Even now as Birmingham Food Blogger, I still love it when I’m invited to try new and upcoming menus for restaurants. Seriously, how has this become a normal thing to do on an evening? Do you think it’s now acceptable to add ‘burger eater’ to my CV? You may have seen from my previous Revolution post that I was sceptical before reviewing first time around. I was pleasantly surprised by the high standard of both food and service from the Birmingham branch, located on Broad Street right in the heart of the city’s bustling nightlife.
This time around, I was invited to try the 2-4-1 Burgers option (Every Tuesday, all day) and asked to sample some cocktails and a dessert from the menu. You can just call me Miss Piggy from now on. A new interesting twist on all meals is that if your food isn’t brought out to your table in 15 minutes from ordering, you receive the meal for free. I think this is a fantastic concept as you would certainly expect service time to improve dramatically. Revolution also promotes a whopping 50% off all meals every Monday. I am still not certain as to whether the chain is struggling or whether they are too damn generous…
Having a plus +1 meant Josh was able to dine with me and we booked in a few hours before our flight to Gran Canaria. We happily ordered some cocktails to kick off our holiday celebrations. Josh chose a coconut based Rum Bongo drink and I opted for a Captain Coconut which consists of: Kraken and Malibu rums, banana liqueur, pineapple & orange juice. They must’ve known we were off on our holiday as they also kindly bought out a complimentary sangria to compliment our starters. Bring on the booze!
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Strips (£5.25) came out fresh from the kitchen and was accompanied by a decent sized portion of calamari with aioli dip and garnish (£3.95). I’m a sucker for fried dishes so these were the two which stood out most as starters. Revolution also serve garlic flatbreads, nachos, skewers and wedges and also promotea variety of mezze and meat boards to share. If you fancy a small bite to eat with cocktails instead of main meals, a deal of 3 starters for £13 is also optional. The chicken strips were tender with a crunchy bite of batter, perfect for a bit of melt in the mouth action. A small side dish of ‘big easy mayo’ was included which was tangy and complimented the chicken perfectly. I was impressed by the standard of quick service and hot food as we had only been waiting for our food for around 8 minutes.
Calamari is a very difficult dish to get right, or at least I think so. There is nothing worse than having a plate of rubber textured food placed in front of you which tastes like car tyres. Luckily for us, the calamari on the day was perfectly executed. The ratio of batter to squid was spot on, both indulgent and tantalising when dipped into the garlic sauce. I have a slight addiction to aioli after visiting Prague so my standards are always set extremely high when it comes to garlic dips. I didn’t think much of the handful of rocket on the plate, however. It’s as if they want the dish to have a healthy appeal, but I’d rather just take a plateful of batter any day. I would recommend the calamari starter if you’re feeling peckish and want to satisfy your carb cravings.
I’m not sure how to explain the main meal. We were told before we arrived that the delivery of buns for burgers hadn’t arrived, so if we were to order burgers they would come as a ‘skinny’ option without the bread. I didn’t mind at the time but when the meal arrived I felt it was lacking on visual appeal. I opted for the Frazzle Roq burger – beefburger, roquefort cheese, streaky bacon, frazzles and BaconQ sauce. On the menu it sounded like a quirky option but after taking a few bites I wasn’t too keen of the cheese. It was a little too pungent for me and it overwhelmed the overall taste of burger. Josh sensibly chose the Smokin’ Bacon which consists of- cheddar, chorizo ketchup, wotsits and crispy onions. After trialling both I definitely preferred the taste of his to mine. I would advise you to order the burgers in the pretzel buns as I feel without, the meal doesn’t live up to its hype. I also honked of blue cheese all the way to the airport, oops!
We had enough time to indulge in a little sugary treat before leaving and were encouraged to try desserts from the ‘hey sweet thing‘ section of the menu. Desserts range from sundaes, to cheesecakes, brownies and apple pie – a typical menu for Revolution. The Nutella Fluffwich (£3.95) consisted of marshmallow fluff, Nutella chocolate, sourdough bread and a blueberry compote and it came with a spoon which make me chuckle. Who eats a sandwich with a spoon? The inside was an indulgent, chocolatey gooey mess and the melted marshmallow oozed out the sides. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the dessert, it really was just an overhyped Nutella sandwich. I make them at home on a regular basis and doesn’t cost me £4!
I’m surprised Josh didn’t opt for the brownie but instead chose the New York Baked Cheesecake with crème fraiche and a Strawberry (£3.50). It tasted like any other standard cheesecake in my opinion but the serving was a huge portion. With every spoonful, in my head I kept singing ‘buttery biscuit base’, damn you Masterchef! Overall we were happy with the service, but felt the mains were standard and lacked in what could have been a promising meal. I don’t believe the meal was as rewarding as the first time we visited, but I really appreciated the invitation and tasting the delicious coconut cocktails.
Five Ways,, Broad St, Birmingham B15 1AY
Please note: I was invited to review Revolution’s menu with a +1. Opinions are 100% honest and are my own.
Would love to eat here but I’m trying so hard to be healthy right now! I’ll just drool over your pictures instead! 😉
Dee | PromptsbyDee xoxo