Birmingham, Chinese Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Arresting” design is a big feature of Adam and Drew Jones’s stunning-looking Chinese-themed yearling: the city’s biggest basement bar and restaurant situated in the recently reopened Grand hotel (built in 1879, and refurbished after over a decade’s closure). Too few reports for a rating as yet: its menu contains a “theatrically presented combination of small bites and larger dishes”. The next stop after this is Edinburgh, opening late 2019.

It looks unpromising – derelict even – on the outside, but this quirky venue from chef James Kirk-Gould and his partner Cassie caught attention in April 2022, when Jay Rayner of The Observer decided to give it a review. At the weekends, it’s all about waffles and fudge sauce (Cassie has a fudge business), but Wednesday to Friday it serves up “thrilling dishes paying homage to their time together in China” making this, says Jay, a “brilliant-cut-gem of a place”, with dishes rarely costing over £9.