Meating, in the Arcadian Centre in Bimirngham is one of the newest additions to the Birmingham food scene, offering high quality and rare bread meat, cooked over coal. They are supplied by Farmison & Co, located up in Yorkshire.
We popped along last Monday to see what it was all about. I was disappointed to find it very very quiet, even for a Monday, especially when there were many more people eating a couple of doors away at Las Iguanas.
I liked what they had done with the decor inside. Corrugated metal dominates with some friends of mine describing it as ‘cowshed chic’. I laughed when I read this on their blog, but its pretty spot on!! Theres also white tiled areas of walls that reminds me of a butchers shop, with wooden tables and booths, metal chairs and touches of teal and turqoise, as well as the obligatory stripped back light fittings.
The menu (obviously) is very meat heavy with lots of cuts of steak, other grilled meats and a large burger section. We’re not short on steak in this city with places such as Fiesta del Asado and Andersons, but I do feel we lack a great burger place, as aside from the street food offerings which are fab, only the mediocre chains spring to mind if you want a sit down burger with lots of choice.
The beef on the menu was Galloway beef, although there was no real mention of the breed of the other meats which would have been nice. The staff though were very well informed, so if you went in search of this information, I’ve no doubt they’d be able to tell you. Whilst we’re on the staff, they really couldn’t do enough for you and were really amiable with it, so they’ve got this spot on so far.
We shared some Sticky Hot Wings to start. Fiery and sweet these really hit the spot. Extra napkins and a finger bowl provided. Tick Tick and extra brownie points!
Lee obviously went for a steak – they had a Hanger Steak on as a special, and this being Lee’s favorite cut, it was a no brainer. He had a Bernaise sauce with it, and also chose a ‘hash’ in stead of fries. I went for a Porkies Burger – bacon, cheddar,gherkin, sticky sweet sauce, crispy string onions, and baconaise. The burgers are all served pink, which is good for me when the meat is this good. I upgraded to the Truffle Oil and Parmesan Fries, but there are several options including sweet potato, jalepeno and sour cream and more. We also had a Mac & Cheese side.
I was really impressed with the burger and enjoyed every single mouthful. it’s the kind of burger you pick up then start shovelling into your mouth quickly as its that good. I don’t want to gush, but I just have to, as it was ( not counting street food burgers) the best I’ve had in a long time. Same with the crisp fluffy fries. Even the coleslaw was to my taste!
Lee really loved his steak as well, it was perfectly cooked and very flavoursome. The Bernaise sauce wasn’t quite right in his opinion, lacking in acidity and tarragon flavour, and the hash was no where as good as the chips, but you live and learn! We both enjoyed the Mac & Cheese too.
Desserts is a choice of gelato, sundaes or waffles, all of which are served from front of house. They have a waffle iron behind the bar, and they are freshly cooked to order. We tried a Cinema Club – Toffee popcorn, Nutella and Vanilla Gelato, carmel sauce and cream. These are plenty big enough to share, and even then enough to put you in a sugar coma, but was a really tasty simple dessert to end with.
Overall I was really impressed with this place – it knows what it’s doing, the premise and theme is simple and they are executing it very well so far. I despair that places like Rub Smokehouse and GBK have people flooding to eat at them when this place is empty yet far far superior and would urge people to try it out! I would happily eat here again, and with deals like 2 burgers for £16 on a Monday it doesn’t have to break the bank either.
Disclosure: Paid in Full
