440. Soi 1268

 

  Originally from Thailand, Sai Deethwa, began commercial cooking in 2011 and presented her products as Thai street food, using recipes inherited from her mother, and established Buddha Belly, attending various venues such as Digbeth Dining Club and Herbert’s Yard in Longbridge.

   Deethwa had met her partner James Fitzgibbons in 2004 and following his suggestion she took part in the 2012 BBC Masterchef series in which she successfully reached the final 24 contestants stage. Eventually Deethwa and Fitzgibbons opened Soi 1268 at 1268 Pershore Road in Stirchley and soon afterwards Aktar Islam, Executive Chef and owner of the two Michelin-starred Opheem, identified Soi 1268 as one of his favourite restaurants at which to eat.

    So it was clearly time for another expedition to the aggressively hipster paradise of Stirchley to dine at Soi 1268. I generally enjoy Thai food apart from Thai green curry which is ruined, it seems, because I have a gene, as does 20% of the population, which makes coriander taste like soap but I find Thai food wearisome. There’s not much range in it and when you’ve been to upwards of fifty, or however many, Thai restaurants - usually rustic in presentation and not all that cheap - it’s hard to imagine anything new and exciting is going to light up your gastronomic life. More of the same. So was Soi 1268 just that and did it float my boat?

    In the early evening drizzley darkness of the latter part of autumn, the black painted exterior is not so very inviting (why do restaurants in hipster areas feel they should  look like funeral parlours?) but once inside the interior is more reassuring - warm and cosily ramshackle though, as with so many of these Stirchley restaurants, the seating is fairly close together and not notably comfortable though the crowd of Stirchley denizens who have already taken their places seem oblivious to any problem such as discomfort and are tucking into their dinners, presumably happy with the suburban, middle class rusticity of it all.

My dining companion and I were presented with the shortish, somewhat disheveled, menus and he opted for what turned out to be highly delicious, splendidly textured King prawns toast zinging with ginger, garlic and spring onion and accompanied by a tiny pot of sweet dipping sauce. The toast looked magnificent and indeed it was.

  The menu was one mainly of the now ubiquitous ‘small plates’ and my companion also chose the impressive-looking Thai fried chicken which was nicely moist and encased in fine, crispy coatings. We both chose the small plate of immaculately crispy enoki in a tempura batter, the texture of  crunch serving as a good companion to the earthiness of the mushrooms.

  I had the enoki as a starter and had a larger plate as the main which was beef massaman curry (which I have loved to eat for decades). This was very well done. The black pepper brought adequate heat to the proceedings which was centred on succulent and unctuous meat, slow cooked to the point where it had almost melted away. Apparently Aktar Islam’s wife also loved this dish when served it at this restaurant. She clearly knows a good dish when she tastes one; the accompanying jasmine rice was very edible

  All the dishes were generously portioned but I had room for the only dessert on offer - the delightful mochi ice cream (pounded rice dumplings filled with my chosen flavour of vanilla ice cream) which I had not previously eaten and which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved the chewiness of the dumpling and the flavour of the good vanilla ice cream that lurked inside the dumpling waiting to be liberated.

  Soi 1268 is a very pleasing neighbourhood restaurant though, because it is clearly popular, and because of the large numbers of diners in a relatively small space, not an entirely relaxing spot to while away a couple of hours. The rustic Thai food is enjoyable and filling and has a fine degree of authenticity about it though the menu seems to step out of its brief a little to visit dishes from other Asian cuisines. It serves street food in an environment that is more comfortable and much warmer than the sort of places Buddha Belly visited in the past but whether or not it might be nice to see the chef aiming to serve her food in a style with more finesse and in a more upmarket setting I shall leave to the reader. And it did ‘float my boat’ like one those little water vessels which serve as floating markets on the canals near Bangkok.

Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛.

438. ADC x Highland Park Collaboration.

 

  I feel it in my water - either still or sparkling - that Alex Claridge’s Albatross Death Cult (ADC) is to be the next Birmingham Michelin star recipient come the next Michelin star reveal ceremony, presumably to be held early in 2025. I’ve dined there more than anywhere else this year and have experienced the novelty of the food and genius behind the invention of it. It is special and should be recognised nationally for being so.

  Having long ignored Claridge’s brilliance as revealed by The Wilderness, hopefully the Michelin inspectors will find it in themselves to celebrate his culinary achievements by recognising them in ADC. By doing so, they will not lose face and additionally be seen to do justice. Twenty four hours after Glynn Purnell’s announcement  that he had closed Purnell’s, Michelin had, quite reasonably I suppose, removed the restaurant from its internet site, as had the Good Food Guide, and so it is to be hoped that at least one Birmingham restaurant finds its way on to the list of starred restaurants in the next edition of the guide. If that is to be the case then ADCcould well be that very restaurant. If it were located in London it undoubtedly would be, I have no doubt.

Purnell’s no longer in the guidebooks -

Michelin Guide - 

Good Food Guide -

  Things change. And for the present a new style of dining is riding high so much so that I found myself dining at an ADC collaboration with Highland Park whisky (in the past I had attended a similar collaboration at The Wilderness but it doesn’t hurt to repeat a pleasure from time to time. 

  It was a completely different evening compared with the night before when I had also visited the Jewellery Quarter to experience another one of Kaye Winwood’s enjoyable occasions at GULP (see Blog 439) - the dark evening with teeming rain had changed to one of pleasing late afternoon sunshine and blue skies. What a difference a day makes. How uplifting in mood. I was ready to enjoy what was on offer.

  What was actually on offer were dishes which I have previously eaten at ADC and I, from my own point of view, might have liked something novel but on the other hand, almost all my fellow diners were first time visitors to the restaurant so for them the dishes were new and exciting and, as far as I could tell, greeted with universal acclamation.

  So the first two items were pleasing canapés of Cornish mackerel sashimi - silvery and glinting, as subtle a flavour of the fish that one could wish for, and a delicate croustade packing with orange trout roe the colour of a translucent popping satisfyingly in the mouth like edible  bubble wrap.

   Then exquisite, tender mussels in a scintillatingly and exquisitely gorgeous burst of black peppery velouté matched perfectly with a Highland Park whisky Old Fashioned. The wholly edible with the wholly quaffable. Then came another old favourite, presented I thought better than ever before - an Atlantic scarlet prawn with a deeply flavoured sauce made from the head. The final savoury dish was lovely Chalk stream trout with tom yum. 

  The meal was rounded off with another classic ADC dish - the bowl of silky, delightful sushi rice ice cream with nori tuiles which had the entire room purring with vaguely sinful pleasure. There was a single scallop-shaped mignardise and a draining of the remaining whisky in the diners’ glasses and the deed was done.

   And so, home, under the wolf moon, bright in the clear night sky.

439. Gulp. Sensperiment With Food.

 

  It had been some time, to my regret, since I had been able to attend one of Kaye Winwood’s GULP food experiences but finally I was able to once more head for the Jewellery Quarter to see what she was able to do. It was yet another unpleasant evening of miserable rain and early darkness and it took a lot of mental fortitude to get up and leave my warm little house and head for town and then on to the Jewellery Quarter but I was keen to revisit GULP having enjoyed myself on previous visits. This time however things were different. For a start, instead of having to mount the steep staircase in the old factory which leads to GULP’s now familiar, rather charming dining room, this time I made my way down Pitsfield Street, around the corner from the Jewellery Quarter railway station to the very smart, very modern Goodsyard JQ - trés convenient - where Kaye was holding this particular session. 

  It was difficult to identify the exact address in the darkness - no-one seems to put house numbers on their doors around those parts but eventually it appeared that the location was the brightly lit Great Western Hotel - at least I think it was a hotel, it may have been just a collection of apartments; regardless, it was the sort of place where a bell needed to be rung and a receptionist needed to let you in and then you had to identify yourself and be approved. I imagine that’s how everywhere in England will be after a couple of years of this new, oppressive socialist regime which was ushered in three months ago and which, by its threatened measures, has the hospitality industry feeling it’s very much in the last chance saloon.

  But it was all very plush, Kaye was very welcoming and the small number of participants gathered around the laid table as though they were going to indulge in a spot of spiritualism using an ouija board. A cameraman, with an annoying sniffing habit, joined us and Kaye admitted that she was rather nervous about it all but she was among friends and sympathisers. She gave an interesting illustrated talk on the relationship of non clinical psychology and the enjoyment of food, touching on her favourite subjects including the Italian Futurists, the chef Massimo Bottura, “Gastrophysics The new science of eating” and taught us about the difference between bouba and kiki (ah yes! I have you there, most probably).

  The table was laid out with little snack-like portions of various edible items which illustrated how taste may be affected by the other senses. At various times we were called upon to wear red goggles and blindfolds, to rub our hands on a box with a covering of sandpaper (which apparently makes something one is eating at the same time taste more salty than it otherwise would), to listen to sounds which brought out the flavour of a peach truffle, to eat picked onion strips to illustrate its effect on salivation and, on the whole, to have a collection of oo ah! moments. Great fun was had by all especially when consuming some puffed up crackers dipped in Kaye’s splendid homemade mayonnaise, her blackberry jellies enhanced with Szechuan sugar and her splendid home-baked lemon madeleine.

  This had been a fine ninety minutes and an excellent example of the off the beat enjoyable  dining experiences available for gourmands de Birmingham to enjoy. Kaye Winwood is a great asset to the food lovers of the city.

Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛.

437. The End Of Purnell’s.

 At 1000AM on Monday 14 October 2024 Glynn Purnell announced via social media that his restaurant, Purnell’s, in Cornwall Street had served its last diners at close of service on Saturday 12 October and that the restaurant was now permanently closed.

  He was interviewed an hour later on the BBC West Midlands station by Kathryn Stanczyszyn and repeated that which he had stated in the social media and identified a number of reasons for his decision to end the 17 years of fine dining he had been serving up to the citizens of Birmingham and from further afield in Cornwall street. 

  We know well Purnell’s story before opening Jessica’s in Edgbaston with owners Diane and Keith Stevenson and this had included a period of work as Chef de Partie at Andreas Antona’s Simpsons and for Claude Bosi at Hibiscus in Ludlow. Jessica’s was opened in 2004 and, with Purnell in the kitchen, it was awarded a Michelin star in 2005, joining Simpsons as one of only two Birmingham restaurants to have been awarded the accolade up until then. Jessica’s closed in 2007 after Purnell decided to open his own restaurant which he did in May 2007, quite reasonably naming it after himself, and Purnell’s was awarded a Michelin star in the 2009 edition of the Michelin Guide (announced in 2008). Purnell’s retained the star until its closure.

  Purnell became a local and national culinary celebrity with numerous appearances on television and in the press and opened, and sometimes closed, other restaurants as he was eventually to do with his flagship fine dining restaurant itself as the gastronomic climate changed, costs rose, and the fall off of diners able to, or prepared to, pay significant prices for tasting menus and their ilk.

  Purnell’s is survived by its younger siblings, Plates By Purnell’s in Edmund Street and the upmarket public house/restaurant The Mount in Henley in Arden.

  A look at Blog 413 (28 June 2024) may provide the reader with at least one reason why Purnell’s finally had to close. It was still very good but it was tired, the menu had lost its thrill, its humour and wit, its flair and imagination, its sense of excitement, its oomph. Restaurants rely on their old, faithful customers coming back time and time again and while they like to see familiar old favourites on the menu, they also want novelty and for me the menu was too repetitive drawing on old glories. I’m not convinced that Glynn Purnell had not lost his interest in it all to some extent. When something’s tired and elderly, it’s time to let it rest with its memories of the glory days of fine, exciting, witty experiences and so to move on.

 And in response to the news I made a reservation to visit Plates by Purnell’s the very next day. Somehow it seemed the decent thing to do.

   I had dined just a month ago at Plates with a regular dining companion and we were very impressed. Our chosen dishes were pleading and represented good value. My only real problem with the restaurant was the general lack of space there which makes it feel just a little unwelcoming though that is certainly not a comment that one could make about the excellent front of house staff there.

  We indeed had little to complain about on this occasion - we enjoyed the platter of embutidos (cured meats) which admittedly was more a matter of curation than of culinary skill; we enjoyed some inoffensive albondigas, some cheese and basil  croquetas, some fine-looking patatas bravas (which to be fair were more patatas than bravas) and some nicely seasoned gambas al ajillo. I chose the pistachio dessert - a pistachio foam with honey and tuiles - though it only served to emphasise how unrewarding are the restaurant’s desserts. Generally we enjoyed ourselves and I felt that I shoukd like to return sooner rather than later.

  Which brings us to my solo visit to Plates one month after my previous dining experience there. In many ways I wish I had not decided to dine there. I repeated my previous order of albondigas and requested chicken thigh with romesco sauce (it was not available), ‘chip  de trufa’ - potato with truffle mayonnaise (I was informed it was a single chip which sounded a little insubstantial for £5 to say the least so I opted for good old patatas bravas, croquetas de queso y albahaca and, in the absence of the chicken, calamares with alioli. First the good news - the croquetas were good - nice and crispy though not bursting with flavour, the patatas bravas were indisputably lacklustre, the albondigas were much as one would expect them to be but the crispy squid was awful - true the coating was pleasingly crispy but the squid inside was vile, decidedly miscooked in a way which truly gave it an unchewable rubber band texture. Oh dear! This was not the standard one expects from a Michelin recommended restaurant. *What is going on at these Purnell restaurants?

   The squid was the single most unpleasant piece of food I have put in my mouth in a restaurant since a trip to China in, if I remember rightly, 1993 when I wrestled with a ghastly, grey piece of sea cucumber which had been served as a delicacy. The stuff that nightmares are made on. I pointed out the extreme chewiness of the squid to the waiter and no charge was quite rightly made for the dish and there the matter should end except that one is bound to wonder how the Michelin grade kitchen could let such a horror escape from it.

  The squid had rather knocked me back and I did not feel I could risk a dessert. Glynn Purnell needs to get a grip on this. Hopefully it’s a one off.

Rating - 🌛🌛.

  More bad news. The friend .with whom I dined on the first of my reported visit to Plates usually joins me for a ‘3 and half ounces of pleasure’ at The Alchemist prior to our sauntering off to some worthy dining establishment for our regular lunch. He was not with me on my second visit but having 45 minutes to pass prior to my reservation time it seemed like a very good idea to pop into the Alchemist and renew my acquaintance with that very soothing cocktail. Alas! I was informed that 3 and half oz was no longer being made. An instant state of crestfallenness set in. But it was suggested I substitute the Pleasure with a June Bug, the ingredients of which included gin and banana and coconut. This was good - who can resist gin with some of the ingredients of a Planter’s punch? But the embracing rum of the Pleasure would have been a nice soother on a grim, cool English mid-autumn afternoon. Perhaps June is the best month for glugging a June Bug unless you’re in Jamaica where, I guess, the weather makes any time fine. 

  We like to close with good news. A near neighbour location of Plates, the now closed Urban Coffee where Ben Tesh staged pop ups in 2016 prior to opening Folium has posters in the windows which indicate that Tiger Bites Pig will be moving in - just what the restaurant needs -a lot more space.