When the Grand Hotel reopened in May 2021 after years of abandonment, near-demolition and ultimately entire refurbishment, the management opted not to open a fine dining restaurant within its walls - there were enough fine dining restaurants - it was said - within easy walk of the hotel but instead to open something with more popular appeal - NewYork-type grand diner which served burgers, hot dogs and at first, at least, dishes such as lobster Newburg. This restaurant they named Isaac’s after Isaac Horton, who founded the Grand. It was stylish but the food was not as good as the price charged might have suggested it should be.
A new Executive Chef, Andrei, was appointed in August 2024 and the approach to the menu has slightly altered and the serving of a Sunday lunch is now being offered for the first time. My new dog and I were staying at The Grand on Sunday night and this seemed like an ideal opportunity to avail myself of the roast beef on offer. The price is not cheap and not far off that of The Oyster Club’s superb Chateaubriand and so it seemed reasonable to expect food approaching that standard
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New Executive Chef appointed August 2024. |
I dined, accompanied by New Lucy the Labrador, quite late in service and while Isaac’s was as smart as ever, there were very few diners still in the restaurant.
I was greeted and served pleasantly and professionally and after ordering a well made cocktail I chose a starter of pea, mint and courgette soup from the longish menu. It would have been nice to have a cold soup on a hot summer’s day and pea and mint may have leant themselves very nicely to such a dish but this was a warm soup and actually quite good with the mint bringing a lively freshness to it. There were chunks of feta in it which were far too salty to be pleasurable until they had completely melted but the lemon oil lifted the overall dish. The dish came with an edible crusty mini-baguette which was not unwelcome though it was served with two packs of butter spread which, when I opened them, I discovered to have completely melted served as they were up against the hot soup dish and rendered completely liquid which caused me to splash the fluid on my clothes which was not good.
For my main, I chose the roast sirloin served with a Yorkshire pudding filled with slow cooked braised beef, tenderstem broccoli, carrot, roast potatoes and red wine gravy. The beef was well done to which I did not object though I imagine there would have been some who would have preferred it to be rarer. It was certainly nicely tender and generously portioned and by itself was quite enjoyable. I had bought the stuffed Yorkshire pudding a couple of days before at the Isaac’s stand at the Colmore District Food Fair in Victoria Square and while appreciating how well cooked was the beef I had found that it rendered the pudding soggy and while that might have been reasonably satisfactory as street food I would have preferred to enjoy my Sunday Yorkshire pudding in the raw so to speak and to enjoy the texture of it. The accompanying vegetables were all, in contrast to the beef, somewhat undercooked and this main course failed to rise above the standard of a fairly run of the mill pub lunch.
I felt rather enthusiastic about trying the cherry opera cake as my dessert. It was rather nice - the sponge was light and moist and cherry flavour came through nicely. The griottine cherries helped to make the cake look pretty and added a different texture. The cake was accompanied by a very tasty cherry sorbet and some ubiquitous crumb.
This had been an edible meal which would have been more acceptable at half the price though as it happened that’s precisely what I paid as I had been given a 50% discount voucher for Sunday lunch at the Isaac’s stall at the Colmore Food Festival. I might have felt more resentful if I had paid full price.
I fear The Grand has not yet found the standard of food hospitality one might expect when staying there. But Lucy enjoyed being able to join me in the bar to watch me eat (she is presently strictly on her own puppy food though I did melt and slip her a little bit of beef) and sitting there in Isaac’s from time to time is a pleasure in itself.
Rating:- 🌛🌛.
6 July 2025.
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