Sunday Lunch With Beef Wellington At Harborne Kitchen

Former Head Chef Tom Wells.

Head Chef Patrick White.

 

  The thought of a beef Wellington Sunday lunch at Harborne Kitchen was irresistible and so I indeed did not resist and went on unhesitatingly to reserve my table there. Since I last dined there, former sous chef, Patrick White, had replaced Tom Wells as Head Chef, the latter having gone on to be Executive Chef at Hogarth’s Hotel in Dorridge. The restaurant has been redecorated in a cooling, sophisticated, soothing grey with restrained boxes of healthy-looking green plants trailing from high up and positioned under them colourful and perfectly apt tiles. Music was perhaps mildly intrusive but Harborne-cool as REM and Michael Stipe slithered out across the ether. The Harborne Kitchen is aptly named as comfortably off Harbornites chatter away, imbibe and in the back of their mind shiver at the nagging fear of what Rachel Reeves will come up with next.

  A thrillingly warming Old Fashioned taste-alike cocktail made with Bourbon and called Honey and Wine proved to be a secret pleasure until it was whipped away unfinished and mourned. Sunday service does seem rather brisk. Regardless, there was a lovely amuse gueule to start, an inoffensively small portion of Hereford beef tartare sitting on a satisfactory chunk of beef fat potato terrine with a tiny hint of confit egg yolk and the pleasing acidic hit of pickled walnut.

  The starter was a pleasingly cooked Orkney scallop serving interestingly with Jerusalem artichoke, julienne of refreshing, tangy fresh apple and a buttermilk sauce. This was accompanied by an enjoyable slice of sourdough and whipped homemade butter both of which were very good.

  Then the Beef Wellington. This is why I had come to this particular Sunday lunchtime.

  The Wellington was very good and the beef excellent - in fact - I would say that it was absolutely perfectly cooked and the tenderness spot on - very good beef indeed.The surrounding duxelle was tasty and did its job and the pastry was pleasing  The accompanying horseradish sauce was too subtle in its heat but the beef fat roasted potatoes were particularly good and acceptably crispy with well cooked interiors. The roast parsnips were nice and sweet in a parsnip sort of way and the glazed turnip was well cooked but contributed very little. The creamed spinach was as interesting as spinach can aspire to be. 

  Then the great pleasure of a tarte tatin which in this case was made more interesting by using quince rather than apple or pear or even pineapple which has been unsatisfactory when I have been served it in the past. Then quince had an excellent texture and was tasty but less so than apple usually is. There was also a rapidly melting, somewhat unconvincing vanilla ice cream but it’s hard not to enjoy a well made tarte tatin as this dish was. Finally a familiar mignardise, a pair of lips, which is always welcome.

  I wound down after this fine Sunday lunch with another Honey and wine cocktail. I would have been happier if the service, while fully meeting my needs and being appropriately friendly, had been a little calmer and I do wish that on taking one’s seat one is not immediately told that, effectively, one is welcome but only for the next two hours after which one will be expected to settle up and make way for another group of temporarily welcome guests. Yes, I know the economics of running a restaurant necessitate the turning of tables and I accept that but does the announcement of the temporariness of one’s possession of the table at which one has just sat down have to be made immediately on arriving?

  One other trick which might have been pleasing would have been if one of the uncut Wellingtons had been brought to the table to show off the artistry of the complete item. But everything was just too busy,it seemed, for that open.

Rating:- 🌞

30 November 2025.