226. Opheem

 

  While some fabulous restaurant developments are taking place in the towns near Birmingham we must not forget the gems in the city itself and it may be argued that the jewel in the crown is the impeccable Opheem. This seems to be the Birmingham restaurant which is most likely to reap the city’s first ever 2 Michelin stars award if it keeps up its momentum. And presently there’s every sign that the momentum is building up more and more.

  There’s a new, more intimately welcoming entrance and luxuriously comfortable lounge area where amuses gueules are served with cocktails (well mine’s a perfectly prepared Monkey 47 and tonic with, importantly, a slice of grapefruit) and where an après-feast of petits four (a feast within a feast) is served with the coffee in a cosily comfortable, indulgently lazy few post prandial minutes before settling the bill and stepping out into the late Birmingham evening. 

  The staff are spot-on and the form of service in which the chefs deliver their dishes directly to the diners works so well bringing an intimate triangular relationship between food, eater and cook which is far superior to our current state of general service where food arrives at the table brought by a charming but often inexperienced young person who whispers a rushed explanation of what is in the dish or indeed fleetingly appears at the table and disappears without a word being uttered. At Opheem a chef responsible for the rather remarkable creation lovingly held in his hand describes his culinary little work of art to the diner clearly and presents the diner with a clear knowledge of what they are about to eat and just what is  the story behind it.

  It is wholly wrong to go to Opheem, I have learned, and having anything less than the full tasting menu. Too many gems are missed by choosing any other option. That said it isn’t easy to remember the detail of every dish without the use of a notebook (and I have no intention of looking like an gastronomic equivalent of a trainspotter) so my recall, little grey cells now matched by the colour of my once luxurious brown hair and like it, thinning out considerably, of the full panoply of Opheem tasting menu delights is not full and so I present a gallery of those delights with less description than would be ideal and possibly with a mild amount of inaccuracy. Three fabulous - yes, fabulous - amuses gueules, ‘snacks’, are served in the comfort of the lounge while my Monkey 47 gets things stoked up (look at the magic in the photographs) and then the final amuse bouche, tabuk maaz,  is served in the chic, cool, dining room under its ceiling of lights - confit hoggat with a little bowl of dreamy biryani gravy, shorba, and a mutton rib. Pure delight.

  Then to the first starter proper introduced as”the carrot dish”. The following day I dined at Grace and Savour and there too one course was described to me as “the carrot dish”. Is “the carrot dish” now an accepted course in the flow of a multicourse meal? I ask myself. I don’t mind carrots, in fact I find quite pleasurable, but really, are they worthy of being a course in their own right? I think not. Regardless, Opheem’s version of ‘the carrot course’, gajar, was, as one might expect, quite special being a tandoori-flavoured sand carrot served with a lentil pakora and a cooling but spicy chutney. Then the shockingly delicious tisria, Orkney scallop, perfectly cooked with beautiful spices which allowed the flavour of scallop still to soothe the palate and well balanced with cucumber. Two macaroons for this dish.

  Then the old favourite of aloo tuk, refined further to its benefit and now magical - achaari pink fir potato and the cheeky sweetness of tamarind. I only remembered to photograph it half way through and it is therefore not illustrated here but it looked good and tasted better.

  Then more fish - allepy - accurately cooked, lovely cod with smoked aubergine purée and new season French asparagus. 

  The meal advances. Pao, milk loaf flavoured with cumin, now more refined and golden and glistening, with accompanying lamb butter to apply to the bread. 

  A new departure for me at Opheem - Chettinad - deliciously mildly flavoured Creedy Carver duck cooked perfectly with a turnip purée and a quite stupendously accompanying bowl of confit duck with pearl barley. The elements combine to make a faultless and memorable dish.

  And suddenly we have arrived at the desserts after a pretty little predessert. Firstly rewandchini, Yorkshire rhubarb of a good texture with stem ginger. Perhaps the flavours were not quite as strong as they might have been but the next dessert, rasmali, possibly what may turn out to be the prettiest dessert of the year, was gorgeous combining the flavours and textures of milk curd in a white chocolate sphere with almond and pistachio though some of the curd inside the chocolate was liquid which slightly detraction from the otherwise perfection of the dish.

  Back in the lounge the petits four were delightful - gloriously sweet fudge and fruity jelly and a lovely cake. 

  This was a near faultless dinner full of pleasures and great tasty dishes eaten in a very attractive and comfortable space. Opheem really does go from strength to strength.