san carlo

i had booked a table with my boyfriend in this restaurant. the first impression is great, you enter through the bar part that recalls the bars to the french, beautifully decorated, hosted by the french. they have a great selection of drinks and a wonderful cocktail menu. the menu is very tempting, we opted for flat to share with a delicious selection of italian deli input and a side of beef as a main course, served with home fries, vegetables and a selection of three sauces.

i lived in birmingham during the autumn of 2010, and san carlo was my favorite dining experience in the city. the front of house, took my coat and sat me immediately, despite me 1) having no reservation, 2) being a 21 year old, and 3) dining alone. as an american from the south, i had never seen italian fare like this. it was more than i had prepared, and i enjoyed every second of it.

i visited san carlo with my dad nearly two years back. this place is very centrally located; it falls to your right as you walk down temple st. towards new street rail station. it overlooks this beautiful georgian baroque cathedral which i have always admired. to give you an idea of how savvy the place is, i would of course, have to tell you about the brilliant old joint stock just a stones throw away. whats more, there are top firms like wragge lawrence graham & co situated opposite of this restaurant. so, yes, its a savvy place indeed. 

anyhow, as you enter the restaurant it strikes to you how modern looking this restaurant is. not typical of italian restaurants which usually try to keep the charm alive from the 'old country'. when i visited it, i had a strange feeling that it was slightly over staffed but then again it was 2 years back.

we had made prior booking even though, the place at time was not seeing much crowd. we were shown a table promptly after checking ourselves in. we had 'agnello alla toscana', which is essentially a lamb dish. now, i have to tell you before being critical that the meat itself tasted fabulous! lamb was fresh and succulent. further, in the name of 'being top notch' it wasn't one of those restaurants which knowingly keeps the centre of the meat intentionally undercooked. 

the garnishing i wasn't so happy with. i think the chef had been a tad too liberal with the capers. now, many would tell you as i am telling you now that capers are an acquired taste, they don't in themselves make a dish taste superb. its like your love for vat69, its an acquired love. capers taste salty, piquant and stronger and more peculiar than cayenne pepper. the smell too is sort of strange and they leave a sharp salty after taste. i believe that liberal hand with capers was a turn off for me.

the use of parsley was masterful, i have always found coriander a tad too overpowering. i guess i liked the dish all in all but the capers are the reason why i would be pushing down my rating.

well, that and the staff. the staff seemed a tad sleepy and nonchalant. i think there was one waiter who seemed more proficient with the menu and with the knowledge of the ingredients therein but the younger staff did not have the finesse or the knowledge to handle the more discerning customers. 

certainly worth a visit nonetheless.

i went to this place with my grandpa. it is very nicely located in the heart of birmingham. i really liked the food both for decoration and taste. impeccable service and great value for money. they also give nice touch of french touch. we were truly impressed. and we will return as soon as possible.

i bloody love cheese. hard, soft, stinky, mild, cow or goat – i don’t discriminate. and now that winter has officially rolled in, i have no shame calling out for cheese in every meal. luckily san carlo have my back, rolling out a special menu dedicated to cheese – grana padano in particular – which will run throughout the whole of november.

my daughter and i went to san carlo on new years day my daughter had booked a table for 3.30pm it was very busy when we got there .we were asked if we had booked and we said yes there were three people in front of us who had not booked and were given a table .my daughter and i were sent downstairs and had to wait 20 minutes then we were seated downstairs .the attitude of the staff there was not good the only person  that seemed to bother was the lady taking the money.will be a long time before i go there again i was appalled at the service.

we have been using san carlo and flying pizza every week in leeds and manchester for years. it so happened we were in birmingham yesterday 11/11/2017 and we thought lets try the san carlo. we walked in and the waiter had a really bad attitude and he was very rude.  we walk out straight away

this is one of my old time favourites italian restaurants ever, i always make sure to visit whenever i am in birmingham! i recommend the seafood platter its amazing and the pasta trio ... yum!

i had visited the infamous san carlo fumo restaurant in birmingham. fumo introduces italian tapas style dishes that are delicious in relation to their main restaurant san carlo. located in the centre of birmingham and only a few minutes from san carlo, this makes fumo easily accessible for anybody to find!

at first glance, i recall that the interior was w o w. really elegant and modern, with an overview of the bar area within the dining area. we ordered a few dishes as this was during lunch-time. (and cocktails - come'on it was a birthday celebration lunch! :p)

so this is what we ate:
* lobster risotto: despite it being a small dish, we hoped that there would be lobster meat in this, however it was really nice rich in lobster flavour.
* mixed seafood calamari: squid / king prawn / scallops. i loooove calamari and this was certainly delicious! this was the first time i had tried deep fried scallops and it's definitely something i would order again.
* mixed seafood spaghetti: contains mussels / prawns / clams / squid and cherry tomatoes. this portion size was just right especially for lunch as pasta can be really filling. the creamy sauce that had garlic, butter and a kick of chilli made this dish really flavorsome.
* bruschetta with wild mushrooms: your ordinary bruschetta dish, plated on a bed of rocket leaf salad, with wild mushrooms topped with parmesan cheese. tasted lovely, wouldn't say extra-ordinary though.
* calamari: deep fried squid. yep, we loved the mixed calamari soo much that we had ordered another portion of just squid calamari. love the presentation of this.
* rice balls with meat ragu: bet you would've thought that these were meatballs right? definitely looks it! take a bite into this and you would find that it has a risotto filling with meat ragu inside. soo yummy! i loved it.


cocktails: i cannot remember at all what were the names of these! but i do remember that it tasted alot stronger than i had imagined. nevertheless, tasted really fresh and different! fumo really does like to showcase their uniqueness in presentation. how cute is that little glass :o). overall, we thoroughly enjoyed lunch at san carlo fumo, the service was great as was the food. with no doubt, we will be back to have dinner one day.

to see all the mouth watering photos please visit our blog http://prettyandtasty-ly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/san-carlo-fumo.html

what a disappointment this was , unopened mussels in my starter & veal that you could have soled my shoe with ,
never again

brilliant. we ate here for the first time on friday last. we ate here for the second time on the next night. i think i could eat here every day for a week and still come back for more (needing bigger shirts mind). these guys rock, they really know what they are doing. if you haven't been then just go.

fabulous food, excellent service although dont expect an intimate meal as tables are close. ok if you have a celeb next to you the frequent here. quite pricey but worth it. partners favourite, what can one say!!

great food, let down by being squashed in like sardines

great fish. a friend was visiting from the states who was a fish lover so had to take her to san carlo.

we chose from the chilled counter in the entrance and ate a delightful dover sole. she had prawns which were cooked to perfection in a light creamy sauce.

the service was a little fast but attentive and we didn't have to wait for anything at any time.

a must for visitors to the city!