Hello my loves. Been a while, eh?
I think over COVID, I lost my blogging mojo. I was surrounded by influencers who made socials their lives, and well, I didn’t want to. I had a job. Still do (actually changed roles just over a year ago to be precise). And then the job took over a bit, priorities changed. Lifting took over a bit too. So I’m simply prefacing this with, I might not be back, back, but we’re trying. I’ve missed writing, I’ve missed going to places and being able to tell you about them. So I’m going to try. Smaller scale, concentrating on indies. Places I find, or that get recommended to me as and when. Which leads me to this.
Early February saw me travelling for work. People in my role (and similar ones) travelled from across the country to Birmingham for a day long meeting. Lots of ‘how can we do this better?’, ‘what do you do that might be better than the way we do it?’ and a fair bit of networking and meeting people who understand what we do. (If you’re really that arsed you can hit a search engine as well as anyone else).
I decided to make an evening of it, I mean why not? I could get somewhere overnight (thank you Premier Inn for a bargain mid week stay), meet friends, grab some food, and pootle home the next morning. So I hit socials for recommendations. Where should I go?
There were plenty of options. Much as I enjoy them, I skipped over Dishoom and Mowgli. The Wilderness sounded fabulous, but not really the venue I was after. I wanted casual, relaxed. I narrowed it down to two. Indian Brewery, and my actual destination, Bonehead.
I knew I was in the right place when I walked in. The welcome was relaxed, the music metal, the lighting dark, the vibes – think dive bar. It’s very much a first come first served spot, which made me even more grateful I got in as early as I did.
I’m told a lot of local chefs love it here, and it’s easy to see why. The menu is laden with fried chicken – with bone or without, wings, tenders, thick thighs, burgers, fries and sides like mac n cheese, pickles and tater tots. Throw in sauces – something light like garlic n’ herb, through bourbon barbecue (with a good boozy kick) to comeback (creamy and spicy with a good hit of mustard), and for those who like something hotter, dragon or hellraiser sauce might be more your scene.
I zeroed in on the Boneless Superbowl for one. Two chicken tenders, chicken thigh, sitting on top of a pile of waffle fries, and served with either slaw or gravy, and a choice of two sauces.
The drinks menu was full of temptation. Cocktails, wine, beer, and a great selection of no and low options. I had to drag myself away from the shots menu, a pickleback almost proved too much to resist, but I did. Opting instead of a Margarita, with a side of peach iced tea to keep the hydration levels up.
The Margarita was the thing dreams are made of. Strong, sharp, the salt and sugar rim was enough to sting – everything a bloody good marg should be. There’s a reason it’s a favourite of mine after a tough day at the office. The iced tea reminded me of the cartons my dad used to bring back from his trips to Switzerland for me. In my teens I was addicted to the stuff.
The food too was all I could have wanted. The chicken was tasty and tender, almost melt in the mouth. The fries crisp and salty. I of course opted for gravy (I am a northern bird after all), and both comeback and Bourbon barbecue sauces. Whilst some of my fellow diners reached for the cutlery, I’m old school. Fried chicken means greasy fingers as you pull the flesh apart and dunk it in the sauce of choice. The gravy was bloody delightful. Think KFC gravy but without the grittiness or greasiness, just lots and lots of flavour.
Overall, this is food that is visceral. That comforts, that fills the corners, that satisfies. No artifice, no frills and furbelows, just good food, great service, and drinks you’d be just as happy sipping perched at the bar as you would with your meal. It’s safe to say it’s going on my favourites list.