GETAWAYS
A BREAK IN
Birmingham
THE CITY WITH MORE CANALS THAN VENICE, MORE MICHELIN-STARRED RESTAURANTS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL, ONE OF THE BUSIEST SHOPPING AREAS IN THE COUNTRY, A THRIVING ARTS SCENE, AND OF COURSE THE UK HOME TO THE NATION’S FAVOURITE DISH, CURRY; BIRMINGHAM IS DEFINITELY A CITY THAT REQUIRES CLOSER INSPECTION. BY SAMANTHA G
Marco Pierre White's Steakhouse
Birmingham prides itself on being Britain’s youngest city. With a diverse population, it is truly a cultural and creative melting pot set in the heart of England. There are now a plethora of city centre boutique hotels, however easy connections to the city led us to our hotel of choice, the 4star family-owned Abbey Hotel Golf and Spa in Redditch. The Abbey Hotel offers 100 contemporary bedrooms in the tranquil setting of a 175-acre estate, well away from the hustle of bustle of city life. The Balcony Executive rooms offer stunning views over the championship 18 hole, 72 par, golf course and inspire you to pick up your clubs and head out for a round (or two). For those wanting more pampering the Spa has a well designed heated pool, sauna and steam rooms and a well-equipped gym as well as offering a good selection of treatments by quali?ed therapists. The Abbey’s Bramblings Restaurant offers a contemporary dining experience and a wellcrafted à la carte menu inspired by British and modern international cuisine, created by executive chef Neil Oates and his team. There is also a reasonably priced house menu from which my guest and I happily sampled the pressed ham hock and chicken terrine, and antipasti for our starters. For our main course we chose the panfried chicken breast with haricot bean, piquillo pepper and smoked paprika cassoulet, and the duo of English lamb with parsley mash, celeriac purée and rosemary jus. Both dishes were well executed, ?avoursome and rich without being overbearing; the lamb in particular was very succulent and tasty. No trip to this part of the country would be complete without a trip to a very special place, so after a hearty English breakfast we completed the short 15 minute drive to Bourneville, home
of course to the birthplace of my staple diet recommendations we began with the whole favourite: the world-renowned Cadbury chocolate! baked camembert with crusty bread and the Upon entering the fantastic Cadbury World crispy fried calamari. The cheese was glorious (www.cadburyworld.co.uk), you quite literally whilst the calamari had a delicately light batter become a kid in a candy store. It really is ‘Where and great tartare sauce. Chocolate comes to Life’. No trip to MPW would be complete without All around is the amazing smell of pure having steak. Our ?llet steaks were perfectly warm chocolate and every part of the factory cooked, delightfully juicy and well seasoned, and tour not only educates you as to the history and the beef dripping chips were divine. Feasting not development of this iconic brand and its products, only on our steaks and delicious Argentinean but delights and thrills your senses as you get Malbec and of course the views, we decided to see, hear, smell, touch and of course taste that we'd also attempt dessert and opted for the along the way! banana & toffee mess and Cambridge burnt Cadbury World offers visitors the chance cream, which was de?nitely a favourite! to see different aspects of the production process Dining at MPW was a fantastic thrill for the such as mixing, processing and packaging senses; the restaurant is all about experiences, including the amazing sight of the iconic purple the ethos of creating a lively atmosphere, foil wrapped bars of Dairy Milk rolling off of the comfortable surroundings and exquisite food, production line. which has clearly been achieved. Fuelled with chocolate energy (and a rather After dark, Birmingham offers an eclectic large bag of goodies from the gift shop), it was arts scene including the busiest and most popular obvious that our next stop had to be Birmingham theatre in the UK, The Birmingham Hippodrome; City Centre and the iconic Bullring Shopping delightful canal-side bars and eateries; and a Centre, home to a host of high street and designer thriving nightlife. Make sure you head to the stores. Also not to be missed is the jewellery midlands soon! quarter, an epicentre for British jewellery design which produces around 40% of the UK’s jewellery. Our last stop was to the canal side and speci?cally to the amazing Mailbox, home to Abbey Hotel Golf and Spa world-class hotels, designer fashion labels and Hither Green Lane exclusive bars and restaurants. Located on the Redditch, Worcestershire 25th ?oor of The Cube, you will ?nd the Macro B98 9BE Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill (www.mpwsteakhousebirmingham.co.uk) offering 01527 406600 stunning 360-degree views of the city and the [email protected] surprisingly beautiful vista beyond and our www.theabbeyhotel.co.uk destination for dinner. We were guided through the dishes on the classic MPW Steakhouse menu by our genuinely enthusiastic waiter, and so based on his
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