I had so very much enjoyed my lunch at Blacklock (see Blog 536) that I just had to return the following week and hopefully to enjoy the atmosphere and once more to marvel at the excellence of the dishes. If anything the place was even livelier than before and absolutely full to the rafters with diners lunching on their toothsome chops and steaks.
Instead of choosing a starter, I opted for the canapés which seemed a little overpriced at £2 each but then again everything is really now so expensive everywhere you go that it’s getting hard to judge what is a good price and what is a rip-off. The canapés were alright if a little underwhelming - I had one of each - ‘Blacklock potted meats and kimchi’, ‘egg and anchovy’ and ‘cheese and pickle’ - never have I eaten £6 worth of food so rapidly.
For my main, I chose pork loin chop again, price £8 - the previous week’s had been too delicious not to want to have a repeat performance - and also again the immaculate chips costing £5 and worth every penny. I was neither disappointed with the food nor bankrupted by the subsequent bill which is always a pleasure to savour as one leaves the restaurant, nicely replete. The dish had been served also with an excellent, fresh and tasty broccoli and walnut salad which I had not ordered and was not included in the bill. If one must eat broccoli then this is undoubted the best way to do so.
For dessert, I had the unrivalled, somewhat deconstructed cheesecake with fruit compote and I derived as much pleasure from it as I had the previous week.
A couple of weeks later I returned to Blacklock once more, this time on a Thursday lunchtime, and accompanied by a friend. As our mains, we both chose the steak and stout pie which had good pastry and generous meat content. I can not say that it surpassed the pork chop in any way but it was pleasant enough. Described on the menu as being, “swiftly served to be lunchbreak friendly”, the pie seemed to take an inordinately long time to materialise from the kitchen and one would have needed an extended lunchbreak to eat without rushing it. An interesting point about our visit to the restaurant on this occasion was that, compared with my previous visit, the restaurant was much less filled with punters though whether or not tgat was significant remains to be seen.
Still, I like the chophouse but worry that classic fine dining in Birmingham is gradually fading away - its era ended, a fin de siècle, you might say. Everything is all rustic now and à la carte. Prices and costs are very high and tasting menus are far less fashionable. The incompetent Labour government has not the ability - nor the inclination - to save the industry. The second half of 2026 may be a difficult time for the restaurant business, worse than anything that has yet come to pass.
Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛🌛.
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