Harborne Kitchen — Restaurant in Birmingham

What a find! Stunning first class food and service.... couldn't fault a single thing about it.

We booked the full 11 course tasting menu at the chefs table overlooking the kitchen and we enjoyed the experience being able to watch the chefs at work.

We had a welcome drink in the bar before we were escorted to our table. The bar man was knowledgeable and skilled, and has a wide range of drinks available to him to conjour up whatever you want. You can pop in for a drink here without booking a table too, well worth it if your looking for somewhere a bit quieter and more reserved than some of the other bars in Harbourne.

The dining started with the Matre-de introducing the menu and explaining each of the dishes to us, checking for any allergies etc..., and advising on the wine choices. You can have a full wine pairing to go with the tasting menu, classic wines, and fine wines... or, as we did, you can order by the glass. It was a lunch time booking and we were out with friends later that evening so a couple of glasses was perfect for us.

We started with 'snacks' which were 3 very small plates served in quick succession to get the taste buds going. A crab dish, followed by chicken and white chocolate (it does work), and smoked eel with beetroot which was surprisingly good (never had eel before).

The first main dish was potato and herring roe (you can replace with caviar for an extra cost per person). Crispy layered rectangular pieces of potato that you use to scoop up the herring roe which sits atop a delicious smooth creamy potato and onion.

This was followed by the surprise of the day for us, a dish of gnocchi, Ox, and a Mediera sauce. Upon viewing the menu this stood out as one of the dishes I was unsure about, but its one of the best on the menu, the flavour is intense and wonderful. It was served with a sourdough bread baked on site daily and a beef dripping butter. The Ox is tender, the gnocchi is the best I've had, and the sauce, bread and butter finish the dish perfectly. It's so good!

Two seafood dishes followed, a Prawn and Kholrabi Tartare which was good, and a Cornish Brill dish that was done in a Thai style and was cooked to perfection.

Next was what is classed as the main dish on the menu, a cumbrian lamb dish served in 2 parts, a lamb rump on char grilled broccoli with a pea puree and mint gel (I think), finished with a lamb reduction/sauce, and accompanied by 2 small lamb belly kebabs finished with wild garlic. As you get part way through they serve a small piece of 'lamb fat foccacia' bread for you to mop up all the juices. It was superb and the lamb belly kebabs are something else... if you love crispy lamb fat like I do you'll fall in love with these!

A cheese dish followed, an amaranth seed cracker with an English brie style cheese served with quince. It was lovely.

Desert started with a pre-desert of mandarin sorbet and bay leaf ice cream on an almond crumb. The bay leaf ice cream is so so good, you've got to try it!

The final dish was Harbourne Kitchens take on an Eton mess, a strawberry sorbet sat atop a hollow meringue that contains fresh strawberrys, cream, jam, tarragon crumb, all on a delicate biscuit. A fantastic end to a truly delightful meal and experience.

For a cost of £95 per person (not including wine) this represents a very good value fine dining experience. It's excellent quality food that doesn't go too far on the creative side, and it's not pretentious at all, it's a really relaxed and friendly atmosphere that all can enjoy.

I don't think it'll be very long before Harbourne Kitchen gets its first Michelin Star, it has the quality and service you'd expect.

We can't wait to go back again, everything about it...

A Birmingham culinary GEM! I’ve ate around at a few restaurants and HK competes with the best. Cuts out the pretentious s**t and offers brilliant down to earth service and food and drinks more than worthy of a Michelin star.

Giuseppe welcomed us at the door and we immediacy felt at ease, felt like I known the bloke my whole life at one point, a serious asset the the team!

He seated us at the Chefs table where we were able to watch the magic happen - the kitchen was clean and calm throughout a Friday night service and chefs even took their time to answer questions about the food we were served.

We started off with snacks to start. The first and my personal favourite was the aged cheddar gougere - essentially a savoury profiterole… Now the quite frankly disappointing thing about these is that you only get one! I could have quite easily chowed down on 20-50 of these with a beer in hand! But does the perfect job of tempting you on to your next dishes!

The stars of the main were the ox gnochetti and the filet of Cod..The sauce from the Ox gnochetti was made for gods to bathe in, genuinely mouth watering and nicely mopped up with a homemade sourdough.

The filet of cod cut like butter perfectly ready at room temperature, paired with a mushroom sauce that was subtle yet flavourful, just enough umami for you to wish it was Groundhog Day!

Finally the desserts were nothing short of astronomical… Krystal was in charge of this side of things, now I mention Krystal because I thinks she’s their golden ticket to a Michelin star. The cheese dish gave me a flash back to the time were I dined at Gordon Ramseys 3-Michelin star restaurant and they too served a cheese dish quite similar, however Krystal’s cheese dish was sooooo much better, which speaks volumes to the level they are here at HK.

She then personally served us an ice cream which was incredibly sweet and tangy yet refreshing.. a brilliant palate cleanser for the finale, which was a crème fraîche with Harborne’s own honey parfait! And a lavender oil… this for me is one of the most well balanced dishes on the menu, a showstopper and perfect way to end the meal and wonderful first time experience at HK.

It surely won’t be too long until they reach Michelin star, thanks to the guys for the wonderful experience and a special thanks to Krystal and Giuseppe who made our night extra special.

Ps I normally get more photos but I was side tracked by my...

My partner and I attended on a Saturday evening to celebrate her upcoming birthday. My partner is Gluten Free, and Harborne Kitchen went out of their way to accommodate that dietary requirement.

We were made to feel very welcome from the moment we stepped in. We were greeted by all the staff and even the chefs all said allow as we walked by the pass to our seat.

We both went for the tasting menu. And I had the wine pairing. The food was exceptional. Beautifully presented, and each plate was introduced to us by one of the chefs. There are one or two reviews on here complaining about portion size. I think the problem here is common with a taster menu. Especially the Malloreddus. That dish was so good. I wanted to get a big big bowl of it, change into my fat pants, sit on my sofa, and scoff the lot. We were both waddling out of the restaurant after, so there are no complaints from us about portion size.

My only criticism is the tomato course, which is literally a slice of tomato with a couple of onions chucked on. Served with a little bit of stock. I can't understand why it is on a taster menu at a fine dining restaurant.

The decor was nice. The atmosphere was very pleasant. Good vibes all round. And we appreciated the birthday wishes with a chocolate treat. Thank you, Harborne Kitchen. We will definitely be...