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NOSH & QUAFF:
TAKING BOOKINGS
Want to be among the first to try Aktar Islam's new city centre lobster house? Thought so. Nosh & Quaff is now taking online bookings, and when we checked, there was prime time availability from Monday, August 3 and throughout its first week of trading. And if lobster isn't your idea of just about the best time a person can have, you'll be wipe-your-brow relieved to hear that ribs, wings and a burger also feature on the opening ticket. Though note the deliberate selection of the phrasing "a burger" - the mains appear to include a conservative seven options. And with everything on our wish list in the £18+ category, added to a slightly stingy 90-minute table retention policy, it's probably the unbridled joy that Fiesta and Raja engender that has us keeping the faith.
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OWLS TAKE THE CITY, CONSPICUOUSLY
There's no such thing as a coincidence and you're not imagining things. The Big Hoot, together with its brood of 89 individually designed owls and 122 owlets, has arrived, and from Soho House to Twycross Zoo, the region is going a little bit barmy for the variegated bunch. Apart from Temper's toe-ring clad G'owl'd owl, our pick so far is probably the JQ's Bejewelled Owl (pictured) and that has precisely nothing to do with the fact that we were eating a sandwich from the Eight Foot Grocer when we first eyed it. On display until September 27, find out where all the owls can be found with the assistance of the team's rather attractive trail map right here. And we're pretty confident there's an owl-based pub crawl in it. In fact, we're game if you are.
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Venue: Praza, 94-96 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, B16 8LU praza.co.uk; Choice: Masaledar Samundari Khazana (£16.95) Chooser: Bash, Waiter
We need to talk about scallops. And great though they can be, we're not talking pan-fried with an array of aesthetically driven crumbs and smudges. As part of one of the city's most texture-filled curries, these meaty little beauties have been sautéed with coarsely chopped onions, garlic, coriander and a punch-tastic blend of punjabi spice. They've also been introduced to a king prawn or two, plenty of squid and the deft touch of head chef, Bishal Rasaily, who would sooner hang up his chef's whites than overcook his most precious of cargo (Praza uses the same fishmongers as Simpsons, don't you know). By the people behind Broad Street's pick, Pushkar, Praza boasts a grown-up menu, with grown-up cocktails. And though the decor oscillates somewhere between chintzy and airy, there's a marked charm to the welcome and to the service.
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HAVE YOUR HOUSE
CLEANED FOR £1
By the very nature of the award-winning weekly email magazines that you read (you only read the one, right?) we can tell that you're a busy Brummie. As such, we've teamed up with online market place for cleaners, Hassle.com, to offer 200 of our readers a two-hour house clean for £1, so you can reclaim your free time and explore the city that smidgen more. Hassle allows you to find, book and pay for your cleaner’s time via its online platform - it's dead easy. They charge a flat rate of £10 per hour for cleaning, with the cleaners getting paid up to £8.50 per hour. To book, just click here and the discount code will be automatically added, then set up an account which takes about a minute. T&C apply
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MOVIE OF THE WEEK:
SOUTHPAW
Jake Gyllenhaal has been going through a purple patch in recent years, and it may be climaxing with this performance. The film around him may be unsubtle at best and bludgeoning at worst, but Gyllenhaal’s commitment shines through – he’s bulked up almost beyond recognition, all the more impressive given his scrawny turn in last year’s Nightcrawler, and he genuinely convinces as a boxing champ who loses everything after the accidental shooting of his wife. A brace of strong supporting performances (even 50 Cent is good) and dynamic fighting sequences – for once, boxing actually looks like it hurts – save things, and it’s a pleasure seeing Gyllenhaal get the showcase he deserves.
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