The Observer
Rebecca Nicholson enjoyed two meals on the same evening along a short stretch of the Pershore Road in southwest Birmingham – a haven of independent restaurants, unlike “the increasingly chain-ified centre, with its Ivy and German Doner Kebab and Rosa’s Thai”.
The first was at Cork & Cage, an employee-owned wine bar that offers a chalkboard food menu of “confident, competent, perfectly simple cooking” on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. A plate of crayfish and white cabbage left the principal ingredient to sing: “I liked their tune so much I ordered another dish, a salad of octopus, chickpeas, olives, red onion and Datterini tomatoes. It was a Niçoise with a glow-up, one that had gone on holiday for a week and returned home with a new face and body.”
Then to Boodle Fight, a “boxfresh” new Filipino spot offering “massive” portions with flavours to match, unlimited rice and “free-flowing” sinigang soup (a sharp tamarind broth). Rebecca loved the spicy ‘dinakdakan’ (a pork offal dish) and ‘fu and fungi sisig’ (wild mushrooms mixed with tofu ‘pork’ pieces and a yellow citrusy mayo), while the signature dish, ‘Help Me I’m Da-ing’ (battered, deep-fried milkfish served with a hot, funky, fish-saucy house dressing) was also “excellent”.
Rebecca Nicholson - 2026-08-23
