Orelle Restaurent Review with Opentable

Orelle is one of the latest restaurant’s to hit Birmingham’s food and drink scene, with the restaurant immediately standing out due to its position on the 24th floor.  Guests who enjoy a visit here are welcomed with amazing 360 degree views over Birmingham, delicate trendy interior and impeccable service.  If you didn’t know, you think you were enjoying some time in the capital.  But no, located on Colemore Row, this decadent top floor French restaurant is not one to miss when you are next in Birmingham.

Birmingham has some incredible restaurants on offer ranging from funky burger joints, the best fried chicken, to family friendly restaurants all the way up to Michelin star – we are very lucky!

Prior to visiting, I needed to bag myself a reservation first – let’s face it, any restaurant that ranks high in popularity is going to be difficult to get!  And I wasn’t wrong! However, I was booking about 8 weeks in advance and chose a Friday night which seemed more achievable.  We often use Opentable when booking restaurants.  It’s an online service of making booking restaurant’s a whole lot easier and it’s also a fantastic way of searching for local places to dine too, especially if you fancy a change.

Opentable even comes as an app making our lives even easier!  The app can track your location meaning if your somewhere new, it can recommend local restaurants to book.

When booking Orelle through Opentable, it was a super simple and smooth process and we were lucky to have our chosen date and time available.  Our booking was emailed immediately to us, with a reminder sent the day prior too, which i thought was great as if you had changed your mind and wanted to cancel, this was a great reminder to do so.

Orelle Birmingham

Upon entering 103 Colemore row you are greeted to a cosy yet elegant downstairs bar.  We were early for our resevation so we chose a seat at the bar where we enjoyed a glass of prosecco and a gin and lemonade.  The bar offered high ceilings and a warm interior despite the large door being open and closed often letting the cold air swoop in!

We were then directed to the lifts at the end of the bar to take us up to the 24th floor – this felt exciting and I already felt that Orelle’s was going to be special; and I wasn’t wrong. As the lift doors open, you are inside the restaurant and greeted by the efficient staff at the reception.  Our coats were whisked away and we were lead to our table, a round soft shell like seat with views over the twinkling lights of Birmingham.  We sat down beaming from ear to ear, already knowing we were going to have a special experience here.

Our server brought over the menus and a wine list and we took our time, perusing the wine menu and choosing what food we were going to devour that evening!  The menu is french inspired and offered the likes of dressed crab, beef tartare and Lake District Lamb.

After ordering a delicious white wine and our meals, we got offered warm crusty bread which I have to say was delicious in itself and when the waiter noticed we had none left brought even more to the table.

As we sat enjoying our wine, we sat back to take it all in.  The restaurant was humming with guests, offering a buzzing atmosphere.  The views were outstanding and the BT tower loomed up high in the distance.  The trendy decor was also not one to miss.  Think navys blues and a hint of burnt orange added to the mix, with low lighting and super high ceiling; this place felt luxurious.

The food

Our starters arrived and I went with the champignon (barbequed hen of the wood, cep mushroom & white soy velouté, aged parmesan).  Matt went for the Tartare (Longhorn beef, confit egg yolk, pickled Maitake, pommes allumettes).

Matt really enjoyed his starter of the tartare, a smooth beef with added texture from the topped crunchy potatoes.  He said it was wonderful.  My mushroom concoction was a perfectly light starter to begin the evening and I even saved some bread to lap up that perfectly delicate white soy sauce – perfect!

I had then chose the lamb, which was delicious and Matt chose the pork.  Both were outstanding and we accompanied them with all three sides; triple cooked new potatoes, potato puree and tenderstem broccoli.

The crunchy salty new potatoes were a winner for me with the broccoli nothing to shout home about.  Matt thought the potato puree was to die for.  Whilst we enjoyed our mains, I think we envied other guests orders of the Cote de Boeuf which looked like the show stopper to be honest (there is next time!) Having said that, we were both very happy with our orders and both meats were cooked perfectly.

To finish, whilst I didn’t have enough room for dessert (ok maybe a few mouthfuls!) Matt chose the salted caramel tart with passionfruit which was outstanding.  I had read that desserts were brought out on a trolly but not this evening which was disappointing as I was looking forward to that.  However, the dessert alone made up for it and I accompanied my few mouthfuls with an espresso martini, the perfect end to a perfect night.

Our final thoughts of Orelles

We loved our experience so much at Orelles.  From the moment you walk in your swept away in this delightful experience of dining up high in the clouds and it feels very elegant and special from the get go.  The staff went above and beyond to make your evening special and we never had to pour our own wine, with staff ensuring our glasses were topped up always.

The decor and views are what makes the restaurant for me, with the food being delicious but not the selling point.  Service isn’t quick but that suited us; we love to enjoy the experience of dining out and hate being rushed.  Our dining reservation was at 8.15pm and we left at midnight. It really is a place where you’ll want to take your time and enjoy the whole package.  If you have a special celebration coming up, it’s definitely worth checking out Orelle Birmingham.

Thanks for reading xxx