Before visiting the Birmingham Hippodrome for a matinée performance of War Horse, we decided to book lunch at their StageSide Bar and Restaurant. It is just across the road from the theatre and next door to our usual car park, so it was very convenient. It helps that you can book the table as you book the show tickets.
On arrival, we were greeted in a friendly manner and, as the first to arrive for lunch, we were offered a choice of two alternative tables. We chose one away from the door as it was quite a chilly afternoon. As soon as we were seated, our waitress came to the table to see what we would like to drink. The Ancient Assistant (Noreen) had a hot chocolate to warm her up while Assistant Paul's dad, Ray, ordered us a bottle of red wine.
Di, Paul and I chose the Wild Mushroom soup for a starter (Ray had melon and Parma ham). Assistant Di was very impressed as she had the choice of four, yes FOUR! vegetarian starters. Amazing! She's not used to choices! It didn't take long for our starters to arrive. I can understand why the mushrooms were wild, as they'd been liquidised into a very thick and tasty soup! There were a few chunky croutons on the top and some very fresh crusty bread. Ray's ham looked good, but a bit small for a growing bear.
For our main course, Paul had steak and Di had grilled halloumi salad (another six veggie choices!) I asked the waitress her recommendation between the soda battered haddock with hand cut chips or the salmon pie. Noreen, Ray and I had chose the fish and chips. When it arrived the fish took up half of the plate, together with six neatly stacked large chips and dishes of mushy peas and tartare sauce. Apart from the mushy peas (I don't generally eat green food!) it was lovely! The batter was really crispy and not remotely stodgy like it can be on occasion.
While eating we spotted a lady at the next table had ordered the salmon pie - it didn't look very big from where I was sitting so I'm glad I ordered what I did! Paul's steak was served with a peppercorn sauce as well as quite a large dishful of thin-cut chips, more like American French fries. I helped him out with those, to be polite. He said his steak was very good. Di even said her halloumi salad was good, but I didn't need to try salad.
Once our plates were cleared (completely cleared!) the waitress asked if we'd like to see the dessert menu. We weren't keen, but there was almost an hour to kill till curtain up.
I'm kidding! Of course we wanted dessert - don't you know me at all? The Ancient Assistant and I both chose the Vanilla Creme Brulée and Di ordered the Eton Mess.
When it came I took Di's as well as mine - I was still hungry after all - and they were both very good! The crunchy topping met expectations, but the base was a bit runnier than we'd normally expect. I still forced it down though and it tasted good! The Eton Mess - with cream, meringue and strawberries - was pretty good too, so Di didn't get to keep much. I think I preferred it, to be honest, but it's hard to say.
We all really enjoyed our meals and I couldn’t find any fault with the service so it got five Teds! It's not the cheapest restaurant and six chips (even big ones!) wouldn't suit everyone but it's a great place for a meal before a show at the Birmingham Hippodrome. You can order interval drinks and even dessert if you ate before the show, though I'm not convinced there's time to get across and back, and the show ticket gives you a discount in the bar after the show. Just a couple of other reasons in case you were not already sold on the idea.
As this is the food and drink section of my website, I thought you'd like to see my interval refreshments - not actually taken across the road in the StageSide Bar and Restaurant (too far for the Ancient Assistant) so we had these in the bar in the Hippodrome. Very nice! (I knew you'd want to see the ice cream!)
