Leading Birmingham fish restaurant Le Monde has closed after just two full years in business.

The 120-cover restaurant had a first-floor position above Cafe Rouge on the corner of Brindleyplace heading towards Waters Edge and the bridge to the ICC.

It opened in August 2014 and employed more than 20 staff.

As well as having an impressive market-style display of its fish, Le Monde had two private dining rooms seating from 15 to 50 people.

In 2016 it was voted Best Seafood Restaurant by the monthly Lux magazine and is currently ranked 205 out of 1,875 restaurants in Birmingham by TripAdvisor.

A Facebook posting from Le Monde on December 31 said: “Happy new Year to all of you Folks!

“Hope 2017 to bring you all the things you wished for.

“We will be closed on January 1 till the January 22, 2017 (incl) for a refurbishment of our bar and restaurant. If you do have an enquiry please do send us an e-mail, and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

“In the meantime have a great evening and we look forward to welcome you back on the 23rd. Sneeky shots to follow to keep you updated.”

Le Monde restaurant, Brindleyplace
Le Monde restaurant, Brindleyplace

Having failed to reopen on January 23, director Bob Norton said today he had realised that the writing was on the wall in the run-up to Christmas – and blamed the closure on a number of factors.

“There was no overriding cause other than the fact that we just weren’t taking enough (money),” he said.

“We just weren’t having a particularly good run up to Christmas.”

Mr Norton said Le Monde’s most popular dishes included its king prawns as well as sea bass baked in salt.

Le Monde restaurant was on the first floor of the red building at the centre of this picture of Brindleyplace
Le Monde restaurant was on the first floor of the red building at the centre of this picture of Brindleyplace

The combination of reasons behind the closure included:

+ All of the food being freshly prepared and not microwaved in a part of town where people generally 'want to be served quickly';

+ The opening of CAU and Zizzi round the corner in an office building fronting on to the main Brindleyplace Square had not been foreseen;

+ The perception that Birmingham’s dining and entertainment scene has now shifted towards Grand Central / New Street Station ;

+ The ‘fiasco’ of the Paradise Circus redevelopment, and

+ Trying to compete with restaurant chains which benefit from economies of scale.

Fresh fish display at Le Monde restaurant
Fresh fish display at Le Monde restaurant

A former general sales manager for Ansells across the Midlands and Wales, Mr Norton said he would never regret having tried to run his own restaurant and would look out for another opportunity do so in the future.

Talking about the Paradise redevelopment, Mr Norton added: “I have friends running businesses on Summer Row and they have had a terrible time .

“Now, just when the council has opened up a wonderful view, they are building there again and it will disappear.”

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In July 2015, Le Monde hosted the opening night of the Birmingham & Solihull Jazz and Blues Festival and began to host jazz on Friday nights.

Two months later, one of the artists to play the venue included Brooks Williams from the USA, a Blues Americana star ranked the 179th greatest guitarist in the world by Rolling Stone magazine.

Festival director and photographer of legends Jim Simpson said: “Le Monde was a good host to us and I am sorry to see it close.

“But lots of Birmingham bars and cafes have closed over the years if they have either been in a basement or up on the first floor - Brummies seem to like to look in to somewhere before we go in.

World renowned guitarist Brooks Williams playing Le Monde restaurant on September 25, 2015
World renowned guitarist Brooks Williams playing Le Monde restaurant on September 25, 2015

“The Tin Tin Cantonese Restaurant was across the way on the floor and that also closed (after 14 years - it is now Smoke Haus which opened last summer)."

Mr Norton discounted that theory.

“There are so many factors involved and lots of examples of first floor restaurants doing well in other cities around the UK,” said Mr Norton.

But he admitted that he had wished he could have swapped places with Cafe Rouge - reviewed here

“Had we been on the ground floor where they are, I think we would have done very well,” he said.

Cafe Rouge, Brindleyplace, Birmingham
Le Monde was above Cafe Rouge in Brindleyplace

What the Mail said

When Le Monde opened in August 2014, it was reviewed by our then restaurant critic Paul Fulford who gave it three stars out of five.

He began by noting how “several fish restaurants have sprung up in Birmingham over the decades and none have survived, though all, I seem to remember, pleased me when I ate there.

“Perhaps they opened too early – at a time when diners were less health-conscious and were more wedded to a meaty diet.”

View across Le Monde restaurant
View across Le Monde restaurant

Paul said Le Monde’s “Art Deco influenced dining room” was “rather gloomy than opulent” and he felt the staff were, if anything, over attentive.

But, after enjoying a meal of oysters and followed by black sea bream, he concluded: “I suspect Le Monde will be around for many years to come.”

What customers say on TripAdvisor

Le Monde's display of fresh fish and steaks
Le Monde's display of fresh fish and steaks

Selema from Birmingham posted on TripAdvisor in December: “Return visit after a fair gap and on a busy xmas lunch time found the restaurant quite quiet, cannot really understand why although as it is upstairs and entrances are a little tricky to spot this could explain it.”

In November Billywhizz1972 from Derby said he had almost given the restaurant five stars, writing: “Le Monde was very nearly there but the oysters weren’t quite fresh enough. And that’s the only difference between 4* and 5*.”

A management response said: “Dear Billiwhizz1972, Thank you for choosing to dine at Le Monde... and wonderful to hear it was one of the nicest meals you’ve had. We are looking into the oyster issue, as those would have been breathing before we got them to you.”

One disgruntled employee wrote to the Birmingham Mail to say: “Employees where (sic) told that in the New Year the restaurant was going through two weeks of refurbishment and was due to open back for trading on January 22.

“The owners had no intention of opening back and closed the doors, having all employees out of work for the New Year.”