The Asquith, Birmingham

[nickloman]

Born and bred Brummie Glyn Purnell has put his name to this new local neighbourhood restaurant just off the Hagley Road. There's some symmetry here as this was once Jessica's, Purnell's first restaurant and where he first gained a Michelin star.

The manager explained that the concept was a neighbourhood restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere. They are not shooting for stars.

The idea of coupling Purnell's undoubted passion and great technical skill (the halibut I had at Purnell's ranks as one of the greatest fish dishes I've ever eaten) without the Michelin fripperies is an appealing idea; sometimes you just want a good nosh-up without the fuss (or expense). And Purnell's is so popular you can hardly pitch up on a whim.

Unfortunately he is not be rattling the pans, his young protege Jason Eaves is, but Glyn's reputation is on the line (as Ramsay might say) and so expectations are accordingly high.

Putting his name to this establishment however, I wonder if he has made a terrible error.

First impressions. The room is fine, nothing special, but the restaurant has little character. The menu is poorly presented, the text all caps and italics in a cheap plastic folder. None of this matters much if the food delivers of course (but you probably know where this is going already).

At dinner you must choose from the a la carte (there is a separate lunch menu) with 4 each of starters, mains and desserts. Nothing wrong with a short menu but unfortunately nothing cried out to be ordered. We passed over smoked haddock risotto and the interesting but potentially alarming sounding cod with ham and butterbeans.

An amuse of cheese gougere took me back to resort holidays in Devon as a younger man - resembling those deep-fried potato croquettes that used to be served with the roast beef. Not in a good way - they were additionally underseasoned and had no detectable cheesy taste. "Not worth the calories" in the words of my mother.

A second amuse of chestnut soup and apple was garnished with ham and was also underseasoned. The apple saved the dish - without it, the dish would have been a fairly pointless exercise in consumption.

Much (much) better was the wine; the 2006 Vacqueyras was replaced with a 2003 vintage thanks to the friendly manager. It was nice of her and the wine was indeed lovely.

My starter of a curried kromeski of pork with pickled cauliflower was moribund. The lumpen dark brown kromeski sat ominously on the plate. Again underseasoned - the main flavour was a hit of curry powder, an aroma which is so evocative, but not pleasantly so. The pickled cauliflower had barely a hint of acidity but looked pretty. This was as far a cry from the wit, invention or taste of Purnell's curry flavoured haddock with cornflakes as you can get.

OH's hen's egg (what I like to call simply an egg) with goats cheese foam and spinach was rather more successful. Rich egg, and smooth, mellow flavours were good for this cold evening. A bit of grit in the spinach hinted at careless prep and this was also underseasoned. But not a disaster and rather moreish.

Ox cheek topped with toasted brioche, with "duck liver" (an obfuscation to avoid the animal rights brigade, previously seen campaigning outside Purnell's?), lentils and mashed potatoes. Had the foie gras (I'll call it by its name) been eaten alone with the toothsome lentils this would have made quite a nice starter. Unfortunately the ox cheek let the side down in a big way by tasting curiously fishy (OH could smell it from where she was sitting). Did the slow braising create some kind of nitrogenous product or was there some cross-contamination in the kitchen? It went back half-eaten but no comment was made by the waiting staff who seemed fairly uninterested generally, having announced some of the dishes but not others.

OH's duck with red cabbage was underseasoned and unappealing in appearance. The meat was either poorly rested (and oozed liquid) or sous vide and seared, either way she wasn't very happy. But the main thing you could say about this dish was that it was incredibly dull.

Cheese was excellent, in great condition despite being pre-plated.

The dessert menu was only slightly more imaginative. OH's moelluex of chocolate was another dull concoction with no cocoa punch and a dry exterior.

Overall we were disappointed. Not bitterly, apart from the ox cheek there was nothing disastrous here, but in a way this compounded the depressing blandness of both the food and the room. We wanted this to be another useful addition to Birmingham's blossoming food scene. But I can't see us rushing back on another cold night when we are in need of the services of a good old fashioned neighbourhood restaurant.

Edited December 7, 2010 by nickloman (log)

[david goodfellow]

Oh dear, we won't be dashing down the heavily traffic coned M6 to try this one. Not at least till it beds in a bit.

Bet Glyn Purnell was not around, he states he will attend every service at Purnells or it won't open.

Has'n't Jason Eaves been with him a long time?

How was pricing, gentle or ambitious?

[david goodfellow]

Just done a bit of digging and it looks like Jason Eaves has a pretty good pedigree, having worked at a load of Michelin starred places. His family are heavily involved with the industry and he has a famous chef brother Marcus who runs the kitchen at Michelin starred L'Autre Pied.

On paper at least this place has loads of potential.

[david goodfellow]

There is more info here

[nickloman]

How was pricing, gentle or ambitious?

£34.95 for 3 course dinner. Lunch is around £20 I think.

Glyn wasn't in the kitchen (I don't think he ever plans to be) - but perhaps even Jason wasn't, as there was no sure touch of a Michelin chef on the dishes we tried.

[david goodfellow]

There is a rather interesting interview and video of Glyn Purnell on Staff Canteen. Which gives more insight not only on his flagship restaurant, but his involvement here.

[david goodfellow]

Well, having read Nicklomans review I had no intention of a visit here for some time, at least until the kitchen had settled down a bit. That all changed yesterday morning when the heavy snow falls put paid to our weekend visit to London. Which I was really looking forward to. As we dashed up to Manchester last weekend, a trip down to Brum seemed well in order. Now Birmingham had a pretty serious snow fall last night too and the M5 was down to two lanes. The approach roads to the restaurant were covered with deep snow. Thank God I had the Chelsea tractor or we would have had to turn back.

Thankfully the short Sunday lunch menu, three, three, three, was not traditional fare, so I was waiting to see what was in store. Three course are £26.95, or two can be taken for £21.95. We had the same? cheese gougere,s as reported on earlier, and well, they were ok.

The bread is simple, white and brown, and I think cooked to the Purnells recipe, which truth be told is to me just ok, however that said it was fresh from the oven (as it is at Purnells) and it did grow on me a bit.

Mrs G had the Pan Fried SEA BREAM which looked pretty as a picture.

It looks a bit overcooked on the photo, but I can assure you it was spot on, nice and moist, served with pickled beetroot, orange segments, and baby watercress. A welcome spoon of horseradish cream sat to the side.

I found it hard to resist a Ballotine of QUAIL which was one of two portions left over from the carte menu (which was not served today).

It was tasty enough, and the sweetcorn and chorizo salad was moist enough to help it down, although as you may imagine the chorizo is quite salty and spicy, but thats ok for me. The sweetcorn crisp tasted of , well, I did,n't know what it was, I had to ask. Which brings me to point out, none of the dishes were explained, that may be on purpose, but I have to say I do enjoy components explained to me as I tend to miss stuff these days.

My wife chose the Loomswood Farm DUCK BREAST, which sat on a bed of mild red cabbage, a tasty slab of potato gratin, a "slash" of shallot puree, and some caramelised baby onions. The duck was underseasoned, which seems to be a theme running through the cooking. Now that is ok, if the chef has the balls to think his food is seasoned to every customers satisfaction. However when it is not, salt and pepper on the table, are an absolute must.

My main course was PORK BELLY

Well it was a bit more than just pork belly thankfully. A tasty hillock of creamed cabbage, some discs of turnip and a puree of shallot? all did their bit. I suspect the pork may have had the water bath treatment, which made it tender and moist. A quick flash in the pan crisped the outside to a treat. One criticism though and it is not only here, but at the mother ship as well.

Where is the sauce?

I was searching for moisture on the plate, a little dribble here and there is not quite enough for me. And of course because the plates are so hot half of the stuff sticks to them. I don't wish to hark back to the Marco days, when plates were swimming in it, but I would like a bit more, Pretty please.

Desserts up next, Mrs G had first choice which was CHOCOLATE Moelleux banana, caramel custard, and peanuts.

I can't comment on the quality as I only had one taste which I though ok. The Mrs thought it ok too.

I can comment on my dessert ALMOND Pana Cotta

When it was served, as a naked disc of Panna Cotta, a touch bigger than a fifty pence piece. My heart sank, thankfully the cherry soup poured around it, and the moist cherries atop, padded it out a bit. I could not taste almond in said wobbly disc, but there were a few slices of crisp ones on top.

Now they may state they not be aiming for a Michelin star, but the styling and portion size screams otherwise. Comparing it to the one we ate recently at Zucca, it sadly was not in the same league. Believe me size does matter.

Well what can I say? There is real promise in the kitchen. With a bit of tweaking and more attention on seasoning it is my personal opinion this is going to be a hit.

Jason Eaves was in the kitchen today, and although I did not meet him, I personally think given this opportunity to shine he will cook his socks off to prove to his famous older brother that he too can cook at the highest level.

Lunch for two, with a bottle of house wine, Severn Trent tap water, no coffees, and that dreaded 12.5% service charge was £81 and yes we would return, its only an hour down the M6, and especially for the weekday lunch at £20.

Happy chefs,

Merry Xmas.

[nickloman]

Interesting to see a second opinion up here, David. Well done for making it

Plates look a little more vibrant than the ones we saw, particularly the fish starter.

There's a disconnect between the plating efforts and the poor seasoning. Get the taste right first, then figure out how to lay it on the plate?

The chocolate moelleux looks like our one, i.e. not very good.

And that duck is oozing bloody juices in a similar way.

Despite your better experience, I still think it's all a bit dull though.

[Pam Brunning]

You must get more positive David.

If the food is under seasoned ask for the salt.

If there is not enough sauce ask for more. You are the one that is paying, it only costs a few pence for a ladle of sauce - these restaurants will get away with murder if you let them. Standards will never rise unless those that eat out regularly point out where they are going wrong - they need to know.

[david goodfellow]

You must get more positive David.

If the food is under seasoned ask for the salt.

If there is not enough sauce ask for more. You are the one that is paying, it only costs a few pence for a ladle of sauce - these restaurants will get away with murder if you let them. Standards will never rise unless those that eat out regularly point out where they are going wrong - they need to know.

I will stamp my little feet next time Pam

The duck dish was my wifes, who agreed on the lack of seasoning. She would never complain however, only to me of course, but some marraiges are like that

[Man]

Where is the sauce?

I was searching for moisture on the plate, a little dribble here and there is not quite enough for me.

For me neither...

I also like plenty of moisture with meat and often I feel undersauced. I think many high end (or would be such) chefs nowadays find sauces in copious amounts 'inelegant'. Even one the best dishes I've had recently (a slow cooked hare at Hibiscus) suffered slightly from this problem (though certainly not at the level seen in your photos - there was a sauce to speak of!).

A place that definitely has no moisture problem is Koffmann's.

Thanks again for going to the trouble of posting all these photographs and reports. I know how time consuming this is, and I learn a lot from them.

[david goodfellow]

Just had an e-mail newsletter from Purnell's. With a link to this article in the Birmingham Post about the restaurant closing its doors.

Just shows how difficult business can be for everyone these days.

Still it looks as though things will work out in the end.