Bun and Bowl

This venue is in The Cube, and has a menu offering shrimp, and burgers.
The shrimp bowls are reasonable, with a small range of flavours available. They used to be served with bread, but this has recently changed to be linguine. Not sure that this is in keeping with the American style menu, but I guess that this is more appealing to diners.
The burgers are pretty good. I can recommend ordering the sliders, if you can’t decide on which burger you want to devour. Or the halloumi cheese burger, which is a really satisfying vegetarian option.
The cocktails here are amazing. I think that it is one of those places where the cocktails are overlooked as people come here primarily for the food. The Bun and Bowl offers 2−4−1 cocktails everyday between 4pm and 9pm. Worth going to try them out on offer.
I personally find the menu a little pricy. Two starters, two burgers, sweet potato fries to share, and two drinks came to £45.

On Friday evening we were trying to decide what we were going to do for dinner when we saw a tweet that Bun & Bowl, a new restaurant in The Cube, had opened its doors. The obvious choice then! It opened with little fanfare but we’re told they wanted a soft launch ahead of a more publicised opening in a week or two. It has the same owners as Rodizio Rico and the new coffee shop Madeleine. The Cube is fast becoming a new foodie destination with these three venues side by side, the Teppanyaki restaurant moving from The Mailbox during refurbishment, and soon a new Indian restaurant & Cocktail bar.
A bit like London’s Burger & Lobster the concept at Bun & Bowl is very simple. You can have a burger, or a bowl of shrimp (although I would refer to them as King Prawns). There are deviations on what kind of burger you have, and what sauce you have with your shrimp, but that’s your lot other than three salads. We ordered pricey pints of Budweiser (£4.70) while we made our selection from the leather bound menu. There is an attractive cocktail bar, which has a list of classic cocktails which seem to be reasonably priced.
There are some small starter type dishes although this doesn’t seem to be a «3-​courser» restaurant. We shared some hummus which came with pitta and cucumber. I ordered the Asian style shrimp dish (£12), with ginger, lemongrass, and spring onion. The shrimp dishes come with bread to dip in the sauce, although on opening night I had slices of bread rather than the promised home baked white role. Nonetheless, the bread was tasty, although perhaps a little at odds with Asian flavours? That dish would have suited noodles better in my opinion. The flavour was very good. The shrimp are served shelled but with the tail on, which if I’m honest is a bit of a faff as they’re in the sauce. I found myself trying to remove the tails with my teeth to avoid getting covered in the liquor. They could do with providing finger bowls to freshen up. It wasn’t a very hearty dish and I’m glad we shared some crispy sweet potato fries on the side (£3.50).
The other dish we tried was the sliders (£12), these American treats — small beef burgers — are becoming more and more popular in the UK. At Bun & Bowl the sliders are three mini beef-​burgers, one «classic» and two of your choosing. We went for the pulled beef-​rib burger and the mushroom burger. The pulled rib burger was particularly tasty, but all were cooked to just medium, and were succulent. They were served on light sesame-​seeded brioche buns. Sides are ordered separately.
We were customers number two and three, and we would rarely review somewhere so soon, about an hour, after opening. The staff and kitchen will need to bed in, and tweaks made to dishes to make the restaurant work. I look forward to going back once it’s been open a few weeks to see the proper finished article

Bun and Bowl is situated within The Cube in quite a quirky unit. It is fitted out with lots of wood and has plenty of tables with lots of space between each one so you can chat easily.
I visited last summer but that was ages ago so I’ll focus on my most recent visit.
Bun and Bowl used to have just burgers and bowls of prawns on the menu but they’ve expanded and have a grill section now, including lamb and grilled prawns, all of which I need to try in future!
I’ve had a bowl of the prawns before, which were in a delicious chilli, garlicy broth with bread to mop it up.
This time I went for ‘The Cube’ burger, named after its home. This is a double-​patty cheese and bacon burger, with a lovely glazed bun and caramalised onions. I liked the texture of the burger itself and the oozy cheese and onions.
The French Fries that Edward D and I shared reminded me of chips you have on holiday– really thin, hot and salty. A great treat!
My burger was less than £10 but it’s a shame you have to buy your sides separately– it pushes the price up a bit! I’d recommend having a cocktail with your meal as well.
Bun and Bowl is not that far from me so I really must pop in again soon to try the chargrilled prawns!

I love shrimp so was excited to try Bun&Bowl. The food was great– the service was good and quick but unfortunately there seemed to be some kind of heating problem and we were being kept warm with temporary heaters. It was a bit too chilly for us but hopefully this was a one time problem and next time we can enjoy the tasty shrimp while we’re toasty warm.
Solve the heating issue and this is a great place for casual dinners with friends.

Bun and Bowl is the newest offering from the owners of Brazilian BBQ joint Rodico Rizo (the «Meat» place). A new concept for Birmingham, the restaurant serves a large range of drinks, a choice or burgers and Shrimp.
I was there for my first ever «Pheonix Lunch Club» networking meeting yesterday. I had no idea what to expect (not having seen the interior or many reviews), so it was a great excuse to get down and get a feel for the food and ambiance of the place.
The place is a reasonable size, but not huge. It probably sits around 50 diners comfortably at one time and has a New Orleans feel to it. Hard wood fittings and minimalist design give it a fresh and clean feel, whilst still being welcoming and comfortable at the same time. The music in the background was lounge covers of popular rock songs, which suited the atmosphere of the venue.
Once we were seated, the staff checked on us all for drinks before our meals were served. All of the waiting and bar staff were friendly and accommodating throughout our meal, which was an encouraging sign.
I had opted for the shrimp starter, which was tasty and just the right amount. 4 large shrimp were served up in a delicious spiced sauce with a hunk of fresh, warm bread (which I used to mop up the sauce once I had tucked into the shrimp). Everything tasted fresh and the ingredients were well balanced.
I had a bit of a wait for my main, but I didn’t mind (as they were serving around 40 — 50 people at the same time). I would imagine that this would be different if you were a smaller group. My «Tornado Shrimp» bowl was divine. Fresh veg, bright colours and a very generous serving which also came with a quarter of baguette. Throughout the meal the wait staff came around with wedges, fries, sweet potato chips and salad as sides to the meal (this seemed to be unlimited).
My partners in dining weren’t too impressed with their burgers, but I can only comment on my meal. I thought the food was solid (and not too «haute cuisine) and the service complimented this. I would definitely go back with a group of friends and try their menu further.