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Sadler’s Brewing Co. has announced the launch of Brewer’s Social Harborne, the third venue in its expanding roster which includes Sadler’s Brewhouse & Bar in Lye and Sadler’s Taproom Quinton. Alongside Sadler’s award-winning ales and spirits, the all-day venue will offer collaborative and special edition brews; craft spirits and cocktails and well as a wide range of food.  From brunch and morning coffee and cake, through lunch to an exciting evening menu featuring unique slow-cooked and BBQ dishes, sourcing and provenance of ingredients will be at the heart of everything.

I was invited along to try out the new food range and sample some of Sadler’s fine beers.  The Brewer’s Social in Harborne is on the same premises as the pop-up, but a number of changes have been made to the decor, plus there’s a new kitchen and the upper floor is now open to provide extra seating.  There’s a good mixture of hard and softer surfaces which is great for comfort and means that noise levels don’t get too high.  This a place that you can while away an afternoon or an evening very comfortably.

Sadler’s offer a wide range of beers from lager, through IPAs, to the bitter and stout end of the spectrum.  There’s a wide array of choice at the lighter end of the beer range. But there’s less to choose from at the darker end of the continuum.  I’m a bitter drinker and the most obvious choice for me was the Worcester Sorcerer, which is a very decent pint indeed.  I really hope Sadler’s will expand this part of the range in time, as they clearly know how to make a good quality beer.  It’s not just about the beer though as they offer a wide selection of other drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.  There’s a wide range of wines on offer as well as Sadler’s own range of spirits including their Peaky Blinder Gin.

I had the Grilled Lamb & Sweet potato as my main course.  It’s pictured above at the bottom right. It’s a chargrilled lamb leg steak, with sweet potato wedges, tenderstem broccoli and cumin aioli.  You need to be hungry for this as there’s a lot of meat to eat, but it was very tender and it almost melted in the mouth.  I loved that the quality of the ingredients stood out and that they were well prepared, well cooked and well presented.

My guest for the evening had the brunch which would be a real treat for a lazy weekend.  The poached egg was perfectly cooked and satisfyingly runny inside.  Again it’s a very generous portion and it would certainly fill you up.

Sadler’s Brewing Co. managing director, Chris Sadler, said: “We want the ‘social’ part of the name to really mean something and for Brewer’s Social to appeal to everyone, with special community events, brewing collaborations and fundraising for local charities.

“Following the success of the Harborne Pop-Up, the logical next step was to install a kitchen and expand the offering; we’re really excited about this new chapter – with lots more in the pipeline.”

For more information on Sadler’s venues:  https://www.sadlersbars.co.uk/

I bought a Groupon deal for Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar and Grill, BirminghamMarco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar and Grill, Birmingham and I’d recommend looking for a deal as they often seem to have them.  It’s a more limited menu, but still a good selection and it proved to be good value.  It’s a great way of getting a bit of a treat without having to spend too much money.  I was booking a table at quite short notice (the day before) so I didn’t want to buy a voucher from Groupon until I’d got my table confirmed, but the restaurant like to have the voucher codes before you arrive.  This meant I had to contact them twice about the booking which I could have done without.  I struggled to get through on the phone the second time and sent an email instead.  Then it turned out that I hadn’t sent both codes (it wasn’t clear), so they didn’t get the second till I arrived.  I did hand over my Groupon voucher on arrival though so they could check before we were served if they wished to.

Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar and Grill, Birmingham has amazing views over the city, in fact I don’t think there is another restaurant in the whole of the city that can boast views as good as this one.  We were seated one table in from the windows which was slightly disappointing, but we did book late on and the restaurant was quite busy as it was the tail end of Sunday lunch.  You can still see the view reasonably well and we both had views out of the window due to the positioning of the chairs.  I’ve been before and sat right by the window, but found that one of us had our back to the view, so there are some advantages to being sat a little further in.

As we were there on a Sunday we had the Sunday Lunch set menu.  There’s a reasonable amount of choice on this as long as you don’t have dietary requirements or aren’t too hard to please.  There were 4 starters, 5 main courses and 3 desserts to choose from and we had no problem picking out a dish or two in each course.  I had the Crispy Devilled Whitebait With Homemade Tartare Sauce.  Whitebait is a bit of a menu favourite for me and I enjoyed these.  They are simply done, but the homemade tartare sauce complemented them perfectly.

My companion had the Ham Hock Terrine with Sourdough bread and piccalilli .  Again this went down very well, but there wasn’t really enough bread for the terrine. It’s quite a common mistake I find to have the proportions of bread/toast and terrine/pâté wrong and it would have been a nice touch if they’d offered to bring more bread when they served it.

My fellow diner had 28 Day Aged Scottish Roast Striploin Beef with Roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and Yorkshire pudding served with gravy.  As you’d expect the beef was very flavoursome and tender.  I chose the Classic Chicken Kiev with Pommes frites, roast vine tomato and garden peas.  It did take the humble chicken kiev and elevate it to another level.  Very moist and full of flavour, it’s a dish I’d very happily order again.

For dessert we went for the Brownie and the Ice Cream.  The ice cream was delicious and of good quality and the brownie was delicious too.  Neither of the puddings really stood out as innovative, but they were of a good standard.

We had cocktails included with our meal and they were very refreshing – you can choose from a limited range again.  We had the Mojito and the Daiquiri.  We also ordered drinks – expect to pay over £5 for a bottle of beer. On the bill at the end we were charged for these extra drinks and a 10% service charge which didn’t seem to be voluntary.  As we paid the service charge we didn’t leave a tip on top.

I fancied trying out something a bit different and Rodízio Rico with its Brazilian offering seemed like just the thing, so I popped along to try the food and experience the restaurant as it’s been somewhere I’ve been thinking of going for some time.  Rodízio Rico has a fun concept: there’s a buffet with salads, side dishes and even full blown meals.  You can go help yourself as many times as you like and they keep refilling it.  You get given a disk for each person at the table.  On one side it’s red and the other green.  When you have the red side up you don’t want any more or just want a bit of a break, but when it’s green you get offered meat by the servers who move around the restaurant.  They bring out a range of meat on skewers and you can try as many as you have room for.

As we arrived we were asked if we had a voucher or a code and there are often Groupon deals or similar for this restaurant, so it’s worth checking in advance. We were seated and given the drinks menu.  I asked for a pint of Bass which I was encouraged to see on the menu, but it seems that they didn’t have this on and didn’t have a suitable alternative either really.  I had to have Guinness instead which isn’t really the same at all, so that was disappointing.

The buffet was well presented with a wide range of dishes from simple bread rolls, vegetables and salad ingredients to more complex salads, side dishes and even complete meal like lasagne.  You can eat very well off just the buffet to be honest, although its the meat that is the star of the show and certainly what you are paying for and expecting.  The buffet was well kept (it looked fresh and appetizing) and kept refilled.

After we had our buffet salads and accompaniments, we started to get approached by the waiters with their large skewers of meat.  They carve it at the table and serve it straight to your waiting plate. I really enjoyed the meats especially the beef steaks and cuts.  I was less keen on the sausages and felt that the chicken could have done with a little in the way of flavouring.  There was plenty to go round and we had no problem at all getting enough to eat.  The dinner menu has more expensive cuts of meat and more variety, but is more expensive than the lunchtime deal.

It’s a fun place to eat and there are good views over the canal if you are lucky enough to get a window seat (in fact I would ask for a window seat if you book in advance).  There’s so much choice there should be something to suit all meat eaters and vegetarians can have most of the buffet food and pay a reduced price (not sure I’d be that keen on coming though as a vegetarian because the meat is very much the centrepiece).

This summer sees the REP, Birmingham relaunching its Marmalade at the Rep bar and restaurant after an extensive refurbishment that includes a new outside terrace overlooking the newly created fountains of Centenary Square.  It is the only food and drink offering on Centenary Square, so it is really well placed for those who want to soak up the atmosphere and indulge in a little people watching.

Marmalade team have been very working closely with local businesses and artisan suppliers to provide customers with an all new dining experience, that is firmly rooted in the local area.  Suppliers local to Birmingham have been used wherever possible, especially those who source their products in a similar way. The menus are environmentally conscious with their local sourcing cutting down on food miles, plus there are vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options readily available. But those ethical principals haven’t been at the expense of taste: there’s plenty to choose from if you want to indulge including Chicken & Pork Jambonette, Glazed Baby Carrots & Gooseberry Jam; or maybe Sweet Potato Thai Curry, Mange Tout, Bok Choi, Shitake Mushrooms, Coconut Crisp & Fragrant Rice.   If you are looking for great dessert options, there’s the Blueberry Frangipani with Vanilla Crème Fraiche; or Chocolate & Coffee Mousse with Chantilly Cream & Pecan Praline. My favourite dish was the unusual take on Apple Crumble with an oaty topping which was truly delicious.

One of the ways that Marmalade at the Rep is standing out from the pack is its supplier team ups.  New partnerships include a working with local award-winning Purity Brewery in a symbiotic relationship, and together they have created a one-off cask ale for the Marmalade bar that has been flavoured with a jar of home-made marmalade.  I was a bit dubious about how this would taste (my first time to try marmalade flavoured beer), but it was surprisingly good, with a subtle hint of marmalade, and the resulting beer is of a caliber with Purity’s other fine beers which include a number of IPAs. There’s a great collaboration too with local eco coffee provider, Iron & Fire, and global brand Martini, to bring some interesting twists to the drinks menu. I attended a preview event that meant that I got to try out some of the range of supplied produce and hear from the committed and dedicated suppliers who have a genuine enthusiasm for the work they do.

Marmalade have completely refurbished the interior and the new stylish decor at Marmalade sets the tone for diners.  The new terrace which can hold up to 200 people, so it’s the perfect spot to grab an al fresco bite to eat with a long refreshing drink, maybe try out that special Purity ale.

Marmalade at the Rep is an independent business which is both owned and run by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre so its profits go towards the artistic and charitable aims of the theatre.  It’s great to be able to eat and drink in style and support the arts while you do it.