{"id":1494,"date":"2019-08-25T17:34:33","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T16:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2019-08-26T10:48:23","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T09:48:23","slug":"farros-birmingham-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/farros-birmingham-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Farro’s (Birmingham) Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Rating: 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Family Friendly: Yes<\/b><\/p>\n

Address: 402-406 Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham. B11 4AD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parking: Yes – but limited. Easy street parking available nearby; try Beach Rd, Alfred Rd or Fulham Rd for proximity.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Payment: Cash and (thankfully) Cards accepted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Farro’s is new to Birmingham and the 2nd restaurant of its branded Grillhouses, the first being in Nottingham. Opened on the 16th August 2019 it serves a blend of Portuguese and Italian inspired food – and they do burgers and steaks too.<\/p>\n

Farro’s is located in an imposing converted pub right at the junction of Warwick Road and Stratford Road in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham. For those of you familiar with Brum you might recall the once mighty ‘The President’ buffet restaurant was on this site for many years before it closed and dereliction followed. I’m glad to say the site has been refurbished and the blight of broken windows and dumped rubbish is gone. The exterior is bright & breezy with a large new courtyard complete with a Birmingham Bull, a kindred spirit to the one outside the Bullring perhaps?<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a><\/p>\n

We parked on a side street as the main car park is relatively small and was already full. As we arrived into the lobby we were swiftly greeted by the front of house manager who took our name and advised us that being a Saturday evening and having requested a table for 5 we’d have to wait up to 30 minutes. Happily the wait was shorter than expected but it did give us time to absorb the atmosphere and observe the hive of activity represented by the waiting staff flitting from kitchen to service to tables and back again.<\/p>\n

Once ushered to our table we were provided menus and quickly realised that ordering was exactly Nando’s style. Bottomless drinks as standard with a single refill area.<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a>

Menu<\/p><\/div>\n

Starters<\/h3>\n

We had the lamb chops which were succulent, perfectly cooked if a little towards the rare side on parts but still downright tasty. Served with a nice mint sauce.<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a>

lamb chops<\/p><\/div>\n

We also punted for the garlic bread with mozzarella, which was generally well received but seemed to lack a bit of garlic for something with garlic in the name!<\/p>\n

Mains<\/h3>\n

Avoiding the build your own burger and steak options this time around we opted for the following:<\/p>\n

The Sizzler (mixed chicken & beef in small strips), presented on a hot platter and cooked with onions and peppers it was literally sizzling when it arrived on our table and remained piping hot for a good while afterward. I<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a>

sizzler – chicken & beef<\/p><\/div>\n

found the beef to be lovely (although my husband complained he had to work at it) and like the chicken it was flavoured nicely with the juices from the onion and pepper mix.<\/p>\n

The Sizzler menu has great flexiblity as there were chicken, beef, lamb & prawn only options with the ability to mix any of them.<\/p>\n

The peri peri chicken we had was also piping hot and we had to let it cool a little before tearing into it. We opted for medium spice (I would go up a spice level next time if eating with the family, it simply wasn’t a medium for us) however the flavour from the rub was excellent and gave it the edge over many other peri peri restaurants.<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a>

peri peri chicken<\/p><\/div>\n

I would have preferred if the chicken skin was crispier, but that’s my personal preference. It came with a side of chips but we also ordered an extra side of\u00a0sweet potato fries<\/span> which were the best ones I’ve had so far. They were perfectly cooked. Delicious.<\/p>\n

We also ordered the lasagne which was not as creamy as you normally get in other places which is a good thing, often the b\u00e9chamel sauce overwhelms everything else layered into a lasagne. The kids found it easier to eat as it wasn’t too heavy.<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a><\/p>\n

The margherita pizza was stone baked and it was enjoyed by all. We didn’t try any toppings on it but the kids rated the pizza as one of the best they’ve had so far, next time we’ll go all out! We always prefer the stone baked pizzas to the usual you get from your local pizza joint, which is one of the reasons we miss La Favorita so much.<\/p>\n

\"farros<\/a><\/p>\n

The general atmosphere of the restaurant was nice and buzzing, it is quite spacious overall with plenty of seating and good separation between areas. The music was in the background so you could easily hold a conversation without shouting at each other. Male and female toilets are in separate areas but below ground level down a flight of stairs, they were clean and had a dedicated wudu area as well as a separate prayer room for men and women. There is a disabled toilet available on ground level.<\/p>\n

Desserts<\/h3>\n

Although we didn’t order any desserts this time, the options to chose from were quite limited. The usual waffles, sundaes and old school desserts feature on the menu. It would have been nice to see Portuguese and Italian desserts on the menu such as Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese custard tart) or Tiramisu.<\/p>\n

Drinks<\/h3>\n

Bottomless drinks to choose from as well as juices and mocktails. Cold water, ice and a mixed option available too.<\/span> I had the Pina colada which is my favourite mocktail and it did not disappoint.<\/p>\n

My Rating<\/h2>\n

My 4.5 rating for Farro’s is based mainly on 3 criteria, but I factor in additional observances such as cleanliness, location etc.<\/p>\n

Food: 4.6\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Service: 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Atmosphere: 4.8\/5<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"farro's<\/a>

farro’s steaks options<\/p><\/div>\n

\"farro's<\/p>\n

\"farro's

farro’s ordering<\/p><\/div>\n

\"farro's

farro’s entrance<\/p><\/div>\n


\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Rating: 4.5\/5 Family Friendly: Yes Address: 402-406 Stratford Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham. B11 4AD Parking: Yes – but limited. Easy street parking available nearby; try Beach Rd, Alfred Rd or Fulham Rd for proximity. Payment: Cash and (thankfully) Cards accepted Farro’s is new to Birmingham and the 2nd restaurant of its branded Grillhouses, the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[198],"tags":[681,694,99,693,688,692,690,577,689,607,477,525,696,88,691,695],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89etY-o6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1616,"url":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/afrikana-birmingham-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":1494,"position":0},"title":"Afrikana (Birmingham) Review","author":"Rahema","date":"November 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"My Rating: 4.2\/5 Family Friendly: Yes (but tight for pushchairs\/wheelchairs) Address: 355 Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham. B12 8LA (Next door to Sweet, opposite Chaiwalla) Parking: None- limited on street parking. Ladypool road is busy, plan to park and walk. Payment: Cash and Cards accepted I went to Afrikana's opening night\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/sections\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/20191101_183203-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1463,"url":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/british-halal-food-festival-birmingham\/","url_meta":{"origin":1494,"position":1},"title":"British Halal Food Festival – Birmingham","author":"Rahema","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I attended the first British Halal Food Festival in Birmingham yesterday and it did not disappoint! 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It was a well organised event by Oceanic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/sections\/asian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/img_20190819_175639574872481-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1556,"url":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/tim-hortons-lunch-menu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1494,"position":3},"title":"Tim Horton’s Lunch Menu","author":"Rahema","date":"October 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So Tim Horton's launched a new lunch menu this week and I was invited along to try it, I was not sure after checking the menu but once I confirmed the chicken served at the Birmingham branch is halal I was there like a speeding bullet ;-) It's in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Recipes"","block_context":{"text":"Recipes","link":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/sections\/recipes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/img_20191006_1342332116754967-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.rahema.co.uk\/blog\/bassar-mix\/","url_meta":{"origin":1494,"position":4},"title":"Bassar Mix!","author":"Rahema","date":"May 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I realise that not everyone knows what bassar is, I didn't either till after I got married. I am from an Indian background and growing up my mum used a mixture of different spices for curries. Cooking Indian food looked really difficult and it never interested me. 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