Spring Fair International, NEC Birmingham, February 2013

Kenwood Van with retro food mixer on the roof!

I had a fabulous time at Spring Fair International. It was my first visit and I was surprised at just how many halls there are to visit.

On the day, I visited kitchen and housewares - the exhibitors stands were overflowing with all the latest products and trends, and every stand had been beautifully styled.

A small selection of products from Sabichi

I regularly review for Sabichi and visited their fabulous stand - it was great to see all the products on display. They were featuring their latest pizza and pasta serveware.

Products from Premier Housewares

Premier Housewares have also sent me products to review and it was a wonderful opportunity to be introduced to more of their products.  The stand had been very tastefully styled.

A snapshot of my day out - Spring Fair International is Trade only.

Lunch at Aria Restaurant, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Birmingham

Char-Grilled Shropshire Rib Eye Steak with Bearnaise Sauce,
 Vine Tomato, Watercress and Crispy Onions

The Aria Restaurant, Hyatt Regency, Birmingham is a wonderful place to visit for a quiet lunch away from the hustle and bustle of Saturday shopping.

Hand Cut Chips and Peas, Leeks and Broccoli

We opted for the a la carte menu, there is a good selection for all tastes.  For starters we had Roasted Plum Tomato Soup with Pesto Crostini - this was served with a little theatre which was a nice and unexpected touch - the soup bowl was served with the pesto crostini topped with a roasted tomato, the waitress then poured the piping hot soup into the bowl and served this with a choice of bread.

Unfortunately, there aren't any photographs of our soup because there was a party next to us enjoying afternoon tea and sometimes taking photographs can annoy other diners.  Once they had left their table we were able to then get busy with the camera.

Pan-Fried Fillet of Scottish Salmon with Wasabi Risotto,
 Bok Choy and an Asian Pepper Sauce

The men chose Rib Eye Steak but I was looking for something lighter and chose the Scottish Salmon.  We all agreed our meals were faultless and well presented.

Chocolate and Banana Arctic Roll with Caramel Doughnuts

Dessert was delicious too!  I glanced nosily over at the table where a group of ladies were enjoying afternoon tea and this looked amazing.  I'm now looking forward to my next visit to the Aria Restaurant but this time I would like to go for Sunday lunch, after a little retail therapy in Birmingham.

This was a private visit to Aria Restaurant, Birmingham

Jamie's Italian, Birmingham - December 2012

After a hectic morning shopping:) Jamie's Italian, conveniently situated outside the Bullring Birmingham, is a great place to escape to for a couple of hours.

Fabulous lighting.

The food is always consistently good at Jamie's Italian and this is our second visit to the Birmingham branch.  Themed on an industrial warehouse this branch is huge compared to others we have visited in the past.  We didn't have huge appetites after the Christmas festivities and on this occasion we had to refuse dessert.

Italian Bread Selection

Jamie's Italian Burger with  Posh Chips

Seafood Bucatini

Baked Shetland Salmon (they were skinny with the salmon)

Birmingham was sales crazy - a young lady saw our Selfridges shopping bag and asked for directions to the store, we decided to take her instead of the usual arm waving and trying to give directions. On the way to Selfridges she said she had come from Dubai to Birmingham for the day and she was going back to Dubai that very evening!  She had apparently flown in to Birmingham especially to visit Laura Ashley, and Cath Kidston at Selfridges in the Bull Ring.  Amazingly she was going to take her shopping back to Dubai and was then travelling on to Australia - really - she said, yes, yes!  And I thought we were brave travelling on a delayed crowded train for a 15 minute journey.....

Jamie's Italian, Birmingham

Antipasti meat planks sitting on cans of tomatoes!

After a couple of enjoyable meals at the Brighton branch, we decided it was time to try our local (well nearly) Birmingham branch of Jamie's Italian.

Thankfully we had booked our table, because on a wet Saturday afternoon, everyone seemed to have the same idea and headed to Jamie's Italian. When you book in advance, a note on the email informs you there is 2hrs 15 minutes allocation for your table, but this is ample time to relax, sit back and enjoy.

There is a bar area immediately as you walk in and the eating areas are to either side of the bar.  The restaurant is huge and there wasn't an empty stool at the bar and all the tables appeared to be full with couples, families and groups of people, all enjoying themselves.  We felt the restaurant had been styled to look like a converted warehouse, the table tops are aluminium and the chairs are bright yellow, the high ceilings absorbed the noise and you could have a conversation without shouting - bliss.

Prawn Linguine

Chocolate & Vin Santo Pot

This dessert not only looked great but the lucky person who ordered this, said it tasted great too.  Unfortunately the same can't be said for the Tiramisu, which you can see in the background. The group on the table next to us were keen to know which dessert had been served in the cup, but agreed with us the Tiramisu had the thumbs down.  The coffee was good, no latte art, but the coffee beans were excellent quality.

The ham, veg and salad counter.

Artisan breads freshly sliced to order.

The staff are friendly, the waiters are knowledgeable and keen to explain the menu, the meal is cooked and presented well and I can recommend a visit.

Hopefully I am going to the Canary Wharf branch this coming Saturday, there will be two energetic small children in our party.........I'll do another blog posting and let you know how we get on.......!

Afternoon Tea in Birmingham

Question - where can we go for a traditional afternoon tea in Birmingham?

Unfortunately there are only a few places to choose from and the best of the few options was the Hyatt Regency. We had a champagne afternoon tea in elegant surroundings and it was perfect. Champagne, finger sandwiches, cakes and pastries, all beautifully presented. The staff are very helpful, and they made it a wonderful afternoon for us.


I ordered a coffee latte and it came with lots of very fine layers - has anyone seen coffee with so many layers? My coffee looked fabulous and didn't disappoint on taste either.

NOTE:  Since writing this post in 2010 afternoon tea at the Hyatt has been brought up to date and looks fabulous.  Whilst at the Hyatt for a meal, the next table were enjoying afternoon tea and it looked amazing - February 2013.

FOODIE GIFTS


My son spoilt me with some foodie gifts he bought from the Algerian Coffee Stores in London.

Sfizio Bronte Pistachio Cantucci, Formula Rossa Coffee, Zotter Pistachios Chocolate Bar, Chocolate Nougat, an artistic tea ball (this is tightly rolled tea which opens when infused to unveil flowers inside) and Xocolata Pedra (you break a piece of chocolate off the block and melt it with your milk to make a rich hot chocolate).

So far I've eaten the pistachio chocolate bar and also the chocolate nougat, it's not a difficult task working my through all of this - of course I've shared this with my husband, you don't think I would eat all of this by myself - do you?