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Restaurant Review - Simpsons in Edgbaston, Birmingham
Elegant, Original Food in a Romantic Setting

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Hand Dived Scallops at Simpsons in Birmingham

Hand dived scallop starter at Simpsons in Birmingham is dressed with a tracery of black pudding, parsley and garlic sauce and a dab of parsley root purée.

_{© Ferne Arfin}

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20 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3DU
Tel: +44 (0)121 454 3434
Website
Open: Monday - Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch only
Prices: Expensive, with a very big wine list that rises to the stratosphere - but there is a good value, prix fixe lunch.

Simpsons earned its first Michelin star in Kenilworth, a small Warwickshire town. After the move to the Birmingham area, it took almost no time at all for restauranteur Andreas Antona and his team, Chef de Cuisine Luke Tipping and Head Chef Adam Bennett to earn another one. This is special occasion dining worth a journey from anywhere in the Midlands.

In boskey Edgbaston

Simpsons spreads across several rooms of a substantial Victorian villa in a leafy suburb of Birmingham just a few miles from the city center. Diners can choose a cosy, intimate atmosphere, a light and airy room for seeing and being seen (with windows onto the bright and efficient kitchen), or a conservatory with garden views.

There's a terrace for warm weather dining and two gazebos for romantic private dining that overlook a beautifully maintained garden. A massive wall of rhododendrons that bloom in season is salted with the tiniest scattering of fairy lights at night.

The restaurant has four ensuite bedrooms for diners who want to enjoy their wine and stay overnight. The rooms, which are luxury priced ($$$), are themed - Oriental, Venetian, Colonial and the sweetly romantic French.

Relaxed yet special

The staff at Simpsons manages to pull off the trick of creating an atmosphere formal enough for the ambitious, serious cuisine without being stiff. The dining rooms have a quiet, yet festive buzz and service is impeccable - attentive, knowledgeable and friendly.

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Champers to start

Roast Gressingham Duck at Simpsons in Birmingham is accompanied by a "pastilla" - a tiny, filo wrapped pastry - filled with leg meat.

_{© Ferne Arfin}

Before entering the dining room, diners are offered a glass of chilled champagne while they study the menu in a brown and cream sitting room furnished with deep leather armchairs.

The restaurant tries out different champagnes and different vintages every week, with that week's bottles chilled in a punchbowl full of ice surrounded by champagne tulips.

The waiter takes your order in the sitting room and shows you to a table when your dinner is ready to be served.

Courses and between-course treats

Once ushered into the cool, white dining room, washed with subtle, creamy lighting, we were offered an assortment of tiny amuses bouches or hors d'oeuvres and a selection of interesting brown, white, flavored and seeded breads.

Our first course of hand-dived scallops were sweetly sea flavored and dressed with a tracery of sauces and a taste of parsnip purée. Before the second course of Gressingham Duck came to the table, tiny cups of delicate pumpkin soup appeared.

The duck itself was surrounded with tiny roasted carrots, carrot and ginger purée, a tiny square of gingerbread and a lightly liquorice flavored foam. An unusual touch were the two, triangle shaped pastillas - filo pastries filled with duck leg meat.

Leave room for dessert

A spoonful of banana ice cream melts in the center of a pecan nut soufflé at Simpsons in Birmingham

We ordered the dessert soufflé in advance. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare and is worth waiting for. Mine, a pecan soufflé served with banana ice cream, was as light as a meringue - like a whisper on the tongue. My only complaint was that my helpful waiter suggested I bury the banana ice cream inside the soufflé to melt. As a result, I did not really taste it and I think I would have preferred the contrast of the cold ice cream with the hot cloud of the soufflé.

After dessert (or pudding as they often call the sweet course in England), there was a selection of English and Continental cheeses. A tray of pretty handmade petits fours and a dish of hand made chocolate truffles accompanied coffee.

I'd read that portions at Simpsons were too small (one amateur critic reported that his wife had to fill up on the delicious breads). Nothing could be further from the truth. Although each dish is served in a modest portion, this is food to be savored slowly. Besides, the between course treats and extras more than justify the price and would satisfy all but the most greedy trencherman.

Read about Saturday cookery classes at Simpsons.

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