High street restaurant ‘one of the most exciting’, says Raynor
TOP food critic Jay Rayner has described a new Birmingham restaurant as one of the most ‘exciting’ he’s encountered ‘in a long while.’
BBC One Show and Guardian food critic Rayner reviewed Cuubo, which opened in Harborne High Street in February.
Chef Dan Sweet, who trained under some of Birmingham’s most elite chefs at Michelin-starred Simpsons in Edgbaston, fundraised to transform his takeaway Qbox into a fully-fledged modern British restaurant with an Italian twist.
Within a few weeks of opening, the understated restaurant has received rave reviews from diners on Google and now from an expert in good food.
Despite its basic decor, which Rayner joked made a White Company
shop look ‘garish’ in comparison, the critic said that Cuubo ‘bursts with huge flavours, big ideas and massive ambition’.
He described the dishes as ‘delicious’ and ‘well-priced’; the threecourse lunch is priced at £30 or £50 for dinner, while the six-course tasting menu costs £75.
The dishes Rayner sampled included a caramelised onion soup ‘as pale and interesting as a Dior model’, sea bream with a ‘rich and silky’ potato puree and seaweed butter sauce and a ‘pretty’ chocolate delice dessert.
Rayner’s only criticism was that the crab risotto starter ‘didn’t taste especially of crab’, though he did say it was still ‘perfect executed’.
He concluded his review with a warning, saying: “Cuubo is marked on Harborne’s High Street by a tiny khaki sign and a frosted window. It would be very easy to walk on by. Please don’t.”
It seems the review has already prompted a surge in bookings at the little neighbourhood restaurant which only has 20 seats. Cuubo shared Rayner’s review on its own social media pages, with the caption: “Pretty speechless about this.
“I remember when he walked through the door and I absolutely **** myself. Lovely guy and he left happy, which is all I want from any customer. Back open from Wednesday with bookings getting busy (I did warn you).”