but vegetarian options are available.  It describes itself as a dry aged steakhouse and lounge bar. They aim to serve the finest Hampshire beef, cuts including fillet, rib-eye, T-bone and tomahawk. Obviously quality steaks aren’t cheap, so this might be a destination restaurant for a birthday or anniversary celebration, indeed the decor and the feel of the restaurant lends itself to this sort of occasion.

A wide range of drinks were available: there’s a champagne list, a reasonably extensive wine list and cocktails, plus a wide range of spirits.  For beers there’s a good selection of lagers (both on tap and bottled), a couple of pale ales, but no Guinness, stout, bitter or cider.

We decided to go straight to the main event and have something from the grill.  Whilst we were waiting for our meal we were served complimentary olives.  I think a rib-eye is the one of the tastiest steak cuts and a good test of a restaurant’s ability to cook steaks well.  I picked the smaller of the two steaks on offer, the 12oz which is large enough for most people, even those like me who have a healthy appetite.  It was cooked as I requested (medium), and the grill flavour complemented the good quality beef.  As I expected it was a lovely piece of beef, with no waste or sinewy bits.  My steak arrived cut into strips which certainly made it easier to tackle.  No specific steak knives were provided, but to be honest it wasn’t necessary.  The steak came with chips and was served with a chimichuri sauce.  I loved the chips: they were crisp on the outside and fluffy inside.  The sauce wasn’t my thing and I don’t think you really need a sauce with steak if the steak is good enough (and it was).  One point to note is that there is nothing else served with the steak, no garnish or vegetables, apart from the chips and the sauce, so we ordered the grilled vegetables as a side order.

The grilled vegetables were very tasty and the grill certainly adds extra flavour.  I did think it slightly odd that underneath the hot vegetables was a bed of lettuce (mostly rocket).  I think I’d have rather just had more of the vegetables.
My companion picked out the Koobideh from the Kebab section of the grill menu.  It’s described as a delicious chef’s special with ground dry edge beef and lamb, combined with the chef’s specially selected herbs and onion.  Again it’s grilled on charcoal which adds to the flavour.  As you can see this does come with a fairly extensive salad garnish, as well as the grilled tomatoes.  If you chose this meal I think you could do without any sides. This was a lovely, flavoursome kebab meal, but it probably doesn’t feel as special as having a steak and seems a bit pricey for what it is.

After all that meat we were quite full, but wanted to try out one of the puddings so we had one to share.  They only had three of the six puddings on the night we went, so there was a limited choice.  We picked out the 7 Veli Chocolate, which is made of layers of chocolate and hazelnut covered with chocolate ganache.  It came served with chocolate ice cream.  This was a delicious end to the meal and the portion size was perfect for sharing.

The service was friendly and attentive.  We did have a small issue with the bill, but it was quickly sorted out.  Often the mark of a good restaurant is how they handle any problems, and on this account De La Vie’s did well.

I can see me returning to De La Vie’s for a bit of a treat or a special occasion, or if I just fancy a charcoal grilled, quality steak.

If you want to try other restaurants in Bearwood, read my review on BrazilPortu, A La Mexicana and The Old Dresser.

BrazilPortu is tucked away further down the Bearwood Road away from the main high street area.  It’s part of a row of independent shops and businesses, plus this part of Bearwood is on the up with lots of specialist shops and eateries opening up in recent years.  BrazilPortu is a bit deceptive from the outside as its their shop that fronts the street and you need to walk through this to get to the restaurant section.  The shop is an intriguing looking place and it stocks lots of speciality products, so it’s well worth a visit if you want to recreate Brazilian food at home.

Some of my most memorable dining experiences have been in South American restaurants, I think in part because beef has always been my favourite meat and steak in particular.  So I was keen to try out BrazilPortu.  The restaurant is colourfully furnished and decorated, but it’s not too busy either, so it’s a relaxing place to spend time.  The waiter was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive.

Our waiter suggested we have the Special Grill for One, but scaled up for two people.  This meant we could pick out a couple of steaks and have them with a range of sides. We decided this would give us the chance to try a range of dishes from the menu.

We chose the Picanha Na Chapa (a rump steak) and the Contra Filé  Na Chapa (a sirlion).  You pick whether you want your steak well done, medium or rare and we both went for medium.  I preferred the rump to the sirlion, but that’s a personal preference as I find it tastier.  As you can see from the pictures, the steak came served on sizzling cast iron platters and with a bed of fried onions.  The steaks were cooked as requested and were great quality pieces of meat – very enjoyable. The portions are generous and most meat eaters will be very happy with the serving size.  We didn’t get any steak knives to eat with and when we asked for them we were told they had none, but they were looking to get some soon.  Steak knives would have made eating easier, but that’s not to suggest that the steaks were poor quality, because they were very tender.

Between us we were able to have chips(twice because you can never have enough chips), salad, rice, black beans and tropeiro. The tropeiro is a mixture of spring greens, mixed beans, egg and smoked sausage. The chips were nicely crisp and the salad and rice were fairly standard.  The tropeiro was an interesting, tasty dish and I’d certainly order it again.  I wasn’t so keen on the black beans and I’d probably try a different side on a return visit.

We’ll certainly be going back.  It was a lovely welcoming restaurant with a good range of dishes on the menu apart from the more obvious steaks.  I’d be interested in trying out the salted cod or the peri-peri chicken another time.

Other local eateries to try include Hengata in Harborne, A La Mexicana in Bearwood, De La Vie’s and The Old Dresser also in Bearwood.