Food Review: Italian restaurant was a pleasing find in the centre of Birmingham

A Brummie born and bred, and educated in Aston, since moving to Staffordshire, the amount of times I have visited the centre of Birmingham has slowly diminished.

Too old for full-on night outs now, a trip to the centre of town has become something I do for ‘an occasion’ rather than a regular shopping trip or to meet mates for a casual beer.

I visited a few times during the Commonwealth Games and loved the vibe around the place and I’ve headed back for couple of theatre trips to The Hippodrome since.

But I’ve not spent a lot of time there in recent years and I’d love to re-establish a relationship with my home city.

The lure of trying out a few more restaurants is one draw. With an Italian food-obsessed 12-year-old in tow, my partner Amy and I went in search of somewhere to eat during a recent trip.

New Street, of course, has your staple restaurants – an Ask Italian and Bella Italia. As we contemplated which one we were going to head to on this particular occasion, we happened to stumble on La Galleria, just off New Street, in Ethel Street.

Rather than head to a chain restaurant, we decided to try La Galleria. It seemed to have a nice atmosphere outside, with a few people sat at tables, enjoying a cold beer and relaxing.

Staff inside were warm and welcoming and remained so throughout our meal, adding to the relaxed setting and classy ambience. The surroundings were bright, with just the right splash of colour on walls to provide a Mediterranean feel and various impressive looking mirrors and art adorned the walls.

The menu was extensive and although, on this occasion, we opted against trying a starter, there were plenty of choices to attract those wanting three courses.

I was tempted by the Frittura Mista – whitebait, king prawns and squid deep-fried, served with your choice of garlic mayo or tartare sauce.

Gamberoni Piccanti was another enticing starter – king prawns, pan-fried in white wine with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and a touch of chilli, served on a bed of rice.

I also liked the sound of avocado e granchio – avocado pear with crab meat drizzled with lemon and lime dressing and, away from fish, the antipasto all’ Italiana offered mixed Italian cured meat (parma ham, salami Napoli, Milano, mortadella, pancetta, bresadla, mozzarella) served with artichoke and sundried tomatoes.

As appetising as it all sounded, we were keen to head straight to the main courses.

My daughter, Eleanor, naturally chose her favourite dish, Spaghetti Bolognese, which she declared a triumph, hinting I must try to do better with my own attempts at the dish at home.

My dining partner, Amy, wanted to try the Penette al Salmone. This could easily become a family favourite at home – if only we could cook it as well as the chefs here.

It was a flawlessly cooked penne pasta which was tossed in an appetising white cream sauce, with added flakes of smoked salmon that would leave you salivating. It’s ideal for a summer’s evening and feels elevated from a day-to-day pasta dish.

This pasta has the perfect amount of flavour, which comes from the creamy white sauce filled with garlic, and the brandy (although this is cooked off so there’s no getting tipsy).

The smoked flavour of the salmon blends with the flavours flawlessly and is enhanced seamlessly by the herbs.

Sometimes eating a whole dish like this can get a bit samey, but every bite was as good as the first bite. If there was one criticism from my fish-loving partner, it would be that there could be a little more salmon.

But this is only a minor point when served up with such a pleasurable meal.

I was in the mood for a pizza but was keen to try something a little different to my usual choices.

La Galleria has 24 choices in total – with something for everyone. You can, of course, choose the likes of a Margherita or Hawaii or choose, say, a Caprino, with goats cheese, cherry tomatoes and rocket salad.

I opted for the Capricciosa which was a pizza topped with tomato, mozzarella, ham, hard boiled eggs, mushrooms and artichokes.

I’d not had this dish before but when it arrived, I found it quite aromatic and really enjoyed the range of tastes and textures, with the egg, ham – my favourite part – and mushroom almost giving the feeling of eating a cooked breakfast on a pizza.

The artichokes were a delectable treat too – there was nothing which put me off.

And the core ingredients were served on a great base. If I was being picky, I would have liked the yolks of my eggs to be a little more golden but that’s a personal choice and wouldn’t dissuade me from having this again.

For dessert, there was also an impressive array of choices. La Galleria can’t be faulted on providing options.

I liked the sound of Cannolo Siciliano – a small, rolled crispy pancake filled with a layer of chocolate and a rich ricotta cream, served with pistachio ice cream.

In the end, I plumped for Tartufo al Limoncello – described as a lemon ice cream with a runny lemon centre and coated with crushed meringue.

I loved the sharpness of the ice cream, alongside the sweetness of the meringue and cream. It was a real crowd-pleaser.

The lemon centre – though not runny in this case – was still a welcome discovery at the midpoint. This dessert was something of a ‘star turn’ for me and outshone my usual choice of, for example, a cheesecake.

There was a selection of ice creams for Eleanor, while my partner Amy opted for the Souffle black and white, which consists of a dark chocolate souffle with the added surprise of a soft white chocolate centre. This is served with a tasty and flavoursome Italian vanilla ice cream.

Souffles are something that many people say is difficult to get right, but this one was definitely done right.

It was light and airy. It also, fortunately, avoided the opposite problem where the top catches slightly and you’re left with a darkened top.

The rise was great, although the heaviness of the chocolate meant it wasn’t as puffy as some souffles.

The surprise element of the white chocolate centre was fun and the sauce itself was delightful.

White chocolate can sometimes be a little sickly-sweet, but this one was spot on.

The same could be said of La Galleria – a pleasing find in an area with lots of restaurants to choose from.