Simpsons Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

We visited Simpsons on our wedding anniversary on a Tuesday evening (booked 3 weeks in advance, the polite gentleman on the phone said they were nearly fully booked already).

Arrived 20 minutes before we were due to dine at 19:40 (after driving round the restaurant 3 times to try and find a car park space). On arrival we were greeted by a pleasant gentleman who placed us at the bar area, which was a very nice place to be. After a 10 minute wait we were taken to our table which was located in the main part of the restaurant near the kitchen. As soon as we sat down we were advised that as it was our first time at the restaurant we should consider the tasting menu, so the tasting menu it was to be at £70pp (it didn’t take my wife and I long to be convinced by all those wonderful sounding dishes), we also went for the accompanying wine selection at an extra £45 pp, we thought this was quite reasonable as the cheapest bottle of wine on the menu was £30 (and believe me I looked through the book, yes book! If they haven’t got the wine you want in their book then it doesn’t exist!)

The food arrived 1 by 1, I’m including only a fraction of the courses in this review as there were so many. We had foie gras ravioli, seared tuna rolled in wild sesame, sweetbreads, the softest beef, perfectly seared scallops, goats cheese, two desserts, coffee and petit fours. Each of these courses was accompanied with various purees, compotes, & tempura. One of the highlights were shavings of very tasty goats cheese that lay around the plate, what turned out to be a foam of goats cheese on the middle was accompanied with beetroot crisps on top, this was then accompanied by a beetroot sorbet, which was unusual but it worked well (even though I’m not a huge fan of beetroot). My favourite was the seared scallops with pureed cauliflower, tempura cauliflower and a raw slither of fresh cauliflower, it was a cauliflower overdose that suited me perfectly!

When the waiter delivered the dishes he explained how each dish was made and what the ingredients represented in regards to our taste buds, plus.... the wine waiter also explained how each glass of wine we had (different glass for nearly every dish) was specifically chosen to that specific dish to make our taste buds go wild with flavour! and he was right, the flavours of the dishes combined with the wine was exquisite, and it was all presented beautifully! The staff were friendly, polite, and experts in their field without been pretentious, even the water waiter was efficient. The only down side of having all those various waiters in such a medium sized restaurant is that you’re never left on your own for more than 5 minutes (which is not a bad thing, it’s just a little annoying).

Everything was perfect, the Michelin stars are clearly visible here! And although not the cheapest establishment to dine in, it was worth the money! The decor was smart & classy and you never felt uncomfortable. Highly recommended for those special occasions or if you fancy a special treat!

The bill came to about £240 + 12 ½ %...

The food was superb, as you'd expect from a chef of this calibre. However that is where the 'wow' dining experience ended. I've not been before to Simpsons, but have eaten at other Michelin starred restaurants.

On arrival we were greeted by the wonderful concierge who we couldn't fault for professionalism. We were told our table was ready but we could have drinks in the lounge first if we'd like. The 'lounge' area, if you could really call it that was cold, sterile and reminded my wife an I, of sitting in an NHS dentist waiting room. Worn floors and scuffed skirting, totally lacking in any sort of atmosphere or 'theatre' befitting somewhere that I was about to spend upwards of £100 per head on dinner. Drinks were served and were delicious. We decided to be taken into the restaurant due to the unwelcoming atmosphere in the lounge area. I was expecting great things, but yet again was seriously disappointed. It took us some time to work out what it was about the dining area that jarred, and didn't work. The awful colour scheme, the lacklustre tables and clinical, although comfortable, chairs. And then we worked it out. It had the same feel and ambiance of the foyer area of the Core theatre in Solihull, the sort of place you would spend as little time as possible waiting for the intermission to be over. From the glaring, cold lighting in a 1990's style, the pine beams reminiscent of functional expansive opera house ceilings, the totally lack of heating! I have had the pleasure of dining in a huge variety and style of eateries, and this was by far one of the oddest places. To spend no small amount of money on a meal should be an experience, to delight all the senses, and the food element of this was exquisite, but that is unfortunately where the experience ended, having the feel and atmosphere of a school canteen rather than a Michelin Starred restaurant of some renown.

The waiting staff were attentive and professional from beginning to end. However could have been a little more 'polished' in the finer details. Spilling the wine down my wife's glass, splashing sauce on the table cloth. These may seem like minor grumbles, but were I wearing a very expensive suit, these would definitely...

We had the taster menu for 7 people and 4 of had the wine pairing. And we all had a drink before dinner. Each course was perfectly cooked and very tasty but every one was so incredibly small, and completely devoid of carbs, that we were all left hungry by the end of it.

First course was a small cup of naturtium and turnip soup which was very tasty but literally one, maybe one and half mouthfuls of soup and that was it.

Then there was "olive. Cod roe" (the menu literally gives 3 words per course so you don't really know much about what you're getting) but they brought out two small baskets of sliced bread and some kind brioche bread with butter which we thought might be to accompany the second course but that was it. It was very nice bread.

Next was melon and lobster which again was perfectly cooked and very tasty but also gone in maybe 2 or 3 spoonfuls

Then there was a beetroot salad which was the least impressive dish. it came with frozen grated horseradish and it was ok.

Then there was what was described as "duck 1..2..." Which was confusing but it turned out to be this little egg shell looking egg cup with some kind of rich duck paste with nuts on top. Very tasty but this time it was quite literally 2 teaspoons and then it's gone. It came with a little cup of duck broth which was nice.

The duck main was 2 slices of duck with a leaf of chard, a teaspoon of some kind of maybe swede mash? And a bit of gravy. Very nice.

Then was pre dessert which was a little pot of blueberry compote with some cheesecake mix and apple.

Dessert was probably the best part which was a chocolate bomb with shards of something, and a little scoop of vanilla ice cream with nuts.

You also get a little cube of nougat and a Madeline after dessert which were very good.

It came to over £1600 (including service fee and taxes which aren't included in the price you see on the website).

I can't really give less than 3 stars as the service was excellent, the food we had was perfectly cooked and the restaurant itself is immaculate but personally, I'd rather not spend that much on dinner and come away feeling like i need to eat something. It really. Is just a taster menu and shouldn't be a substitute for an...