The Jekyll & Hyde is well known in Birmingham, for its fabulous cocktails and lively atmosphere. I’ve eaten there before downstairs but this time we were going to eat upstairs in their Victorian Gin Parlour.
Open for only 3 nights of the week it offers a small menu in quirky surroundings, with gin influenced food and a whole host of gin based drink options (other spirits are available…but not as good!)
We tried several of their drinks whilst there – Lee had one of their gin flights; 3 mini sized tasters of their cocktails or gins. This went down really well and was fabulous for people like Lee that like to try new things. We also had an Armistice (Saffron Gin, Blood Orange, Poppy & Pink Grapefruit Liquer) and a Chopper on a Boat Cocktail (Langleys Gin, Mango Syrup, Lemon, Soda). Both were fantastic drinks.
The menus are small; 3-4 choices per course, but they were all interesting sounding options
For my starter I opted for the Cajun Spiced Beef Croquettes with grain mustard, watercress and Pecorino. Lee decided on the Juniper Berry Cured Salmon with blood orange and coriander cress. Both were of a pretty high standard. The flavours were all excellent. Lee commented that you could really taste the juniper coming through on the salmon and that the blood orange was an unusual accompaniment but worked fantastically. I felt the presentation of both could have been upped a little, and my croquettes were a little dry but this didn’t detract too much from how they ate.
Moving on to mains, I chose the Supreme of Chicken with a thyme dauphinoise, kale, wild mushrooms and liquorice infused sauce. The was a really amazing dish – the chicken was most and juicy, with sauce with just a tang of liquorice – more would have been overpowering and a dauphinoise which was rich and creamy. It’s so important that food actually tastes of what it is supposed to, so the thyme coming through well in the dauphinoise and the delicate sauce proved this well.
Lee chose the Sea Bass with golden beetroot and spring vegetables and a gin infused cream sauce. The seabass had a beautiful crispy skin, and was cooked perfectly and again the gin came through really well in the sauce. Another well accomplished dish.
For dessert we shared a cheeseboard – with a smoked Brockmans gin jelly. We felt the cheese should have been out of the fridge longer before serving – it was still very cold, but this really was the only negative. The cracker selection and the gin jelly were superb also.
We thoroughly enjoyed our meal in the gin parlour and would wholeheartedly recommend it to others, especially if you’re looking for something a little different in the city.
http://www.thejekyllandhyde.co.uk/
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Disclosure: Part of the value of our meal was contributed to courtesy of the Jekyll & Hyde, and we paid the rest ourselves. All views are honest and our own.
