I’ve been to Tropea quite a few times now but have never written about it, I’m not entirely sure why as I really bloody like it. Maybe, subconsciously, I wanted to keep it a secret – which would have been a complete failure if how busy they’ve been since opening is anything to go by.
I’m lucky enough to live a two minute walk away, which is great (and dangerous). If it hadn’t been for the arrival of FoodieBaby three months ago I’d have probably been once a week, and would probably have stopped for a negroni even more often than that.
At the weekend, I used the day of Mothers as a prime excuse to be able to head there for lunch and wine, with small child in tow. We had such a thoroughly excellent time that I thought I’d bang on about it here.
Let’s get down to business.
Whenever I visit, I order at least these things:
- Focaccia
- Burrata
- At least two of the pastas
- Ox cheek
If you go there and do the same I promise you’ll have a nice time, if you chuck in a couple of the courgette flowers I guarantee it.
They’ve fortunately amassed a loyal, returning clientele meaning the pastas change frequently. On this occasion I had something even I, the FoodieBoys, didn’t have a clue what it was: culurgiones.
I ordered them despite the name containing all the letters that make up a word so terrifying I let out a blood-curdling yelp whenever I see it: ‘Gino’.
A bit like an Italian pierogi, they were stuffed with pecorino and mint and sat on a tomato sauce. They were salty, fresh and delicious.
The parpadelle with duck ragu was superb, a real treat to finally have an Italian restaurant in Birmingham capable of making a bold, richly flavoured meat sauce.
The courgette flowers were frittied right up, they’d frittied the hell out of them. They even had a bit of the yellow paper under them to catch the oil and it made me think I was in Rome for a blissful 30 seconds.
That’s enough about the food, you get the gist – it’s really, really good and you should eat it.
However, we’re not done just yet.
“What, are you going to tell us about the drinks?”
“No. I mean, yes of course the drinks are great too. Would you let me finish?”
“Yes, sorry.”
“Thanks.”
The other thing I really like about this Italian restaurant in Harborne is its location.
“What, that it’s close to your house?”
“Fuck! No, I’ve covered that. Please stop interrupting.”
“Sorry.”
“Thanks.”
The thing I really like about its location is the fact it’s opposite the gym.
Sat at the right table, you can enjoy scooping pasta into your fat mouth while watching someone in lycra dicking about on a treadmill and it’s absolutely wonderful.
So, to summarise, if you haven’t been you should go. If you have been, you already knew all this and have completely wasted the last few minutes of your life. Have a picture of the ox cheek to cheer you up.
You should go, why not visit the Tropea website and book yourself a table?
Foodie Boys 