You know I love a good steak. There are certainly enough steak restaurant reviews on my blog to prove that! Recently I was invited down to Beefeater’s new city centre offering: Bar and Block. Located on Waterloo Street in Birmingham City Centre where Colmore Bar & Grill once stood (ahhhhh memories), Bar and Block offers affordable but tasty steak. While I am mourning the loss ‘£12 bottle of Prosecco Fridays’ at CB&G, the thought of the food on offer more than makes up for it.
Introducing Bar and Block…
The decor is the perfect mix of modern meets butcher’s block. There’s a giant luminous cow on the wall to teach you which cuts of meat come from what part of the cow and lots of cosy booths and tables. They’ve also retained a bar area so you can pop in for a cheeky bevvy after work.
After a small tub of beef flavoured popcorn (which is amazing by the way!), to start I tucked into the Garlic King Prawns which were served on toast with lashing of garlic butter. I did have to de-shell the prawns but as a seasoned prawn eater (is that a thing… it should be!) this doesn’t bother me too much. The prawns were cooked well and the flavours all worked together. The Northerner went for the meatballs, after I was so sure he’d go for the mushrooms (check back through my food reviews, he goes for them every time!). He was a fan. I know when he’s enjoying his food as the bite he shares with me is the teeniest, tiniest bite you’d ever see.
Onto the main course and the steak. I opted for my usual cut of Sirloin, which I had in 10oz and while it wasn’t the best steak I’ve eaten, it was still pretty good. What let it down was the fact there was just a tad too much fat left on the ends. Let’s talk about the good points though. Regular readers of my blog will know that there is one thing that upsets me more than anything else when dining out: when a chef can’t cook steak to order. Seriously, I’ve even been to STEAK restaurants who have got it so wrong! Thankfully Bar and Block is not one of them and after asking for medium rare, it’s exactly what I got. The same can be said for The Northerner’s fillet which he had medium. Both steaks were juicy, tender and seasoned well. Both came served with chunky triple cooked chips and samphire (thanks Masterchef for teaching me what this was long ago… it seems to be everywhere now… OK mainly still on Masterchef!) to add a little greenery to the plate. We ended up have creamed spinach on the side as it’s something we like to cook with our steaks at home. The side was a generous potion, perfect for two of us to share.
You know, considering how much of a steak snob I am, I commit the cardinal sin of steak eating every time… wait for it… I drink it with WHITE WINE. I’m sorry, I’m just not quite there with red yet so we ordered a bottle of the 3 Stones Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which at just under £20 for the bottle, went down very well.
On to dessert and The Northerner took his opportunity to have something I just won’t cook at home… Apple & Blackberry crumble. Don’t worry, it’s not just Apple Crumbles I don’t like, I’m not discriminatory, it’s all crumbles. I just can’t get my teeth into them, but I digress slightly. With an empty bowl at the end, I’m assuming he enjoyed it muchly.
I opted for the brownie which was fine… again not the best brownie I’ve ever eaten, but it was good enough to finish off the meal on a high point.
Overall we really enjoyed our time at Bar and Block and will be heading back again very soon. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was excellent with the server taking the time to go through all the cuts and making sure we were sure about what we wanted. We want to try the Sunday lunch, which at £13 for a sliced steak and all the Sunday trimmings, seems like good value for money. I’ve also spoken to friends who have already been (twice) and enjoyed the burgers too. You can check out their menu here!
*Meal provided by Bar and Block but as always, opinions are my own.
