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Thursday, September 11, 2014

Pub du vin, Birmingham - best French onion soup

We had tried the Hotel du Vin in York and loved their extensive choice of wines, so we booked a dinner at their restaurant in Birmingham. The hotel was fully booked for two midweek nights, but we managed to find a bargain hotel (see my other post) and splurged on a fine dinner.

Wine: I like sweet wine so my choice was tokay. Tokay is from Hungary.

Starters: I opted for French onion soup.  Lovely tasty crispy cheese top. Plenty of onion underneath. Served in a proper French bowl.

My companion had shellfish. The half lemon was wrapped in muslin to stop pips being squeezed into your food. The muslin was tied with green ribbon.

My main course was chicken. Solid pieces of chicken.

Creamed potatoes as a side order cost extra.

My dessert was baked cheesecake. No as crumbly as the New York style cheese cake in the coffee shops in Singapore. But good enough. (I hate those half defrosted mousse cheesecakes which don't taste of cheese nor crumble like cake but look like a piece of blancmange boasting about its ancestors.) I like baked cheese cake.

Baked cheese cake has a huge number of calories. So does any sugary sweet/dessert. But partner in diet or calorie crime did offer to taste my cheesecake.  But he added to the variety whilst adding to the calories by ordering a rhubarb trifle.

I used to like Cafe Rouge, still do. If you think your local Cafe Rouge is three star then this place is four star. If you think Cafe Rouge is even better, four star, then this place is five.

What's not to like? Music was loud but they turned it down.  The tables were round, varying in size from little tables for two to a massive table seating eight, maybe more, but their dining chairs are wide. The table wobbled - due to the real wood floor, but the slice of cork bottle top sorted that out when I replaced it under the table leg.

Service: Smiling but slow. (They said one of their staff was off sick.)

Coffee was not exciting, no magic extra touch. Portions were plentiful. We must remember to take a mini-fridge in the car for leftovers if we ever go back.

I must make a note to go back. Why? For food which tasted really wow factor.

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