Cotteridge, located on either side of the Pershore Road and the next community on from Stirchley as one approaches the city’s southwestern edge, is becoming trendy. They say it’s becoming ‘gentrified’ by which they mean, “more expensive to live in with some artisan coffee shops and an eventual and inevitable artisan bakery outside of which residents will queue for half an hour for their daily bread which the Lord does not give them but sells to them at a hefty price”. Gentrification is not the correct term as the population transforms into a scruffy hipster middle class (which can’t afford the housing prices of Kings Heath or Moseley) and a large number of students but it’s a term these new residents like to use to give themselves a status they hardly deserve.
But as I say, Cotteridge is becoming trendy as Stirchley becomes overwhelmed by eating joints of various standards though all are generally judged to be rather good just because they are located in Stirchley, once named as Britain’s coolest suburb. As part of this trendiness in Cotteridge, restaurants and cafes, like Spring in the song, are bustin’ out all over. Once such recently opened eating establishment in blossoming Cotteridge serves Turkish food - Antalaya. Some friends, longterm Cotteridge residents, now living the good life in this new hipster paradise though themselves making no attempt to be cool or of the 2020s, invited me to join them there for a pre-Christmas get together and I was keen to go along and see what was on offer. And pretty good it was too.
Remarkably, in this day of general hospitality industry collapse, a complementary collection of dips and bread was served. The dips were good - tzatziki, a mild hummus and a mildly spicy tomato chutney which tingled just the right part of the back of the throat and the strips of flatbread were pleasingly light.
As there were four of us, we chose a starter of a platter of hot mezze for four - this was generously portioned and very moderately priced for the amount of food served. The nicely golden fried halloumi was very enjoyable as were the little felafel and the pleasingly textured garlic mushrooms which were perhaps somewhat restrained in the garlic flavour department. I also enjoyed the sucuk, a tasty Turkish beef sausage seasoned with garlic and cumin, and the well made sigara boregi, delightfully crispy Turkish cheese parcels made from filo which encased a happily molten cheesy interior. This had been a meal in itself and served very well by the charming, quietly spoken waitress whose polite attentiveness could teach a thing or two to the front of house staff at some of restaurants I have visited.
However I had also already ordered a main course - a remarkable plate of mixed kebabs. This again was a very generous plate of food and each type of kebab proved to be intensely enjoyable. There were deliciously flavoured, charcoal grilled chicken shish and lamb shish kebabs. The cooking of the meat was very accurate - the chicken moist and the lamb tender - and the lamb kofta kebab was also nicely cooked and had a pleasing salinity to it. The meats were served with a fresh salad and a bowl of rice (or if one preferred, cous cous). There was more than I could eat but the remaining meats were boxed up for me and enjoyed as cold nibbles the next day.
This was all very good. The food was actually delicious, the restaurant clean and modern with comfortable seating and the atmosphere lively but not boisterous. No alcohol is served in the restaurant and I presume the meat is halal. I hope the animals which provided the meat for our meal were stunned prior to their ritual slaughter but alas there is no way of knowing. This doubt makes me hesitate about returning to eat there again
Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛
19 December 2025.
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