257. Tropea

  Tropea is a popular neighbourhood Italian restaurant situated in well heeled and self-regardingly cool Harborne. The journey by public transport from my home about 6 miles away on the edge of southwest Birmingham is tiresome and the food on offer in any restaurant I visit in Harborne needs to to make the journey worthwhile. So did Tropea’s offering indeed make my journey worth enduring?

  Firstly a little background. Tropea is one of only five restaurants in Birmingham currently mentioned on the nascent Good Food Guide list of recommended restaurants. It has a ‘good’ rating. It is not to be found, yet at least, in the Michelin Guide. The restaurant was opened in 2021 by Ben Robinson-Young and Kasia Pietkowska, who had met each other while studying at University College Birmingham in 2010 (and graduated from there in 2014). The restaurant is named after the Calabrian coastal town of Tropea. 

  I started with a rather good cocktail called Paper Plane served with a degree of wit in the form of, er, a paper plane. Whilst sipping it I was able to observe how popular this smart, modern, relaxed restaurant with soothing decor seems to be. The service was very good and I received excellent advice on how much to order to satisfy my needs - I was pleased to see that half orders were available for many dishes. How very wise especially when old men with faltering alimentary systems are sitting at the table with the menu in their hand.

  The choice of antipasti was pleasingly varied but I could not resist ordering two of the battered fried courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and mint, the bitterness of the cheese balanced gloriously by oozing streaks of honey. These were highly commendable and should be indulged in on a daily basis. I also had a second antipasto of Devon crab crostini with lime mayonnaise and pink grapefruit but I thought there was a little too much bitterness, I guess from the grapefruit, and this spoiled the otherwise excellent flavour of the crab.

    On to the pasta. I chose ravioli stuffed with ricotta and served with a pistachio and fresh herb salsa and topped with Parmesan. The ravioli were very good and tasty and the pistachio added a bit of crunch to ii all which enhanced the dish. If anything the dish was just a little too salty for my taste and the half portion I had was sufficient.

  For the main course I chose rolled lamb shoulder with white beans, samphire, salsa verde and confit lemon. The meat was lovely - tender, lean and tasty - but everything accompanying was either not contributory (the beans had little flavour) or downright antagonistic. I eat Italian food rarely so maybe the ingredients are in fact classic combinations and I am ignorant of the fact but really the samphire seemed out of place to me (and like the beans had surprisingly little flavour and no bite to it) and the confit lemon was plainly ruinous to the flavour of the sweet lamb. I ate the course and gained pleasure from the lamb but had my reservations about the whole dish.

  

  For dessert I enjoyed affogato with a glug of Frangelico. 

  So, a decent enough meal with some satisfying pleasures and I think dining there will always be a rewarding experience but plucking up the courage to battle with Birmingham’s dire bus service may mean some time may elapse before I return. Meanwhile the restaurant is not short of local customers to keep it busy. There’s just that thought gnawing away at the back of my mind - I must have some more of those remarkably enjoyable fried battered stuffed courgette flowers. So perhaps the city’s buses will have to be battled with again after all.