Tag Archives: Kings Heath places to eat

Veggie dish of the day: Halloumi Wrap @ Loco Lounge, Kings Heath. 

Posted in Bars and Pubs, beer, Birmingham, Cafés and Restaurants, Kings Heath, vegan, vegetarian, Veggie foodie by

  

Sometimes walking past a cafe can be a temptation too far. I like the coffee tick, free wi Fi (I can do some blog work) tick, hungry, tick. Look in the door, quiet, tick.

Hey ho. 

The humble wrap can be as dull as ditchwater or be as bright and cheerful as sunny Autumn day. A lot of this is dependent on ingredients or the freshness of the bread. In all honesty I was expecting the former, having not had great experiences and often shying away from such a lunch time bread option. In fact I got the latter. 

The Loco Lounge in Kings Heath is the kind of friendly neighbourhood place that all areas need to provide a hungry community food all day. Mixing it with cocktails, decent tapas and a superb veggie breakfast it ticks a lot of boxes, good for children, good for coffee and good all round. Whilst dishes sometimes miss the beat slightly (usually dependent on how busy the place is, and it can get busy!) most of the time they are just fine. 

The Halloumi wrap with Red Cabbage, Carrot, Spring Onion, Corriander and Harissa Yogurt for£5.50 was good, nicely cooked Halloumi, a sprinkling of crunchy red cabbage, carrot and spring onion and mixed with spray of Corriander and the cooling Harissa Yogurt made for a filling and delicious wrap. Is Halloumi one of the foodie wonders of the world? 

Well worth exploring for lunch. 

You can add fries for £1.45. 

 

  
  
 
 Flat White at Loco Lounge. 

Thanks for reading 

Andy 😊

Disclaimer: I paid for my own wrap. My post is honest as always. 

http://thelounges.co.uk/lounges/loco-lounge/

https://twitter.com/Loco_Lounge?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

   
 Veggie breakfast at Loco Lounge. 
My review of the veggie breakfast. 

http://t.co/WXzd8EAfQv 

You can find Loco Lounge on Kings Heath High Street. 

http://www.thelounges.co.uk

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Pika Pika Pop up: Cherry Reds Kings Heath. 8th June. 

Posted in Bars and Pubs, beer, Birmingham, Cafés and Restaurants, Cocktails, Craft beer, Independent, Independent Birmingham, Pop up's, Real ale, vegetarian, Veggie foodie by

    

One of the best pop ups to attend In Birmingham for Vegetarians is at intimate Cherry Reds in Kings Heath. 

Pika Pika ( a catering group specialising in home cooked traditional Japanese food) will be in their monthly residence again on Monday 8th June. 

On the menu this month: 

Pika Pika are going to collaborate with Ramen JUNKO. 

  

Not necessarily veggie version of ramen noodle soup😊

According to Pika Pika,  Ramen JUNKO was formed by a Japanese couple based in Birmingham, they produce 100% homemade ramen noodle from the soup base to char shu pork and even handmake their own fresh noodles. 

There are many different styles of ramen noodle soup in Japan, but Pika Pika are going to serve the  Sho-yu Ramen (soya sauce soup base). Sho-yu soup base is one of the most traditional and popular soup bases for ramen in Japan. It is a clear brown broth with plenty of soya sauce added and cooked for at least half day, resulting in a soup that is tangy, salty, and savoury yet still fairly light on the palate. 

Ramen JUNKO has specially worked very hard on the Vegetarian version of Sho-yu soup. It has a very complex flavour clear brown vegetarian broth made with Konbu and mixed vegetable, cooked with soya sauce for a very long time, it is full of Umami.

All the Ramen are served with 100% homemade medium thick noodles, we made our noodles with some special water called Kansui water from Japan, which is the distinguishing ingredient in ramen noodles, it leads the noodles a yellowish hue as well as a firm texture.

What is Ramen JUNKO? 

http://wearepikapika.tumblr.com/post/120448036406/what-is-ramen-junko

Menu For Vegetarians: 

Vegetable Sho-yu Ramen £10
Home made medium thick noodles served in a complex vegetable soup, topped with seasoned boiled egg, bamboo shoots, beansprouts, spring onion, kikurage mushrooms, fried veggies with sesame oil and seaweed.

Additionally you can choose the following small dishes to accompany your Ramen. 

Onigiri £2.50

Rice balls with Nori seaweed and Takuan (Japanese pickle) x 2.

Boiled rice. 

It’s sounds a truly authentic experience, 100% Japanese Ramen Noodles are serving in Kings Heath! 

Reserve your table now, call 0121 441 3155. 

Pika Pika are not serving their ramen as a takeaway this month. 

They start serving from 6pm, little people are welcome. 

   

   

Last month Ruth and I attended the Pika Pika pop up. Cherry Reds is an intimate venue but carries pop ups really well. The space seems made for the low key, intriguing food that Pika Pika provide. 

Ruth and I shared a small dish between us: it had four pieces so was easy to share and made a good appetiser. 

The Vegetarian Makizushi was a Japanese rice roll with sweet potato, egg omelette, spinach, avocado, Takuan (Japanese pickles) and Mayo wrapped in Nori. 

The flavours were subtle, which made for good bite size pieces and had sweet but slightly spicy kick that were delightfully delicious. I could have eaten more. 

For the main course I ate the vegetarian kitsune-Don, 

Donburi means bowl abbreviated as ‘Don’ which is a traditional Japanese rice dish served in a big bowl with topped vegetables, boiled rice. 

The dish was a portion of boiled rice topped with deep fried bean curd and scrambled egg sauce with onion sprinkle, finely sliced spring onion and served with Takuan and spaghetti salad. 

It was a lovely dish, again a good spicy punch but without the hit of a fire. The flavours of egg, and the fried bean curd made for a contrasting textures and I enjoyed the spaghetti salad which gave it an extra dimension a lovely vegetarian dish. 

Pika Pika provide thoughtful vegetarian variations on the main menu. Beautifully made and washed down with the delightful Cherry reds craft beer selection it makes for a good value evening in a delightfully friendly and relaxed space. It’s like home from home with the best Japanese food. 

There were also 3 other vegetarian small dishes, so offering plenty of choice on the night. 

Pika Pika are at Cherry Reds in Kings Heath on the second Monday of the month from 6pm. 

   
     

Thanks for reading. 

Andy 😊

We paid for our own meal. My opinions are honest as always, I wasn’t requested to write any post I just wanted to. 

For my previous review of Pika Pika from 2014 see here: 

https://vegiefoodie.com/2014/11/17/pika-pika-pop-up-cherry-reds-kings-heath/

@wearepikapika