The Brasserie, Malmaison Hotel, Birmingham
The most frequently asked question for new diners at the city's stylish but dimly lit Malmaison is not "May we see the menu please?" but surely "Has there been a power cut?"
The most frequently asked question for new diners at the city's stylish but dimly lit Malmaison is not "May we see the menu please?" but surely "Has there been a power cut?"
The walls and floor are black, the leather seats are brown while the lighting is, well, barely there, writes Marion Brennan.
First impressions are not helped by the dark, cavernous reception area which is lit, crisis-style, by plain white candles.
Mood creation is one thing but other issues are raised when, in order to properly see your food, you have to hold it under a spotlight about six inches to the left of your table.
When the food is good you want to see it, relish it with your eyes – and the food at this first-floor restaurant is good on the whole.
We had intended to choose from Malmaison's popular Home Grown And Local menu, launched two years ago, promoting dishes that use ingredients from within a 30-mile radius, at just £17.50 for three courses (£15.50 for two).
Instead we took advantage of a 50 per cent off January-only promotion on food (not drinks) from the a la carte menu.
The mix of French and British offerings includes crispy frogs' legs, butter-roasted cod, cassoulet and braised ox cheek.
We went for starters of squid pattie with chorizo – very tasty, if heavy on the garlic – and smoked ham hock and foie gras terrine, which was good but served too chilled to allow the flavours to come out.
Had it arrived at room temperature with some toast to spread it on, this terrine would have been close to perfection. The mains were melt-in-the-mouth delicious. A herb crusted three-bone rack of lamb, beautifully pink, was served with red wine jus, spinach and the best dauphinoise ever – just the right amount of cream and garlic with very thinly layered potato.
The comfit duck fell off the bone and was served with nicely contrasting pickled girolles, or mushrooms to you and me. The season for girolles, I found out later, runs from July to November, which may account for why there were so few on the plate.
The dessert experience was mixed. You expect the French to know their puddings but this was not the case with the apple and almond tart which was disappointingly bland, hardly lukearm and did not even hint at almond.
The banana and macadamia nut tatin, on the other hand, piled on the flavours and mixed up the textures – sticky, sweet, crispy, soft, nutty and syrupy. Both sweets were served with very good ice cream.
Had we paid full price, the food bill alone would have come to around £65 (including a cheeky £4.50 for bread). To take advantage of the offer, print off vouchers from the hotel website.
It's hard to sum up the Malmaison.
As a hotel restaurant it's a cut above most and clearly takes its food seriously but as a stand-alone restaurant it lacks some attention to detail.
Apart from the reservations about the food, our table was stained with heat rings and while the staff were genuinely friendly, they could not offer guidance on the dishes they were serving.
I will go there again but I'm not in any hurry, and next time I'll bring a torch.
ADDRESS
The Brasserie, Malmaison Hotel, The Mailbox, 1 Wharfside Street, Birmingham B1 1RD
Tel: 0121 246 5000
