- 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
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.More from your Guide below
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 ArfinThe 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
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
©Ferne ArfinAfter 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.
