Espirito Brum this Saturday!!

So, we were planning on a quiet weekend at home this time, however, when we spotted this one coming up, that soon changed.

Espirito Brum is in its third year, and is based in Kings Heath for 2013. An annual celebration of music and art is set to be the centre piece of a host of cultural activity in Kings Heath this weekend. 

There will be live music, contemporary performance art, cinema screenings, free workshops, family activities, art installations and a charity art auction; And of course, Kings Heath regulars Brumyumyum will be in attendance with a pretty impressive line-up of streetfood vendors (find them in the village square!) There will also be the Community Cinema, Farmers Market and Vintage Flea Market.

Sounds like a great day out not to be missed!

Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul - Moseley

Mostly Jazz has entered its fourth year in the festival game and continues to blossom as one of the best small festivals in the UK. And what a weekend we were blessed with for fantastic music and food.

Having never been to the venue, Moseley Park before, we can happily say what a hidden gem it is! Walking down to the entrance, there were people a’plenty in floral shirts and summery dresses equipped with fold away chairs and factor 50 sun cream.

After exchanging our tickets for summer green wristbands, we could hear BJ Smith finishing off what sounded like a mesmerising set on the second stage to an already packed out park.

There were no worries of any artists clashing due to the organisers great idea of having only one act playing on stage at one time with the next act ready and waiting on the stage next door.

Just before Hiatus Kaiyote entered the fray, we thought it’d only be right to go in search of tasty foods which were on offer. Another great aspect of Mostly Jazz is the lack of over-expensive, cheap in taste burger vans. If it’s things like Thai, Caribbean or Falafel you’re into then you were not to be disappointed. After much deliberation, Vegetaria's Falafel with red peppers and feta was chosen as our weapon of choice.

VEGETARIA FALAFEL - £6

We found a great spot on the hill next to the other revellers just in time for Hiatus Kaiyote. Due to our ignorance we hadn’t realised this was their first time in the UK as a band so it felt quite special to be able to have witnessed these guys break their duck in Brum. They hit the ground running straight away with the song ‘Nakamarra’ which saw a great influx of people rise from their picnic state to get their dance on at the front. They also said between songs that they will be touring the UK later in the year so watch this space.

And as the sun started to set, we reached the main event – BONOBO. So good he got the caps lock treatment. Having had the crowd well and truly warmed by the likes of Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and local representatives Troumaca and Greg Bird, Bonobo and friends entered the stage and hit straight into one of the big tunes of 2013 already – Cirrus. This was our cue to sprint pint in hand as close to the front as possible to get our dad-dance on. They played an incredible hour and a half set, which involved a lot of interaction with the crowd and even a nice mention from Bonobo himself saying how Mostly Jazz was one of the festivals he was most excited about playing.

THE TWO STAGES - MOSTLY JAZZ

I think by the time they had treated us to an encore, everyone can agree that it was a successful first day. We were left with envy by the lucky/smart people who had purchased weekend tickets and had musical wonderments such as Candi Staton and the legend Nile Rodgers still to come. Without a doubt we will be here again next year to this fantastic festival that showcases what a great place Moseley is.

This Weekend - Mostly Jazz, Stratford River Festival, Bitters n Twisted Ciderfest

So...What is everyone up to this weekend? 

We've got a busy one ahead of us! 

Tomorrow sees us going to Mostly Jazz Festival in Moseley Park. Very much looking forward to seeing Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Troumaca and Bonobo, all appearing on the Leftfoot Main Stage. We will be sampling some more Purity Beer in the sunshine, and we're sure there will be some delicious food on offer! 

Saturday we will be heading South to Stratford River Festival. It's a lovely free day out, where you can take your own food and drink, sit by the River Avon and enjoy the music coming from the bandstand. Finishing the night with a firework display and illuminated river parade, a very enjoyable day out. Especially if the sun is shining which is should be...And there is usually some great food and drinks vendors in attendance too!

The 4th Bitters ‘n Twisted Ciderfest is on throughout July and this Sunday staff from all the 4 venues taking part (The New Inn - Harborne, The Jekyll & Hyde - Steelhouse Lane, The Victoria - John Bright St. and The Rose Villa Tavern - Jewellery Quarter) are  partaking in a CIDER COCKTAIL COMPETITION!  Kicking off at 3pm at The New Inn, we are hoping to make it along to have a sample of some of the competition entries and special cider concoctions. Sponsored by the lovely Rekorderlig Cider, we've got high hopes for some delicious Sunday afternoon drinks. (Free samples of the new passion fruit Rekorderlig are on offer too! Mmmm...)

Hope you all have a great sunny weekend!

Shrewsbury Food Festival

The sunshine was very welcome on Saturday 29^th June as it saw the opening of the Shrewsbury Food Festival in Quarry Park. With only a £5 entry fee we couldn't resist, so we got the train up there nice and early.

We had a look at pretty much every stand, and tasted some delicious goods! Some really brilliant companies selling great products. If only we could have bought more…

We couldn't resist the Chicken by Mother Clucker which was coated using butter milk! And came with artisan roll, leaves and ranch dressing, it was a beast of a sandwich…

 

MOTHER CLUCKER SANDWICH - CLUCKIN' GOOD £5

When one ½ of us spotted “Vegetarian Heaven” we made a beeline. Kuskus Foods served up some delicious wheat free falafel with Lebanese salsa and naked hummus, with SO much delicious seasoning! Kuskus Foods also attend Moseley market, which we MUST go to and experience the falafel goodness again. Taste explosion! Very friendly too! 

KUSKUS FOODS - £4 FALAFEL WRAP 

We also went for a couple of the gourmet sausage rolls by Coopers, opting for Shropshire blue and caramelised onion and a sweet chilli and mixed pepper howler. Smooth pork filling with such a punch of flavour, they contain only the “best local ingredients”. We might have to hunt them out and fill our freezer, they were so delicious! Been dreaming about them since…They are actually stocked at Harrods and Selfridges…Must be good! (£1.95 each – bargain too!)

COOPERS GOURMET SAUSAGE ROLLS - £1.95

Also sampled was the pork baps from the Severn Valley Roasts, which was juicy and very generous! (help yourself to stuffing and apple sauce! Lovely…) They must have got through a good few pigs through the day, the queue was huge all day!

SEVERN VALLEY ROASTS - PORK BAP £4

After all that food, we just had to have a taster of some delicious perry! After trying a couple, we  decided to go for the perry from Gwatkin Cider which was lovely, clear and quite a bit sweeter than the ciders and perry’s on offer around the show. Could have drank it all day! In fact one of us bought a flagon of it! (bargain at £12)

GWATKIN CIDER - FLAGON OF PERRY £12

It was nice to see Wrexham Lager attending the show, Britain’s oldest lager brew, after they were re-opened 2011. We always have it when visiting Wrexham, so was nice to enjoy a pint in the Shrewsbury sunshine!

The Juice Shack were also there serving up pure fruit juices and fruit juice cocktails, and they were already running out of vodka by about 2pm!! Very popular and tasty…And we’d like to also think healthy! (ignore the booze!)

We had a taster of some impressive gin from Warner Edwards. Not even very big gin drinkers, but it was flavoured with so many botanicals, in comparison to some big name brands, it definitely very aromatic!

Marshmallow Madams had some beautiful cakes on offer, and sold out of a lot of the goodies we wanted to buy early on (Couldn’t quite manage cake for breakfast –GAH!!) So we settled for some salted caramel and dark chocolate mini tarts, which were soooo good anyway, wish we’d bought lots more! They had a beautiful wedding cake on show, and all their desserts looked devine!

MARSHMALLOW MADAMS

A stand of much interest to us was the chilli stand!! Capsaicinoia had some brilliant products on sale…We especially liked the chilli flavoured jelly sweets, which we managed to trick a few people into thinking were cherry MWAHAHA! Several chilli chocolates, chilli fudge, chilli jewellery! We opted for some Eatons Jamaican Rum BBQ sauce, pathetic we know, but insanely delicious and moreish. But we tried almost everything, and left with our mouths suitably on fire!

CAPSAICINOIA

And onto one of our favourites – CHEESE! There was so much on offer at the show! But brought home some deliciously smoky Newport 1665 made by Moydens Hand Made Cheese, all their cheeses were so full of flavour, but we love a good smoked cheese, and this was indeed very smoky! You can smell it through the vacuum pack…Mmmm…

Overall the day was great, the sun was shining, the live music was playing all day, and the choice of vendors was unbelievable! We had to keep putting off buying food because we were worried about missing something else, but on return would find them sold out! 30% of the vendors sold 2 days worth of stock in the 1 day!! Next time we may have to take Tupperware and stock up on food for the week…Bravo on a great event Shrewsbury Food Festival - Lets hope the sun is shining for the next one too!

Brum Yum Yum Underground

27th June saw the first of Brum Yum Yum Underground - A secret social street food event run by the 4 month old Brum Yum Yum. They took ten of Birmingham's loveliest street food vendors and brought them indoors to a secret location, only revealed 48 hours prior to the opening.

It turned out that the venue was DV8 nightclub in Birmingham City Centre, which at first we thought "whaaa?" but it turned out to be the perfect space for all the street foodies! With a DJ entertaining the diners, the DV8 bar open, and the Really Awesome Coffee van out back serving up hot drinks, it was time to sample a few of the meals on offer...

To start we tasted some delicious panipuri from the boys at Lasan Eatery, lovely little nibbles to start the night off (only 50p each too). We really want to go and try their Monday night Thali feast to try a few more Indian treats.

We couldn't resist the glorious spread on offer by The Deli at Edgbaston! Wow, it looked so delicious, and it was! One half of EatLoveBrum loves all things veggie...so we got a box full to the brim of roasted butternut squash, aubergine with pesto and mint, crunchy seaweed, roasted sweet potato with chilli (SO GOOD) and asparagus and green beans in garlic. All we need to say is MMMMM!

THE DELI AT EDGBASTON - BULGING SALAD BOX £5

Next we spotted people walking around with giant hotdogs. They looked pretty impressive, so made a beeline! It wasn't until late in the evening that we discovered that these were also made by The Deli at Edgbaston - Next time we promise to try different places! We went for the ultimate - DOUBLE (yes that's right - there were 2 sausages in there!) chilli hot dog, with cheese, jalapeños and sour cream. Wow. It was mahoosive, and delicious from start to end. Also very messy to eat! Glad we had a table and a fork to devour it with...

THE DELI AT EDGBASTON - SUPER CHILLI CHEESE HOT DOG £4.50

After that we needed a break, you can imagine! But there was wonderful entertainment by Gypsy Jazz we especially liked their rendition of the Star Wars Cantina song! Were they hinting at something? 

GYPSY JAZZ BAND

We couldn't resist the Bournville Waffle Company much longer, wow, they looked impressive, just go look at their webpage! We have seen these guys at Digbeth Dining Club before, but never had one. We always thought "They're too big, they look stodgy, couldn't eat one to myself". How wrong could someone be...?? They are so light and fluffy - the most perfect waffles we think we have ever had! Decided on Banoffee, but it was a very hard choice. We will be trying them all oh yes...

THE BOURNVILLE WAFFLE COMPANY £3.50

Overall it was an excellent night, the only thing we would say is the portions were too big! We wanted to try everything! Jabberwocky were there, love their menu of tasty toasties, Phat Pattys looked devine (congrats on your debut!), Ross & Ross had some amazing looking lamb on offer, and Swiirl Frozen Yoghurt - we wanted some so bad, but toooo full...You need to not eat all day for this event, you will want to try the lot! Next time...

Also wanted to say, we were wonderfully impressed with how tidy the whole bar was kept throughout the night - Bravo to the staff who would clear away plates and glasses as soon as they were empty...

Great night, and worth the fiver ticket price...Next one soon please Brum Yum Yum???

FutureFoodies

We've had our first foodie night out tonight, and it was a goodun! 

FutureFoodies was held at Hotel La Tour, and is being called "Birminghams first ever social media fair". The hotel played host to both brand spanking new and already established independent food and drink enterprises. It was a great way to try out what some of the new and exciting places have to offer! 

Some of our highlights of the night were Digbeth Dining Club (already a fave of EatLoveBrum), Beer Geek Brewery (we can't wait to try out some more ales!) and Kingstone Press Cider (YUM!)

The constant queue at Wrap Chic was definitely worth the wait - Tasty Indian spiced burrito! A great twist on the traditional Mexican meal. I think we will be going there again for a spicy lunchtime snack. 

Next stop - Brum Yum Yum Underground! 

WELCOME!

Hi there! We are EatLoveBrum.

Our aim is to bring you informative and friendly reviews of places to visit, eat, drink and dance in the wonderful city of Birmingham!

We have some interesting venues lined up for you, however if you have any suggestions for us, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment.

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