176. The Charlton Arms; Opus To Start A New Chapter.

Ludford Bridge and Charlton Arms by Larry Turner

  And so, to Ludlow town itself and at a spot where Lancastrians and Yorkists (I don’t mean puddings and hot pots) slew each other in the early stages of the Wars of the Roses) on Ludford Bridge where there is also sited the Michelin plated Charlton Arms, whither I repaired for lunch. It’s owner, Cedric Bosi, originally came to Ludlow from Lyon to work with his brother, Claude, when the latter owned the Michelin-starred Hibiscus, where Glyn Purnell worked for a few months. Claude eventually relocated Hibiscus to London but Cedric had already discovered an interest in the customs and traditions of the English pub and had opened one, the Bell Inn in Yarpole in Herefordshire which won a Michelin Bib Gourmand. When Claude moved Hibiscus from Ludlow to London in 2010 Cedric moved with his brother and together they opened two pubs in the London area but Cedric and his wife Amy returned to Ludlow in the second half of 2015 and opened the Charlton Arms.

  It is an attractive setting, located at one end of Ludford Bridge with a view over the broad river Teme at a point where the drop down to the river is almost a ravine. The location certainly sets the pub up for a Bib Gourmand - which it was awarded in 2018. The decor is delightful - slightly eccentric - with light bursting in from windows on two sides. 

  The menu is classic English rustic with a twist. Cedric Bosi was doing us all a great favour when he developed the English pub as a fascination. The food is unashamedly pub food but fine pub food.

  I chose the ‘House apéritif’ , a pastis, which arrived looking like it might glow in the dark and potent with aniseed. To start I chose spiced spring lamb Scotch egg with soothing tzatziki. This was a generously portioned Scotch egg, a crunchy golden coat surrounding the bite of the spices mixed with the lamb. It was almost a tasty, filling meal in itself. 

  

 

 For the main course I chose, and was served, fine dressed crab with excellent, moderately thin chips and a ‘Lane cottage salad’ with ribbons of carrot, crunchy fennel (more aniseed but who’s complaining?) onions, peppery radishes and leaves and a perfectly matched dressing. Summer on a plate and indeed the sun had burst out across Ludlow after three days of indecisive clouds.

  I was as full as an old bloke can be before he begins to feel uncomfortable but I saw the peach cheesecake with coconut ice cream being delivered to another table and I had to give way to my base gluttony which was good as it was a very enjoyable dessert and light with very coconuty coconut icecream and very peachy peach cheesecake.

  A very enjoyable lunch. No wonder that Michelin has honoured the place. A revisit is on the cards.

  Meanwhile back in Birmingham, the previously Michelin-plated Opus may have died an unnatural death from a surfeit of lockdowns, unending street works and Birmingham City Council's poisonous Clean Air Zone but Ann Tonks and Irene Allan who founded, and subsequently closed, Opus in Cornwall street are preparing to start a new chapter in their restaurant careers by opening a new establishment, aptly to be called Chapter, in Edgbaston on the Calthorpe Estate. The Opus Head Chef, Ben Ternant, will join them by leading the kitchen staff at the new 65 seater restaurant which should open in early December 2021, a date coinciding with the opening of the Hagley Road extension of the Midlands Metro tramline putting the restaurant just about five minutes journey time from the city centre.

Irene Allan and Ann Tonks

Ben Ternant, Head Chef at Opus and Chapter

175. Forelles.

 

 

   You may have noted that Ludlow, a small but historic Shropshire town, birthplace of the English food festival (alive and kicking again this year in two weeks time after last year’s online version), scored third equal on the list of cities and towns having Michelin mentioned restaurants in the 2021 Guide (see Blog 167). Beaten only by the mighty Birmingham itself and Cheltenham, Ludlow has five Michelin mentioned restaurants putting it on par with Stratford upon Avon. And I am back in this very pleasant town which combines the joys of the Mercian countryside, the hills of Cymru looming in the near distance, with the pleasantness of its acceptable distance from the urbanisation of the great West Midlands cities and towns.

  Since I began my not-infrequent trips here I have stayed at the very congenial Fishmore Hall, just out in the country not far from the edge of the town’s modern housing estates which do not usually come to mind when one thinks of medieval Ludlow, capital of the Marches. Consequentially I have eaten more than my share of usually fine meals at the hotel’s fine restaurant Forelles, delightfully housed in a large conservatory with the local beef in the next field and Clee Hill looking down on us all. But I have never ventured into a journey along its Tasting menu. Well not until now. One look at the menu persuaded me to detour off my usual à la carte route and to take the longer, more winding and more decorous route that led  to the final course of six. 

  Fishmore Hall recently officially appointed its new Head Chef - Phil Kerry, formerly sous chef at Fishmore - after its former Head Chef, Joe Gould, forsook the Midlands and headed to a challenging job in Scotland. This has been a brilliant appointment. On my visits here since Kerry took over, first during the interregnum and then as crowned occupier of the post, I have I have had some quite fabulous dishes at Forelles and the excellence has even shone through in the simpler but usually delicious food being served up in the accompanying bistro. Fishmore, or rather Forelles, appears to finally be there - in a place any proprietor and chef would wish to find their restaurant, A very good restaurant in its category (une tres bonne table dans sa categorie) or in modern terms high quality cooking worth a stop which is rather understated but is dripping with meaning (see Blog 4). 

  And there I was in a place I wished to be starting at the beginning with three perfect little canopés - a tiny goats cheese cornet and a little morsel of a fish cake among the three nibbles. How remarkably good. Then a profoundly flavoured tomato consommé served as a cappucino with its basil, balsamic and Parmesan elements adding to the wondrous and thrilling combination of flavours. A tiny dish but memorable for all the right reasons. By now, I was hooked and giving no resistance as Chef reeled me in.

  On to a starter made up of an abundance of asparagus under a runny poached egg yolk and a crispy little piece of Melba toast with soothing buttermilk and lovage oil. Spoilt a little by this particular dish being a little cold (perhaps it was meant to be) but still a fine dish.

  

And then something really great and very dramatic in its presentation - two scallop shells, one containing a delicious, accurately cooked scallop on a bed of sea vegetables including samphire, the sea washing through it, as well as the salt of a robust dashi and in the other shell a tasty smoked roe, the whole looking very pretty.

  

And then the dish which told me that Forelles has finally got there - a completely admirable and accurately cooked piece of beef on a bed of garlic-suffused potato, an unctuous beef sauce, sweet tender onion and shiitake. One of the best courses I have eaten anywhere this year.

 

 Predessert. Another delight. Tongue-tingling pink peppercorn pannacotta matched with a champagne sorbet and sweet thin slices of peach. A perfect transitional dish. Light, refreshing, clever, inventive. Afterwards a single dessert (who needs two?). We seem to have entered a situation where a chocolate dessert is the last dish we must have. Unfortunately I am not a fan of dark chocolate puddings, I don’t need to end on something so deeply rich. I prefer sweetness rather than the potent flavour of chocolate. But this was as good as I could hope for - a pleasing crumbly base under a glossy, gold-leafed half-globe topping the chocolate mousse centre and served with a soothing ice cream. For the chocolate lover, this was a beautiful gem.

  Afterwards some enjoyable petits fours. And so to bed.

Post scriptum:-

There are three small pear trees in the gardens of Fishmore Hall which are of the forelle variety. They’re looking rather undistinguished at present and rather like a lot of garden fruit this year they seem to be in a state of delayed development. But for what it’s worth here’s one of them:-

174. Michelin Goes Monthly And Ignores The Midlands.

  It has been announced by Michelin that as the Michelin Guide is now online, it will now be updated on a monthly basis. This will take place on the last Wednesday of the month and today we have the new additions - seven in all, largely, as we may expect in London but with a representation also in the north, Michelin’s own version of the Johnson government’s levelling up it seems, and also one in Wales (well, you can’t ignore the Celtic fringe can you?) Naturally, as we have also come to expect, there are no new additions anywhere in the whole of the Midlands. I suppose it’s a bit of a bore stopping off in the heart of England when you are dashing between the bleak but worthy-of-being-levelled-up North and the home comforts of London where, for a Michelin inspector, civilisation both begins and ends.

  Still it all gives us something to moan about now on a monthly basis while we await our turn for a bit of levelling up action.

  Meanwhile better news for Birmingham - three of the city’s leading restaurants have been rated to be in the top 100 restaurants in the United Kingdom in the 2021 Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards organised by Restaurant magazine. The awards are said to represent “the brilliance and vibrancy of the UK’s eating out scene”. Carter’s of Moseley, much loved by the trendy young, comfortably off socialists of Moseley, Kings Heath, Stirchley  and Harborne, was the highest placed of the three at number 45, Aktar Islam’s unimpeachable Opheem was at number 58 and the doyen of Birmingham’s restaurants, Purnell’s, was voted by the panel of 200 ‘experts’ who participated in this selection into the 77th position. Not surprisingly, the visibly failing Simpsons did not get a mention in this list of gastronomic success stories and nor did, rather more surprisingly, the sophisticated and immaculate Adam’s.

  The Birmingham Post mentioned that the ‘winning’ restaurant was situated in the levelling-up North - Moor Hall in Aughton in Lancashire - for the second consecutive year. Why are we not surprised that five of the restaurants in the top ten are located in London and the other five in The North? In the numbers 11 to 20 group there are 4 in the North and 4 in London, with one in the south east (Kent) and one in Wales. 

  This is all very odd and reeks of observer bias although some effort was made to ensure the whole of the country was covered by dividing the UK into 11 regions and having the experts list the top seven restaurants they have dined at in the previous 12 months and weighting the choices according to their order of preference. This explanation is very superficial and all sorts of holes in the method of arriving at the 100 can be picked out without a lot more detail.

  It’s good news for some Birmingham restaurants but logically there has to be something amiss when the highest placed Midlands restaurant can manage no higher than number 45. Apart from the Birmingham restaurants the other Midlands restaurants to feature in the list were:- Restaurant Sat Bains (Nottingham)(54), and Alchemilla  (Nottinghamshire) (81) with no other West Midlands restaurants being so honoured.

 

173. The Oyster Club by Adam Stokes.

 

  Arriving at The Oyster Club by Adam Stokes, less than two minutes walk from The Grand Hotel where the dog and I were staying for 3 comfortable nights, I “wowed” at the smart, bright bar area on the ground floor. I had been there soon after the restaurant had first opened but had forgotten completely the restaurant’s internal look. Surely one of the smartest, most clean-cut in town.

  The design of this place was meticulously thought out which when you look at how equally meticulous Adam Stokes’ cooking is at Adam’s is not surprising. Even the amusing water jugs are perfectly chosen to match the theme of fish and seafood, shaped as they are like a fish standing on its tail.

  But to the food. It being 12.30 PM, I would have had to be mad not to chose the special lunch menu which must be the best valued meal in town - just £19.50p for two excellent courses. I was close to being seduced by the dishes on the formal à la carte menu - the sole beckoned among other delights, I might even have strayed down the expensive road that led to half a lobster - but the tempura coated cod with nine spectacularly good chips, dreamy minted mushy peas and excellent tartare sauce had too forcefully taken hold of my food lust.

   Before ransacking my plate of fish and chips I quaffed a splendid cocktail from the Cocktails from the Sea list (which seemed only right and proper when dining in a fish restaurant), The Fisherman, made up of peaty whiskey, tangerine and ice cider and a seaweed syrup which made it taste very much of the sea and ate with immense relish the beautifully presented and delightfully tasty starter of elderflower cured sea trout with finely sliced radish and gooseberry and a scattering of sorrel leaves and fine little slices of Melba-like fried bread rather which added a perfect crunch to the dish. As good a starter as I have eaten this year. And exceptional good value.

 

 Everything about the cod and chips was just right - the fine tempura batter, the lovely whiteness of the fish, the seasoning, the chips’ crunchy exterior and the satisfying texture of their interiors, the creaminess and mintiness of the mushy peas and the smooth mild acidity of the tartare sauce. 

  For dessert I toyed with having the pannacotta but was persuaded to have the Black Forest choux bun with pistachio crumble instead. It arrived at the table visually masquerading as a burger though the proof of the pudding was in the eating. It was all there - cherry, chocolate, a crispy-surfaced bun; a clever dessert - much more of a proper dessert than is often served up at other restaurants where a biscuit and some mousse and a bit of gel are thought to suffice.

  The burger-resembling choux bun brought this ‘happy meal’ to an end apart from some pleasant and sensible petits fours served with the coffee - two little jellies and two little fudges. My long delayed revisit to the Oyster Club had been a very happy affair all round and sent the restaurant shooting up my personal list of Birmingham’s favourite restaurants.

171. Dishoom

 

  

A brilliant mind came up with the idea of Dishoom, off Chamberlain Square. A genius brought it into physical form. It’s much larger on the inside than the outside, it is Bombay in Birmingham, it could be a high grade canteen, it’s vibrant, atmospheric, every direction you look there are front of house staff bustling around - taking orders, delivering orders, backwards and forwards stirring up the atmosphere. There’s the sound of chatter but the place is so big that the noise never becomes overwhelming, it’s almost necessary. Diners to the left of me, diners to the right of me, diners straight ahead of me. Thrilling. Fun.

  

  

  The menu is large and very tempting. So too is the cocktail list (very tempting at any rate). I had the Old Fashioned variant featured on the menu. A remarkably delicious Old Fashioned. 

  Now I was in the mood. My indecision hovered over the menu and took a long time to resolve but eventually it settled on a dish of excellent little pappads (khichia,I think) with a very tasty apple chutney (“made to an old family recipe. Made from dependable apple, not fickle mango” [I’ve never really considered previously how seriously an apple might take its responsibilities nor the degree of infidelity a mango can indulge itself in], anyway this was probably chundo). One thing I do know is that I am rather in love with khichia and chundo, no matter how severe the degree of faithlessness one or both of the parties may show.

  I was told there were no starters or main courses - the dishes one ordered came to the table when they were ready. Though this sounded a little uncompromising but very clever (no complaints possible if a table’s dishes did not all arrive at the same time) all my dishes arrived in conventional order so a sense of order was maintained). My starter - let’s call it that - was made up of three enjoyable minced lamb samosas (“Gujarati filo (not Punjabi shortcrust [says the menu emphatically] stuffed with minced lamb, onion and spices) with three little bowls of some tasty sauces. 

  And so to the main course. I had chosen Mutton pepper fry (“finest mutton marinated in red chilli, ginger and garlic, and then cooked with black peppercorns and whole spices”) served in an impressive black pot. The description adds, “Robust, spicy and tender” which is wholly accurate. Except that tender does not convey just how remarkably tender the mutton was, gorgeously unctious, hot but within the bounds of an old Brummie’s tolerability after almost fifty years of experiencing what Birmingham’s south Asian restaurants have been serving up and as robust as any peasant dish could be for it was undeniably rustic in an Indian sort of way. What a joyous dish and very generously portioned. I ate it with roomali roti (“soft handkerchief-thin, bread, thrown, stretched and griddled to order on an upturned tawa” - whoever wrote this stuff is very, very good), which was a perfect companion with the curry.

  

  On being seated originally along with the menu I had been handed a card informing me that we were celebrating the Zoroastrian new year or at least it was according to the Parsi community in India which follows the Shahenshahi calendar (16 August to be exact). And there was a special dessert to accompany this event - Fashooda - “sweet, extravagant and fun” which was presented as “a glass full of malai kulfi, rose syrup and sweet basil seeds, topped with vanilla ice cream, almonds and pistachio. This dessert drink is said to originate from ancient Persia, and was introduced to Bombay by Irani cafés such as Kyani & Co and Badshah”. So obviously I chose the falooda as my dessert. Not quite my cup of tea but it did not fail to deliver what the menu promised - my problem was that there was a little too much liquid but the menu had described it as a dessert-drink so I can not say I was not warned. Agreeably, the flavour of rose was present but restrained and the various nuts gave the dessert some crunchy texture. And it was a pretty little dish with its pinks and its greens mottling the whiteness of it all. So, Navroz Mubarak!

  The extremely talented writer opens the menu with, “From Bombay with love.The old Irani cafés have almost disappeared. Their faded elegance welcomed all: courting couples, sweaty taxi-wallas, students artists and lawyers. These cafés broke down barriers by bringing people together over food and drink. Bombay was more open and welcoming for their existence. Dishoom pays homage to the Irani cafés and the food of all Bombay”. This is a great Irani café here in Birmingham. This is a great dining experience here in Birmingham. Bustling, exciting, thrilling, great food. Right at the top of places to go out to eat in the city.

172. Pulperia.

 

  Despite all the additional South America stuff Pulperia is a very grand steak restaurant.The South American element elevates it above giving it a steakhouse label. But the question is why would you go there and eat anything other than steak?, it would be sacrilegious as well as being a missed opportunity. I like fish, I was sorely tempted to have the cod dish which sounded vaguely wondrous but as I say, how could I justify my presence in Pulperia and not have one of the various steaks on offer. So I did

  Before we get there, let’s just squeeze in a mention of the the delicious starter I wolfed down (as politely as one may wolf down anything). I thoroughly relished a generously sized dish of morcilla, caramelised onion and blood sausage (I try to be patriotic but this time must say that this sausage knocks English black pudding into a cocked hat) with some actually tasty tomatoes (this has not been a good year for being served tasty tomatoes in British restaurants I have found) and charred cucumber. Rustic, brash, unendingly pleasurable.

  I chose the Herefordshire rump. I turned down any sauces but accepted the accompanying chips, sorry, fries. It is not surprising to say that the steak was cooked precisely to my requirements, seasoned absolutely perfectly and pleasingly tender and full of flavour. One of the things that happens to me when I’m three quarters of a way through a steak is that I become bored. This did not happen on this particular evening. A request to chef - please go out into this world and teach everyone how to produce chips of the calibre I ate this evening. The world would be a better place if you could arrange to do that. This meal showed how simplicity, executed brilliantly, can produce a meal more extraordinary than much of what is being served up at restaurant tables in this modern age. I didn’t mourn the absence of violet flowers or nasturtiums scattered over the plate. Simply fine. I washed it down with a good glass of Malbec.

  I rounded off with nothing more than the ice cream - warning - don’t choose to have the lemon sorbet with the caramel ice cream (I knew it was mad when I ordered it but no, I just couldn’t help myself). You do not need to see a photograph of three small scoops of ice cream in a bowl, they look just as you would imagine.

  It’s an exciting restaurant. It’s an interesting restaurant. It’s not a great restaurant but it is at the top of its class and I would be very happy to return one day.

See also Blog 86.