Opheem
Birmingham, West Midlands
The vial of green liquid served as one of the (many) preambles to a meal at Opheem neither makes you grow smaller nor taller. Drink it as you sit at low seats in what feels like the lounge of the Gatwick Sofitel while your palate is slapped to attention by the blisteringly refreshing juice of cucumber, green chilli and apple. It sets the tone for a taste adventure that sashays in contemporary, classy style between western European and Indian influences. Among the inventive canapés, the brightest – if the trickiest to eat from a coffee table – is cured bass in a sour mango sauce with deep-fried curry leaves, ginger and puffed rice. After that, the action moves to the vast dining room – a space done out in shades of grey and lit by a many-bulbed chandelier, with tables facing a meticulously run kitchen and every detail monitored by an equally well-drilled but cool (as in chilly) front-of-house team. To begin, a pillowy, just-made milk loaf (lamb fat-glazed and cumin-dusted) is gorgeous when scooped through a gently spiced lamb pâté with crisped shallots. It’s 12 years since chef Aktar Islam triumphantly prepared soft-shell crab on Great British Menu, but time does nothing to dull the deliciousness of this dish, its caraway-seed coating giving hints of liquorice, with slivers of Granny Smith apple and a tomato chutney brightening the accompanying white-crab shami kebab. The crustacean's sweet flavour is pointed up by the floral summeriness of a Dry Dragon peony blush kombucha, recommended as an alcohol-free pairing. European vibes weave through the menu – a perfect puck of golden-crusted cod, for example, with tiny courgettes parisienne and a courgette compôte, the accompanying alleppey sauce pulling you back to India with its sweetness, tang and coconut-mango warmth. A white chocolate dessert, prettily adorned with petals, a tuile and fluttering gold leaf, looks like many a conventional top-end pudding, but break the shell to unleash Opheem’s take on rasmalai. It spills out in a creamy cardamom-infused pool, rippling deliciously through pistachio in its whole, crumbed and baked form. Back in the lounge, petits fours are as generous as those earlier canapés, and somehow you find space for that mango mini Magnum with popping candy. The wine list is packed with interest and while there’s little under £50, by-the-glass suggestions such as a Moroccan Chardonnay or a Georgian Saperavi invite exploration.
Dining Information:
Private dining room, Separate bar, Wheelchair access, Credit card required
48 Summer Row, Birmingham, West Midlands B3 1JJ
0121 201 3377
