THE LOST & FOUND, BENNETTS HILL: NEW MENU

YESTERDAY saw us venturing to The Lost & Found [a Grade II listed building on Bennetts Hill] to accept an invitation to try their new menu:

Hiya The Lost & Found!

We turned up, starved out of our minds, ready for whatever they had to throw at us, after we ordered some cocktails [of course] from Matt who was incredibly helpful, very friendly and knew a lot about the menu.

Starved, sippin' on a cocktail

Both the Apple & Pear Cobbler  (L) and the Ms. H.G. Watson (R) were deliciously fruity,

incredibly more-ish and half price thanks to Happy Hour!

We've had dinner here before, but the first difference we noticed was that the menu seemed much more grown up and much less pub-like. Had Hettie given it elocution lessons? It seemed that way, but the reality is that the new Head Chef has a brilliant vision, something that is evident from merely looking at the new menu.

Hiya new menu!

BUT ON WITH THE SHOW. We wanted to get a good feel for what the new food was about so tried to stick to ordering completely different dishes. First was:

         a] Crispy Fried Goat's Cheese with beetroot and horseradish remoulade, beetroot purée and onion ash:

Prettier than Miranda Kerr on a good day

Not only did it look beautiful, each component had a very distinct flavour, with the remoulade being particularly punchy, a great sharp contrast to the gooey/crispy cheese.

          b] Surf & Turf / Slow Cooked pork cheek, black pudding, king scallop, cauliflower purée and apple:

This is the 'metrosexual' of dishes; very manly, but very elegant all at the same time

Everything in this dish was cooked perfectly and the flavours were well-balanced. Definitely go for this starter if you've a big appetite and like bold flavours. Obviously this had to be washed down with another few cocktails:

Probably the most gentlemanly cocktail I've ever met, the Birmingham Cup mixes Gin, Corriander,and top hats,

amongst other things

The Raspberry Lemonade with its abundance of fruit and alcohol is so popular they have it on [sort of] tap

Now back to our stomachs and the main event. The main courses offer a great range of red meat, white meat, fish and vegetarian options but, unable to try everything on the menu for fear we'd combust, we opted for:

          a] Lemon & Fennel Poached Salmon with chargrilled asparagus, chorizo oil, poached egg and

             chorizo crumble:

It almost looked too good to eat, so I ate it

The flavour of the chorizo crumble with the salmon was heavenly; it's a combination I've never had before but it really works, adding a smokeyness to the salmon that doesn't overpower it. I think it may also have convinced me that you don't have to eat egg at breakfast only.

          b] 6 Hour Braised Beef Shin with red wine jus, celeriac mash, crispy leek and ox cheek faggot

It's like the best tasting eyeball I've ever seen

The hours of cooking this beef really shone through in its tenderness and it almost melted in the mouth, but the "pretty bloody tasty"  faggot was the real surprise in this dish, full of flavour and really complementing well the celeriac mash.

And as if we had space for anything else, we went on to order two desserts out of sheer greed and intrigue.

          a] Peanut Butter Parfait with peanut brittle and dark chocolate millefeuille:

PeanutMANIA

The parfait was like a really light, cool, solid peanut-ty mousse, refreshing and indulgent all at the same time with the crunchy brittle and smooth millefeuille as lovely extra treats if you're sharing, so you can each tuck into something different at the same time. Amazing.

          b]Melting Chocolate Pot Pudding with salted caramel and home made tonka bean ice cream

We drew the heart to show the dessert how amazing we thought it looked, and because we're basically big children

If I had to choose a favourite dish of the evening it would have to be this. Imagine being addicted to something so much that you lose the ability to talk in its presence; that's what happened. The melty chocolate. Oh my gosh. The salted caramel sauce. OH MY GOSH. We couldn't put our spoons down until after the entire board had been cleared and all [and I mean all] the salted caramel had been scraped off strategically. Also, tonka bean ice cream has such an unusual and [again] addictive flavour that you're going to be disappointed you can't just go out and buy it from the corner shop.

The Botanical Garden area is where we were seated and basically looks like you've stepped into

an upside-down Victorian courtyard. Very cool.

As you can tell from the menu [top], the prices are very reasonable for the quality and standard of food that is now being served. The Lost & Found is no longer a place to go for a drink and a nibble [don't be rude]; it is now a place to go back to solely for the food. On par with those of the surrounding established restaurants, the new menu is a testament to the passion and hard work of its creator and is clearly the start of big things. I'll be back soon to try the burger which has GUINNESS in it? Yes please.

STANLEY

p.s 

                        sshhh...they've got a little secret