Lifestyle: Restaurant Review – Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill, Birmingham

MARCO Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill arrived in Birmingham amid a torrent of publicity a couple of years ago.

This was partly because the city had attracted another of the big beast TV chefs to its dining scene (not that MPW spends a lot of time working at his Birmingham eatery, it is fair to say) but it was also because it – literally – topped off The Cube development at the Mailbox.

The problem was that while people raved about the panoramic views of Birmingham from the 25th floor restaurant or the adjacent champagne bar and roof terrace, they rarely raved about the food.

My instinct after dining here recently is that may be about to change.

I’d only eaten here previously at lunchtime events put on by the likes of the Birmingham Press Club and the mass catering aspect of such lunches makes it unfair to compare the offering with another restaurant where one has chosen off the menu.

But others had told me in the past that it didn’t compare favourably with its rivals in purely gastronomic terms.

However, I had been advised that the menu had been overhauled of late and was well worth checking out. And of course my dining companion and I are always happy to oblige.

We were seated at a fabulous corner table with panoramic – that word again – views over the People’s Capital. The cynic in me suspects the waiting staff were tipped off about our visit and provided us with one of the best seats in the house.

Not that we were complaining. Being sat right by the windows at MPW is a bit like floating in mid-air and – while it isn’t to be recommended for those with vertigo – provides for a fascinating dining experience.

But we weren’t to be distracted like so many others before us. We were here for the food.

After the ubiquitous – but still delicious – warm bread and olives we settled down to our starters (chosen from the a la carte menu) of finest quality smoked salmon (£10) and potted duck with piccalilli (£7.50).

The salmon was a beautifully concocted dish with individual strips laid together to make a pizza-sized whole. It was declared as beyond fault by my companion.

I was pleased I had chosen the duck, though, as the meaty chunks presented in a small glass airlock container (all the rage in restaurants these days) combined majestically with the chunky and vividly yellow home-made piccalilli.

Home-made piccalilli should be made available on the NHS in my opinion so there was a pretty good chance I was going to like this dish and I certainly did.

Sipping our superbly full and fruity wine choices – a Borsari Cabernet Sauvignon from Venice (£5.10 for a small glass) for her and a South American Bonavita Pinot Grigio (£7.85 for a large glass) for me, we gazed around the room and MPW is doing something right because the place was pretty full.

The clientele is a mixture of ladies who lunch, the odd footballer with WAG in tow and out of town or posh suburb types with a bit of time on their hands after a hard morning’s shopping, as far as I could tell. 

Our main course arrived and it is important to mention that MPW doesn’t do small portions and – I was pleased to see – doesn’t fiddle with its food for the sake of it.

This is hearty food, expertly cooked. My ribeye steak (£25.95)  came with tomato, onion rings and “real chips”. I added a truffle butter (£3.50) and some creamed spinach (£3.50). 

All I can say in my defence is that we are having the kitchen re-fitted at home and after living off microwave meals for a fortnight I (ahem) needed feeding up.

The steak was a succulent and impressive piece of meat, cooked perfectly to my medium rare requirements while the crispy and moreish onion rings made me change my mind about what has become a pub grub cliché.

But the real star was the chips which were some of the best I’ve had. Chunky and non-uniform pieces of potato that were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside made me think about Nigella’s recipe for roasters cooked in goose fat before I dragged my mind back to thinking about the celebrity chef in hand.

My fellow diner went all Francais on me and chose the roast rump of lamb a la Dijonnaise with potatoes dauphinoise (£18.95). The dauphinoise was served in a solid block and looked like an over-large crème caramel. They were described as a work of art and delicious – by my companion that is, not the menu.

But what she really raved about was the lamb with its fabulous Dijon crust.  I managed to sample a (very small) forkful and it was indeed out of the top drawer.

We had no room for desserts but the sherry trifle Wally Ladd intrigued me and I was pleased to note that the cheese on offer was mostly local and included Berkswell Ewes and Arden Oaked Smoked.

Just a final word on portion size. I left the restaurant in serious need of a lie down after eating half my body weight in food but I was amazed to see that there is an option on the menu to add half a lobster to your steak for another £14.50.

I would have suggested that this was only really suitable for Man v Food  type competitive eating challenges until I saw a middle-aged lady at the next table ordering that very combination of up-market surf ‘n’ turf!

The service during our lunch was impeccable as you might imagine and I should point out that although we chose from the a la carte menu there is a set two course lunch menu for £20 or three courses for £25.

All in all I was extremely impressed with my lunch – great ingredients, cooked expertly but without fuss and in – more than – decent portion sizes. It has to be said that I’m a convert.

From now on when I talk about MarcoPierre White’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill it will be the food I’ll be talking about rather than the view.