Bank Birmingham

Situated where three canals meet at Brindleyplace, Bank is coolly elegant in appearance from the outside, with a thoroughly modern interior. On warm days, you can sit outside under a covered terrace and watch the boats and people meander by.

You enter into the bar area, and then sweep along an open corridor - almost with the feeling that you should be on a Heathrow Airport type of travelator - towards the restaurant. This is attractively decorated, simple in style, contemporary and chic, mainly in primary colours, with a huge mural of somebody jogging along a sea-front dominating one end. It is noticeably atmospheric, a touch quiet until business builds up and then it hums along.

The young and very trendy looking waiting staff have very obviously been extremely well trained, as the service is impeccable, unobtrusive and totally professional, whilst managing to be exceedingly pleasant, a difficult combination to achieve. The menu is a triumph of temptation. When I showed it to a friend afterwards, he commented that the choice was so enticing that it must have taken ages to decide - it did!

With starters as diverse as - salt cod fritters with lemon mayonnaise; chicken and shrimp nam rolls; crispy duck wonton, oriental salsa; lobster and tomato soup, rouille croutons or their wonderful signature dish of leek and haddock risotto, poached egg, cream mustard dressing - you can get the picture. Followed by fish options like roasted cod, wilted greens, red wine jus or char-grilled tuna, wok-fried greens, pineapple salsa, and for carnivores a choice of char -grilled breast of chicken, confit red onions, creamed polenta; Hereford rib eye, chips and béarnaise sauce or grilled calves liver and bacon, red onion confit.

But leave room for their wonderful puddings, which run from the traditional bread and butter pudding to the more modern vanilla crème brûlée and panacotta with fresh fruit salsa; all of this can be washed down by wines from an interesting carte. Bank is very popular, deservedly, and is a successful part of the now rejuvenated Birmingham eating out scene; it might be described as the modern equivalent of a French Brasserie.

Richard Bradford