"You Choose" — Edwardian Tea Rooms

Venue: Edwardian Tea Rooms, BMAG, Chamberlain Square, B3 3DH; website
Choice: Pork belly bites (£7.95) Chooser: Tom, sous chef

Some time last decade, we had a nice slice of cake in the splendiferous surrounds of the Edwardian Tea Rooms and thought little more about the venue as a standalone lunching option. Fast forward to right now, and you can still get cakes, afternoon tea and all the old faves but under the chef-ship of Tom Cruickshank, you can forget any thoughts like "from frozen" and instead expect bags of flavour and hard-working twists on classics. We tried most of the mains from the updated menu and the standouts were the fish cake (£10.95), which is huuuuge and packed with properly flavoursome salmon and plenty of hollandaise, set off with a fennel and orange salad. The vegan sharing board (£11.95) gets you broad bean and sesame falafel as well as bhajis and all sorts of tastiness, though it's the mint yoghurt, the mango chutney and dipping sauce that really makes the platter sing. The pick, though, is the pressed confit of pork belly — deep fried, then stir fried in sweet chilli — served up with sticky, glossy homemade pineapple hot sauce, sesame and soy. Coming with a refreshing and well-considered salad of cucumber ribbons with coriander and lime to cut through the satisfying fattiness of the pork, this is a great lunch plate and one we'll be back for. Now to start the campaign for the ETR to be open more regularly in the evenings... Last orders are currently 4pm but we're sure chef will thank us for this suggestion. Opening times and sample menu