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Birmingham Recap, Part 1

Feb

2015

For work, I had to go to the Birmingham area.

Birmingham, England.

Once we (my co-workers and I) arrived, we made our way to the hotel – Village Urban Resort. I guess they call it a resort because it has a restaurant and a fitness center attached – not the stereotypical image of a resort having palm trees and outdoor pools and spas and such.

Now for various things I observed on the trip:

I appreciated that everything at the hotel started with the same letter, specifically V.
Village hotel, Velocity fitness center (AKA gym), Verve restaurant, Victory pub. I was disappointed when someone pointed out that their conference center is called The Hub
I also appreciated their cold water. The water coming out of the bathroom sink was the coldest I can remember. I suspect they increased the air pressure in the rooms so they could allow the water temperature to be below freezing.
Everyone in Europe uses credit cards with chips instead of magnetic stripes. Everyone taking our cards assumed a chip and put the card in a chip reader, and we had to tell them to swipe it instead. And their reactions were always along the lines of “Oh, I haven’t had to do that in years!” And it would take them a few tries to get it to go through.
Our first night we had dinner at Miller and Carter. Ignore whatever people say about British food – that was the best steak I ever had.
Our second night we went to Jimmy Spices. Avoid that place if possible. It’s an international buffet – they have a variety of foods from all over. It’s all-you-can-eat, and the emphasis is on quantity over quality. And it’s not that much cheaper than a quality place. Note: they have the driest brownies ever. Not hard, just dry.
The next night we went back to Miller and Carter. The other guys got the same thing they got the first night, but I opted for the salmon. It was fine, with a nice presentation, but it wasn’t worth it. I would have rather had the steak again.
The steak was around $30. I could enjoy eating that steak because it was on the company dime. Or many dimes, I suppose. I would have enjoyed the steak even if I had paid my own money for it. While $30 is high for a meal, I know there are steak places around home that will charge $50+ for a steak meal. And I can’t imagine getting double the enjoyment or nutrition out of that steak compared to the $30 steak.
The next night, we went to The Farm Inn. They had more variety than Miller and Carter, and everyone liked the food.
The next night, we went into Dickens Heath and ate at Giovanni’s. That was an Italian place, of course. The owner/operator had a thick Italian accent, but his wife had a Scottish accent. The food selection was limited, but the quality of the food made up for it. I’ve had smoked salmon before, but it has always tasted more like raw fish and I didn’t like it. I tried the smoked salmon on the appetizer sampler at Giovanni’s and it was quite good. I did not try the mussels, but others did and they said they were the best they’ve had – “the first time I’ve had mussels that weren’t rubbery”.
The last night, we tried to go to Morton’s, which is right next door to Giovanni’s. Unfortunately, this was a Friday night. Whereas both places were sparsely populated during the week before now, this was the start of the weekend so it was different. The place was standing room only. We did not have reservations (or, as they asked us “Are you booked?”) so we were turned away.
We left Dickens Heath, not wanting to go to Giovanni’s two nights in a row, and went back to Miller and Carter. I got steak this time, not wanting to miss out on another chance at the best steak I’ve ever had. This time, however, I got the fillet (pronounced as fill-it there – the British are decidedly not French) instead of the ribeye. I must say I preferred the ribeye. I’m not a fan of the texture of a fillet – it seemed squishy. Some people might call that tender, but to me it’s squishy.
The desserts were also very good at Miller and Carter. We all got different things and everyone was pleased with them.
We did more than eat while we were there, but I’m guessing that most people reading this don’t want to hear about our meetings discussing motor control software.
I didn’t drive in England, but I was a passenger of the guy who was driving for the first time on the left side of the road. Driving is intense in England because there are no pauses. Here in the US, there are plenty of stop signs or stop lights – you get a few seconds to stop and look at road signs or think about your next traffic decision. In England though, with all the roundabouts, you can make your whole trip without ever stopping at all, so you need to know what you’re doing ahead of time.
And if you ever drive in England, it’s good to know that you are not allowed to turn on red. They do occasionally have a traffic light. But no turns on red, unlike here.