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Bin Ends Wine Tasting - Feb '10 - New World Cabernet Blends 3rd Mar 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon is one of four French black varietals that stand head-and-shoulders above the rest.
Profile: Pushkar 2nd Feb 2010 There is a great deal of pleasure in opening the box of menus that awaits you on your table as you sit down in Pushkar.
Profile: Matthew's of Birmingham 25th Jan 2010 The recession may have hit some people hard but nearly as badly as it's affected the waistlines of the BP team.
Bin Ends Tasting - Dec '09 - French Dessert Wines 7th Jan 2010 BIN ENDS” WINE TASTING GROUP FRENCH DESSERT WINES Tuesday, 15th December 2009 Presented by Clive Platman Unlike our Victorian forbears, who craved all things sweet, there is almost a universal revulsion of dessert wines.
Bin Ends Tasting Nov '09 - Understanding Bordeaux 7th Jan 2010 UNDERSTANDING BORDEAUX Tuesday, 24th November 2009 Presented by Clive Platman Traditionally the favourite tipple of the English middle classes, Bordeaux has been exporting its wines to these shores for the past 850 years.
2009 BP Awards Winners 6th Dec 2009 As voted for by the members of BP - three winners and the second and third placed establishments in each category.
Pushkar launch: Picture report 6th Dec 2009 On a rainy night in November we tramped a sodden Broad Street to attend the launch of Pushkar Fine Dining Indian Restaurant, occupying the unit vacated by the unloved Del Villagio.
Connolly's Xmas Wine Offers 5th Dec 2009 we managed to drink a fair amount of their stock at a Christmas tasting the other night, we agreed to let the nice people at Connolly's send us a list of those that eluded us and make them avaialble at rather tempting prices for the good readers of BP.
Bin Ends Wine Tasting: Languedoc 10th Nov 2009 In terms of volume, the Languedoc is the largest wine-producing region in France, if not the world.
Picture Report: Loves Launch 24th Oct 2009 The BP team took up the offer of attending the launch of Love's Restaurant last Thursday and even left our camera at home as the event was being covered by Delicious PR.
Bin Ends Wine Tasting: Portugal 16th Oct 2009 BIN ENDS WINE TASTING GROUP “The Wines of Portugal” Tuesday, 22nd September 2009 At St.
Picture Report: Saffron Food and Wine Tasting 18th Sep 2009 In the wake of being acknowledged as the best sub-continental restaurant in the region by The Good Food Guide the BP team visited Saffron for a Food and Wine Tasting Evening.
Book Review: The Good Food Guide 2010 18th Sep 2009 The word 'review' is used loosely as this is more a survey of how one of the big food guides rates our patch.
Jabbar Khan replies to Midlands Curry Awards 4th Sep 2009 Following Mr Rahman’s reply on 4 September to my earlier criticisms of BBL and the Midlands Curry Award, I have to make the point that the credibility and reputation of an organisation is not confirmed by its guest speakers, but that it also depends on the extent to which it meets its legal requirements. As a registered charity, BBL (Birmingham Bangladesh League) is required to declare its income and expenses to the Charity Commission where these are above the Annual Return £10,000 threshold.
Midlands Curry Awards reply to Jabbar Khan 4th Sep 2009 I, as chairman of the new Midlands Curry Awards would like to clarify the various misleading quotes and baseless accusations from Jabbar Khan the proprietor of Lasan in last week’s Birmingham Plus. This is the first year of the awards and we are putting all our hearts and energy into making this one of the best events possible.
Jabbar Khan (Lasan) on Midlands Curry Awards 28th Aug 2009 There is increasing concern about the proliferation of local awards for restaurants, often organised by local business people, which can lack credibility and bring our industry into disrepute.
Profile: Mogo Grill and Juice 13th Jul 2009 Last Sunday half of the Birmingham Plus team travelled over to Solihull on the invitation of Mogo to sample their food which we did with some trepidation although thankfully it all turned out rather well in the end.
Binends Tasting 30/06/09 - Austrian Wine 13th Jul 2009 Few European wine-producing countries have sunk so low as Austria, following the �anti-freeze scandal� in 1985.
Profile: Liaison Restaurant 8th Jul 2009 Until the arrival of Waitrose (genuflect now) Hall Green was probably best known for the unlikely meeting of Robin Hood and Shirley Temple (the former being a roundabout, the latter a Chinese restaurant) but there is more to the area that one might suspect, in particular the delightful Liaison Restaurant that is the subject of our latest profile.
Clive on ...Vinho Verde 2nd Jul 2009 If there is one white wine that is the essence of a summer tipple, then it’s Vinho Verde.
Picture Report: Mirage Fusion Launch 2nd Jul 2009 Broadway Casino has relaunched its food operation as Mirage (formerly Oscar's) and launched it last month.
Book Review: Dessert by David Everitt-Matthias 25th Jun 2009 Regular visitors to this site will know how much a little restaurant about an hour down the M5 is admired, not least by myself and co-site author Tim.
Picture Report: Jekyll and Hide Gin Tasting 13th Jun 2009 No self-respecting city should be without a gin parlour and now Birmingham can claim such a venue, upstairs at Jekyll and Hyde.
Picture Report: Connolly's Cava Tasting 29th May 2009 The BP team were invited to the recent Wine and Cava tasting at Connolly's.
Bin Ends Wine Tasting April '09: Pinot 8th May 2009 BIN ENDS WINE-TASTING GROUP - �Pinot-Philia� - Tuesday, 28th April 2009 - Presented by Clive Platman Unlike any other grape I can think of, Pinot Noir has a cult following.
Picture report: Shimla Pinks Opening 21st Apr 2009 Some time ago (March 19th) the BP team went to the launch of the new Shimla Pinks on Broad Street (yes, it was always on Broad Street - it's just moved up a few doors to a bigger premises).
Preview: Taste of Birmingham '09 21st Apr 2009 As previously reported, this year's Taste of Birmingham promises to be a considerable improvement on the previous two years, as it is now organised locally rather than from afar.
Profile: La Bastille 13th Apr 2009 As the centre of town lurches from place to place with the arrival of ever more extravagent shopping emporia (and the abandonment of the last big thing) the bottom end of Corporation Street continues to provide a home for the law courts and also one of Birmingham's long-established restaurants, La Bastille.
Bin Ends Wine Tasting March '09: Rioja 13th Apr 2009 Rioja is undoubtedly Spain’s best known red-wine region, building its reputation on oak-aged Tempranillo.
Bin Ends Wine Tasting Feb '09: Everyday Bordeaux 15th Mar 2009 BIN ENDS WINE-TASTING GROUP “Everyday Bordeaux Tuesday, 24th February 2009 Presented by Laura Clay, Wine Educator Introduction Fine wines can be produced from wine regions cross the globe, but nowhere does it on such a grand scale as Bordeaux.
Bin Ends Wine Club: Jan 2009 Tasting 2nd Feb 2009 As of this month we'll be publishing the tasting notes for the Bin Ends Wine Club as articles on the site.
CNY at The Oriental: Picture Report 31st Jan 2009 Every year the Chinese manage to overshoot New Year by about three weeks.
2008 BP Awards Winners 10th Jan 2009 As voted for by the members of BP - three winners and the second and third placed establishments in each category.
Picture Repost: The Oak launch 1st Aug 2008 The Oak, the new dining venue in Hockley Heath, was the destination for the BP team last night.
Picture Report: Piccolino Preview Night 24th May 2008 Piccolino Birmingham opened this week and the BP team, lured from their lair with the prospect of free food and drink, ambled along to check it out.
Picture Report: The Duck Opening 15th Mar 2008 The BP team shuffled the short distance to the launch of The Duck on Hagley Road to check out what had become of one of the area's most established venues.
Xmas 2007: Awards 2nd Jan 2008 As voted for by the members of BP - three winners and the second and third placed establishments in each category.
Xmas 2007: Books of the Year 2nd Jan 2008 Two weighty tomes come under the critical eye of Chris as part of our 2007 roundup.
Xmas 2007: Review of the Year 2nd Jan 2008 2007 marked the last gasp for smoking in restaurants and though England has only been smoke-free for less than six months at the time of writing the change has been profound.
Xmas 2007: Three Whys, Men 2nd Jan 2008 He�s not a free man, he�s a number (and a few letters).
Xmas 2007: From Brummie to Country Bumpkin 2nd Jan 2008 Friend of the site, leading light in Staffordshire�s dining scene and all round good egg Paul Gilmore reflects on the at times tumultuous move from the highly regarded Warstone Lane establishment to his rural restaurant.
Picture Report: The Vaults 29th Nov 2007 The city's oldest workers were invited to take a look at the city's oldest workplace The Vaults, now reopened as a bar/restaurant in the Jewellery Quarter after a £2m refurbishment.
Lasan Kebab Feast: Picture Report 14th Sep 2007 Lasan's Kebab Feast proved to be exactly that - an extensive sampling of different takes on the usually humble kebab.
Profile: Purnell's 17th Aug 2007 Glynn Purnell goes eponymous in Birmingham City Centre and the BP team were more than happy to visit, sample the food and chat with the winner of Birmingham's first homegrown Michelin star about life after Jessica's.
Picture Report: City Cafe Summer BBQ '07 28th Jul 2007 Once again City Cafe held a Summer Barbeque to welcome the onset of the Great British Summer.
The Guide - Baltis in Lye 7th Jun 2007 Many claim an afinity with Lye, but few have allowed the place to enter their very pores.
Picture Report: Public Potato Day 30th Jan 2007 If you own a TVR and still have disposable income, then what better way to dispose of it than in pursuit of esoteric spuds.
Picture Report: Malmaison Homegrown and Local Menu Launch 19th Jan 2007 The first jolly of 2007 saw the BP team pitching up at Malmaison for the launch of their Homegrown and Local Menu.
2006 - Review of the Year 31st Dec 2006 2006 will not go down as a stellar year for restaurants in Birmingham, most notably because those small number of establishments I’d consider to be in the fine-dining category were reduced by half.
Picture Report: Prana Opening 25th Nov 2006 One half of the BP team and his amour popped along to the recently relaunched Prana for their opening party.
Picture Report: Wing Wah Wolverhampton Opening 20th Nov 2006 'There be dragons' they said as the BP team ventured beyond the safety of Birmingham to the undiscovered country that is Wolverhampton - and they were right.
Picture Report: Oro Bonfire Night 6th Nov 2006 Oro in Hockley Heath was the venue for an engaging bonfire night celebration on November 5th.
Book Review: Essence - David Everitt-Matthias 17th Oct 2006 The book opens up in conventional fashion (after a rather glowing foreword by Gordon Ramsay) with what appears to be a pedestrian chapter covering various stand-bys and foundations such as confits, stocks and pastry recipes.
Picture Report: Taste of Birmingham 7th Jul 2006 Taste of Birmingham opened last night and, taking a night off from following motorsport in the remotest regions of the world, our man in distressed linen popped along with his camera.
Picture Report: The White Swan preview night 27th Jun 2006 Monday night saw the BP team descend on The White Swan to get an early look and taste of the eating house that sits on the Harborne Road.
Picture Report: Summer at City Cafe 22nd Jun 2006 A pleasant evening was spent last week sampling the Summer Menu at City Cafe.
Picture Report: Epicurean at Bromsgrove 6th Jun 2006 A subsection of the BP Team popped over to the new Epicurean in Bromsgrove to see what was going on.
Taste of Birmingham 2006 6th May 2006 This July (6th-9th), Cannon Hill Park hosts Taste of Birmingham, a four day event celebrating the restaurant scene in Birmingham.
Picture Report: Nata at Prague Bar launch 27th Apr 2006 The BP team are known to be a bit partial to the wares of Nata and so jumped at the chance to attend the launch of their latest venture, a collaboration with the award-winning Prague Bar in Hurst Street.
Picture Report: Oro launch 6th Apr 2006 Oro in Hockley Heath is an amalgam of restaurant and food hall and earlier this evening one of the BP team attended the launch to see what was on offer.
Picture Report: The Boot refurb party 6th Apr 2006 The Boot in Lapworth has just re-opened after a £100k refurb, promising a 'shabby glamour' look.
Profile: San Carlo 30th Mar 2006 San Carlo seems to have been in Birmingham forever, so much so that you might imagine Joseph Chamberlain was a regular, but in fact it dates back to 1992, a year after Symphony Hall opened.
Peppers re-launch: Picture Report 24th Mar 2006 Peppers Restaurant and Bar has re-launched itself as Birmingham's first Bollywood Champagne Bar and Pan Asian Restaurant.
Cafe Soya Launch: Picture Report 13th Mar 2006 A representative ('ambassador' would be too strong a word unless you mean the Leyland vehicle) of Birmingham Plus was in attendance at the launch of the new Cafe Soya outlet and returned with these pictures.
Winter Warmers - Four seasonal special offers 21st Jan 2006 January - too close to Christmas to spend anyone's money except the credit card company's and no-one can be fagged to cut coupons out of a paper at any time of the year.
Profile: Maharaja Restaurant 20th Nov 2005 Maharaja is one of the oldest established Indian restaurants in Birmingham and well–known by curry lovers throughout the country.
Picture Report: Tanoshi Launch Party 17th Nov 2005 The BP team ventured forth on a night of sub-zero temperatures to attend the opening of Tanoshi in the Edgbaston Shopping Centre, Hagley Road.
Picture Report: Bar Pravda 1st Birthday 5th Nov 2005 Bar Pravda, the bar at the Hyatt Hotel on Broad Street celebrated its first birthday this week.
Picture Report: The Beeches 27th Oct 2005 The team behind The Punchbowl at Lapworth recently launched a new venture, The Beeches, located in Hampton-in-Arden and the BP team were invited along for the opening bash.
Picture Report: Le Champignon Sauvage Refurbishment 29th Aug 2005 Some while back we promised to cover the expansion of Le Champignon Sauvage and now we're pleased to say that it is open for business in its new guise and we have some pictures to show you.
Picture Report: Opus Launch 13th Jul 2005 Half of the Birmingham Plus team turned up last night for the Opus launch party ahead of its official opening on Friday.
Picture Report: Mortons launch 7th Jul 2005 A huge throng packed in to Mortons for their opening night.
Profile: Oscar's, Broadway Casino 5th Jul 2005 A casino may seem an unlikely place to sample high quality food, but Oscar's Restaurant, part of the recently-opened Broadway Casino, confounds this preconception.
Picture Report: Kingfisher Curry Capital of Britain 2005 Awards 4th Jul 2005 Birmingham was recently crowned Kingfisher Curry Capital of Britain 2005 in the awards organised by Menu Magazine. The BP team were invited along to the celebration lunch at Peppers in Bishopsgate St., off Broad St to see Councillor Ken Hardeman, Cabinet Member for Regeneration accept the award on behalf of Birmingham.
21st Starbucks Birmingham International Jazz Festival 1st - 10th July 30th Jun 2005 The 21st Starbucks Birmingham International Jazz Festival is almost upon us.
Picture Report: The Clive Open Day 30th Jun 2005 The Clive Restaurant in Bromfield held an Open Day yesterday, and, needing little excuse to pootle down Ludlow way, I pitched up to sample their fare.
An Evening with Tim Atkin - Bank - 7th June 8th Jun 2005 One half of the Birmingham Plus Team scrubbed up and attended the Tim Atkin wine tasting at Bank on 7th June.
Tipping is not a city in China 25th May 2005 A long time ago in a restaurant/bar not so far away I worked as a bartender.
Birmingham Association of Bartenders 9th May 2005 With �3 a pint not unusual and cocktails not leaving much change from a tenner, drinks are hardly cheap as chips (and chips, at �1 a bag, aren't as cheap as chips either).
Picture Report: Lasan's 3rd Birthday 14th Apr 2005 Tuesday night saw the party for Lasan's third year as well as celebrating a recent clutch of awards.
Picture Report: Broadway Casino Preview 9th Apr 2005 There can be few ways to lose money as effectively as owning a TVR, but gambling might just be one of them.
Picture Report - Peppers' New Menu launch 11th Mar 2005 We were supplied with press packs and CDs in the course of attending the launch of Peppers' new menu - the following comments and pictures are a distillation of these.
Magazine Review: foodie 28th Feb 2005 foodie is the only magazine dedicated to food and drink in the Midlands.
Simon Hackett Wine Tasting at Connolly's 4th Feb 2005 For an insight into the world of wine tasting we paid a visit to Connolly's Wine Merchants in Livery Street, whose speaker for the evening was the reknowned Australian winemaker Simon Hackett.
Book Review: The Michelin Guide Great Britain & Ireland 2005 23rd Jan 2005 You'd have to be a hermit not to realise by now that Birmingham has won two Michelin stars in the last few days, with the fact being trumpeted in national and local press, on televsion and indeed even here.
Stats '04 21st Jan 2005 As we did last year, here is the statistical round-up of 2004.
Members' Thing '04 - The results 21st Jan 2005 The Member's Thing '04 surpassath all human understanding, not to mention the width of the article page layout, so to view it you'll have to click on the link below.
Picture Report: wagamama preview 21st Jan 2005 There's a lot to be said in favour of press junkets with copious amounts of free drink, but if you want to know how your restaurant is going to cope under pressure, there's no better way than to hold a few complimentary evenings prior to launch.
Picture Report: Bank 5th Birthday 13th Jan 2005 A large number of people braved the weather last night to wish Bank a happy fifth birthday (the restaurant actually opened in November 1999.) Amongst the well-wishers were Ms Malin (from the teevee), Mr Purnell (Jessica's), Mr Caldwell and Ms Ferguson (Hudson's), a whole brigade of press and many long-standing customers.
Article Review: Caterer Special on Birmingham 10th Jan 2005 In the lull between the other guide books and Michelin appearing up pops an edition of The Caterer that provides the most fulsome coverage in print of the Birmingham restaurant scene since Alison Davison's Eating out in Birmingham and the Midlands book.
Profile: Hudson's BrindleyPlace 15th Nov 2004 From humble beginnings at the top of City Plaza in 1990, Hudson's Coffee Houses have grown into a three-strong operation.
Book Review: Harden's UK Restaurants 2005 14th Nov 2004 The Daily Mail is quoted as regarding Harden's as "The restaurant-lovers bible" though on the strength of their 2005 UK edition I have to declare myself agnostic.
Book Review: The Good Food Guide 2005 8th Nov 2004 The 2005 Good Food Guide breaks new ground by including a celebration of poetry and food; perhaps not the most obvious allocation of space in a publication such as this, but indicative of the nature of the book as one that is informed by the hand of an active editor, in this case, Andrew Turvil.
Book Review: The AA Restaurant Guide 2005 6th Nov 2004 There's little point reiterating the strengths and weaknesses of the AA approach to their restaurant guide - this has all been done to death in previous reviews of the book (see the articles section that considers the editions from 2002 onwards) so the following comments concern themselves with the changes to the 2005 guide and the extent to which it offers a fair reflection of the dining scene in Birmingham at the end of 2004.Ringing the changes at AA command centre, this year's guide comes wrapped in a blue cover, perhaps because Michelin dropped the word 'Red' from their publication and this might have caused all sorts of confusion, or perhaps not.
Aria & Bar Pravda launch: Picture Report - UPDATED 4th Nov 2004 After many a long night of sobriety, the BP Team (aka 'the 10pm boys', under strict orders not to be late or get drunk) jumped at the chance to check out the makeover of the Hyatt, in particular the new restaurant Aria and Bar Pravda.
Book Review: Birmingham Visitor Guide 2004/05 25th Oct 2004 A couple of years back I looked over the Night and Day publication, a magazine produced by Marketing Birmingham to extol the delights of our fair city.
Profile: Paris 23rd Sep 2004 Paris is the most visible restaurant on the Birmingham Plus site, as attested to by its unbroken appearance in our Most Wanted list.
Ludlow and Marches Food and Drink Festival 2004 17th Sep 2004 Ludlow Food Festival 2004 was the tenth anniversary of the occasion and you'll forgive us if we expected something a bit special.
Picture Report: Winefest 2004 18th Aug 2004 Little were we to know when we visited the German Winefest at the weekend that this might be one of our last opportunities to exchange pleasantries with German tradesfolk in our city, following the announcement that the Frankfurt Christmas Market is to be dropped.
Profile: Outback Steakhouse 2nd Aug 2004 We came, we saw, we ate a helluva lot.
Picture Report - Fino Relaunch 19th Jul 2004 Fino's move from inside Mailbox to the canalside area was marked last week by a launch event.
Picture Report: Lasan Tasting 21st May 2004 The BP team pitched up at Lasan recently for a tasting evening to provide feedback on possible dishes to be introduced to the forthcoming menu.
Picture Report: Alhambra Roof Garden launch 30th Apr 2004 A wet Thursday night saw the BP ligging party troop over to Alhambra, the Private Member's Bar in One Ten for the press opening of the newly completed roof garden.
Picture Report: The Bay Tree 25th Mar 2004 Longstanding Edgbaston restaurant The Bay Tree has recently been taken over by new management and the BP office junior was despatched to attend the Drinks and Canapes event to mark the occasion.
Book Review: Naked Cities - Birmingham 13th Feb 2004 Suddenly Birmingham is getting attention from all quarters; this week's Observer not only sees their restaurant critic venture up the M6 but also a free guide to the city.
Profile: One Ten Bar and Restaurant 2nd Feb 2004 Our first profile of 2004 coincides with the launch of a new menu at one of Birmingham's most stylish destinations, One Ten on Colmore Row.
Book Review: The Michelin Guide: Great Britain & Ireland 2004 1st Feb 2004 It may still be red, but it is The Red Guide no longer, now being known simply as The Michelin Guide, its original name.
Book Review: The Good Food Guide 2004 31st Jan 2004 Next on the catch-up list of food guides coming in for scrutiny is The Good Food Guide 2004, published by Which? Books, part of the Consumers' Association and consequently making much of the fact that it is independent, reliable and unbiased.
Book Review: Time Out Eating and Drinking in Great Britain & Ireland 2004 30th Jan 2004 The first question that arises on confronting the 2004 Time Out Eating and Drinking in Great Britain and Ireland is surely 'why?' In previous years we have covered the big four national guides (AA, Good Food Guide, Hardens and Michelin) - though there are others - with particular reference to the coverage they afford our own patch of green and pleasant.
Chinese New Year at The Arcadian 2004: Picture Report 26th Jan 2004 It seems like only a year ago when we last covered the Chinese New Year - in 2004, BP's newly-coiffured lensman and sartorially-challenged wordsmith took to the mean streets of the Arcadian to document the event.
2003 Stats Summary 1st Jan 2004 For the rest of the year we're happy to eat beans rather than count them, but being the end of a remarkable year in Birmingham food, with HofWof and Selfridges landing in town and Paris and Jessicas opening in the latter part of the year to name the most prominent developments, we thought we'd get the 2003 facts down in one place and then move on.
Picture Report: Change of Postcode 18th Dec 2003 As some of you may know by now, Neil Savage aka a19nws nee postcode, will be leaving Birmingham shortly to take over Grace Neill's, the oldest pub in Ireland.
Book Review: Harden's UK Restaurants 2004 12th Dec 2003 Last year I was getting quite pleased with the fact that Hardens had seen fit to mention 30 Birmingham restaurants (up from 24 in the 2002 guide).
Magazine Review: Delicious. 6th Dec 2003 In the same month that Olive garnishes the newsagents' shelves, another food magazine pitches up, attempting to answer the perennial dilemma of what to put between the high-value food adverts to convince the public that the title is worth buying.
Picture Report: Mono Launch 5th Dec 2003 The particular charms of the Arcadian's Pizza Hut have given way to the latest bar, Mono.In a competitive market, Mono distinguishes itself with a monochromatic interior and goes for understatement rather than self-conscious opulence.
Picture Report: Frankfurt Christmas Market 30th Nov 2003 Braving the weather, we ventured into the teeming metropolis that is Birmingham pre-Christmas to garner some pics of this year's Frankfurt Market.
Picture Report: Chi launch 29th Nov 2003 Our visit to Chi for the launch do was marred by the attitude on the door, so we'll refrain from commenting any further about the place and get on with the pics.
Magazine Review: Olive (BBC Magazines) 27th Nov 2003 One of the new kids on the restaurant magazine block is BBC Magazines' Olive, a monthly effort (though the first, launch issue is designated as the Christmas issue - the February issue comes out on December 31st) aimed at the 'white-plate generation'.
Picture Report: Blue Mango / Jimmy Spice launch 16th Nov 2003 The shameless ligging of the Birmingham Plus Team continued with an appearance at the launch do for Regency Wharf arrivals Blue Mango and Jimmy Spice's Oriental Buffet Works.
Picture Report: First look at Paris 7th Nov 2003 Unlike other Miss World hopefuls, the Birmingham Plus Team don't profess to want to spend their time helping wildlife and acting benevolently.
Book Review: The AA Restaurant Guide 2004 5th Oct 2003 The AA guide has gone up another pound in price (now £16.99) and continues to go down in my estimation.
Ludlow and Marches Food and Drink Festival 2003 15th Sep 2003 Circumstances were such that we could only manage a flying visit to this year's Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival.
Book Review: Gordon Ramsay�s Secrets 11th Sep 2003 The promise of a new Gordon Ramsay cookbook can be met with great anticipation in some camps and total indifference in others.
Profile: Peppers 19th Aug 2003 For our second Profile, we visited the recently opened Peppers, located just off Broad Street by the UGC cinema.
The Walnut Tree Inn Restaurant, Abergavenny 22nd Jul 2003 Abergavenny is just a tad too far from Brum to be included in the listings of this site, but it would be remiss of us not to call your attention to gems such as The Walnut Tree Inn that can be reached in just over an hour and offer great food.
Profile: The Jam House 16th Jul 2003 In the first of our occasional series of Profiles, we look at a Birmingham institution that is going back to its roots after a period in which it might have been regarded as resting on its laurels.
A (subjective) guide book top 20 - 2003 9th Jun 2003 As we now have the ratings from the four major national guides in our listings section, we thought it would be an interesting exercise to see what degree of consensus there is amongst them as to the best restaurants in the region.
Doing the sites - April 2003 18th Apr 2003 As 2bit design we have designed restaurant web sites so take this as a declaration that this piece of fluff, with or without denials to the contrary, may be trying to sell you something.
Magazine Review: Colors Magazine no.55 birmingham 7th Apr 2003 Colors magazine, a bi-monthly publication supported by Benetton and in existence since 1991, chose to feature Birmingham in its most recent edition (No.55, April-May 2003 c.£3.90).
Book Review: THE RED GUIDE: GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND 2003 (MICHELIN) 16th Mar 2003 For the 30th edition of the revered Red Guide, Michelin have seen fit to include text commentaries.
Chinese New Year at The Arcadian: Picture Report 2nd Feb 2003 It was a chilly start to February and so the Birmingham Plus lensman, myself and assorted groupies repaired to Cafe Soya for sustenance prior to recording the Chinese New Year for your pleasure.
Moseley Farmers' Market: Picture Report 25th Jan 2003 Moseley Village Green is not the wide open expanse for a leisurely game of cricket as the name suggests, but there's room enough to house Moseley Farmer's Market which we visited with our dog.
Book Review: A taste of Birmingham 20th Jan 2003 A recipe book based on Birmingham restaurants? As little as five years ago the idea would either not have been contemplated or viewed in the same light as say building an enormuous dome on the bank of the Thames to celebrate the Millenium.
Jottings on Chinese New Year 17th Jan 2003 Depending on your source, we are on the verge of leaving the Year of the Horse and entering either the Year of the Black Sheep or the Ram.
A Turkey-free Christmas (or How I got so Fat) 8th Jan 2003 (In which the author identifies sources of high-quality meat, provides tips on how to cook it and spends an inordinate amount of time consuming fat). Hands up everyone who had turkey for Christmas! Now keep your hands up if you actually enjoyed it � hmmm, not many I suspect, so why do we keep on buying the wretched things? December issues of every magazine from Radio Times to Railway Modeller have sported articles professing to impart the secret of cooking a turkey that doesn�t taste like recycled cat-litter.
Border Stuffing 1st Jan 2003 The other weekend we managed to get away from it all.
Everyone should own a breadmaker 1st Jan 2003 Plastic bread is OK for the occasional sausage sandwich but once you've tasted your own bread you'll never look back.
Indian Pub barbecues 1st Jan 2003 One of the incomparable joys of life is to shed the worries of work on a Friday night and sink far too many pints of a favoured brew, before finishing up with a late-night curry.
Low Key in Newquay - Contemplating football, chips and Tex-Mex in Cornwall�s wild west 1st Jan 2003 As part of my job as a sales rep I�m required to spend two or three nights away from home visiting far-flung clients about once a month.
Paris in June 1st Jan 2003 Arriving in Paris on what has been the hottest day of the year thus far (38 degrees) for a three day technical conference, my mind was hardly on gastronomical delights, but one has to try.
In praise of cous cous 1st Jan 2003 Had enough of rice, noodles, pasta and potatoes? Then try couscous, the north African equivalent to rice etc and the staple ingredient in tagines.
Black Eagle Beer Festival 1st Jan 2003 Having made the 'I don't want to drink' announcement I followed my partner down to our local, The Black Eagle, Factory Road, for their second annual beer festival.
The Trouble with Paignton 1st Jan 2003 By profession I suppose I am what might once have been called a travelling salesman � albeit one that tries to do as little travelling as possible these days.
Famers' Markets - The List 1st Jan 2003 "Local Produce for Local People" proclaims one of the flyers for the clutch of Farmers' Markets in the area.
Bhalty Bucket unearthed! 1st Jan 2003 In a quest to get to the bottom of this balti thing (and being mindful of the fact that sentences with the words bottom and balti in them tend to get scatalogical) we popped over to India for an update.
View from the Smoke: A Tale of Two Delis 1st Jan 2003 Based on travels around the UK and abroad, it seems that the centre of a city of a million people should, if it's any good, have the following things.
So where's the dips? 1st Jan 2003 My partner and I, having two weeks leave owing, do the rational, normal thing, pack our rucksacks, buy the malaria tablets and book a flight to New Delhi.
The Christmas Lights 1st Jan 2003 As a concession to the festive spirit that seems to be reeking from every pore at the moment, and to shame those pubs who persist in hanging up the same tired old Merry Christmas decoration in metallic gold and red we thought we'd post some pics of a pub that does it properly.
The New Birmingham Plus 1st Jan 2003 Why have things changed? Birmingham Plus aims to be the most informative, comprehensive and lively source for information on restaurants in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Le Canard gros, or the Fat Duck, to you and me. 1st Jan 2003 I've sung this man's praises for too long since starting to add my thought on Birmingham Plus forums, so it was time to revisit the Fat Duck, 7 years or so since my first visit.
48 Hours in Milan 1st Jan 2003 Here�s a confession which some of you already know - I�m a confirmed Barcophile (that�s a word I�ve just made up for a lover of Barcelona if you hadn�t guessed) but there�s more to Europe than La Rambla so last week we set off for a half-term jaunt to Milan.
Birmingham Plus Awards 2002 19th Dec 2002 There are a fair few awards adorning the walls of restaurants in Birmingham and we have been reluctant to add to the haul by releasing a swathe of the things without good cause.
The origin of the Balti 11th Dec 2002 Armed with no more than a web browser our intrepid reporter ventures to discover the origin of the balti.
Frankfurt Market: Picture Report 9th Dec 2002 The Frankfurt Market in Birmingham provoked our cameraman out onto the streets.
Book Review: Harden's UK Restaurants 2003 9th Dec 2002 With 30 Birmingham entries (as opposed to 24 last year), this year's Harden's UK Restaurants guide comprehensively trounces the GFG and AA competition in terms of representation.
Book Review: Night and Day 2002/2003 4th Nov 2002 Night and Day has been on the block for a few years now, selling itself (�1.25/$2.00 is the cover price but it seems to be distributed FOC, and if its not then I apologise for an act of inadvertent theft) as 'The essential visitor guide to Birmingham and the heart of England'.
Book Review: The Good Food Guide 2003 4th Nov 2002 Is it them or is it us? This is the question you're left with after flicking through the latest edition of the GFG.
Book Review: 50 of the best kept secrets of the Midlands: Eating Out Guide 2003 4th Nov 2002 You may not have come across this publication, described as it is as the Spring/Summer 2003 Edition.
Book Review: The AA Restaurant Guide 2003 21st Oct 2002 Another year, another pound on the cover price of the AA Restaurant Guide.
The nightmare that is Recruitment��.. 2nd Oct 2002 So, you�re an aspiring Chef, you�ve done your graft and you�re looking for a new job.
Ludlow Food Festival: Sausage and Cheese picture report 16th Sep 2002 It would be gratifying to present you with a balanced and diverse account of our time at this year's Food Festival but in the cold light of day it seems our lensman's twin obsessions of sausage and cheese resulted in a rather unbalanced set of snaps.
Taste it! Arts Fest & French Market Picture Report 11th Sep 2002 The coincidence of the Arts Fest (replete with food tasting) and the French Market last Saturday meant that Birmingham was a real treat for food lovers.
Book Review: Eating Out in Birmingham and the Midlands: Updated Version by Alison Davison 3rd Sep 2002 It appears that Ms Davison's book is to be a yearly event, appearing before the more established national guides in the autumn.
Book Review: the balti triangle in birmingham - the essential guide 3rd Apr 2002 Having spent some time trying to track down a copy of 'the balti triangle in birmingham - the essential guide' (trendy lower case of course intentional), I finally found a single copy at a city centre Visitor Information Centre today (Birmingham Council of course never failing to be backward about coming forward to promote the city).
The Evening Mail Restaurant of the Year Awards 2002 1st Apr 2002 Forget Ludlow, the region�s culinary Mecca is Walsall.
Book Review: Jonathan Meades Restaurant Guide 2002 28th Mar 2002 Jonathan Meades is bright, which is not the same thing as being illuminating (his confused TV piece on Surrealism being a case in point).
Book Review: The Red Guide: Great Britain & Ireland 2002 (Michelin) 28th Mar 2002 Most restaurateurs would trade in any number of AA rosettes, press recommendations and even the kitchen cat for one or more Michelin stars.
Book Review: Harden's UK Restaurants 2002 edited by Richard & Peter Harden 10th Nov 2001 Formerly known as 'Top UK Restaurants', Harden's has become 'UK Restaurants 2002' and, usefully, includes mention of places that have generated considerable negative as well as positive comment.
Book Review: The Good Food Guide 2002 11th Oct 2001 There is an air of understatement about the 2002 Good Food Guide, third in our roundup of publications assessing Midlands food.
Book Review: The AA Restaurant Guide 2002 6th Oct 2001 The second in our round-up of food guides takes in the tenth edition of the AA Restaurant Guide (2002).
Book Review; Eating out in Birmingham and the Midlands 5th Oct 2001 Recently we noted the arrival of a new guide to Restaurants in Birmingham and the Midlands.
Outside In - service 5th Sep 2001 Eating out must be a favorite of most people, especially when you aren't paying the bill.
View from the Smoke: The Trouble with Birmingham 15th Aug 2001 New columnist Rufus Fargo sees hope for Birmingham � but we may have to lock up a few town planners first... Starbucks now has over 100 branches in London, an astonishing figure considering it only started its expansion in the UK in 1998.
Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival 2001 10th Aug 2001 One of the gastronomic highlights of the year in the Midlands is the Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival.
A Strong Case of Denial - Press Gang Holiday Special 27th Jul 2001 However much we turn the other cheek it's a painful truism that Birmingham has had the mick taken out of it by everywhere from London to Sheppey Magna at some point in its hundred-odd year history.
Brickbats and Bouquets 5th Jun 2001 2 years, 150 reviews and a site update - seemed like a good time to take stock and see what the world thinks of Midlands Food.

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