Two Signages on Hurst Street

This Sunday, I was in Chinatown to eat my lovely noodles. Passing in front of Red 'n Hot restaurant, I could not fail to notice they stripped off their signage.



It used to look like this.



The former signage looked doing its job, although it iwasn't particularly elegant. Why did the removed it? Weird.


Also Maharaja on the same Hurst Street changed it.

This is new one.



And this is how it used to look.



This old one was pretty new, and I don't think it last more than a year.

What is happening?

Regards to Don Salvo

Last Sunday, Birmingham Half Marathon caused Broad Street and beginning of Hagley Road closed for traffic. For this reason, I was constrained to walk from home to City centre, as, from where I live, when I cannot get the buses that pass Hagley Road, there is no other way to go to town than walking.

Walking down Broad Street, I noticed that the former China Red premises are now taken by a new outlet of Regards.



Regards is an Indian, if not at least an Asian, restaurant in Edgbaston, situated not far from the pub White Swan and from Botanical Garden. It is a rather small restaurant, and to my eyes, it is a bald move to open a large outlet in such a high-rent area, let alone the number of competitors in the Indian food market on that street.

Redecoration work is underway and I would expect it to open in a few to several weeks. Let's see what will be on offer.


And I also went to see this one, which has been widely reported by local media.



Closure of Don Salvo. According to the announcement on the window, the landlord reentered the premises as the rent had not been paid.

This is a strange place to me. Don Salvo, since the days when they were next to Mailbox (they relocated to the current Temple street location to make space for the Cube), it has often been criticised for poor service and not-more-than average food by media and by Internet reviewers. Then, moved to just in front of San Carlo, arguably the most successful Italian restaurant in city centre (I like Cielo, but it is not an Italian for me), and even after that, it managed to get a bad review in one of local newspapers. I mean, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Mystery, innit?

New entry: Cariba Bites

Yesterday I made a new page, and as I don't have a plan to do it any more pages today, I post about it here now.

Cariba Bites

I don't know if you recognised it, but it is in Indoor Market. This is more like a takeaway than restaurant, although they do have some seats available. As I have never eaten Caribbean food before and was so excited, I decided to make it an entry.

Today is the day of Birmingham Half-Marathon. Some colleagues of mine are going to participate and I am planning to see them on the street, as they are passing near my flat. Good for them!

Have a good Sunday everyone and don't forget to change the clock [saying to myself as well]!

Recent entries: Maharaja and BBQ Village

Between August and October, I passed sometime abroad and did not have enough time to explore Birmingham and write about it. However, I did write two restaurant reviews meanwhile.


First is BBQ Village



Isn't this tea pot lovely? And there was a really interesting range of regional Chinese dishes. However, it does not come cheap. For detail, please read the review.

And the next is Maharaja on Hurst Street.




Legendary establishment in Birmingham's curry history. Unfortunately, as the occasion was unexpected, I did not have my usual digital camera and had to use mobile cam. Korma here is one of the best I have ever eaten, and I usually don't like kormas!

I wish you a good weekend to everyone!

Birmingham to Lisbon

Last week I have been to Portugal for 6 days.

BmiBaby runs convenient connections to Portugal from Birmingham International Airport. I found a return ticket for £85 and I cound not resist it. Departure was 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the return was 22:30 in the night; decent timetable for budget flights.

http://www.bmibaby.com/bmibaby/en/index.aspx


This is not a place write about Portugal, but I cannot resist mentionning the convenience of living in the city with an international airport!