Birmingham

[kutsu]

I'm off up to sunny Birmingham come december 1st, and would love to treat the missus to a decent meal. Ideally looking for a michelin-level meal (which gives me two options, simpsons or jessicas) but open to suggestions.

I've done a search and read the "Little red book" and both seem about evenly matched, but having glanced at the AA Food Guide, Simpsons rated a much better review.

Any help? I can only choose the one "posh" meal!

[erica graham]

IMHO I'd vote for Simpsons!!

Edited to add that new 2007 GFG gives Simpsons a higher rating (6) to Jessicas (5)

and I think that the review reads better....

Edited September 28, 2006 by erica graham (log)

[YKL]

think those are your only two choices at that level now ....

Have only been to Jessica's, and only once, but it was a pretty good meal. Think the chef is ex-hibiscus and Simpsons so there's certainly good pedigree there.

Have you checked the relevant websites?

Don't think you'll be eating badly at either place!

[jayrayner]

think those are your only two choices at that level now ....

Have only been to Jessica's, and only once, but it was a pretty good meal.  Think the chef is ex-hibiscus and Simpsons so there's certainly good pedigree there.

Have you checked the relevant websites?

Don't think you'll be eating badly at either place!

←

Jessica's every time. but don't take my word for it. Read

this

and this.

Oh, hang on. Those are my words... Oh well.

[kutsu]

thanks for the help guys/glas, I think it's going to be jessicas.

[britcook]

I read Jay's review of Simpson's and think it's a fair assessment, but if you don't get to visit top class restaurants on a very regular basis then I don't think you'd get the sense of ennui that he had. That of course is the problem with critics, however good, in any field, they are looking for new, original, stimulating, because that allows their writing skills full rein, but most of us are just looking for a good product at a fair price. And you will get that at Simpson's.

[jayrayner]

I read Jay's review of Simpson's and think it's a fair assessment, but if you don't get to visit top class restaurants on a very regular basis then I don't think you'd get the sense of ennui that he had. That of course is the problem with critics, however good, in any field, they are looking for new, original, stimulating, because that allows their writing skills full rein, but most of us are just looking for a good product at a fair price. And you will get that at Simpson's.

←

I do recognise and accept the point and have indeed written about it; a little like members of the royal family, we assume all restaurants smell of wet paint because the pones we visit do.

That said, I hold to my feelings about Simpsons and, more generally, if I were going to Birmingham or knew anyone who was I would tip Jessica's over Simpsons any day.

[kutsu]

Well, the deed is done, and this report is written after a lovely conversation with the british transport police because two pricks decided the train I took back home would be a fun place to assault people. Huzzah.

So sunny edgebaston, for my 9pm reservation. Taxi troubles meant we got there JUST in time, to be greated very warmly by the excellent FOH team.

Cut to the chase, champagne aperatif along with olives, choux pastry with parmesan cheese baked into it, and popcorn covered in sugar and smoked paprika. The choux pastry was incredibly moorish and rich, my girlfriend didnt rate the popcorn, but I thought it was the epitome of bonfire night, a mixture of smoke and sweetness of cotton candy. Fantastic.

A la carte chosen, we were presented with our amuse, a veloute of butternut squash, coriander seed oil, feta cheese. Like a deconsructed curry almost, very Indian tasting, but really really nice. The gf hated it on first taste, only to be found slurping the shotglass at the end, the feta giving a rich salty taste at the back.

My starter was a hamhock terrine, plum puree, micrgreen salad - as descirbed, but like the best pork-pie filling you can imagine, salty, wobbly and sweet with the sauce at the same time. GF had lightly cured salmon, japanese mushroom salad, green mustard. Woolfed this down without giving me a taste, which means it was very good indeed. She left the unnanounced caviar, which I lapped up.

Mains for me were Balmoral Venison, beetroot puree, lentils with balsamic vinegar and beetroot, salami of venison. Sweet and earth from the vinegar/beetroot, rich with the venison and then salty from the salami. Hit really high on the Umami-scale, as it was literally moutwateringly delicious.

GF had confit cod, chorizo, tomato jelly, chilli sauce. Looked fantastic as ever, but we were slightly dissapointed to find on it being served.. no choriso. Oh well, she attacked the fillet of cod and.. chorizo was "studded" into the cod flesh, invisible until it was eaten into. She adored this dish, one of her favourites ever. Only criticism was the tomato was slightly too sweet, but she said it could be her palate.

We naughtily had a cheese course thrown in here, highland cheddar, gorgonzola, epoisse - fantastic ripeness on all of them.

Desserts were deconstructed banana cheesecake; a quinelle of creamcheese and biscuit, a quinelle of banana sorbet, a perfect cube of banana jelly and swirls of pineapple sauce.

Mine was a trifle; blackberry sorbet, whole blackberries, bay leaf custard, apple jelly. I was dubious over the bayleaf, and on the GF's try she said it was actively offensive. I however adored it, my favourite course of the night, the whole thing tasting like the perfect blackberry crumble, the bayleaf custard being the "slightly sweet/slight savoury" part in place of the crumble topping.

Petit fours were a lollipop of chocolate, fudge and peanut butter; a jelly cube of cassis and a lemon and thyme marshmellow. All fantastic, but the lollipop a clear winner.

Total bill for two, with a £35 bottle of wine, 2 glasses of champage and an extra cheese course, with coffees, was £155. A bargain, and if I'm honest, EASILY the equal of the Claridge meal I ate a short while ago.

Highly enjoyable, and credit again to the fantastic FOH team, very fun!

[Jon Tseng]

A la carte chosen, we were presented with our amuse, a veloute of butternut squash, coriander seed oil, feta cheese. Like a deconsructed curry almost, very Indian tasting, but really really nice. The gf hated it on first taste, only to be found slurping the shotglass at the end, the feta giving a rich salty taste at the back.

napback]1318245

NOT ANOTHER F**KING PUMPKIN SOUP AMUSE!!!

OK at least they had the decency to "slick" it with corinader seed oil not truffle oil.

But you get the idea. flippin' heck. surely it isn't too much to ask for just one ounce of originality at the single point in the meal u can try something novel, different, new or even remotely interesting with pissing the diner off...

Rest of the meal sounded lovely though. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to find myself in Brum again (or even outside of the M25) I'll be sure to give it a thought.

J

Edited December 3, 2006 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Simon Farrow]

Is corinader something only normally found within the M25?

Edited December 3, 2006 by Simon Farrow (log)

[minisat]

A la carte chosen, we were presented with our amuse, a veloute of butternut squash, coriander seed oil, feta cheese. Like a deconsructed curry almost, very Indian tasting, but really really nice. The gf hated it on first taste, only to be found slurping the shotglass at the end, the feta giving a rich salty taste at the back.

napback]1318245

NOT ANOTHER F**KING PUMPKIN SOUP AMUSE!!!

what do you expect if its winter, pumpkin, squash, whatever it still is seasonal.

[KaffirLime]

If I'm ever unfortunate enough to find myself in Brum again (or even outside of the M25)

Don't rush up here on our account - We already have more than our fair share of parochial minded bumpkins from down south

[Jon Tseng]

Don't rush up here on our account - We already have more than our fair share of parochial minded bumpkins from down south

←

They have restaurants outside of the M25???

[ameiden]

I went to Simpson's a few days ago and found it a hundred times better than GR at Claridge's (which I visited about three weeks ago). I had an excellent risotto with sweetbread, lentils and old parmesan, followed by a turbot main and a delicious apple and blackberry soufflé with cinnamon ice cream. Although wine prices are unashamedly high, we found the setting very joyful, the conservatory is lovely, the garden and the lounge have got elegant Christmas decorations. It was interesting to watch what was going on in the kitchen where at least ten people were working quite hard. For me Simpson's is at the upper end of what is called 1M* in this country.

[KaffirLime]

They have restaurants outside of the M25???

Absolutely none whatsoever. Most of us up here live on bread and dripping and whatever vegetables we can forage from other people's allotments with a pork pie as a treat every other Thursday when the dole cheque arrives. You're best advised to stay strictly within the magic circle of the M25 and not venture up here.

For everyone else I would suggest that Jessica's is the best restaurant for people who enjoy food and Simpsons is best for people who enjoy expense accounts.

[kutsu]

Just realised, I'm not actually sure that I mentioned the restaurant I went to. We chose Jessica's in the end.

[RDB]

Went to Jessica’s today for lunch as I had previously heard some good reports about the place, and it has since been on my restaurants to visit list. Prior to making the journey I had a look at the website to get a bit of a taster, but this has to be the worst I have ever seen. All it needs is a couple of virtual tumble weeds crossing the screen; it’s that sparse. Luckily however, my experience today did not reflect its struggle and isolated position in foodie cyber space.

I really liked the feel of Jessica’s as soon as I entered; it is quite airy and bright with a small local feel. Being lunchtime there were not many punters in, which was fine as I was dining alone (note: need to get some friends). The service I found excellent, the front of house team actually seemed to be enjoying them selves, continually laughing and joking with each other, whilst maintaining an attentive professional service. I think it is conducive to a good dining experience when you see the staff balance happy in what they are doing with being very good at what they are doing. Alongside this I was sitting quite close to the kitchen and could hear the kitchen staff chatting merrily amongst themselves and again laughing a lot. It must be good to work at Jessica’s. Ok on with the show……….

I was brought out a bowl of paprika covered popcorn and Provencal olives, both very good. I actually tried both together, which worked quite well, but they would, the smoky sweetness of the popcorn, along with the salty bitter olives. Not sure if this was intentional but I like to experiment.

Bread was good can’t remember the choices but I had a slice of caramel bread which was delicious, and had just come out of the oven.

The amuse, a warm veloute of white bean with little chards of chorizo and a splash of chilli oil. It was comforting and fresh, the chilli oil gave it a real kick, which I like, but am aware others may find a little too spicy. Nonetheless a perfect start.

The starter was lightly curried salmon, salad of crab, wasabi, enoki mushrooms and mizuna leaves. This consisted of little rounds of sashimi salmon, with the faintest hint of curry, filled with the crab salad; both fish and crustacean were extremely fresh. The leaves and mushrooms provided a great accompaniment with the later maintaining a good bite. The only problem I had was with the wasabi, it seemed to be toned down too much, and lost much of its flavour and punch. I know too much of the green stuff can do serious damage to the back of the nostrils, I just felt a middle ground would have lifted the dish a little. Over all is was an enjoyable dish.

The main course was a choice between Zander or loin of pork; I opted for the later as it came served with foie gras cream. Being a fan of Claude Bosi’s foie gras ice cream, I wanted to see if his protégé’s variation was at the same level. Alongside these two components came a toothsome mound of pearl barley braised in sage, savoy cabbage and pearl onions, all classic piggy accompaniments. Firstly the pork, unfortunately it was quite tough and dry, I ended up leaving half of it, and think I actually would have preferred it slightly pink. The cream was ok, not sure it fitted the dish though, and it initially tasted of foie gras but lost its flavour when combined with the other ingredients and ended up tasting of cream. Maybe the apple served with the zander may have accompanied the dish better.

A splendid dessert, soft vanilla parfait, chocolate sorbet, sweet orange caramel and chocolate crisps. Absolutely no complaints about this one.

All in all I enjoyed the experience, albeit the main course wasn’t the greatest, but with excellent service and the other courses hitting the mark, it was well worth the long journey. All in all it came to £27 (including sparkling water) which isn’t bad when you in effect get five courses, maybe they need to bump up the prices and use it to sort out that damn website

[malcolmwilliamson]

According to this report http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007...nt-in-july.html Glynn Purnell, Jessica's head chef, is to open Purnell's this month.

The good news is “At Jessica’s I was responsible for developing the menu and it was really fantastic to see how well diners responded to new and adventurous ideas. There’ll be more of that at Purnell’s.”

The bad news could be its location, 55 Cornwall Street, in the heart of Birmingham’s financial district. Prices elevated by expense accounts?

[Andy Lynes]

Glynn Purnell, Jessica's head chef, is to open Purnell's this month.

←

He's been open for a couple of weeks - website.

[malcolmwilliamson]

Thanks for that update Andy.

Jessica's has closed as a consequence of Purnell's move. It has been bought by its former restaurant manager Pascal Cluny and has reopened as Pascal's. http://pascalsrestaurant.co.uk/.

Pascal's head chef is Jennifer Gough, ex- Haigs Hotel Balsall Common, and a semi-finalist in Gordon Ramsay's College Scholar 2006 competition.

Edited July 20, 2007 by malcolmwilliamson (log)

[KimS]

It's already had two glowing reviews in the press up here. One from the far from respected food critic, Paul Fulford at the Birmingham Mail and the other from the highly respected Annette Rubery at Metro. Hubby and I ate there last week and it is indeed very good. Quite remnant of his style at Jessica's and some of his signature dishes have moved with him. As for its location? Irrelevant. People still flocked to Jessica's despite the fact it was on the fringe of a red light district.

[KaffirLime]

It's already had two glowing reviews in the press up here. One from the far from respected food critic, Paul Fulford at the Birmingham Mail and the other from the highly respected Annette Rubery at Metro. Hubby and I ate there last week and it is indeed very good. Quite remnant of his style at Jessica's and some of his signature dishes have moved with him. As for its location? Irrelevant. People still flocked to Jessica's despite the fact it was on the fringe of a red light district.

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Kim, I assume you live in Birmingham so I'm a bit surprised to read you perpetuating the old disparagement about Edgbaston being a red-light district. As someone who lives in the heart of what used to be a problem area -i.e the junction of Gillott road and Rotton park Road I can assure there has been no real prostitution problem for at least five years if not ten.

That aside, Glynn is obviously getting a lot of attention as so he should but if I can just add a shout for another local boy - Richard Turner - who opened his own restaurant, Turners, in Harborne last night. Richard has worked at Le Manoir but in recent years was head chef at Pat McDonald's Paris restaurant in the Mailbox where he achieved four AA rosettes (and in many people's opinion should have got a star). Turners looks to be offering french brasserie food at the top end with prices coming in at about £25. I've not eaten there yet but tried his food at Paris three times and if this boy doesn't get a Michelin Bib there is no justice in the world. Check out his menu at:

http://www.birminghamplus.com/news/news_it...?nid=1185463015

[KimS]

Four of us dined at Glynn Purnell's new place in Birmingham last night and without question this lovely boy deserves to win back the star he held at Jessica's. He seems to have grown in confidence and his food seems to have stepped up a gear and become somewhat more 'avant garde' in its approach.

Highlight of the meal for me was a poached egg yolk with a smoked haddock foam, cornflakes and curry oil. Wacky, but it worked. How he gets the foam to remain stable enough to nestle itself around the yolk beats me.

His website is now up and running with some stunning pictures. If you're in Birmingham, make a point in trying him out.

Kim

[KimS]

Oooh...just noticed this courtesy of the Birmingham Plus website.

http://www.birminghamplus.com/articles/art...sp?aid=151&pn=1

[KaffirLime]

How he gets the foam to remain stable enough to nestle itself around the yolk beats me.

Xanthan Gum