The Annexe, Birmingham, 26/07/14

Me and my boyfriend Tom decided to go for a night away to a hotel in Birmingham and go for dinner. Our hotel was so nice! It was the Staybridge Suites in Birmingham the rooms are huge for only £90 a night- I would recommend this hotel to anyone! It's almost like a small flat not a hotel room.

We decided to go for a few cocktails before dinner at Purnells as I have heard they have some of the best cocktails in Birmingham! It's very classy looking inside, lots of tables and sofa areas- bright lights and a bar with stools. It was very nice inside, I loved the decor- very modern. The cocktail menu was so good!! 

I firstly had a raspberry bellini 

 I then went for a passionfruit cocktail that had ameretto in it too.

DELICIOUS!!

We then went to The Annexe for our dinner, neither of us had ever been before so I was very excited! The restaurant itself is beautiful. There is a bar at the front with tables and a large dining room at the back - this is where we sat. The restaurant has a 1920's theme, its very dark inside with candles everywhere and black and white films playing on a huge projector screen. 

The place is very likeable, service was very good and the menu has many yummy choices. The food shows skill- each dish carefully thought about.

We ordered our drinks and looked through the amazing menu- each dish sounding as good as the next. We were given some bread to eat whilst looking through the menu; always a bonus in my eyes! We decided to have starters and mains- for somewhere so nice it wasn't as expensive as I expected. Starters range from £4-8 and mains from £16-25.

It took me ages to decide what starter to have bur eventually I went for…

Twice baked smoked salmon & mascarpone soufflé £ 6.50

Pecorino - leeks - chive pangrattato

WOW- this was delicious! I hadn't really had soufflé before but everyone recommends it and this one sounded particularly nice. The presentation was very good, simple but effective and the taste matched! It was gorgeous- the soufflé was cooked perfectly and went so well with the smoked salmon and mascarpone, the leeks really gave it extra flavour too. It was a delicious, beautiful blend of creamy leeks with cheesy taste and fresh smoked salmon. All amazing tastes blended together- what more could you want?!

For my main, you definitely won't be surprised what I chose…

Duo of pork £17.95

Slow roast suckling pig - crispy ham hock bon bons - celeriac & pear gratin - cauliflower puree 

Again, stunning presentation. I loved the slate plate and the simplicity of the food lay out- it looked like a piece of art almost! WOW- the taste exceeded my expectations, you all know how much I love belly pork therefore, this had a lot to live up to and I certainly wasn't disappointed in any way. The slow roast belly pork was cooked to perfection, tender pork with a crispy outside, the crispy ham hock bon bons were so different but lovely, they were a lovely mixture of soft ham hock in the middle and a crispy outside- the celeriac and pear gratin was delicious, it tasted just like potato dauphinoise but slightly creamier and you could taste the pears- which went very well with the pork. The cauliflower puree finished the dish off nicely, I don't even like cauliflower but this was so tasty and complimented the rest of the dish so well. 10/10 dish and I couldn't fault it at all. Yummy from the first to last bite.

We were quite full but we decided to share a dessert…

Lemon, Lime & Limoncello Posset £5.50 

with crispy ginger snaps

Again, the meal finished with beautiful presentation. The shot of limoncello was a nice touch- even though its very strong! The posset was so tasty, very light and refreshing. Lemon and lime compliment each other deliciously. Posset used to be a medieval drink, which has been turned into a modern desert. The crispy ginger snap finished this desert perfectly! At £5.50 its such a reasonable price too. Perfect, perfect, perfect!!

This was one of the nicest meals I have ever had and at £70 for two, I feel it was reasonable value. The food was to die for and was perfect in every way. I have no faults- except that the restaurant was very hot but it is the summer!

Everyone needs to go to this restaurant!