Michelin stars and light

When telling an array of friends and colleagues that I was to visit Turners, the response ranged from 'oos' and 'ahhs' to 'my favourite restaurant'. Carried on a wave of such positivity, anticipation was high when entering the discreetly fronted property less than 3 miles from the centre of Birmingham. Elegant in it's simplicity,  the single dining room belies it's frontage nestled between charity shops and hairdressers.
Chef Richard Turner bases his creations on flavours rather than gimmicks and such an approach works wonderfully well.


Our appetisers of oxtail doughnut and haddock croquette proved the perfect precursor to the remainder of what was an exquisite menu.

Tomato jelly, green tomato seeds, langoustine and buffalo curd was light and incredibly refreshing whilst the wild salmon two ways (poached and house cured) with horseradish granita and English caviar was outstanding.



As I ran out of superlatives and before I thought it could get any better, the highlight was the pigeon, breast and confit leg theatrically smoked with lavender and new season peach.

How such a dish can be so light (the use of this adjective was continuous throughout our stay for which its repetition I will not apologise) and would be a welcome yet unusual accompaniment to a salad (as pointed out by my fellow diner Neil Davey), still remains delightfully difficult to fathom.

And so it continued with an encore of lime curd, chocolate, avocado and coconut curls and then a raspberry meringue, granola and beetroot sorbet.

As pointed out by a friend of mine, this isn't just fine dining, Turners is an incredible experience. Michelin stars guarantee a certain stamp of quality. This goes so much further.