Guest Restaurant with a Guest Chef

By Simon Archer

I’m choosing my words carefully as I write this review, so as not to offend anyone.  However, I think most people would agree that Dudley isn’t hugely well know for it’s cuisine – aside from faggots and grey peas (or paes), which I’m a big fan of.

So, imagine how pleasantly surprised myself, my wife and our two friends were, when we dined at the Guest Restaurant for the visit of celebrity chef, Kray Treadwell who was a finalist of the Great British Menu in 2019 and now has his own restaurant, 670 Grams in Digbeth, Birmingham.

Not only did Kray and his team treat us to an array of delicious dishes, but he also ventured out of the kitchen to serve and to engage with some of the diners.

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a few celebrities in the past and some of them can be a bit up themselves.  Not Kray.  He was really happy to chat and was very likeable and humble about his food and his restaurant.  Quite a nice chap for a Brummie lol.

With us all being big foodies, we were more than happy with the set menu, which was sent in advance of our visit by restaurant owner, Mark Bodley, to whet our appetites.

We began with a ‘snack’ of Cheese and Onion Curry Cured Trout Tostada, which was a delight.

This was quickly followed by a Milk Loaf with herb butter and Digbeth honey – who knew there was such a thing. This dish pleased my mate Lee as I think he was concerned about the portion sizes.

There was a selection of wines to accompany each course, which, tempting thought they were, we passed on as this was a ‘school night’ and two of us were driving and all had work in the morning – maybe next time, and there will be a next time.

We then moved on to a Lightly Set Miso Custard, which probably sounded the least appealing, but it just shows, you should never judge a book……….

Our next treat was the Cornish Cod Loin with onion fondue and white asparagus sauce.  This was our friend Sarah’s favourite.

I have to say, the star of the show for me was the Turnock Family BBQ Hogget with lovage, mint and broad beans.  To save you a Google, Hogget is sort of lamb (it’s complicated – it’s actually sheep, but let’s not get picky).  This dish was an absolute joy.  Lamb is probably my favourite meat and Kray certainly knows how to get the best from it.

Although each dish is modest in size, by the time we came to dessert, we were getting pretty full, but hey, there’s always room for a bit more.  This was just called ‘Summer’ and it certainly celebrated all the things we love; Ice Cream, Strawberries, Meringue and Elderflower – think Michelin standard Eton Mess and you won’t be far off. This one kept my wife, Carol happy as she’s the one with a sweet tooth.

At under £50 per head, you’ll be hard pressed to get this level of food for anywhere near that price.

The restaurant was full when we visited, which created a nice atmosphere, which helps.

Dudley is very lucky to have this restaurant.  I hope Mark gets the support he deserves.  We’ll certainly be back soon.

Guest Restaurant

The Old Courthouse

Priory Street

Dudley

DY1 1HA

Tel: 01384 815575

www.guestrestaurant.co.uk