Cylla, Birmingham: ‘maybe The Best Potato Side Dish Being Served In The Uk Today’ – Restaurant Review | Grace Dent On Restaurants

Cylla, a prestigious Greek edifice connected Newhall Street, Birmingham, draws inspiration, it says, from Scylla, nan legendary Greek man-eating oversea monster that lives adjacent to nan whirlpools of Charybdis. She’s a beautiful woman, but has six canine heads, each grumpy and snarling, arsenic good arsenic a serpent’s tail.

If Scylla herself were ever to move up astatine Cylla, dogs’ heads barking and tail flapping, they’d person to spot her successful 1 of nan gorgeous backstage booths astatine nan beforehand arsenic you participate nan room. These are nan spots to drawback if you want a small privacy, which is why we eschewed nan long, prettily lit cocktail barroom and headed consecutive to this cosy hidey-hole for a information of Poseidon’s Wrath. “It’s a spot for illustration a soiled martini,” explained our server, who was 1 of those warm, bright, commanding, knowledgable souls who, successful a hospitality setting, is worthy her weight successful drachma. This invigorating, mega-bitter tipple of vodka and vermouth laced pinch piney, herbaceous mastiha, seaweed and kalamata oliva brine is nan cocktail balanced of being rescued by nan RNLI: salty, breathtaking and head-spinning. Fret not, sweetness seekers, because they besides connection a twelve different honey-, peach- and moreover meringue-based cocktails, if those are your thing, and each pinch arsenic dramatic, Greek myth-related names. Aphrodite’s Bloom, anyone? It’s a sensuous ode to nan aureate hour, nan paper says.

Cylla’s prawn saganaki: ‘Firm king prawns successful a well-balanced ail and ouzo herb sauce.’

Brilliantly, Cylla, which is simply a precocious revamped All Bar One, manages to propulsion disconnected each this precocious play without tipping into Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses territory. Instead, there’s simply thing alternatively reassuring astir nan place’s committedness to delivering an acquisition that’s seriously, elegantly Greek, but successful a playful way. We went connected a bedewed Wednesday successful mid-January, erstwhile restaurants crossed nan onshore thin to beryllium deserted, unheated aliases conscionable plain shut. Not Cylla, though: it was nicely heaving pinch plentifulness of tables of two, arsenic good arsenic respective larger customer groups – this is, aft all, nan businessy extremity of town. Convivial midweek, mid-winter eating tin beryllium difficult to find, but I’m pleased to study it’s happening here.

The paper is roaringly trad Greek pinch nan occasional Mediterranean and Brit leaning. A smoked aubergine meze was outstanding: smooth, rich | and pinch a hugely awesome extent of smokiness that could travel only from genuinely cared-for veg, each laced pinch parsley, ail and vinegar. Prawn saganaki was besides very bully indeed, pinch a generous magnitude of firm, grilled king prawns successful a well-balanced ail and ouzo herb sauce. The handbasket of lukewarm homemade breadstuff is essential.

Cylla’s alternatively underwhelming lamb baklava.

Lamb baklava, however, was little exciting, and beautiful overmuch conscionable accepted saccharine bakalava but stuffed pinch cumin and thyme-flavoured lamb. In hindsight, we should person gone for nan grilled octopus pinch pearl onions and fava puree. A Greek-tinged beef tartare was laced pinch plentifulness of chopped gherkins, capers, truffle and Tabasco, and came pinch a nicely pungent chive mayo and a smoked ovum yolk connected top, arsenic good arsenic immoderate roditiki pitta, a crisper, flatter style that’s authentic to Rhodes; these small touches make Cylla’s paper consciousness rather personal.

Central Birmingham has an array of eating options, but galore of them are chains, albeit good-quality, if pricey ones. At Cylla, however, you get a existent emotion that this is simply a edifice that’s ploughing its ain furrow, which successful this time and property is progressively rare.

Cylla’s beef fat potatoes are ‘quite perchance nan champion fondant potatoes I’ve ever eaten’.

A main people of reddish snapper offered up a generous, nicely cooked portion of flaking food connected a subtle, bouillabaisse-style condiment that could person done pinch a spot much basil, fennel and prima anise, though by this shape my afloat attraction was taken by nan beef fat potatoes, which are mesmerising. Yes, they beryllium location coyly connected nan sides menu, speaking thing of their greatness, but they are rather perchance nan champion fondant potatoes I’ve ever eaten, and possibly moreover nan champion murphy broadside crockery served successful nan UK today. To nan naked eye, they lucifer that each excessively acquainted rectangular gastropub-style confit murphy stack, arsenic made celebrated by the Quality Chop House, among others, and copied everywhere, but these are truthful overmuch much than that. The centre of these spuds is much for illustration fluffy mash, while nan exterior has a crisp whack of beef fat connected each 4 surfaces.

Cylla’s karidopita walnut dessert is ‘a diversion into fancy-schmancy’.

The karidopita walnut dessert, meanwhile, was a diversion into fancy-schmancy plating, pinch its smears, foams and puddles of pecan cremeux, cocoa namelaka, vanilla and cocoa pâte à cigarette. But it was delightful, each nan same.

Cylla is winner. In fact, I’ve already recommended it 3 times, which is nan edifice critic’s balanced of saying I’d waste this Ford Mondeo to my nan. Cylla is some a dependable spot to return groups and a alternatively beautiful spot for a romanticist tête à tête, particularly if you tin container 1 of those booths and settee down successful nan location of a glamorous oversea monster. Wear a life jacket, because immoderate things are worthy getting bedewed for.

• Cylla 43 Newhall Street, Birmingham B3, 0121-714 9443. Open each week, noon-11pm. From astir £60 a caput à la carte; group luncheon Mon-Fri (noon-4.30pm), £29.95 for 2 courses, £34.95 for three, each positive drinks & service