All in City Centre

Pasture

We’re advised steaks are cooked ‘French’, so ordering it medium means it sits perfectly between medium and medium rare ensuring enough of the fat marbling has pumped succulence into the aged-tenderised meat, under the caramelisation of its fired crust. It’s pure carnivore heaven… READ MORE

Six by Nico Birmingham

There’s more crunch fail from the deep fried Mars Bar that should be the eponymous hero of the dish, but the under cooked batter is an unpleasant texture. Whilst that’s a huge disappointment, the rest is a sticky, sweet, crunchy and chocolatey dream and then there’s the smile inducing Irn Bru sorbet… READ MORE

Vagabond

The seared and sliced hanger steak is perfectly medium rare and very easy on the jaw, although it’s totally let down by the accompanying herb-lite and vinegar heavy ‘chimichurri’ featuring what seem to be coriander seeds providing a hugely unwelcome grittiness to proceedings… READ MORE

Indian Cafe Racer

First up is gol gappa; crispy shells filled with chick peas, potato and vermicelli, accompanied with a sweet pouring sauce with a spicy kick, loaded with tamarind and mint. We clash knuckles going for the final shell, but I’m there first and they’re far too addictive for me to even consider any act of chivalry… READ MORE

Plates by Purnell's

Build-your-own anchovies on toast starts the belief that we’re looking at very well priced food. A generous pile of superior quality anchovies—meaty, firm and packing umami with the saltiness—sit on top of fresh tomato reduced almost to a sweet puree and then also a zesty, tangy and fragrant salsa verde… READ MORE

Orelle

My dressed crab is everything I want from a plate of food; there’s lightly sweet buttermilk with citrussy-anise attitude from a dill coulis swirl, freshness and crunch in abundance from rainbow radish and tart, green apple, but the sweet, delicate flavour of the crab still takes centre stage… READ MORE

Vinoteca

As for the beef carpaccio, rocket and Parmesan, off the lunch menu—so let’s not forget it’s made from “carefully sourced ingredients, created by each site’s own head chef”—it is nothing short of abysmal. Thin sliced, ‘roast beef’—the sort you get out a packet at the supermarket—with eight rocket leaves and a sneeze of cheese… READ MORE

Albert's Schloss

Wonderfully densely meaty frankfurters with a quiet kick of chilli that builds slowly. And credit to the curry sauce that offers no more sophistication than generic curry powder. It’s perfect and exactly as I remember it in Berlin, although they’d be goose stepped out of there with a price tag of £16.50… READ MORE

Land

Next up is beetroot poached in a red wine sauce. It’s another ‘oh wow’ dish for both the eyes and palate with sweet earthiness of beetroot, pungency rather than heat from wasabi and subtle nutty earthiness and crunch from the linseed wafer… READ MORE

Isaac's

My ‘New York style hot dog’ looks like it’s been flown in from JFK, but that thought is snatched away with the first bite, with the flavour of pure British banger. Although it’s the soggy, barely warm, mess of shoestring fries, that rings the alarm bellREAD MORE

The Oyster Club

Our only conversation is to marvel at impeccably crunchy and fluffy in the middle roast potatoes; perfectly gnarly Yorkshires, beef that’s every bit the pink, tender fillet you’d expect; subtle sweetness from the roasted roots; and gravy that’s bolder than a drunken stag party… READ MORE

8

‘Resurrection’ lands as A5 Wagyu, in a beef sauce with pickled onions, topped with grated truffle. The flavour of beef off the 95% fat is cranked to 11, but even that fabulous pleasure is trumped by the way it dissolves in the mouth, whilst managing to retain some bite… READ MORE

Dishoom Birmingham

The chef’s Birmingham special comes in the shape of mutton chaap korma – slow cooked, marinated chops, with a rich gravy vibrating with onion and cashews that’s perfect for the sweet, deep flavour of lean mutton that’s hanging off its bones. This comes with a khamiri roti—a pillowy soft, leavened flatbread that’s perfect for mopping up… READ MORE

Bonehead

My Friday the 13th special is a piece of art, covered in golden brown batter rippled like lava flows. Size wise it wouldn’t look out of place on the Sunday lunch table. The nose gushing and eyeball bursting 'hate crime' sauce must be completely off the Scoville Scale, but it’s a masochistic delight… READ MORE

Marmalade @ The REP

My ‘gourmet’ burger is pure canteen—leaning like the Tower of Pisa with a portobello mushroom, two beef burgers, shrivelled Parma ham, two sad pieces of little gem lettuce and a slice of gherkin in a ‘brioche’ bun. All the melted stilton spills out, soaking into the unnecessary paper serviette... READ MORE 

Pulperia

There is so much joy on this plate. I’ve got both sauces adding extra layers of flavour, mixing in with lightly smoky steak juices, the sweet hits of black garlic and caramelised onion purees, and my rib eye tastes like it’s a beautifully intensified reduction of a bigger steak … READ MORE

Purecraft Bar & Kitchen

My burger looks picture perfect, but the bun is as brioche as Nigel Farage is French. There’s no soft, fluffy open texture; it’s dense and pushing heavily towards being on the stale side. It just dominates everything, suffocating any potential flavour from the bacon and cheese… READ MORE

Pint Shop

On any other day I could easily be persuaded by the seductions of a dirty burger with beef & pork patty, mature Cheddar, truffle cheese sauce, crispy chilli pork ends and hand cut chips, but not after everything we’ve been through to get to this point… READ MORE