Restaurant

Centenary Brasserie Opens At The Birmingham Rep

September 13, 2013 by Erica Hughes 2 Comments

The Birmingham Rep has reopened this month after its refurbishment. With a fresh new look to the theatre, it’s no surprise that the Rep’s bar and restaurant have had a thorough make over too. It’s a fresh, white and bright look with clean lines and plenty of light. I was invited along to try out a selection from the new menu at the Centenary Brasserie and see what I thought.

The Centenary Brasserie is a 90-cover restaurant, with a café and bar, plus a large external terrace opening out onto Centenary Square. Paul Welburn is the executive chef. Paul , who previously ran celebrity chef Rhodes’ flagship restaurant in London (with a Michelin star), has provided the guidance and the lead for the culinary direction of Centenary Brasserie. There’s a clear focus on high quality ingredients with many local suppliers. A strong team backs up Paul’s commitment to quality and head chef Steve was truly passionate about the food being served.

We were treated to a wide range of dishes from across the range of the menu. The Marinated beetroot and Gorgonzola salad, walnut crumble, rocket and red chard (pictured above) was a flavoursome dish. Our table didn’t include anyone who liked blue cheese, but we could still appreciate the efforts that went into producing such a visually pleasing dish with so many complex flavours.

The Crispy prawn and vegetables, served with harissa and guacamole steered away from a tempura batter with a more substantial coating well suited to the ‘meatiness’ of these big, juicy prawns. The heat of the harissa gave these an added twist and a punchy bite.

The restaurant is aimed at filling the gap that exists in Birmingham between the top end restaurants, with their Michelin stars, and the ubiquitous chains. There are certainly less restaurants in the middle ground in Birmingham seeking to provide good quality, innovative food without high price tags. Indeed with main courses priced at around £16 or less, the Centenary Brasserie isn’t expensive given the quality of the ingredients and the expertise of the staff.

The Centenary Bar and Brasserie will be open from 9am to 11pm on Mondays to Saturdays, and 11am to 9pm on a Sunday. As such they will be catering for those that just want a drink; those that want a snack or light meal; obviously the pre-theatre diners; and those who want a full restaurant dinner. It’s great to see such a relaxed and friendly venue with high standards right in the heart of Birmingham.

Turners Restaurant, Harborne Review Part 2

December 4, 2012 by Erica Hughes 2 Comments

This is the second part of my Turners Restaurant review. You can read part 1 here. Turners is a Michelin starred restaurant located on Harborne High Street and we attended on a Saturday night which is when only the tasting menu is available to order.

I’m going to let the food speak for itself, to a large extent, as I got some lovely pictures of the dishes and the cuisine does look stunning in its own right.

We loved this mackerel dish (pictured above). Mackerel is a favourite fish of both of us anyway and it was teamed with fresh, succulent fruits that provided just the right amount of acidity to balance the oily fish.

Not every dish pleased us. My companion didn’t care for a liver based starter dish and I wasn’t keen on the pickled vegetable accompaniment to one of the main courses. However, as he doesn’t like liver and I don’t like pickles, perhaps it’s not surprising that we weren’t wowed by these dishes.

There were no complaints when it came to dessert though. This lovely, light souffle certainly hit the spot. And there were more good things to come from the pastry section with this eyecatching finale taking pride of place.

Overall we really enjoyed our visit to Turners Restaurant. It’s a small restaurant though and I think better suited to parties with few people as the intimate size of the building lendes itself to smaller groups.

I would recommend choosing a bottle of wine rather than going for the wine flight. We did this and had no regrets. It helps keep the cost down and if you choose wisely, you can find a wine that we take you through the evening.

Turners Restaurant, Harborne Review (Part One)

November 21, 2012 by Erica Hughes 1 Comment

The other week we decided to treat ourselves to a visit to Turners of Harborne. Turners is one of three restaurants in Birmingham that boast a Michelin star. We’ve visited Simpsons a number of times in the past, but had yet to try Turners Restaurant (our closest one) or Purnell’s.

We booked a 7.30 table for a Saturday night. Turners has a number of different nights with cheaper menus available on less popular nights to eat out, but Saturday night means they only serve the tasting menu. This was fine by us anyway as we wanted to taste a range of dishes to gain an introduction to Turners food. As you’d expect for a Michelin starred restaurant, the tasting menu comes at a premium with a price of £80 per head for 8 courses, although you might get some little extra culinary surprises along the way.

The door was opened for us as we approached and we were shown to our table immediately. As we were eating quite early, there was only one other table full, but by 9pm all the tables were full. With only 8-10 tables, Turners has an intimate atmosphere. The small premises size means you come into the main dining room from the door on the street. As you are met at the door and escorted in, the time the door is open is kept to a minimum. We sat close to the entrance and didn’t find it a problem.

Service was prompt, discrete and courteous throughout. The fact that everyone is having the tasting menu on Saturday night makes ordering food unnecessary, so the only decision to agonise over is the wine list. We had considered having the wines to go with the tasting menu, but in the end decided that we would prefer a more restrained night (not sure what came over us) and opted instead to order a single bottle of wine. Our pick for the night was a local wine from nearby Worcestershire from the Tiltridge Vineyard. We chose the Elgar Medium Dry (white wine). The sommelier told us that if we wished we could take a visit to the vineyard and I think we might just do that in the future. We’ve drunk English wine before, but I don’t think we’ve ever tasted wine of that quality before from this country. It was light and refreshing without being lightweight in flavour terms.

Our first taste of Turners came with the arrival of some miniature fish and chips (pictured above). They were exquisite. I loved the crispiness of the chips which reminded me of those French Fries crisps in size and shape, but not in taste as these were on a much higher level. On the teaspoons was a very refreshing mouthful of pure pea flavour with super sweet and fresh tasting peas and pea shoots.

Part two of my Turner’s Restaurant review will review the remainder of the tasting menu.