Georgie Cotton (16 February 2011)

We ate there last week - great looking restaurant based in an old industrial drop forge. Decor is great, nice and simple but warm and funky and chintz without being pretentious. We were greeted by a jolly, friendly man who turned out to be the manager, and was keen to explain the menu to us, as we had some questions. We were seated in the main restaurant, which overlooks the bar. We were passed over to another waitress who was very friendly and attentive but not overbearing, she let us get on with it. We ordered a great bottle of Merlot off the concise, well put together list. After much thought, we ordered food. I had a cheddar and celery tart with pickled beetroot salad - great dish, very short pastry with a very tasty, just set filling - the beetroot salad worked really well with this and, I think, chicory salad leaves. My boyfriend said his mussels cooked in cider were fantastic and the bread to mop up the juices was good - possibly homemade.

For main course I had an 8 hour braised pork with celeriac mash, black pudding and cabbage. My dish of the year so far - the pork was crisp on the outside and just fell apart when I started to eat it, cabbage and mash were very tasty and the sauce just spot on. My boyfriend had a rump steak with homemade chips and confit tomatoes with cafe de Paris butter - it must have been good as he destroyed it! Next was desserts, I went for the iced peanut mousse with homemade chocolate sorbet. The mousse was very light and nutty served in a glass with some kind of praline on top and the chocolate sorbet worked a treat with it. My partner went for the cheese served on a wooden chopping board and looked a generous size. There were four cheeses with grapes and some chutney, the cheddar was from cheddar gorge and was, apparently very mature and zingy. So to recap - a great place to eat. The food was amazingly presented - very simple and unfussy but flavours were spot on, the chef really knows what he's doing. Starters from £4.50 - £6.50, mains £10 - £18 and desserts all £5.50, so not bad at all, the only criticism was we thought portions were small but that’s us being fussy.

Barbara Powell (20 January 2011)

Living in the Jewellery Quarter, my partner and I were impressed to see this new restaurant and bar open. It is on the site of an old forge and some of the original features have been incorporated within the refurbishment of this building. It is on three floors with private dining areas for a more intimate dining experience. The food is of a very high quality and reasonably priced. In A La Carte menu - starters are around £5 with main courses ranging from £10.50 - £18. They also do a bar menu where you can get sandwiches with chips and salad for around £6 - very substantial. The manager and staff are extremely friendly and helpful and we have been back with different friends a number of times. I highly recommend it.