Fumo, Waterloo Street

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Thanks to a diary mix-up and a tight deadline, we found ourselves lunching at Fumo after a period of abstinence.

And we have to say that it felt pretty good stepping back in. We’d forgotten how buzzy and boujie the bar is and just how much we love a decent cocktail.

Foodwise, the cicchetti style menu has always been right up our strada. DIshes arrive in a procession as and when they’re ready which feels civilised and, crucially, they are hot and fresh from the kitchen. There’s no hanging about.

BIG FLAVOUR

Prawns with leccino olives, tomato and Pernod was a punchy little dish with a big aniseed flavour. We like aniseed. If you don’t, this isn’t the dish for you. A selection of bread was strong served with a tasty tangy tapenade. Sicilian arancini with a beef ragu middle could have been better, though – the ragu was a bit thin on the ground which meant the balls were dry.
Gnocchi gorgonzola on the other hand was cheesy, salty, oozy, rich as you like and we could have devoured a second plate. There were almost fisticuffs over the last mouthful. Mafaldine con ragu di manzo – wavy pasta with a slow cooked beef ragu – was rich, unctuous, packed with flavour and felt like top notch comfort food.

RIGHT GIGGLE

With no room for dessert, we strolled out into the sunshine feeling sated and a bit daft we hadn’t been back for so long. We had a right giggle. It’s a fun, glamorous place full of people having a great time. When visit again though, in Joey Tribbiani-style, we’re not sharing our gnocchi gorgonzola. It’s all ours.

Fumo, Waterloo Street

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We’ve inadvertently visited two restaurants specialising in sharing plates this month, albeit very different. While Plates by Purnell’s is rustic and relaxed, Fumo is more fancy with lots of marble, gold accents and statement lighting.

Part of the San Carlo group of restaurants, Fumo isn’t new on the scene, but it’s been a while since we visited. Also, our options were limited as finding a restaurant open on a Monday in Brum is like trying to bag tickets for the Eras tour. If you’re celebrating any occasion on a Monday, godspeed. A sign of the tough times hospitality and indeed diners find themselves in.
Cicchetti – Italian medium plates rather than small – is the name of the game at Fumo and the menu is massive. We quaffed Champagne while we got to grips with it which helped immeasurably. One thing to note is the dishes aren’t much smaller than your average main course. The restaurant suggests five or six dishes between two people which turned out to be a lot of food.

SLOW COOKED

Also worth noting, we chose a handful of the heavier dishes on the menu such as magnificent gnocchi with gorgonzola, rich tasty lasagne and a melt in mouth slow cooked short rib of beef. They were great, but there are plenty of lighter plates too. The beetroot carpaccio was superb, served with goat’s cheese and topped with herby crunchy breadcrumbs. Nicely cooked halibut with samphire, tomato and chilli was knock out and the pollo Milanese was perfect with a squeeze of lemon.
The staff were fantastic and without prompting, clocked it was a celebration and brought out a plate of desserts with a candle and a birthday message penned in white chocolate. A nice touch. Having ended up at Fumo partly by default, it turned into one of those memorable lunches that drifts into late afternoon limoncello territory leaving us with happy hearts and full stomachs. What else do you need?