Dining out these days is about much more than just the food as restaurants are feeling the pressure to increasingly up their game by offering the full ‘experience.’
A great way of doing this is with a food tour. There’s something special about exploring a city through some of its best food hotspots. And, as someone who loves to champion independents, it’s also a fabulous opportunity to bring new customers to new doors.
On a Sunday afternoon I joined the Restaurant Tour UK on a mission to visit six restaurants within Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. It is one of several in the city you can choose from, including City Centre, canal-side at Brindley Place, The Mailbox and Edgbaston.
The idea behind the Restaurant Tour is simple – spend up to five hours enjoying a small plate of food and a drink at six stops. It’s perfect for foodies who want to sample diverse cuisines and restaurants without committing to just one. And what better way of exploring the local food and drink scene? Certainly beats a Google search!
As someone who has joined a few food tours whilst on holiday abroad, this one is a first in that it’s self-guided meaning you’re able to go at your own pace, between 12pm and 5pm, and dine within your own group, just as you would normally at restaurants.
It is organised in a fixed order that is arranged by the designated free app, to make it easy going to each location. We never had more than 12 minutes’ walk between locations – although, to be honest, a brisk walk and some fresh air between courses was welcomed.
Each house speciality is offered with a wine pairing or non-alcoholic beverage, with allergies also being considered at the time of purchase, to ensure it is accessible to all.
The Jewellery Quarter edition features a diverse range of restaurants including Pasta di Piazza, Rajdoot, The Church Pub, Temper and Brown, Lasan, Arch 13 Bar and Saint Paul’s House, bringing a mixture of authentic Indian cuisine, Italian and traditional pub food to the afternoon’s menu.
From topless meat pies through to Indian fine dining, roast chicken Sunday lunch and wine and cheese plates, the Jewellery Quarter Edition of the Tour was the gift that just kept on giving until, we could receive no more! Six dishes is a lot to consume – and it’s worth bearing in mind that these are usually larger plates than those you’d expect to be served in a traditional six-course tasting menu.
So in order to get the most out of your experience, my advice would be to skip breakfast that morning and, if your appetite is on the smaller side but you still want to participate, enjoy samples only of the larger dishes. And worth noting – don’t assume there is dessert at the final location. It wasn’t the case for us. Roast chicken dinner was course number six!
Take one afternoon, six incredible dishes and sprinkle in some added mystery of what’s coming next, and you have the ingredients for a fantastic Sunday afternoon. With a delicious variety of different cuisines and dishes, each restaurant brought something different to the table and enticed our tastebuds in new directions. (A good thing for me as I do tend to play safe and avoid culinary experimentation.)
This experience was more than just great food – it was an adventure – gently coaxing us out of our comfort zones to open us to the world of culinary diversity the city has to offer. And we found some brilliant restaurants we’ll definitely be returning to!
Tickets are available to purchase HERE.
