Simpsons, Birmingham - My Home-r away from home?

[kutsu]

Saturday 4th Dec - Simpsons, Edgbaston - 1 Michelin Star, Good Food Guide 6/10

I love Birmingham, being just 45 minutes from my native Stoke-on-Trent (aka. worst.restaurant-scene.ever) and boasting some fine establishments. However, this was to be my first trial of Simpsons, a well-regarded restaurant with rooms in the 'burbs.

Arrival was mid-lunch service, where we checked into our room. The French room is the priciest on offer at about £230 with continental breakfast, but I can honestly say that it is the best room I have ever set foot in; bags of charm, huge space, quality fittings (Nespresso machine, L'Occitane toiletries, etc) and just simply uber-comfortable.

Dinner was booked for 8pm, and a nice touch was the offer for us to dine whenever we wanted as staying-guests - which allowed us to fit in some time in the German market resident for the next few weeks.

Two glasses of blanc-de-blanc was served with an amuse of creamed celeriac, chestnuts and apple dice. Small, seasoned to perfection (a recurring theme) and an excellent sweet/tart combination to open up the senses.

Two tasting menus with matching wines were chosen. Breads delivered were mini-baguete (chewy & delicious), a country loaf, a cumin-scented foccaccia (sublime) and a puff-pastry roll filled with black olive tapenade (umami-heaven).

First course was a citrus-cured salmon, caviar and avocado puree. This was an excellent start, the salmon being delicate and "clean" tasting, with the citrus being hinted at, rather than overpowering. A minor criticism would be that it could have used a slight amount more curing in the citrus to really set the texture, it was very tasty though.

Next was fois gras, pan d'epice, banana puree and pecan nuts. This was heaven, and a very high highlight for me. Fois gras was melting, with a good crust. Pan d'epice was rich and salty, being fried in what tasted like duck-fat, and the banana/pecan gave a sweet note that played with the salty bread. Absolutely superb.

Scallops, butter-nut squash, fried whitebait and capers was again an excellent salty/sweet combo, the very fine tiny capers being a revelation - I'd love to find out where I could buy these. But the scallops? wow. A lovely dark crust, perfectly cooked, and a decent portion (two medium sized) for a tasting menu.

Brill, creamed leeks, red wine sauce - the highlight of the meal, the brill is the best piece of fish cooking I've enjoyed, it was meaty, seasoned to perfection, accompanied by the most fruity, spicy red wine sauce that I literally wiped the bowl clean of, this was a serious piece of cooking.

Main was venison, chocolate sauce and poached cranberries. Never had fresh cranberries, was very tart which offset the sauce/meat tremendously, and the venison was perfectly pink with a real bit of colour on the outside. Only criticism of this would be that a steak-knife would have been nice as it was tender but not THAT tender!

Pre-dessert was a passionfruit gelee, with whipped cream. Seriously intense fruit, that tasted like a deconstructed Solero ice-cream.

A composed cheese course next, Tete de Moine with carta d'musica - never even heard of this cheese (a hard cheese from the Alps, dontchaknow) but this was excellent. A taste similar to parmesan but with a softer, cold-butter like texture. There was a small carrot julliene with this that was fairly pointless, but a very minor quibble.

Desert was a spiced-chai panna cotta, mango, lime and coconut sorbet and tuille. An increadibly intense, almost anise flavoured panna cotta was, at first, too strong for the accompaniments. However, this really grew on me, and the flavours began to meld together to create a sum greater than the parts. This was a serious dessert, not a "sweet" flavour, but very accomplished and highly enjoyable. It's worth noting that this was the only wine-pairing I didn't love, but everything else chosen was absolutely sublime.

Petit-fours were 6 mini items, two flavour macarons, a chocolate financier, a coffee truffle, a white chocolate and vanilla truffle and a cherry cake. These were again, sublime, with the exception of the financier that tasted a little bit dry.

Disgestives and coffee were served, alone with a tray of nuts that had been dipped in a hard caramel and chocolate powder - an excellent item to nibble with a nice whisky.

Wine pairings were excellent (with a personal dislike of the desert wine being the notable exception), service was friendly and unobtrusive, albeit the restaurant was very very busy, so there was a notable slow down in progression of the second half of the menu, which is how I'd prefer it actually. The fish cooking here is the real strength of the restaurant, and I'm actually not a big fish fan at all. Seasoning, also, was absolutely spectacular, and the interplay of sweet/salty/sour is a real strength of the kitchen.

Minor quibbles would be a fruit basked promised at check-in to the room didn't appear (in fairness, we checked in mid-lunch service, so I understand that this is a minor concern) and the front of house team need to learn where the steps are, as we watched one waiter go flying having tripped!

This is a serious foodie experience, with friendly staff, and superb cooking, especially the fish. I genuinely felt sad when I left, and on the train home I mentally worked out how long I could stay for if I sold my house!

Kutsu

[nickloman]

Glad to hear you enjoyed some Brummie hospitality! Simpsons is a class act and consistent.

[olicollett]

Good writeup - I went a few weeks back and was impressed, solid 1-star establishment. I had a pretty similar menu too and I have to agree about the scallop and salmon dishes

[Andrew]

I'm a huge fan of Simpsons having dined there on 20+ occassions when staying in Birmingham. It's a really good 1 Star establishment although I don't think it has quite enough to make that coverted 2nd star. Service can sometimes feel the pressure of a full dining room but well worth a visit.