560. Folium.

 

   Ben Tesh’s Folium remains at the top of my list of my favourite Birmingham and West Midlands restaurants. It remains as comfortable as it ever was, Lucy Hanson remains as perfect in front of house as ever and Ben Tesh continues to serve very fine dishes, meticulously prepared from very fine, seasonal ingredients. For a Friday night dinner, I was pleased to find the restaurant busy and Ben busy in the kitchen working with an accompanying chef while Lucy had front of house support from young waiters who were able to give a good description of each dish brought out as part of the August tasting menu. Let’s waste no time - here there was the signature chicken liver parfait imported from Elysium and served in the familiar crispy, intensely onion flavoured tube; there there was a little crab and brown butter tart - the flavour of crab coming through nicely and injecting some pleasure into life and of course there was Ben Tesh’s magnificent sourdough loaf with his cultured butter, the bread crust so crispy, the interior so soft and fresh and tasty.

  And so to the main dishes - noodles made from Tesh’s signature biodynamic grains in a lovely broth full of umami derived from shitake mushrooms. Then came slow cooked St Ewe’s egg (which for me was the yolk only as I can not bear egg white) coupled with crispy summer brassicas which was exquisite in many ways. The St Ewe’s eggs originate from a Cornwall family business wbich works with farms in Devon, Wales and Northern Ireland and which produces eggs with intensely yellow yolks.

  Then the fish course which brought delightful smoked trout to the table, the richness of the fish balanced by preserved Isle Of Wight tomatoes. Next was beautifully cooked Staffordshire lamb, bringing the true gentle flavour of quality lamb meat and nicely paired with the familiar sweetened chicory which Ben Tesh likes to serve always successfully with these gorgeous meats. The dish was of course finished off with a fine, silky lamb sauce.

  All too soon, the savoury courses were giving way to the desserts - first a clever intermediate dish using beetroot and seasonal plums which was nice as plum crops have not been good this year and then a piece of light, pleasing flaky pastry with apple and the nutty and vanilla flavour of woodruff. Two enjoyable mignardises rounded off the meal and I and my dining companions departed happy with the thought that we had dined well on very fine food created by a very talented, hard working and accomplished chef. Let us hope that Ben and Lucy get their rewards in the pages of the Michelin Guide.

28 August 2026.

Rating:- 🌞🌞🌞

  For lunch, wishing to eat something tasty but light given that I was visiting Folium for dinner that evening, I took the short walk down Church Street from the Grand Hotel, where Lucy the Labrador and I were staying, to Tiger Bites Pig, and enjoyed a pleasingly moderately spicy roasted Suchuan lamb served on a soft, billowing bao, the meat happily accompanied by slices of pretty scarlet coloured chilli peppers, the whole cooled by soothing cucumber and enlivened by rich, nutty sesame. It’s always a pleasure to visit Tiger Bites Pig and be momentarily whisked away to Taiwan by TBP’s delicious food.

28 August 2026

Rating:- 🌛🌛🌛.

  During my dinner at Folium I was delighted to bump into Sonal Clare, formerly Maître d’hotel at Purnell’s and The Wilderness, who was there with his partner, Laura Kimber, formerly Head Chef at Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon (personally I thought the food served there was never better than when Laura was in charge of the kitchen). Sonal was kind enough to treat me and my companions to a lovely glass of wine and I was able to ask Laura about what she is doing now that Salt is closed. I was delighted to hear that Laura is to open at the beginning of November, her very own restaurant, The Lloyd, in the Shropshire town of Shifnal. I am sure it will be absolutely marvellous and I’m very much looking forward to dining there as autumn quickly marches into winter.