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One of the things I’ve found most time consuming about lockdown is the need to plan all my shopping, food planning, preparation, cooking and eating up of left overs.  It’s not been the easiest thing to achieve, which surprised me as I do generally cook from scratch a lot and would consider myself a good food planner.  So in amongst the meal planning and preparation, it’s nice to have a few meals that are less work and take up less time. It’s good to be able to pick out a good quality prepared meal to give the chef of the house the occasional evening off.

Created by foodies for foodies, Charlie Bigham’s dishes are lovingly made following the same attention to detail that you would if you were to scratch cook them yourself at home. Using top quality ingredients, chosen for their deliciousness, his goal is to help people steal back quality time by doing all the dinner prep for them.  And with more than 60 savoury dishes to choose from, inspired by British classics and world flavours, as well as a new range of gloriously indulgent Proper Puds, you’ll find a dish for you. 

A Little Luxury is offering four lucky readers the chance to win a Charlie Bigham’s meal for two, redeemable in-store. If you’d like to win, please enter via the Gleam widget below.

Sweet Cakey Thing recently got in touch and sent me a selection of their sweet cakey things to try out.  With all the doom and gloom around at the moment, it was a real treat to have something a little bit decadent, but filled with high quality ingredients, arrive at my door.

Sweet Cakey Thing started life as a Kupkase & Co which made wonderful cakes, but following the owner’s change to a paleo – keto – plant based food lifestyle, there was a move to providing something that was a real treat, but good for you at the same time. All the little pots of sweet cakey things are handmade in small batches and the cake batter is actually baked right in the jar, creating a moist and flavourful crumb, made with ingredients that work to actually nourish the body, unlike regular cake. Baking with almond flour rather than wheat flour; using coconut milk rather than cows’ milk and butter; and all natural sugars, rather than refined sugars or sweeteners is all part of the story. Sweet Cakey Thing is free, from wheat, gluten, grains, dairy, soya, additives, preservatives and refined, white sugar.

There are four flavours to choose from:

• Rouge Bouche with red velvet sponge, rich chocolate sauce and white chocolate almond cream. Finished off with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs.
• BerryLicious is a take on the classic victoria sandwich with layers of vanilla sponge, red berry compote and white chocolate almond cream.
• CocoaCrush is made from layers of moist chocolate sponge, chocolate coconut sauce and chocolate almond cream.
• LemonLush encorporates ribbons of lemon zest through the lemon, blueberry and tumeric sponge. There’s fresh made lemon curd and white chocolate almond cream.

I was very excited about the pots arriving and they did look so tempting as you can obviously see the goodies through the glass.  The tops are tightly on and I had to run the lid under the hot tap to open them, but that was easy enough and better than them leaking in transit. Once you open them up and taste them, you realise how moist they are.  The pot size was just right for me: enough to feel I’d had a treat and to make me feel full.  I loved that they are packed full of good things and they are really tasty too.  They are so indulgent to eat, you don’t feel that you are depriving yourself of anything and that is the perfect way to be.  I really enjoyed them and would certainly consider buying them again, or getting them for a friend as a treat.  If you’d like to find out more, pop over to https://www.sweetcakeything.co.uk/shop or visit them on Instagram.

The Celebrity Indian Restaurant on Broad Street has been a familiar feature of the famous thoroughfare for many years.  In fact, the restaurant has a long history and started life just around the corner near the Rep Theatre and was known as The Celebrity because it was a regular haunt of the theatre stars.  I first became aware of the restaurant after its move to Broad Street where it occupies the top floor of a handsome red brick building (the ground floor of which is the Brasshouse pub).  The location is ideal as its at the heart of Birmingham’s nightlife area and there are a host of places near by to enjoy a drink afterwards, or you can go clubbing if you want to party.

The Celebrity Restaurant is beautiful decorated and it’s a very stylish place to spend an evening.  The decor is almost monochrome and has been put together with an eye for detail.  The tables are generously spaced and it’s a very comfortable environment to spend time.  You wouldn’t know you were so close to one of Birmingham’s busiest streets.  It’s truly a place where you can savour the restaurant experience concentrating on the food and your companions.

One of the things that stood out for me as I looked over the menu is the range of dishes available and the fact that The Celebrity offer some interesting and unusual plates of food that are very different to the usual fare on offer at a local curry house.  Over the years the restaurant have created a comprehensive range of modern and traditional dishes, which are presented flair and vibrancy.

One of the highlights of the evening for me and my table companions was their signature starter: an onion bhaji stack.  This is the perfect dish for sharing as it’s so tempting to pick out those stands of onion with their gram flour batter coating, although you might prefer to keep it all to yourself.

The main course I picked out from their Signature Main Courses was the Seabass Khazana. In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of fish dishes on the à la carte menu.  I think it’s a delicate balance to hit: to get the combination of Indian spices right, but without overpowering the fish (some types of fish can be quite delicate in flavour).  The seabass is first marinated in spices and then pan fried in herbs to get that crispy skin whilst keeping the fish flesh moist.  Then the seabass is served on a bed of creamed vegetables with paprika, tomatoes and onions.  The Seabass Khazana did manage to find that sweet spot between delivering a punchy Asian flavour and overwhelming the sea bass, which should and did remain the star of the dish.

Disclosure: I was invited along to The Celebrity Restaurant to try out the food with the Westside Bid in Birmingham.  The Westside Business Improvement District (BID) is constantly working towards creating a more attractive, better marketed, brighter, safer and cleaner business environment in Broad Street, Brindleyplace, Five Ways, Centenary Square, Broadway Plaza and all the surrounding areas.  Photos are by Jas Sansi.