Purecraft Bar & Kitchen
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
For the second time in recent weeks I seem to be a bit strung up by my pigeon holing for the ‘cuisine style’ category… what do you call a pub that puts itself out there as doing good food? The emergence of the ‘gastro pub’ in the 1990s was undeniably a breath of fresh air, bringing a fresh perspective on British classics made from high quality, locally sourced ingredients. But by the mid-to-late noughties the term had long ceased to offer any such guarantees and often now just means inflated prices.
I’m meeting a client to discuss an approach for an upcoming pitch and a fairly regular catch up on some non-work stuff. We’ve both got a teenage daughter and share similar interests in sport, design, music, cinema and eating out. Mark’s asked me to pick somewhere and despite my last experience here being disappointing—an overcooked, dry chicken schnitzel—food on previous visits has generally been very good, so I’m willing to put it down to an off day.
It’s an uncomplicated menu of dishes “sourced from the best of local produce” promising “great beer food with a modern twist” and they’re all very much at ‘gastro pub’ prices. There are a handful of bar snacks (e.g. sausage roll at £5, Scotch egg at £6); a couple of sandwich options (fish finger at £9, cheese and chutney at £8); five ‘small plates’ and six ‘large plates’—mostly ‘British pub classics’—chicken Kiev (£17), burger (£15), steak (£20), sausages (£16), fish and chips (£16) and a cauliflower tikka (£14) for veggies and vegans.
Arriving at 1, I’m actually amazed the place is Monday midday empty. It is half term but we’re in the city centre on the edge of the ‘professional district’ and it’s Friday too. It feels quite ridiculous how relieved I was yesterday that there was even a table available; three quarters of them are empty, as is what feels like a football pitch of floor space.
Upstairs - main room / bar area
We head into the separate dining room, completely spoilt for choice on where we sit. Mark orders a chardonnay and the rump cap steak, garlic and parsley butter with hand cut fries and I go for the saddleback glazed bacon and cheese, beef burger in brioche bun with fries and a side order of Lawless lager battered onion rings. I’m in a ‘when in Rome’ mood, so given they specialise in craft beers, I’ve gone with my new found love of a dark lager (thank you Dig Brew) in the shape of a Landbier Dunkel Aktien Bavarian dark beer, described perfectly as sweet and malty.
Dining room
The food arrives at the same time as our second round of drinks and they look promising, without any unnecessary frills. Mark’s steak with its thick ‘cap’ of fat, ordered as medium, is there or thereabouts, topped with a couple of small knobs of garlic butter. There’s a garnish of salad leaves and a bowl of hand cut chips. He says it’s fine—a nothing to moan about, nor nothing to praise plate of steak and chips.
Rump cap steak, garlic butter and chips
My burger looks picture perfect… but that’s as good as it gets. The main issue is 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, although that’s immaterial given the patty is overcooked and dry. It’s just an extra exercise for my already overworked jaw. This is a poor burger at any price.
saddleback glazed bacon and cheese, beef burger in ‘brioche’ bun with fries
On the plus side the skin-on fries arrive straight-from-the-fryer hot and the four large onion rings have a crispy crunch to the batter, with the onions deliciously soft inside; almost justifying their £3 price tag.
Lawless lager battered onion rings
As for my pigeon holing, the ‘quality’ and cost of my burger puts Purecraft very much into hackneyed ‘gastro pub’ territory with the associated negatives that come with it. Although I really shouldn’t be quibbling about cost, as Mark picks up the bill.
We both agree there are many better places to eat within a five minute walk from here. At least we’ve had a good catch up, but didn’t even remotely get around to discussing the upcoming pitch. Oh well, that’s a date in the diary for a ‘proper meeting’ next week.
30 Waterloo St, Birmingham B2 5TJ
