Tag Archives: Pika Pika

October Food pop-Ups @ Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath. 

Posted in Bars and Pubs, Independent, Kings Heath, Pop up's, vegetarian, Veggie foodie by

  

It’s that time of year again, when Hare and Hounds have their October Pop ups in Kings Heath. 

They are usually good nights for Vegetarians as their’s usually plenty of choice, and a vegetarian menu quite often. 

That is the case with this months cracking line up. 

First up is Buddha Belly on the 1st October for authentic Thai Street Food, including veggie menu. I’m looking forward to this one. 

Then for the next four weeks we have: 

6th October: Vegetarian Dosa’s with Pop Up Dosa. 

15th October: Pika Pika (Ramen Night) 

22nd October: La Grande Viande, French Street Food 

29th October: Indian Rasoi, Halloween feast. 

I’ve enjoyed food with both Pika Pika and Pop Up Dosa, which on previous pop ups have been delicious. 

All pop ups have veggie menus. 

Tickets for all are available via Hare and Hounds website: 

http://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Birmingham/Hare-And-Hounds/Buddha-Belly-Pop-Up-Dinner/12523412/

http://hareandhoundskingsheath.skiddletickets.com/event.php?id=12523808

http://hareandhoundskingsheath.skiddletickets.com/event.php?id=12523749

http://hareandhoundskingsheath.skiddletickets.com/event.php?id=12523986

Presently no details of the Indian Rasoi are on the Hare and Hounds website. 

Thanks for reading. 

Andy 😊

    
Pika Pika. 

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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 

Spring Food Pop Ups: Take Over series: April at The Hare and Hounds Kings Heath. 

Posted in Bars and Pubs, beer, Birmingham, Events, Food, Independent, Independent Birmingham, Japanese food, Pop up's, Pubs, Real ale, vegan, vegetarian, Veggie foodie by

 

The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham this April is opening up its kitchen for their latest instalment of its pop up food takeover series. 

It sees Pika Pika, The Indian Rasoi, The Vegan Grindhouse and The Flying Cows all serve up a specially created 3 course set menu in the back bar each Thursday throughout the month. 

First up will be Pika Pika on the 9th April who specialise in Oriental fusion home cooking and have recently completed pop ups at near by Cherry Reds in Kings Heath that I had the pleasure of trying last year. 

There will be a Vegetarian menu available. But specify when booking. 

Starters will be a mixed starter platter and a Maki Sushi Roll vegetarian with dumpling edamame

Main course: Nasu Katsu curry- a traditional Japanese curry with onion, carrot, potato topped with breadcrumbs and deep fried aubergine slices filled with Karashi (Japanese mustard) served with boiled rice and salad

For desert a Matcha cake served with cat biscuit and azuki bean whipping cream. 

Cost of the 3 course is £15 and the pop up starts at 7pm

  

On the 16th April The Indian Rasoi will be providing an evening of authentic Indian Cuisine. 

On the menu are dishes for Vegetarians  such as:

Potato/peas Tikki Chaat, served with marinated chick peas, pomegranate and red onion, mint and chilli chutney. 

Methi, mixed bean medley. Served with flame griddles aubergine purée, home ground spices, cumin rice, Tawa bread parantha, turmeric oil and warm coriander slaw. 

Warm Indian chilli infused carrot and coconut cake with homemade kulfi ice cream

The cost is £15 for three courses. 

   

 

On the 22nd April The Vegan Grindhouse will be taking over. 

Serving a completely Vegan menu it will include: 

Starters: Buffalo Cauli wings served with Pip’s Hot Sauce

GrindHouse Nachos. 

Main course: Grindhouse Burger, signature meatless, quarter pounder with vegan cheese. 

Philly Cheese steak 

Organic six bean chilli, homemade and much loved. 

Sides 

BBQ beans, Grindhouse Slaw, side salad,

Deserts: New York ‘cheese cake gluten free and vegan. 

Ice cream cookie sandwich. Vegan 

For £20 per person you receive 1 starter, 1 main, 2 sides, and 1 desert. 

   

   

On the 30th April the Flying Cows takeover the Hare and Hounds. The cost is £15 for 3 courses menu to be announced. Keep an eye on Veggie Foodie for an update. 

For all reservations, tickets check The Hare and Hounds website/events. 

http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/

Hare and Hounds, High Street, Kings Heath, B14 7JZ. 

http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/

@hareandhounds:Twitter. 

Thanks for reading

Andy 😊

@andydhare 

   

   

Pika Pika Pop up @Cherry Reds Kings Heath

Posted in Bars, Cafés and Restaurants, Catering, Cocktails, Independent, Independent Birmingham, Kings Heath, Pop up's, vegan, vegetarian, Veggie foodie by

Sometimes the best meals you eat are the ones that are not planned, but are spontaneous. Ruth and I hadn’t planned to eat at Cherry Reds in Kings Heath, but at Fletchers bar, but because they had chef problems we found ourselves there instead.

We wanted to escape the cardboard boxes that were sitting in our new house, having moved in on that day and feeling tired and hungry we chose well. That’s the thing with Kings Heath, you can eat well 🙂

On arriving at Cherry Reds we were told that they had the Pika Pika pop up on tonight and they had a free table..Hurray!

I’d wanted to visit the pop up for awhile, as they seemed to have very good and varied vegetarian options , but hadn’t got round to it. So it was a good opportunity.

Cherry Reds in Kings Heath is a very inviting place with a cool, chilled vibe and atmosphere, alternative, and cosy. It’s well known for its pop ups, and Pika Pika is one that has a good reputation. The service in Cherry Reds is friendly, and they do excellent food, both day and evenings, from breakfasts to dinner and superb cocktails and world beers and ale.

Pika Pika are a Japanese catering company and they run a Japanese food pop up restaurant every 2nd Monday at Cherry Reds in Kings Heath. The food consists of Home made Japanese starters, snacks, and sides and main courses. Some of the food is to share. A full desert menu is available from Cherry Reds on the night. There is as i’ve said a wide choice of vegetarian options, both main course and smaller sharing tapas like dishes. Menus change every month.

The main course dish we both ate on the night was called Vegetarian Nikujaga: which is mixed vegetables with a shirataki noodles, cooked in a pot with special soya sauce, served with boiled rice and Pika Pika salad.

We both really enjoyed the dish, deliciously flavoured and with a contrasting noodle and vegetable flavours with a lovely soya sauce biting through it. The rice was also delicious served round, a lovely main course and introduction to Pika Pika’s food.

We followed this up with a beautiful Cherry Reds Chocolate brownie, sorry no photo, but it was very good indeed.

I also enjoyed a couple of English Staffordshire lagers and Ruth had a couple of glasses of white wine.

We both enjoyed our first visit to the Pika Pika pop up. The vegetarian options on the menu change monthly to keep them fresh and to entice vegetarians to eat their every month, and certainly a return visit is very likely, as the food we ate was well made and of good value and in the cool and chilled atmosphere of Cherry Reds is a good way of spending a Monday evening.

For bookings contact Cherry Reds on contact number below.

We paid for our meal in full. My opinions are my own and honest.

wearepikapika.tumblr.com

@wearepikapika

Cherry Reds Kings Heath
16 York Road,
Kings Heath
Birmingham
B14 7RZ

0121 441 3155

@ilovecherryreds

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Tasty Morsels: New Pop Up’s.

Posted in Catering, Events, Pop up's by

There are a few pop up’s on top of the ones at Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath doing the rounds at the moment. The one’s I like the look of are the ones that give different types of food a chance.

Over the next few weeks sees two such pop up’s.

1. 63 Islands Caribbean are a new caterer cooking dishes influenced by the Spanish, French, Dutch and Indian settlers to the Caribbean. They have a pop up at Cherry Reds on John Bright Street in the city centre near the Alex Theatre and Turtle Bay serving their food on the 28th July from 6.30pm. They do have a veggie and vegan options.

There is:

1 starter a Spicy Pumpkin Soup
1 main a dish called Channa (spiced chick peas) served with coconut, infused rice and peas or flatbread (roti).

Plus a few side orders including plaintain and spicy pickled coleslaw and flatbread (roti) which are all vegan as are the chickpeas.

Contact 0121 643 5716 for details and reservations.
@63_Islands for menus.
@Ilovecherryreds

2. Pika Pika (whom I’ve mentioned as being at The Hare and Hounds Kings Heath foodie nights on the 24th July see previous post) are a Japanese Catering group who specialise in serving Oriental Fusion Cuisine.

Pika Pika have another pop up evening on Wednesday 30th July 2014 at The Ort Cafe in Balsall Heath/Moseley area. They will be providing an authentic Japanese pop up dinner experience which again includes veggie and vegan options on the menu. This takes place on the 30th July from 6-9pm.

Reservations are recommended email josie@ortcafe.co.uk or call 07845 083 322.

wwww.ortcafe.co.uk/pika-pika-pop-up
@wearepikapika
http://www.wearepikapika.tumblr.com

If I have more information at any point on menus for Pika Pika I will update the post.

Pika Pika will also be testing their culinary skills at a pop up at Cherry Reds in Kings Heath on 11th August 2014. I will keep an eye and post the menu in due course.

Finally, Cherry Reds again (busy people :)) have a pop up kitchen in their John Bright Street cafe on the last Monday of the month. This will be a different street food vendor every month. Watch this space for updates and check on their website http://www.cherryreds.com for details.

Plus, every Wednesday Cherry Reds in John Bright Street are offering a bottle of house wine with every purchase from the menu. Sounds a bargain. 🙂

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