Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

A gestation of 30 years is a pretty lengthy time for anything to procreate, but it is the time taken for The Chameleon Restaurant and Bar in Victoria Square to go from dream to reality, now offering a European menu in the centre of Birmingham, Britain's second city.

Part of the vision was that people should be able to eat, drink and dance, all in one place, all at the same time if so wished. They do so beneath contemporary colour-changing chandeliers in a classic dining area with the chameleon theme, as seamlessly the venue itself involves the café, bar, restaurant and club, each with its own level of attention.

Gastronomic needs are seldom quite so easily contained so the menu is designed to pander to the needs of an ever changing clientele, from a well-crafted range of bar nibbles that might include mini Thai crab cakes, the bracing chorizo pie, on to elegant 3-course meals in The Green Room Restaurant at the hands of the head chef Matt Wagstaff and his brigade.

But as ever, it's the weekend when the action reaches a peak, with live music evenings on Friday, followed on Saturday nights by the resident DJs as the giant custom-made glitterball, spectacular lights shows, dancers, percussionists and stilt-walkers strut their stuff to the insistent beat.

The à la carte menu is a creation for all occasions; be they celebration, extended lunch, pre theatre supper or the very special dinner for two, you will not be short of choices to make. The Chameleon Platter make a wonderful ice breaker - if one is needed - or centrepoint for the introductions before moving to an Asian squash salad with crispy Szechuan beef, pak choi and toasted sesame, or Thai crab cakes with lime sweet chilli and bean sprout salad.

The celebrated oyster bars of old are thin on the ground now but the next best thing is a display of crustacea such as that at The Chameleon, with double A grade rock oysters, Coquille Saint Jacques - baked half shell scallops - and Lobster tortelloni with wilted sorrel and Pernod veloute.

Wagyu Kobe beef features amongst the grill choices, or there's the market fish of the day. The half grilled chicken in Jamaican jerk vies with Moroccan spiced chicken tagine and a Wagyu Kobe beef burger. Just imagine - a burger made with some of the best beef in the world. How far we've come. Witness an Asian spice halibut baked in a banana leaf and served with green curry rice, and an exciting blend of flavours that amazingly complement each other combines open ravioli of wild mushroom and tarragon with mascarpone and white truffle oil. The pace is maintained by caramelised pineapple tart tatin with grey goose vodka granita.

There is no doubt whatsoever that even though it only opened in mid 2010 The Chameleon is setting a pace that will compete and encourage, making Birmingham an even better place and maintain that title I used at the start - Britain's Second City.

For further details do check on The Chameleon Website as this great centre for entertainment gets into its stride.

When one of the country's most respected and leading critics says that this restaurant is 'the best Italian Restaurant outside London' it is time to take them seriously. Britain's love affair with Italian food is a cause célèbre of long standing and shows no signs of waning, so it is always welcome news when somewhere like San Carlo sets out to reach for the skies.

Located in the heart of Birmingham, San Carlo is well suited to catch both day and night time business, and the menu reflects this. There are a wide range of dishes, plus blackboard specials, offering snacks, meals, celebrations, all in true Italian style, dishes that bring Italy into the very centre of life in Birmingham. San Carlo is the father of a chain of similar restaurants, yet each one has its own personality.

If you are one for rubbing shoulders with the various grades of celebrities, San Carlo could be a real winner before you even start looking at the menu, with football players, newsreaders, soap stars and high society movers and shakers all competing for poll positions.

Favourite dishes include sliced prime Scottish fillet of beef with a light dressing of capers, anchovies, garlic and extra virgin olive oil, and that old favourite of connoisseurs the world over, pan fried breast of chicken with white wine, mushrooms and cream sauce, garnished with asparagus. Many of the ingredients to create these dishes are imported from Italy, and it goes without saying that the wine list is unashamedly and spectacularly of the same origin.

A combination of Italian cuisine and fish has always seemed logical - all that coastline - as well as highly attractive to the British taste. The antipasti at San Carlo includes a mixture of squid, prawns and mussels, deep-fried whitebait, and scallops in white wine and garlic. Amongst the main courses expect to find on the blackboard Dover sole, grilled whole sea bass, a mixed grill of fish, special pasta with lobster, brandy, tomato, cream and peas, or giant prawn and scallops in garlic and chilli.

It is customary to look for Italian wines in such places, nor will you be disappointed, but there are a few French inclusions also, with a rather nice Chablis in evidence. House wines, and few off the list, are available by the glass. Service is a good example of that Italian 'just make yourself at home we'll look after everything' manner, when you generally surprise yourself by taking their advice. In Britain we just say 'no problem', which may be succinct, but lacks style.

The restaurant has had a major refurbishment, with the aim of providing more covers in the lower level restaurant, giving a capacity for over 200 guests. Groups are welcome at San Carlo, but to preserve the balance between groups, a limit of up to nine people applies on Friday and Saturday, and twenty to thirty on weekdays. Booking will always make for security but in general the new arrangements mean there is room for everybody.

Ultimately a restaurant is judged by two main factors, each dependent upon the other. Combine quality food with life's movers and shakers in attractive surroundings and you have a sure fire record for the sweet buzz of success that permeates San Carlo.

The San Carlo group have an excellent Website - you are only a click away from more details and updates on their site.

We hear a great deal about recycling these days - du Vin recycles attractive but occasionally un-loved buildings to restore real gems in the best tradition of British understated style.

Complement that with all that is best in the French bistro ethos, bars that reach out to please, and you have a setting that provides an inspirational background for people to meet, do business, get married, provide a base for golf or fishing, somewhere you can call your own for a private celebration, a spa or - most engagingly - a wine school that breaks the mould.

In Birmingham du Vin has taken on the former Birmingham Eye Hospital, a handsome building in the best style of Victorian public buildings, strategically placed in the newly revitalised Jewellery Quarter, but close enough to the city centre to make a liver-livening stroll in the morning a real pleasure.

Equipped with a spa and gym, the hotel has 66 bedrooms and boutique sites round a central courtyard that is blessed with many of the building's striking original features, including the grand sweeping staircase and granite pillars. Every room has handsprung mattresses, fine Egyptian linen, deep baths, power showers and high speed wireless internet access.

In the classy bistro a choice of six starters could include lamb's kidneys and wild mushrooms on toast with mustard crème, Serrano ham and celeriac remoulade, or Uig Lodge smoked salmon and traditional garnish. Tournedos Rossini remains one of the great dishes of all time, served with garlic roast potatoes and red wine jus. Poached smoked haddock is served with bacon and pea risotto, crispy leeks and chive veloute.

Whilst one might argue that the whole point of being in a du Vin is to snuggle up to the wine list, this list is designed to march with the food and can only be described as superb. With a team of four sommeliers, headed here by François Bourde, there is no room for anything but the best. Service is telepathic in the best possible sense.

Click on their Website for full information and rates. Hotel du Vin, with fourteen options throughout Britain, awaits your call.

The leafy glades of Edgbaston have long been crying out for a place like The White Swan. A prosperous area full of people who know what they like and have a keen eye for value, The Swan offers exactly what they appreciate. The fact that it is part of a modest group that has already earned an excellent track record also bolsters confidence for the future.

The Swan's interior, has been transformed and contemporary design has worked its magic, with a generous dose of natural materials that provides a restful and friendly backdrop. Whilst clearly the restaurant rules, there is no lack of space and setting for those who want to do what pubs used to do - exclusively - and have a drink or two.

The restaurant itself is full of light wood, with a level of elegance that compliments but does not overpower or distract. A menu based on the experience gained though the other houses within the group offers simplicity and draws heavily on the welcome - to most people if they were honest - concept of comfort food.

The White Swan is a place for jolly groups, maybe out to relax after a day working in the same environment, so what better to set the right note of fashionable sociability than sharing plates, antipasti of cured meats, dolcelatte, roasted vegetables, parmesan, rocket, stuffed peppers, green chillies and baked flat bread, or Greek mezze of taramasalata with red pepper humus, tzatziki, feta and flatbreads.

Amongst the starters, expect to find freshly made soup, sake cured salmon with wasabi crème fraîche and pickled ginger, or fennel with chilli crusted squid, pineapple and coriander salsa. Look, too, for scallops of the day. The salads - sorry, that should read 'leaves' - offer pang pang chicken, Asian greens, satay, cashew nuts and cucumber, and for the seafood enthusiasts some prawn, avocado, spinach, watercress, crispy bacon and garlic dressing receive a rapturous welcome.

These days no self-respecting gastropub can afford to be without its pizza range; expect to find a classic margherita of tomato, mozzarella, oregano and basil, another with roasted vegetables, goats' cheese, tomatoes and rocket or the delicious Siciliana with Serrano ham, roast artichoke, olives and mozzarella.

The grill and rotisserie dishes for hearty eaters are well worth trying and choices include spit chicken with cacciatora sauce and frites, and rib-eye steak with rocket, fresh horseradish sauce and crispy onions. For the big event there is calves' liver with sweet potato, beetroot gratin and watercress. Persian spiced lamb chops with tzatziki, tomato and red onion salad is popular, a sign of the times and improving taste in eating. Scottish salmon with Asian greens, chilli salsa and tempura sweet potato fritters as well veal paillard add further dimensions to a wide choice range.

Well presented supporting dishes include tomato, rocket and mozzarella, and cabbage, leeks and peas. Desserts are some of the best you'll encounter with apple and frangipane gallette and Cognac ice cream, and there is also a selection of local cheeses to set the buffs alight.

A good range of draught and bottled beers that embraces the continent, and a wine list that well complements the products from the brigade of chefs, combined with cheerful service all add up to make The White Swan a thoroughly good place to recommend to your friends - but not before you have confirmed that for yourself.

Their excellent Website will keep you up to date with menu changes and events. Please note that the E-Mail Contact is for enquiries only, not for bookings.

It is a welcome surprise to find a pub that has firmly grasped the gastro nettle in and around the Midlands, with pretty sensational results that include demonstrably freshly cooked food and a high zing factor, all sited in an imposing Tudor building of great character and true heritage. It also benefits from outside seating both in the front and the rear with delightfully tended gardens, seating up to a hundred and twenty, and dining 'al fresco' for sixty-four people.

Amongst the attractions are a 100-cover area for dining, an inviting drinking area, with staff who are friendly and professional. Equally people are drawn to the Barnt Green Inn by the interior which is stylish, very much open plan, and a return to such homely features as open log fires, stone-fired ovens, open kitchens and for that al fresco evening, some well landscaped decking.

The Inn is truly a place for all seasons, and the menu reflects this as it embraces not only the seasons but also the atmosphere within, ranging from cool chic in summer to the cosy warmth of a winter's day with the hatches well battened down.

To set the right note of fashionable sociability there are sharing plates, antipasti of cured meats, dolcelatte, roasted vegetables, parmesan, rocket, stuffed peppers, green chillies and baked flat bread, or Greek mezze of taramasalata with red pepper humus, tzatziki, feta and flatbreads.

Amongst the starters, expect to find freshly made soup, sake cured salmon with wasabi crème fraîche and pickled ginger, or fennel with chilli crusted squid, pineapple and coriander salsa. The salads offer pang pang chicken, Asian greens, satay, cashew nuts and cucumber, and for the seafood enthusiasts some prawn, avocado, spinach, watercress, crispy bacon and garlic dressing tends to please.

These days no self-respecting gastropub can afford to be without its pizza range; look for a classic margherita of tomato, mozzarella, oregano and basil, the rustica with roasted vegetables, goats' cheese, tomatoes and rocket, or a Siciliana with Serrano ham, roast artichoke, olives and mozzarella. Pastas include bucatini carbonara with smoked haddock, pancetta and cream or tagliatelle bolognaise with slow cooked beef, bacon and Chianti.

For the big event there are choices such as calves' liver with sweet potato, beetroot gratin and watercress or sea bass fillets with stuffed Romano peppers, caponata, pesto and baby new potatoes. The Persian spiced lamb chops with tzatziki, tomato and red onion salad is popular, a sign of the times and improving taste in eating. For hearty eaters there are good fillet and rib-eye steaks, and lemon sole with prawn and scallop butter, watercress and baby potatoes.

A wide range of supporting dishes include tomato, rocket and mozzarella, and cabbage, leeks and peas. Desserts are some of the best you'll encounter with apple and frangipane gallette and Cognac ice cream, and there is also a selection of local cheeses to set the buffs alight.

A well-travelled wine list and service that is cheerful and efficient completes the recipe for success. Check their Website for further information on this attractive eating out haven. Please note that the E-Mail Contact is for enquiries only, not for bookings.

There could be few better locations for Côte Brasserie in Birmingham than on the canal side in The Mailbox, at the centre of Birmingham's city renaissance where commerce and culture blend with grace and the addition of a frisson of French cuisine sits well. Open all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Côte brings an informal and friendly ambience to matters of eating and drinking, and it came as no surprise when it won the Good Food Guide award for 'Best Value Restaurant in the UK for 2009'.

Since then trends towards simple bistro cooking have gathered pace and Côte has become even more relevant to the times. When you work in a modern city life never seems to stop and the matter of breakfast assumes an identity more in keeping with its original intention. So the menu here explores a good range of the more exciting aspects of breakfast, starting with a touching alliance of the full English breakfast that we know so well, or the French crêpe complète where a warm crêpe enfolds two free range eggs, bacon and shaved Gruyère cheese. And the free WiFi is there if there's some urgent cage-rattling to be done before you hit the office.

With the day well started thoughts can turn to matters of lunch, dinner even, or a little light supper before an evening's entertainment at the theatre or something rather more rigorous at one of Birmingham's many clubs. There may just be a decision in principle, leaving the selection from Côte's generous menu until the event when, over a glass of Kir Royale one can indulge in some reblochon cheese and thyme, or anchovies and olives with parsley.

But before this some midday sustenance may be in order and their plats rapides offer minimal dallying linked with maximum recharging of the batteries. Steak frites, poulet grillé or moules frites all make for robust enjoyment at great value. If the weather's behaving well, a seat outside on the terrace against the background of a living wall has strong appeal.

Perhaps there is more time for lunch thanks to that early start, or a client to impress in which case a choice from amongst a dozen or so starters could yield Scottish smoked salmon with dill and shallots, a tasty prawn gratinée, or a plate of one of those wonderful soups the French produce so well. Light main courses offer a risotto vert that embraces grilled asparagus, broad beans, spring onions, courgette, green beans, baby spinach, pesto and rocket, or a classic tuna Niçoise served medium rare.

Moving on through a dazzling array of dishes that both tempt and restore guests will encounter steak haché, with a fried egg of course, roast duck breast or a seafood linguine, at which point it will have dawned that Côte are strong on the fruits of the sea. However, no self respecting Gallic inspired menu would be without its poulet Breton, a corn fed chicken from rural Brittany where that particular dish is akin to the holy grail.

And so to the steaks, wonderfully plump and juicy ones from Church Farm in the Peak District, that have been aged on the bone and are served chargrilled with frites and a choice of superb sauces that includes Normandy butter with Roquefort cheese.

A confident completely French wine list carries bins to remember, where the house wines are worthy and the ongoing list steadily more exciting as you progress. The Chateau Talbot St Julien is a fitting prize for those who might have a hard or successful day - or both.

Côte offers an excellent weekday lunch deal of two or three courses at prices that are hard to believe for a restaurant of this quality.

Côte Brasserie is one of those places where after a while you begin to wonder why you ever ate anywhere else. Even the notoriously difficult Michael Winner gave Côte a glowing review in The Sunday Times. For further information click on their no-nonsense Website which will keep you up to speed.

The Malmaison group of hotels has established throughout Britain a collection of centres of excellence where nothing but the best will do. As a concept alone this is exciting, but the reality is brilliant, so that at last there is a hotel group where uniformity of standards is of the same high calibre.

Malmaison Birmingham follows the well-established Malmaison trend in establishing their hotels in buildings of interesting styles and location, and is located in The Mail Box, once a Royal Mail sorting office, that has been transformed into a heaven on earth for big style retail therapists, nightlife hedonists and exhibitionists in a class of their own.

The bedrooms are all that one would expect from a hotel that has genuine regard for its guests and is concerned with every aspect of their wellbeing. Decorated in chocolate, ecru and cream colours, the rooms are large, calm and airy exuding a real sense of style.

Amidst elegant surroundings, with spotless gleaming glassware and shining cutlery, an essentially brasserie menu is offered, where lovers of seafood will be delighted to note at once that their particular needs are well heeded, starting with a delightful smoked ham hock, potato and shallot salad.

Head chef Brian Neath and his team offers excellent brasserie dishes, such as warm open faced Italian plum, tomato and anchovy tart and grilled swordfish that are a few popular choices. Other starters include Maldon hot smoked salmon with toasted sourdough and salad of goats' cheese with slow roasted golden beetroot and pickled walnut.

From the 'field to plate in no time flat' philosophy of the organic farmers of Hopwood, to the succulent pheasant and partridge of Willogame on the Welsh border, they have them all and more on their home-grown and local menu. Inspired choices that include beef cheeks bourguignon and pork chops are perfect for those seeking by this time a slightly more carnivorous approach. Which leads us neatly to the, wait for it, Mal burger, a 250 gram burger made from ground beef tucked into a floured bap to join bacon and gruyere, served with homemade relish and some fries.

Over the years the number of outriders surrounding a good honest steak on the plate has grown to unacceptable dimensions. At Malmaison the thought and care is centred on the 35 day aged rump steak frites and that's it - except for the chips. If you want all the rest go for the side dishes, but steak and chips on its own takes some beating. Vegetarians are well looked after - the pumpkin and gorgonzola filled gnocchi sounded appealing.

Heading the puddings is the sticky toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce, a triumph of timing and co-ordination, supported by other choices amongst which expect to find the baked Bramley apple with caramel sauce and a chocolate orange fondant. Their renowned cheese trolley has a selection of British and French farmhouse cheeses served with biscuits.

Their wine list is a symphony of its kind, clearly compiled by an enthusiast who knows his wines well enough not to disappear into a world of hyperbole when describing them.

Their Website is a wealth of information that will, I predict, only serve to increase your resolve to make Malmaison your next stop in Birmingham. It is worth noting that you can also make reservations Online on their Website.

With quality food, friendly staff, quick service and excellent value for money, Nando's is a great place to eat. Don't expect identikit, pre-fab restaurant interiors which are usually a staple of the larger chains; each restaurant is tailored to its local surroundings and customers, offering up a unique restaurant experience to go with the equally unique taste of legendary, Portuguese, Peri-Peri chicken.

Your peri-peri chicken, when the chips are down so to speak, is a fresh A grade chicken that has never seen the inside of a freezer, but having made the supreme sacrifice is butterfly-cut, marinated for 24 hours in a secret brew called - you've guessed - peri-peri, and is then cooked to your choice over an open flame.

There are, of course, many variations on this broad theme, numerous plays on words such as Nando's experi-perience, peri-peri good reasons why you should eat at a Nando's, and all one hopes is that for their sake chicken never goes out of fashion. New Nando's are opening all the time, peri-peri quickly in fact, the spicy bastes become hotter and more daring, and the full platter offers a whole chicken, large chips or spicy rice and Nando's salad or coleslaw.

Since chickens are vegetarian it seems logical you can order veggie or bean burgers and patties, and still feel the heat from the peppers. All in all, Nando's is hotly recommended for those occasions when you have a large following of permanently hungry children, or adults even, to keep happy - the only thing taken really seriously is the quality of those peri-peri good chickens.

Nando's is a place for bright people who love to laugh and love to eat, and is guaranteed to spice up your taste buds. Their fun approach to life means that when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without the airs and graces associated with more starchy dining out.

For the location of your nearest Nando's restaurant and a host of details about menus, parties and drinks, a click on their Website will reveal a Pandora's box of information.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.