What you name your restaurant can be so important to its success; they can easily backfire, especially in the hands of a vicious restaurant critic (The Place 2 B and Caffé Uno two examples that spring to mind - respectively renamed The Place Not 2 B and Caffé Oh No in reviews).
So when you hear of a place called Must, alarm bells go off.
The owners clearly hope it'll spawn comments like 'you MUST go there' and 'it's a real MUST' etc etc... but a bad review and its name could take on a whole new meaning.
Happily this new Dim Sum bar and restaurant IS a must. Those of us who've been in the city for a few years will remember Must's home previously as the nightclub Tressine's (we're talking late 80s here), whilst most recently it was The Litten Tree pub.
You'd hardly recognise the place now; the front bar area is a light, creamy atmosphere, with bar stools pulled up to the long counter and plenty of other seating aside. The rear of the restaurant splits off into two stylish rooms; to the right a contemporary dining area, red leather, taupe walls and all, to the left a moodier, wooden panelled sanctuary much more suited to romantic tête à têtes.
We were in the former, the girls sat on the banquette, we boys sat in the low backed but comfy scooped armchairs.
The menu is extensive almost to the point of overkill confusion; seven soups, 11 starters, a dozen meat and a dozen seafood mains, poultry and vegetarian options... and then there's the dim sum menu and side dishes.
We would still be there now trying to decide over the king prawn hotpot or the jin phung (grilled Dover sole), the Peking pork chop or Onoki beef.
Far easier on the grey matter - and because we were all ravenous - was the set menu option. Whilst stated for six or more people, we managed to order the £25 set menu for the four of us. And what a result.
Westlake beef broth (a watery soup of minced beef, mushroom and coriander) was followed by the perennial favourite of crispy aromatic duck (pancakes, duck, plum sauce, shredded celery and onion). The broth was unusual but refreshing and light; the duck the great feast it always is - it's hard to go wrong with this dish but Must got the duck just right, non-fatty, flavoursome and plentiful - enough pancakes for two or three each.
The girls sensibly stopped at two; the main course looked sizeable even before they'd brought the last two dishes - stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, stir fried king prawn in satay sauce, beef in black bean sauce, sweet and sour pork (a little dry, not enough sauce) and, best of all, steamed sea bass with ginger and spring onions and Chinese green (aka broccoli) with crab meat sauce. The latter looked like a head of the vegetable drizzled in cheese, but the unusual blend of the green (just the right side of crisp) and the shredded seafood was a surprise delight. The fish was tender as could be, but light enough to get finished off - no mean feat given the vast quantities, coupled with sides of fried rice and noodles.
The white flags were ready to come out, but ushered into the subdued lit room next door, we enjoyed a coffee and the most ornate fruit board you could imagine - a true work of art, the wonderfully fresh and zingy pineapple, orange etc the perfect full stop to the meal.
A pity the restaurant wasn't busier for a Saturday, but if those lucky enough to have already visited Must spread the word, that should soon change for the better.
* Must Dim Sum Bar & Restaurant, 11-13 Newhall Street, Birmingham. 0121 212 2266
