The Stable Birmingham
Hey dolls! So last Sunday I was lucky enough to be invited to a blogger's event that was being held at The Stable in Birmingham city center and not only did I get to meet and chat to the staff at The Stable and get to taste some yummy food and cider but I also got to chat and catch up with some fellow bloggers which is always awesome.
The Stable is a restaurant chain which was established in Dorset in the year 2009 and it's one with a simple concept of fine food and crafted cider made using local ingredients. With it's humble beginnings in 2009 The stable has now expanded across the UK with restaurants in over 10 locations including Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham. The Birmingham Stable is located on John Bright street which is stone's throw away from some of Birmingham's well known places such as The Mailbox, The Bullring and of course Birmingham's Grand Central.
I arrived for the event on Sunday afternoon and the weather was absolutely perfect for it with sunny skies and high temperatures. I spotted the restaurant immediately with it's tall glass windows and green wood paneling and of course the sign that said 'The Stable' helped lol. I was very impressed with the decor at The Stable and particularly with the industrial yet casual feel which just gives that modern but edgy vibe. After admiring the place for moment and after I had a drink in hand I went over to meet some of the bloggers and we had a chat and got to know each other before the event kicked off which was great because some event's I've been to in the past don't allow for that to happen and it's very much "down to business".
After everyone had become acquainted, we sat down to a talk from the founder of Hogan's Cider; Allan who told us a bit about the business and process of cider making and I must say it was very interesting and I learned a few things about cider making as well as the cider industry in the UK. After hearing a little bit about the cider making process from Allan we also got to taste some of his carbonated and non-carbonated ciders which was such a great experience. We tried three varieties of the non-carbonated ciders; Hazy Daisy, Panking Pole and French Revelation. My favourite of the three was the French Revelation which had some depth and complexity to it but was still quite sweet and not as strong as some of the others ciders we tasted.
After having a taste of the non-carbonate ciders we got to try two varieties of the bottled carbonated ciders; dry and medium and I must admit these were more up my street. I found it weird to drink non-carbonated cider which was very far in taste from some of the supermarket cider brands I've become accustomed to over the years. The medium was definitely a firm favourite with majority of the bloggers and it was not as strong in taste as the dry version and it had more of a light and refreshing taste with a little sweetness.
If you're thinking that at this point we had enough cider, you're wrong because 1. you can never have enough cider and 2. we were only just getting started. We got to try some more of The Stable's vast cider selection in the form of their cider tasting boards. With the tasting boards customers can sample 5 varieties of cider chosen by the staff for only £7.50 which is a great and cost effective way to test out a few varieties of cider to enable customers to pinpoint a favourite. We got to sample 2 different boards which came with cards to tell us what each cider was and it was a great experience to taste and see the difference between the ciders. My favourites were the Annings pear and peach cider and the Cornish Orchard's raspberry blush and I definitely recommend trying these two out if you ever find yourself in the stable and like a little bit of sweetness and tang in your ciders.
After the cider tasting we also got to head into the kitchen and meet the head chef and make our own pizzas which was so amazing. It was quite a surreal experience to be in the back of the restaurant kitchen and literally making your own pizza. We had the option to create pizza's from The Stables pizza menu or get creative and make our own. I went for a pizza off the menu, the Blazing Saddle which was topped with pulled beef, bacon, caramelised onions, red peppers, mozzarella cheese and topped with sour cream and jalapenos. It was so yummy and I wasn't surprised at all when I found out is was one of their best sellers along with the Big Jerk which is this month's special.
I was also really impressed to learn that The stable has Gluten free and vegetarian options and are also looking into putting some tasty and interesting vegan options on to the menu. I love it when restaurants are inclusive and when they are not half-hearted about it but actually strive to putting variety on the menu to suit different people's dietary needs.
All in all I had a great time at The Stable and I'm really looking forward to visiting again soon with my friends to try out some more of their yummy food and cider. It is definitely a great spot for the summer with outside seating and it would be a great place to go to on a lovely sunny day (if we're lucky enough to get some more sun because I have a feeling we've reached our UK sun quota for the year lol). Have any of you guys visited The Stable before? I would love to know if you have and what your thoughts were and I'd also love to know what you'd recommend me having on my next visit. Talk to you guys soon. Toodles!