Cafe Ikon
Museums in Birmingham
1 Oozells Square
BIRMINGHAM
West Midlands
B1 2HS
Contact Numbers
Reviews
Authentic ingredients
Had a quick sandwich lunch here the other day.This is a tapas and paella restaurant, but they serve toasted sandwiches (bocadillos) from 11 to 5, 4 varieties all priced £4.90.I ordered Serrano Ham and Manchego bocadillo. It took about 15 min for the food to arrive (I was the only one there to eat at that moment) and, when I queried, I was told that there was a problem in the kitchen, not in a very polite manner. I also witnessed another waiter trying not to serve waiting customers. The food, however, was worth the wait and £4.90 price tag (check out the photo I posted). It was made of very nice bread similar to focaccia, but fluffier and less oily, melting manchego cheese, good quality soft sweet slices of ham, and some leaves and sliced tomato. Apart from the vegetable, there is no way producing these ingredients in Britain, so I believe their claim that they source from Spanish suppliers (I wonder if this means that here we will suffer from the recent devaluation of British pounds against euro). The portion also was satisfying. I would like to return to try their tapas, even though I feel slightly weary of the service and decor.=============================Later I visited this place for dinner and had a second thought (you can read full review on my blog post). First of all, the ambiance is not as great as you would expect from a restaurant and it is indeed a cafe. But, to be really a cafe, the price is rather expensive (I thought the veggie tapas are especially bad in value). If I am to return, I will just have a couple of tapas to share between 2 as accompaniments to our drinks.
A User - 07/12/2008 | report this review
Fantastic Spanish food
Whenever I get the chance and happen to be in Birmingham I make a beeline for this place! The food is excellent, authentic Spanish tapas dishes, the patatas bravas are the best ive ever had outside of Spain. Pollo Pimento is one of my favourites, the prices being so low for single dishes makes it viable to order 5 or 6 between two and try lots of things you might not normally, also you must try the olive bread they make because its really good and an excellent starter to share with olives and oil alongside.Value wise this place is a real find, we have never paid over about £35 including drinks for 2 of us with bread and a number of dishes. Its usually busy even midweek and isnt particularly large but they have always managed to fit us in even when we havent booked. This place really is worth seeking out!
A User - 11/09/2008 | report this review
bad service
prices are good food are good but we had really bad service
A User - 02/08/2008 | report this review
Delicious food at great prices
I recently met two friends for dinner in Birmingham, and on the recommendation of one of them we booked a table at this Spanish restaurant in the Ikon Gallery. It calls itself a cafe, which reflects the ambiance to some extent, and the prices for sure, but not the food, which is of a good restaurant standard.We started with a basket of wonderful rosemary scented bread and good quality olive oil for dipping. We then chose a selection of "raciones" to share - similar to tapas but in larger portions and some of them at least a bit more substantial. Our selection included two fish dishes - salt and pepper squid (my personal favourite) and monkfish in a delicious white wine sauce. We also had two meat dishes - meatballs and some beautifully cooked lamb cutlets (and, a nice touch: we asked what a portion of the latter consisted of, and were told two, which would have been hard to split between us, but the waiter persuaded the chef to add a third to the plate for us!) Finally, we added two vegetable dishes - green beans (the one dish that let them down, being a little over-cooked for my liking) and wild mushrooms.We resisted the lure of the dessert menu but got through two bottles of good red wine (I don't remember which, so I must have drunk my fair share). The bill came to just £62 for the three of us, with service - excellent value, especially given the quality of the food.I wouldn't come here for a romantic tete a tete, but for any other occasion its excellent location, tasty food and great value for money make it unbeatable!By the way, do book a table - we were here on a Wednesday evening and the place was full by 7.00 PM.
A User - 07/07/2008 | report this review
Leave your review of Cafe Ikon
All fields are required. Your review will appear immediately.
