Sometimes an invite drops into your inbox that makes you squeal with sheer delight. When the Birmingham Hippodrome invited myself and a handful of other #BrumBloggers down for a menu tasting and stall seats to see a show I’ve heard so much about, I couldn’t say no.
Miss Saigon has been running since 1989 (the year all the best things came out of if you ask me!) with a story so heartbreakingly beautiful it cemented itself in the world of theatre. It’s now being toured around the UK and currently resides at the Birmingham Hippodrome until 23rd September.
Before we talk about the delicious food, let’s talk about the show itself. The story is based around a young girl named Kim who is forced to work in an underground bar in Saigon and Chris, an American soldier who meet and fall in love before being tragically being torn apart by the fall of Saigon. Without giving too much away, you’ll need your tissues for this one.
Let’s talk about the menu in the Hippodrome restaurant, the AA Rosette Circle Restaurant which has taken influence from Vitimanise tastes specifically for the Miss Saigon show run.
There are four starters (or Act I as they are referring to it as) on offer including:
- White bean soup with basil pesto
- Vietnamese prawn summer rolls with sweet chilli sauce
- Salt beef croquette with salad of mooli, shallots, and capers
- Goat’s cheese mousse with marinated tomatoes and walnut toast
Hands down my favourite dishes were the prawn summer roll (big prawn fan over here!) but this was closely followed by the salt beef. Both were incredibly flavoursome. I wasn’t sure on the soup – the texture wasn;t quite right for my liking.
For mains (Act II), we were treated to samples of:
- Chilli & coriander crusted pork tenderloin with soy & Sesame braised savoy cabbage
- Pan-seared fillet of coley with rice noodles, samphire, ginger and spring onion broth
- Honey-brushed confit of duck leg with celeriac puree, bok choy and star anise jus
- Yellow curry lentil scotch egg with asparagus & new potato salad
Now, I’m not a huge fan of either duck or pork but I gave both of them a go and surprised myself at just how much I enjoyed them. My favourite by far was the vegetarian scotch egg (an even bigger surprise) and the new potato salad was so good I could have eaten 10 times more! I liked the way that the lentils did the job of the regular meat and the kick from the curry sealed the deal for me. Each dish felt light and summery (I’m clinging on before autumn takes over!) but filling enough to see you through the show.
Dessert which was served in the interval (but in the restaurant is served before the show) compromised of:
- Matcha green tea panna cotta with kalamansi and sesame tuille
- Bitter chocolate tart with lychee, strawberry & mint compote
- Poached peach & pistachio cake with raspberries and vanilla set custard
Again all three were nice with the chocolate tart taking the overall prize for me.
In all honesty, I’d never considered eating at the actual theatre before but this experience has proved that it could be quite a good idea for future visits. Overall, I’d describe my experience of both foods and show as my perfect theatre night experience; flavoursome food, fantastic show, what more can you ask for really?
Miss Saigon runs at the Birmingham Hippodrome until 23rd September 2017.
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