The Observer
Jay Rayner discovered “as exciting a new restaurant as I’ve encountered in a long while” at ex-Simpsons chef Dan Sweet’s crowdfunded transformation of his former takeaway Qbox on Harborne high street.
It’s a tiny place with just 20 seats and a short menu, “but it bursts with huge
flavours, big ideas and massive ambition. Dinner here was an introduction to a storming talent announcing itself to the world, one clever, delicious, well- priced dish at a time.”
The chef’s rare technical skills and good taste were displayed in the “soft,
creamy, rich and deep liquor” that formed the basis of a white soup of
caramelised onions, “as pale and interesting as a Dior model and just as
poised”, and again in a celeriac cream sauce, “this time with a pointillist
explosion of herb oil”, combined with slabs of salt-baked then roasted
celeriac.
Daily Mail
Tom Parker Bowles was impressed by the modern British fare “with a pronounced Italian accent” he found at a tiny Harborne outfit from former Simpson’s chef Dan Sweet, whose “clever, polished and assured cooking” represents “exceptional value” at £45 for three courses at lunch (£55 at dinner).
Presentation is “pretty rather than pretentious” and “flavour always comes first”, in dishes such as a starter of raviolo stuffed with spicy sausage in a rich ragu with a light parmesan espuma, which managed to be “both gutsily hearty and quietly refined” and was “one of the best things I’ve eaten all year”.
Among the mains, a beautiful piece of bream with a sauce of nduja, intensely sweet tomatoes and parsley oil is “like a shaft of Mediterranean sunshine on this most bleak and damp of days, shavings of fennel adding gently bitter bite”. Puddings are excellent, too.
Tom Parker Bowles - 2026-02-08
