The Bureau, 110 Colmore Row, B3 3AG, Tel 0121 236 1110. www.thebureaubar.co.uk
This isn’t just any old hot dog.
This is a haute cuisine hot dog, made with locally-sourced ingredients and served snugly in a bespoke basket. A “haute dog” if you will.
At last the days of flimsy finger buns filled with soggy, over-salted sausages from a tin have come to an end – unless you’re reading this in an Ikea cafe, where the cheap and cheerless meat snacks are still king – and a new day has dawned for the humble hot dog, now transformed into a supper to be savoured.
The Bureau, Colmore Row’s former One Ten bar, where the Deli Dog is a signature dish, is definitely not a restaurant but it’s not just a bar either.
Bar snacks here range from smoked mackerel served on grilled focaccia with new potato and fennel salad, to mini corn dogs served with homemade curry sauce and ketchup, and alongside a fairly standard selection of lunchtime sandwiches, there’s an extensive deli collection and a chargrill menu.
Popping along after work on a Thursday, three of us plonk ourselves in one of the black leather booths opposite the bar, putting our hunger on hold to admire the place before ordering.
The grade II-listed building, built with granite and limestone, with inset bands of red brick, dates back to 1902 and the ground floor bar boasts the original Italian marble walls framing a long cocktail bar with vintage pendant lights hanging overhead.
Explore further and there’s a striking stone staircase spiralling down to a basement bar, which is currently set aside for private hire, and up to a first floor where a mezzanine level conference room is waiting to be refurbished.
Further up, on the second floor there’s a new rooftop terrace, set to open as the Langley’s Gin Roof Terrace (after the tipple distilled near Oldbury) next week.
Armed with three pints of Kozel Czech pilsner we start with the Deli Slate, which seems to be The Bureau’s idea of Midlands tapas.
There’s a selection of 12 little dishes to choose from and share – all sourced from the Midlands – and with a choice of five for £10, we choose 10 between three of us.
What arrives at the table is a multicoloured smorgasbord of morsels, delivered on two circular slates.
On ordering we were excited about the potted meat and herbs (which is served in a petite glass jar), the Forest Pig cured meats (from a charcuterie near Kidderminster) and the duck Scotch egg. And when it arrives we’re not disappointed.
But the surprise winners on the board are the vegetarian titbits: the beetroot bonbons (a sphere of crispy coating surrounding a thick, smooth and sweet, bright red beetroot mix) and the potato and rosemary fritters that come in the form of croquettes and make a superb single mouthful of comfort food.
Our favourite was the salt pollock fritters perfectly paired with a southern-style sweetcorn relish. The beauty of the deli slate is the freedom to choose whatever you fancy and the convivial sharing of finger food.
The task of working our way around this miniature tasting menu was a joy, with hums of appreciation from different sides of the table as new treats were discovered among the feast.
It would be nice to have some sort of labelling telling us what each thing on the slate was, but we gradually figured it out from the menu and perhaps that was part of the fun.
Now for the hot dogs. We ordered one classic deli dog (£5) and two special dogs (the special option changes every other day).
All three were brought to the table in their own little baskets with a side of outrageously good looking hand cut chips cooked in beef dripping (£3) in their own little tin pot.
The classic is a meaty pork sausage served with ale onions with homemade mustard and ketchup on the side, plus the optional extra addition of beef chilli (£1.50).
The two specials were beef sausages with smoked cheese melted over the top and a stack of chunky pickles to boot.
This is how I’ve wanted every hot dog I’ve ever eaten to taste, and the clever flavour combinations and quality ingredients mean the Bureau’s deli dogs are more than the sum of their parts.
There were a few too many suited punters in the Bureau for my liking (but if you don’t want to spend your free time surrounded by suits you don’t go to the heart of the business district) and too many TV screens.
During our visit they were screening a mix of Sky Sports and Sky News – a quick and effective way to kill the atmosphere at any dinner table.
But I’m told Sky has now been scrapped and the bar has started showing Citizen Kane and 80’s classic Cocktail without the sound (as well as World Cup matches, with the sound up for England games).
There wasn’t much service involved in our fuss-free visit, but the service we had was speedy, slick enough and smiley.
Happily stuffed with Midlands tapas and haute dog I tragically had no room for the “chocolate egg” cocktail I was eyeing up at the start of the meal.
Using a whole egg in the style of a Flip cocktail, the drink comes with chocolate grated over the top.
The brains behind the Bureau, Zack Foley and Paul Rutter, are cocktail kings at heart, leaving their jobs at the bar of Hotel La Tour to venture out alone.
Opening The Bureau at the end of October, they’ve come up with signature servings including the Toffee Apple (served in a jam jar and garnished with a molecular toffee apple crisp) and the Poppet (mixing traditionally English flavours of Earl Grey tea, pear and apple, and topped with dried rose buds).
The pair teamed up with head chef Stuart Devereux, formerly of Piccolino in Brindleyplace, who composed the imaginative menu focusing on locally-sourced ingredients for bar food that doesn’t scrimp on quality.
Currently serving an “oriental hot dog” as the special, Stuart’s previous creations have included a jerk chicken dog with crispy shallot and barbecue sauce, pollock in crisp curry batter with gem lettuce and dollops of yoghurt and kumquat and chilli jam, and a “salty sea dog” consisting of beer battered hake, prawn and smoked haddock served with roe, chips, tartare sauce and scraps.
Known as “Bureau Bar” to most of its punters, the owners label it The Bureau Bar and Kitchen in a similar vein to Pure Bar and Kitchen, its new neighbour.
The team here take a refreshing approach. It’s good to see them breathing new life into a stunning building that stood empty for four years, and as they work through each phase of their development plan, spreading their wings and opening new areas to the public, I expect they’ll gain plenty of new devotees.
Our bill for three came to £60 and while you wouldn’t go here in search of fine dining, it’s top-quality grub and the kind of fun food experience that would make it a good choice for a date.
The Bureau shouldn’t be discounted as a food venue. It’s far more than a bar.
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 7/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
