Tropea, Harborne

Posted on

This could have been the shortest restaurant review in the magazine’s 13-year history.

If we weren’t constrained by a word count, it would read, ‘Tropea is perfect. Do yourself a favour and go.’ We do have a word count, so prepare for some gushing.

Firstly, the place is effortlessly cool while simultaneously feeling cosy – no mean feat. The focus is on being a great local restaurant. The vibe is chilled, the staff are brilliant and the food is utterly superb. Small plates are where it’s at and the restaurant recommends six to seven between two. We happily did as we were told while tucking into a carafe of Italian white.

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Among multiple contenders, the food is the star of the show. Focaccia with sundried tomato and rosemary was perfection – think crunchy salty crust with a light soft middle. Arancino stuffed with butternut squash, sage and oozing provolone cheese was ridiculously good. Burrata served at the ideal temperature achieved peak creaminess and was elevated further with a grilled red pepper sauce, basil oil, hazelnuts and a sprinkling of sea salt. Gnocchi with gorgonzola, confit sweet red onion and walnut silenced us – that’s all you need to know.

MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH

Tagliatelle with shredded duck white wine ragu served with a hefty handful of parmesan prompted child-like cooing and a Tuscan ribollita – cavolo nero and white bean stew with chunky croutons – was dreamy. Melt-in-the-mouth pork cheek braised in sofrito and orange with a potato rosti and savoy cabbage cooked in wine completed the savoury line-up beautifully. Dessert was a toss-up between tiramisu, canoli and pannacotta. Tiramisu with two spoons won – a fittingly delicious end to a top-notch lunch.

Henry Wong, Harborne

Posted on

It had been roughly a decade since we visited Henry Wong and we’d forgotten what a treat it was.

Ten years on, the place still had the warm local restaurant vibe we enjoyed first time around and crucially, the food we sampled was universally delicious.

Let’s face it, Harbonites are not short of places to eat with oodles of restaurants on their doorstep, but Henry Wong is one of the OGs – an institution that locals of multiple generations think of fondly. We were invited to sample the menu so obviously we obliged – rat up a drainpipe springs to mind.

The joy of Chinese food is over ordering as is our wont and sharing lots of different dishes. We went classic with a stonking pork Yuk Sung. There’s something special about the cool crunch of lettuce teamed with warm, soft pork that works and this was an excellent version.

Then duck pancakes – we’re nothing if not predictable. We’ve eaten a lot of average duck pancakes in our time and this wasn’t one of them. Attention to detail even down to the slick presentation with edible flowers and carefully shredded moreish duck was spot on. The hoisin sauce was just sweet enough and didn’t tip over into sickly territory which is rarer than it should be.

Sweet and sour chicken was fresh and tangy with plenty of vegetables. Crispy shredded beef was sticky, sweet and spicy – a heady trio, while our favourite dish (i.e. the one we fought over) was king prawn with garlic and chilli. The prawns were tender and seriously tasty with a hefty punch of the hot stuff. Finally, the crisp pork belly was unctuous and melt in the mouth tender – everything it should be.

We were a party of four and this amount of food plus steamed rice, noodles and prawn crackers felt about right – although bear in mind we’re a hungry bunch. The restaurant has changed hands, but we found it just as great in terms of atmosphere, service and food as it was 10 years ago. We probably won’t leave it so long ’til next time.

Estado Da India, Harborne

Posted on

It’s a year this month since Estado Da India flung opened its doors on Harborne High Street. Twelve months on, the restaurant is thriving, injecting warmth and vibrancy into what was once Café Rouge. Gone are the faux wicker chairs and insipid croque madame in favour of a classy dramatic interior, brilliant service and memorable Luso-Indian food.

Small plates (petiscos) are where it’s at with three per person recommended. Sticking to three was a challenge which we failed joyfully. Nuno, our waiter, was fantastic steering us in some directions we might not have headed, not least the cured beef croquette. If we worked here we’d be snaffling a dozen a day no question. Crisp on the outside, silky and smoky inside served with a lightly spiced aioli. Brilliant.

A prawn rissol was a bit like an empanada filled with delicately spiced prawns served with a Sumaar sauce which is like a souped-up aioli as well as a zingy herby dip. It was a cracker. Iberico vindaloo pork ribs were falling off the bone, melt in the mouth tender with, as you can imagine, a hotly spiced coating. Really super.

Keralan squid was perfection served with a curry leaf and mustard seed masala to dip the crunchy little morsels into. Chicken mappas was the only curry we sampled. On the bone, so still moist, the chicken was perfect with a complex spiced coconut milk green chilli sauce that screamed ‘drink me’. We didn’t order rice, opting for a tomato naan instead so mopped up the remains of the sauce with that. The naan wasn’t the big blistered beast you might get in a curry house – more a refined flatbread.

Word to the wise – we ordered a crunchy slaw (cabbage koshimbir) as one of our petiscos, however since all the small plates were served with a mound of the good stuff, we really didn’t need to order it separately.

A nod to the mixologist who’s got exciting plans for the drinks menu and who served up a couple of cracking mocktails – a zingy fresh Limao Spritz and a creamy coconutty Tropic Like It’s Hot.

There’s nothing else quite like it in the city.  Don’t expect a curry house nor is it Dishoom. The food is more interesting somehow and with a £15-for-three-petiscos deal for weekday lunch, it is a steal. We were kindly sent a gift card by the restaurant, but had we been paying, our bill would have been £68 which included two mocktails, seven small plates, two desserts and two pots of peppermint tea. That felt seriously reasonable given the level of the food and service.

Richard Turner

Posted on

His eponymously titled restaurant is one of just three in Birmingham to hold a Michelin star. Richard tells us about food, cooking, family life and how he would’ve liked to have been a rock star

Tell me about your cooking
Our cooking style is very much based around the seasons, this is very important to me along with flavour. I like our dishes to wow you with taste. The produce is king.

Describe your perfect meal
My perfect meal would be with my wife, family and friends. I feel that I have reached a point where I am looking for the whole experience, good food, wine and company.

How did you become a chef?
I am largely self taught. I started working in kitchens at 15 in the pot wash and then started a youth training scheme. I went to college one day a week, but found that I could learn more in the kitchen at work. There are lots of people that have influenced me over the years – too many to mention. I feel it’s important that as a chef you try and absorb as much as possible, I’m still learning now. My family has always been there for me and you need that as you work long hours in this industry. You get out what you put in.

What do you eat when at home?
Anything my wife cooks, sorry reheats. I am partial to a good Sunday lunch.

Who’s the best chef in the world and why? And who’s the best in Brum?

Well if you believe the press it’s the Roca brothers at El Celler de Can Roca. There are lots of brilliant chefs around the world at the moment and we are very lucky that in this country we have some of the best – Sat Bains, Phillip Howard, Brett Graham the list goes on. The best in Brum? How can I answer that without getting lynched. Birmingham’s food scene is getting stronger by the year, we are all doing our bit and long may this continue.

Is the customer always right?
The customer is king and alongside me they’re always right.

What’s the best thing about being a chef?
The glamour, the lifestyle, fast cars and beautiful women!

What’s the worst thing about being a chef?
Everybody is going to expect the answer to that question to be the long hours, bad pay etc. This is my career, vocation whatever you want to call it. There are ups and downs, but it’s a way of life and something that I feel very proud of.

If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
A rock star.

What do you recommend from this evening’s menu?
All of it!

 

Richards Recipe for SMOKED VEAL TONGUE, GREMOLATA, ONIONS AND HERBS

Ingredients:

  • 1 veal tongue
  • 500g mirepoix vegetables
  • 2 litres water
  • 200g baby onions
  • 50g butter
  • 300ml white chicken stock
  • 100g flat parsley
  • 50g tarragon
  • 35g mint
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 100ml olive oil
  • 1 banana shallot
  • 20g hairy bitter cress
  • 20g wild watercress
  • 20g hedge sorrell

Method:

Brine the veal tongue in a 10 per cent solution for 2 hours. Wash and cook in seasoned water with the vegetables until tender. Peel the outer skin off the tongue and cold smoke for 1 hour. Roll tightly in cling film and refrigerate. Peel the onions and cook in emulsion. Remove the layers from half off them and cut the other half into nice rounds. Blend all the herbs, lemon and oil together, season and reserve for later. Slice the shallot into small rings and store in a pickle. Slice the veal tongue and pan fry until crispy, cover with the gremolata and grill for 1 minute. Chat the onion rounds and reheat the onion shells in the cooking liquid. Serve with the pickled shallot and the freshly picked herbs. Box-out: