cielo

what a wonderful location to have a meal. cielo takes a prominent spot in one of the courtyards of brindleyplace which has a lovely little stream and beautiful trees that bear the most beautiful of flowers in spring. 

surrounded by high rise office buildings, the lower floors of which are mostly restaurants, there's a certain calmness in the area that further enhances the ambiance and add to that outside seating on non-rainy/snowy days. as a result, cielo is set to give its customers a wonderful dining experience.

cielo is something in-between fine and causal dining. you'd want to dress up a little to be here unless you want to stick out. the same is true for the food served which is presented beautifully in an elegant manner by a professional staff that is as knowledgable about the wine they serve as they are about suggesting the best item on the menu for you.

cielo serves mostly mediterranean cuisine with emphasis on sea food and pastas. their risotto is highly recommended.

if you're looking for some relaxed yet sophisticated dining then cielo is a good bet. weather permitting i highly recommend sitting outside.

came here for my girlfriend's birthday dinner last night, and it was a decent dinner!

first of all, the service is undoubtedly nice! they greeted us warmly, took us to our table, and made sure if our foods were alright.

then, one thing not less important is the ambiance. they kept the ambiance well. italian music played in a right volume, yellowish lights made windy birmingham warm. it was so nice to be here. unfortunately, we got some loud-talker neighbors near to our table.

well, the main thing: the food!
we ordered 3 course from their fixed menu. i'm impressed with the linguine (starter) and pork sausages (main). they're legit!
but, the one makes me want to come back is the dessert: tiramisu! well, i'm not a big fan of desserts, but this one is exceptional!

great sevice and delicious menu. beautifully lit venue and tables. location is ideal-central birmingham city area not too far from board street so easy to get cabs.

the food was consistent, if a little uninspiring at times.

a well-known italian restaurant in birmingham, cielo has been in brindleyplace for eleven years, and changes up its fixed menu every fortnight to provide diners with flexibility. but does this constant change fit with the challenge of delivering truly authentic italian dishes?

atmosphere

the warm smell of garlic pounced right at our nose as we took the first step inside cielo, the aroma building up as we waited to be seated. the decoration is fairly simple and modern, featuring suede textured wallpaper, dim lighting, and a calmly flowing water feature.

food

we started off with the cestino di pane – a selection of warm freshly baked bread.two of the four rolls bore rustic toppings such as sunflower seeds and sundried tomatoes with rosemary.

on this occasion, the antipasto all’italiana seemed perfect as a starter. this was a combination of thinly sliced italian cured meats, a little too far on the salty side, but well acoompanied with the sharpness of sourly pickled artichoke, gherkin, pepperdew peppers, carrots, onions and soft baby mozzarella pieces served with a small portion of crostini kept the dish light and refreshing.

we also had cozze allo zafferano – a dish generously filled with fresh mussels and a vibrant yellow sauce made with a pinch of saffron, heart-warming garlic and fresh dill. compared to other white wine sauces, it was not over-potent, but rather creamy, velvety and created a gorgeous boost of flavour.

my main was linguine al granchio – linguine pasta with fresh crab meat, chilli and garlic in a vin blanc sauce.the pasta had a lightweight texture to it, which absorbed the sauce nicely, however, it started to get a bit oily towards the bottom of the dish. the intensely satisfying flavour of crab meat came through with almost every bite. on the downside, it seemed as if one promised ingredient was missing: chilli – there was no real kick.

my guest decided on the costolette d’agnello – cornish lamb cutlets and a small rack cooked to the preference of medium. the meat was tender, succulent and melted deliciously in the mouth. accompanying this was a watery yet highly flavoured barolo wine jus. and the smallest dip of the creamy shallot puree went a long way. crispy potato slices were fine, but i would have liked more of the honey-glazed baby carrots that came with the dish.

fondente al cioccolato (chocolate fondant) arrived amid a lovely aroma of fresh baked goodness. the texture was airy, with a thin layer of cherries above the gooey chocolatey sauce, and the sponge was rich in dark chocolate with a pinch of salt. the hazelnut ice-cream and bites of fresh raspberries were fantastic.

my indecisive guest chose the tero di dolci - a trio of desserts. the pannacotta was smooth and dense and vanilla in taste. it had a sweet raspberry jelly-like topping and an enjoyable crunch of toasted almonds. the pigmented blackcurrant sorbet was rather sharp, tangy and sweet once it had dissolved, but it was settled with a bite full of the light strawberry cheesecake.

drinks

cielo has a good menu of fine wines and champagnes but just a few popular cocktails. a glass of smooth, sweet and fruity montepulciano d’abruzzo was my choice, while my companion enjoyed a glass of pinot grigio rose – light and delicate, with sweet bursts of strawberry and berry flavours, and a soft finish.

pricing

cestino di pane = £3.95

antipasto all’italiana = £9.95

cozze allo zafferano = £9.50

linguine al granchio = £16.95

costolette d’agnello = £21.95

desserts = £5.95 each

montepulciano d’abruzzo = £5 (175ml)

pinot grigio rose = £5.75 (175ml)

overall

service was somewhat slow; we had a ten minute wait for the table and a roughly fifteen-minute gap between starters and mains. the food, however, delivered beyond my expectations and the staff were polite and attentive. a good option for special occasions, and for people who want a taste of flavoursome and convincingly authentic italian cuisine.

i went to this restaurant yesterday night, we booked a table for two and was expecting a lot for the money, considering thai edge was faultless; very posh.

so we arrived at around 6.40, we knew we were early so we just sat in the lounge part until we were called to our table. i asked for some water and my friend had a stella; the waitress gave me tap water which i wasn't very happy with. it came to 7:10 pm when we were called to a table for four, so it was late and wrong! we had made a reservation for a table for two, this was really annoying as we found it hard to talk to each other as the table was so big and it was very loud in there as it was.

the waitress gave us literally 2 minutes until she came over and asked if we wanted to order, so we ordered bread and olive oil etc; and our mains. the bread came out shortly after so we started to dig in; 2 minutes later our mains came out! we had hardly touched the bread and was in shock that our food had came out 5 minutes after ordering! this for us was very unusual as you normally wait around 30 to 45 minutes and on top of that we hadn't even finished our starter and also we hadn't been asked if we wanted anymore drinks; there wasn't even a drinks menu on the table.

i've put some of the pasta on my fork and attempted to eat it! i burnt my mouth and so did my friend, it was pipping hot, like really hot. i left it for a while and just carried on eating the bread, finally i could eat the pasta after 5 minutes when it cooled down; i wasn't impressed, it was ok but in honesty i could of made it at home myself; the pasta was around 18 pound each, i had chorizo and tomato (it had a different name) and my friend had chicken and sauce (had a different name.) like i said it was average.

when we had finished our pasta we waiting around 20 minutes until we were asked if we wanted deserts (we still hadn't been given a drinks menu and we also wasn't asked if we wanted anymore drinks) so by this time i asked myself, i said could i have the cocktail menu please, she replied with what cocktail would you like; this again shocked me, i asked her if they had anything with frangelico in it, she replied yes so i asked her if i could just have that, my friend had a stella again; we also ordered two tiramisu's. about 10 minutes later our drinks and our desert arrived; i must say the tiramisu was really really nice so i can't complain about that.

we had finished our drinks and also our deserts. we waited over half an hour for the bill; this was the cherry on top.

i'd also like to add that there was a man in there sitting on his own at a table for two; he was wearing tracksuit bottles and a baggie t-shirt; he ordered food and sat there on his ipad watching films with his headphones on; i thought this made the restaurant look very tacky, not to mention we could have sat at that table.

also normally at expensive restaurants you expect a bit more; for an example at thai edge they hold the wine professionally with their thump and lay out napkins on your lap and what not, and you can't pour your own drinks and they won't let your glass go empty.

i was very disappointing, it was expensive and not what i expected at all.

on top of that i rang to complain politely and the manager was a disgrace he was so rude and i quote told me that "if i wanted to go somewhere where people wear ties than i should move to london where the queen lives" the bill was over £100 and its in brindley place which is lovely, the service was appalling, disgusting food, they let a man in tracksuit bottoms what tv at a table, no drinks menu, waited ages over half an hour for the bill. felt abused by the manager when i rang up! on principle i hope know one who reads this ever visits this absolute dive!!

...the antipasto all’italiana seemed perfect as a starter. this was a combination of thinly sliced italian cured meats, a little too far on the salty side, but well acoompanied with the sharpness of sourly pickled artichoke, gherkin, pepperdew peppers, carrots, onions and soft baby mozzarella pieces served with a small portion of crostini kept the dish light and refreshing...

good, fast service and nice food

great. arguably the best place to eat in central birmingham, along with edmunds. hi quality food at reasonable prices. very good service. have never eaten there and been disappointed. business lunch is particularly good value.