Birmingham Food Fest, 15th October 2011.

YumBrum! had a fab day out at the Birmingham Food Fest today at Victoria Square in the City Centre.

 
The square was packed out with people eating from various stalls run by local restaurateurs. BRMB’s DJs emceed the event, offering an opportunity to hear from the chefs and owners who make Birmingham’s independent restaurant scene a vibrant success. The Gastro Card was available to purchase for just £10 for 6 months as a Food Fest special – it provides exclusive offers and discounts in over 170 locations in and around the Midlands. So if you don’t already have a Gastro Card this is the perfect opportunity to purchase one and reap the rewards! You can make your money back in just one visit to one of the listed restaurants! This week is also the best time to go out and buy the Big Brum Cookbook. A selection of signature recipes from 29 chefs working around the city including Aktar Islam of Lasan, Glynn Purnell of Purnell’s and James Wong of Chung Ying featuring all their best secrets for success. We picked ours up straight away for just £10! See the website for details of where to pick one up.
It was great to see such a diverse mix of cuisines representing the best of Birmingham’s fantastic independent restaurants. We ate till we could eat no more! Here’s a lowdown of our favourite bites:
– Ming Moon: we tried sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and also lamb and chicken kebabs. The sweet and sour was a delight on the taste buds, moist and tender chicken enclosed in a crispy batter with a liberal coating of sweet and sour sauce. The kebabs surprised with subtle spices and depth of flavour.
– The Vaults: redefined street food today by offering quaint ice-cream pot morsels of roast lamb or pork with mash and gravy for just £1. We opted to try just the lamb (not wanting to fill up too fast). The minty gravy was a perfect accompaniment and the succulent lamb melted in the mouth! A novel way to introduce people to the quality of food in The Vaults and a super way to get the punters in.
– Imran’s: the best value of the day offering rice, curry and naan bread for £3.50, but not scrimping on flavour or portion size. The chicken makhani was full of flavour complimented by the pilau rice and naan bread. Not too spicy, but with a subtle kick – for those wanting something with more of a punch there was a mutton rogan josh on offer as well.
– Kitchen Garden Cafe: chose to stop for some desert here in the form of a huge, squidgy chocolate brownie. Absolutely divine! Couldn’t help ourselves however and decided to try the roast belly pork sample on offer as well. Covered in a sweet, fruity glaze it was well worth being tempted! Would have loved to try the breaded risotto balls, but we were just too full by that point.
– Chung Ying: despite being full, we still managed to sample the cuttlefish fishcakes here, which are part of their new dim sum menu. We recently ate at Chung Ying Garden, so keep an eye out for the review coming soon.
– Other establishments present today were: The Angel, Filini at the Radisson, Caffe Chino, Chez Jules, Soul Food Project, Sabai Sabai, Kababish, Chamberlains Fish and Chips and The Drum. Sadly we were defeated by our own greed, but picked up plenty of leaflets to try these at a later date 🙂
The Birmingham Food Fest is a great idea and a super way to celebrate and showcase Birmingham’s independent food scene. Thanks everyone!
Go to the website for more discounts and vouchers – there’s still a whole week of events yet to come!

Happy Dining,
YumBrum!

Birmingham Food Fest, 14th-23rd October 2011.

Hi all,

Don’t forget to take part in Birmingham Food Fest, from 14th-23rd October! For loads of great offers and discounts visit their website: www.birminghamfoodfest.com/

Loads of restaurants around the city, with their many skilled chefs are cooking up a storm this year – you won’t want to miss out!

Happy Dining,

YumBrum!

Pasta di Piazza, Jewellery Quarter.

Hi All,

Fancy an Italian in the Jewellery Quarter – why not try Pasta di Piazza?!

Pasta di Piazza
11 Brook Street
St. Paul’s Square
Birmingham
B3 1SA

0121 236 5858
enquiries@pastadipiazza.com
www.pastadipiazza.com

Opening Times
Daily 12pm-11pm

Ratings
Service – 6.5
Mostly attentive, but don’t go out of their way to make you feel more comfortable. A smile or two wouldn’t go amiss either.
Food – 7
Overall delicious but the pizza garlic bread caused some controversy and the risotto Milanese was a definite ‘No, No!’
Ambiance – 8
Immediately warm and welcoming, the round tables are a major bonus! A pleasant buzz around the place.
Value – 7
For the amount of food we ordered this was relatively good value for city centre dining – not too sure whether the calf’s liver was really worth the £16.50 though.
Total Percentage – 71.25%

YumBrum! rarely venture to Italian restaurants. Our past experience has taught us that Italian food can – with relative ease – be recreated at home. The reason for our visit here however was Trendz!’s love of the venue and less ambitious taste-buds (therefore Italian is always the safest bet for success). However, YumBrum! were not disappointed by Pasta di Piazza and were surprised by the variety on offer!
Pasta di Piazza has a quaint, unassuming facade in the centre of the Jewellery Quarter by St Paul’s Square. On entering however the decor is simple, stylish and warming. Italian themed pictures adorn the walls, while simple mood lighting creates enough atmosphere to feel cosy – no matter how many people join you! We were seated on a lovely round table (YumBrum! have a deep love for round tables) right by a window. Most of the tables here are round and so offer a more inclusive dining experience with your guests.

For drinks we ordered a glass of the house white wine (at £3.85) which was a Pinot Bianco, and two cranberry juices (£2.10 each). The wine was crisp and refreshing – a lovely accompaniment to the Italian food on offer – also available by the bottle at £13.95. The house red is the same price, although rosé is slightly more expensive (at £4.30 and £16.60).

The menu is impressive and showcases a large variety of starters, mains and side orders to cater for all tastes. The menu offers 20 different appetisers or starters to choose from including salads, soup, cured meat selections, fried fish and oven baked vegetables to name a few. They range from £4.75 for minestrone soup to £8.35 for a crab meat, smoked salmon and avocado salad. Main courses are split into pizza, pasta, risotto, salads and combination platters. Pizza, pasta, salad and risotto dishes are moderately priced with a vast amount of vegetarian options available. Cheapest meal available is a margherita pizza at just £7.45 whilst meat and seafood dishes are slightly more expensive. Most expensive meal from the pizzas, pastas, salads and risottos is the risotto alla marinara (seafood risotto) which is priced at £13.15. Combination platters however start at £14.85 and go up to £20.50. Combination platters feature either steak, veal, liver, lamb, chicken or king prawns and come with potato and vegetables of the day so these are a definite miss for vegetarians. On top of this, a selection of other dishes are provided on a daily specials menu which is shown on a blackboard in the restaurant. This specials menu is perfect to showcase meals with more seasonal ingredients and also for those who want to try something a little different such as whole sea bass or pigeon which were featured at the time we visited.

For starters we decided to try the specials board, opting for the misto marinara (£6.75), pâté (£4.95) and crespelle (off the main menu, £6.00). The misto marinara can only be described as an Italian seafood platter. Do not order this if you are scared of fish heads! It arrived as a selection of whole, small battered whitebait, calamari and king prawns accompanied with a salad garnish. The starter was delicious, crispy and perfect with the tartare sauce provided. The portion though was massive and could have easily fed two but – as we always say at YumBrum! – rather too much than too little. The pâté was classic – smooth, meaty and served with chunks of crusty bread and an artichoke salad. The crespelle is a definite recommendation – rolled pancakes filled with ricotta and spinach, served in a tomato sauce. Really scrumptious, although tasted better with black olives – a suggestion from the side orders.  With our starters we also ordered a pizza garlic bread – which we were divided over. For some the garlic tasted a little raw, others preferred this texture, we leave this open to you guys to try.

We went on a Sunday and it was quite busy, so it is probably best to book here. The staff were a little rushed and service was slow, but still friendly. (Don’t know where to put this)

Our mains arrived after a welcome digestion break. Trendz! selected the unusual Fegato Venezian – calf’s liver with bacon and onions, pan fried in a garlic sauce served with the vegetables of the day (£16.50). While she loves offal of all varieties (not to everyone’s tastes we know) she thought the price was a little steep for the cut of meat but tasted divine for those willing to try it! The meal did not last long on the plate! For those less adventurous, like us, YumBrum! ordered penne al forno (layered aubergine cooked in a tomato sauce with penne pasta, £8.40) and risotto Milanese (a classic Milan dish of bacon and pea risotto, £9.95). The pasta was amazing – seasoned perfectly and the perfect portion size for one. We have even attempted creating this at home since eating here and still enjoy it! The risotto however was quite salty (due no doubt to the bacon, parmesan and over seasoning) and it was too heavy to finish – a little disappointing. (Does anyone else have this problem when ordering risottos in a restaurant? – just never as good as when you make them at home)!

On finishing the mains the waitress clearing our table made no effort to check if we had enjoyed them – which was surprising considering the amount of risotto left on the plate. Having not finished the risotto, we had room for desserts. We decided to go with the classic panna cotta (£4.95) and tartufo amaretto (amaretto ice-cream rolled in amaretti biscuit, £4.75). Both were a delightful end to our meals and were presented beautifully – might we add that Trendz! dipped her spoon into both, we knew she wouldn’t be able to resist!

Our bill came to a surprisingly cheap £78.55 (not including tip), which for the amount of food we ordered (see pictures) was relatively inexpensive especially as the liver meal nearly accounted for a fifth of the full price. No vouchers this time, meaning we had to pay full pop, oh well – can’t win every time.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Pasta di Piazza. There were a couple of hiccups relating to service and food quality. The value for money is on par with city centre quality eating so can’t really complain there. Pasta di Piazza is the perfect place for those who enjoy Italian food, to go for romantic dinners or even intimate celebrations! We recommend ordering from the daily specials menu, the penne al forno and desserts above all else.

Happy dining!
YumBrum! xx