Trying somewhere new can be so nerve-wracking, especially when you've been invited. As you want them to excel with their vegan food options and customer service because writing a negative review is no fun, trust me. With this insecurity, I went to The Courtyard Restaurant. A restaurant that is situated in Conference Aston, that is a part of Aston University.
It's a quaint quite corporate looking well lit venue that has an overall brown colour scheme with accents of grassy green. I was invited over to the venue to try out their Market Fresh Menu and I went there with a friend to try it out.
I found that the Market Fresh Menu hardly had any vegan options but the chef was able to put together some options for me. Whilst we were waiting for our food, we had this lovely platter of bread with balsamic vinegar and oil. Great portion and lovely soft bread.
For starters, I was served a bunch of asparagus with walnuts, lemon and pesto dressing. This was perfection. The asparagus was cooked well and it went really well with the dressing. A great light summer starter.
The main was off the bar menu and it already marked as vegan. It was the Aubergine, Baby Spinach and Chickpea Curry. As you can see it was presented beautifully with white rice and naan. It was a very generous portion and tasted really good but it was still a little watery, perhaps because it wasn't slow cooked for as long as it should have and it lacked that depth of flavour. Overall, it was a lovely dish and option but I wouldn't seek this out to have it again.
Here's a closer look at the dish
Lastly, it was the Exotic Fruit Platter, which is on the Market Fresh Menu. This was a lovely selection of fruit that was served with passionfruit sorbet. It tasted really good and worked really well for a summer option. Did I miss cake? Yes! Especially as I saw my foodie partner having a intricately made mille-fuille. It doesn't matter how good a fruit platter looks, at the end of the day it's just fruit. I love fruit but I wouldn't order a fruit platter, as I know I can make this at home.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience at The Courtyard Restaurant. The customer service was good and so was the food. But there was no defining factor that would make me want to go back.
**The views in this blog are my own and the meal was complimentary**
Would I go back? Maybe not
How did they cope with the vegan dietary requirement? Quite well
What are the prices like? This 3 course meal would cost £24.95, which is reasonable for the portion size and options, especially with the meat options.
What is eatery best for? A corporate event or dinner for a vegan in Birmingham
Have you been? What did you think?
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