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Venue: The Oyster Club, 43 Temple Street, B2 5DP; website
Choice: Mussels with smoked caviar sauce (£14.50) Chooser: Waitress
Confidently good looking and with a covetable little black book when it comes to sourcing, The Oyster Club, has pulled back its thick, assured curtains, with a market disruptor of a seafood bar most of Birmingham didn't realise it needed. From Adam Stokes of Michelin-starred, eponymous fame, the walk-in bar and small, bookable restaurant is open seven days, with the same menu wherever you sit. Eating there less than a week after first service, the oysters were, as you'd seriously hope from the name, exquisite — watch them being shucked from your seat for added happiness. The mains, recommended by Adam, were good and, from the genuine team commitment to getting feedback, will be great. Opting for tempura halibut with crushed minted peas and tartare sauce (£24), plus Jenga-like chips (£4.50) — the fish, peas and tartare taken together were a flavour-filled euphoria of sweet, salty, tartness, but tried alone, the fish was slightly dry and overcooked, something we comment on because of the perfection-requiring price tag that attaches to what is essentially posh fish and chips. The total winner of the meal, and easily the best variation of moules we've tried was the mussels with Prosecco and smoked caviar sauce. The decadent dish felt fresh despite its obvious richness, with joyous little thwacks of flavour from the salty caviar. An order of bread (£4.50) for soaking purposes is a must here, as well as a glass of something cool and crisp. We preferred the buzzy bar to the bookable tables downstairs and counsel you not to be put off by a lack of reservation: at no point was there a queue for a table while we were there. Our new top tip for a perfect little lunch for one. Menu
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KEYS TO
THE CITY
In case you were in any doubt, you picked precisely the right time to live in Brum. This week alone, Bakery30 — Caneat's celebration cake venture — started taking orders for creations like this. From £40, and as good as the stunner of a selection in the cafe, but you get the whole thing. Across Stirchley High Street, perennial popper-upper Eat Vietnam has got the keys to a permanent spot. Ming and the team are aiming to start trading in mid-June. Also working towards a June start, Poli (as in Neapolitan). From the people behind Grace + James, the wood-fired pizzeria is opening a few doors down on York Road in Kings Heath. Expect carefully sourced meats, cheeses, craft beers and wines to form the backbone of this newbie. Back pats for everyone. Especially YOU.
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FLIPKICKS AND NEW FLICKS
Crack open the retro bone and slurp out the marrow, Jonah Hill's directorial debut, Mid90s, skates into the Everyman Cinema in Mailbox next week, and it won't be alone. The no-filter coming-of-age tale follows Stevie, a thirteen-year-old in 1990s-era LA who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a skate shop. The trailer alone feels like a work of art. If you're going to watch this movie — and if you were born after 1975 that's basically a given — then the Everyman is the place, because this screening comes with a line-up of top level skaters and b-boys performing in what promises to be an immersive-as-hell one-off. There's an after party soundtracked by Silence Tha Nomad, too. Silence is not expected. Tickets
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