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| Me outside the restaurant |
Ala,
So last night we went to Glynn Purnell's restaurant in Birmingham to celebrate Nonna and the boys birthday. The decor is not what you expect and feels very informal. We did the Purnells tour which was 8 courses of the best dishes he offers. Before we began we had champagne in the bar areas with some fantastic olives and the waitress came around with cheese profiteroles- similar to what Lorraine Pascale cooked in this weeks fast fresh and easy.
We moved to the table and were served the amuse bouche- it was crispy pearl barley with a leek and potato soup, served cold. Personally I was not sure on this, but it served the purpose to cleanse the palette and excite the tastebuds. It did remind me of eating sugar puffs with cold soup so seemed a little odd. The bread however was amazing! Pain de Campagne served warm with a butter quinelle and rock salt, incredible. I dream of baking bread this good. My guess there is a fair amount of butter and milk worked through the dough. OMG the bread was good.
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| pain de campagne |
The next course was the much anticipated curried cornflakes. It was a poached egg yolk on smoked haddock with a smoked haddock foam and a smoked haddock croquette served separately. This was the boys favourite. I love smoked haddock but I am not so keen on foam, I feel it could have benefitted from more crunch- but maybe I am just a heathen for not liking foam.
After this came emotions of cheese and pineapple. It was a concept dish that really packed a punch in terms of flavour. It was so complex with lots of different processes, I really enjoyed this. However Nonna would have preferred it on a plate rather than in a bowl.
Then came the crab course which was fantastic. Devonshire crab with apple and celeriac puree with smoked paprika honeycomb. Very moreish.
The star of the starters was undoubtedly the Carpaccio of beef with black octopus. Absolutely amazing, honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. We all agreed on this one- simply delicious! I didn't think I liked octopus but I do now!
After this came the masala monkfish. Very fragrant and the first of the hot courses. Monkfish masala, indian red lentils and pickled carrots with coconut and coriander. This I feel played to Birmingham's heritage as a leader in asian cuisine. The fish was meaty and flavourful and the micro coriander packed an amazing punch. This is when we started to realise that the we were saying that each course was our favourite only to be outdone by the next course.
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| Nonna and Glynn |
Out of all the savoury courses my favourite was the course that followed. Venison rolled in liquorice charcoal served with pear slices and braised fennel. This was without a doubt one of the best dishes I have ever eaten. The succulent venison went so well with fennel to create a mildly aniseed twang. The highlight though had to be that Glynn himself came out and poured mine and non's gravy... Priceless! We have been fans of Glynn for many years and to meet him was a real treat. Being born in Marston Green not far from Glynn's Chelmsley Wood, I am really proud of all his achievements. The UK is lucky to have him but Brummies should be extra proud to claim him as ours. Lovely man, wonderful chef and him and his staff really made Nonna's birthday.
'Chocolate' was the first of the sweet courses. It arrived with a board of passionfruit chocolates served separately. Extremely rich chocolate with mango sorbet and a chocolate crumble.
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| The best dessert I have ever eaten..EVER |
Now I have a sweet tooth and am a noted chocoholic however the next course for me was my favourite of the night. Burnt english custard egg surprise, red wine marinated strawberries and crystallised tarragon. It sounds good but it tastes so much better. The surprise was the custard which was served in an actual egg and arrived to the table in a wicker basket. I think the reason why this was so spectacular is that it was surprisingly spicy. I have never had a spicy dessert before. I have had of black pepper and strawberries as a foodie combination before but this dish took it to the next level. The accompanying brandy snap was heavily laden with what I guess was pepper, to the point that it was almost too much on its own. But together it was mind blowing. I feel I could write an essay on how much I loved this but if you have made it this far I figure you have already read quite a bit. Fantastic. Oh and the crystallised Tarragon what an amazing idea, aniseed sweetness and a bit of crunch- delish!
We then shared a selection of british cheeses but by this point I was quite full so only had a little taste of each. Very strong but great to see a supporter of local and british produce. We have much to be proud of and it is great when a restaurant as renowned as Purnells champions the little producers.
Finally I had a peppermint tea to settle my stomach which was served in the lounge accompanied by petit fours. My favourite being the cassis jellies. Adult jellies are a big trend in London at the moment so it was great to sample some of the best. Maybe a little sour for some but for me they were perfection.
Overall, an amazing night was had by all.
Polly x
