The last time I visited 1000 Trades On The Park it was a brutally cold February evening, the harsh wind on Lightwoods Park trying desperately to snow in the bleak light. We had walked the mile and a half from ours for reasons I can only speculate were exercise based, finding solace by the roaring fire in the dimly-lit room. We had a great, somewhat unexpectedly great meal of pub classics, and vowed to return regularly. It only took us nine months, though to be fair this year has been very busy. Maybe this is what regular looks like now.
And I’m going to jump straight into this, I think there is nowhere else in the city I would want to eat pub classics at more than here. The menu reads lovely, the ingredient quality is very high, and it’s all extremely likeable. We initially ordered two starters until Sophie points out that we can effectively get a third for a quid on the three for £17.50 deal. She gets the prawns; plump and fresh, properly deveined, then fried in a very good tempura batter. Sophie thinks the bloody mary mayo could have more bite, but this is nit-picking on a very good dish. I loved the marmite and cheese sausage roll. The pastry is just perfect, flakey, delicate, and tanned, whilst the meat is not coarse but piggy enough to withstand the umami seasoning of marmite. They could make good money just selling these. Our bonus starter is the bubble and squeak croquettes with onion gravy. They are exactly as they say on the tin. I’d be tempted to order them as a side for the main next time.
Not that the mains need sides in hindsight. They are huge. Sophie’s whale and chips could feed a family of four; the entire fillet of haddock taking up the radius of the plate. Loads of good chips, batter scraps, superb mushy peas, and a jug of curry sauce that I think has Golden Curry powder as the base. It’s better than Magpie Cafe in Whitby, and as good as the Oyster Club, which I think probably makes it some of the best fish and chips around. I get ham and eggs, with piccalli and a pave of hash brown. It’s more immaculate eating; four or five slices of very good ham, two free range eggs dressed in a maple and chilli. I like the hashbrown because it shows real effort. The piccalli works well at providing the acidity before I finish up the scraps of the plate with some of the wife’s curry sauce. It’s excellent value for £17, but then it’s all excellent value.
As before we share a dessert in the name of work. It’s a marginally overset vanilla pannacotta with autumn fruits and maple granola. It’s good, though maybe not the same standard as the rest. Our bill with a couple of drinks is just over £60, which has something to do with Sophie’s Independent Birmingham app getting us 15% off the bill on Wednesday and Thursday. I don’t have one, I wouldn’t have known. I would have paid full whack, hell, I would have paid a little more. It’s just a really great place to eat lovely food. I’m a fan. I just need to show that with more visits.
8/10
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