Semedos is a HMC Halal certified restaurant, offering affordable delicious Portuguese style cuisine. Semedos are known for their delicious lamb chops, peri-peri chicken, steaks and gourmet burgers.
The place
Semedos is located within Birmingham’s Jewellery Quater on the corner of Warstone Lane with a cosy environment. The dark wood throughout the place complements the environment making customers feel at home. Although Semedos appears small in size, space is utilized well.
They have ensured to have enough seating available without overcrowding the place to allow you to not be placed too close to other customers allowing a private meal. There is also a booth styled table placed closer to the kitchen large enough to cater for bigger groups choosing to dine in. On days the weather permits outdoor seating is also available in front of the restaurant. (Sorry for the picture quality, we were excited to eat and cold!)
As you can see below there are also bottomless drinks available via a self-serve machine (You can mix drinks if you’re into that). There are different sauces available from lemon and herb to hot. There are also bar stools available if you prefer facing the outside when eating, being sat higher up or you’re just having a quick bite to eat.
The staff
Everyone at Semedos is lovely. From the moment we arrived, they ensured that we were happy and tried to meet our every need (which can sometimes be difficult as we can have a lot of requests!). A younger waiter that served us and was new managed to keep up with the constant requests and when needed the manager came out and explained further about the dishes as there was so much to choose from we were confused! The menu has a large variety and there are lots of sauces that can be used to complement your meal so we asked lots of questions and we were not disappointed! I must say the service (and of course the yummy food) has meant we and others have made lots of visits down to Birmingham just to dine at Semedos!The food
At Semedos the food varies although there is a general BBQ theme. We’ve tried numerous dishes but hey let me not get ahead of myself let me tell you about HFG personal favourites.AppeTEASErs
– Olives (£2.85) Green pitted olives marinated with garlic
– Homous (£3.35) – This is a must on visiting!
Homous is described as “A mediterranean classic with sesame paste tahina hot pepper, parsley, garlic and lemon juice, served with warm pitta bread“
The Homous is freshly made at Somedos and is lovely prior to your meal to clench the hunger you feel sat waiting for your food (due to the kitchen being open plan the aroma gets to you making you more hungry). The portion size is also good and can be shared between 2-4 (it is probably better that way so you can save yourself for mains).
– Grilled lamb ribs (£4.20) served with mint sauce. The lamb chops can be cooked in any flavour of your choice. The flavours range from lemon and herb to extra hot. We opted for the lemon & herb sauce. I must say they are one of my favourite chops, they were perfect and not burnt compared to other chops. We also added corn on the cob which tastes just like what you make on a BBQ opposed to the usual boiled stuff that’s been put on the grill for a minute (as served in most places). Each segment of corn still had that fresh crunch and flavour that you just don’t get when it’s been boiled/steamed. I have to say it is the best corn on the cob I’ve ever had!
– Garlic bread with cheese (£2.85). This is not your ordinary garlic bread but rather a Portuguese (ciabatta) bread with a touch of garlic, topped up with just the right amount of mozzarella cheese. I’d advise going for this smaller portion rather than the larger option as it was decently sized but again we shared ours to avoid filling up! It tasted really good both fluffy bread but crunchy at the same time and it had the perfect amounts of garlic and cheese which is rare!
Mains
– World famous Portuguese style chicken is marinated for 24 hours in Semedos’ special peri-peri sauce at a spice of your choice and flame grilled to order. We opted for a 1/2 chicken (£9.00) cooked at medium spice with 2 sides (Chips with peri salt & veg). The chicken was succulent and flavoured and better than the general peri-peri flavour that is becoming popular. The sides were nice. The chips were the chunky style and the vegetables were boiled (sadly I did not get a pic of the vegetables, again too excited to eat! But the chips can be seen with the burger).
– Peri burger (£5.45) was marinated chicken breast in peri-peri sauce garnished with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and red onion. Again you can choose what spice you’d like the meal. I opted for the medium which had a kick to it. I really enjoyed the burger, it was succulent and enjoyable although I forgot to get it with a cheese slice (If you try this I think the cheese would be a perfect garnish). I also got corn on the cob as it is so good! I also ordered chunky chips as a side which was nice.
– Tagliatelle Allah Crema (£8.45) included spinach and rustica tomatoes blended with a special creamy luxury sauce. The pasta had a lovely crinkly cut which improved the aesthetics. This was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve had. It was creamy with lots of chicken and so filling (I ended up having to pack up what was left over)!
The drinks
All the drinks at Semedos complimented the food well. There is a variety available from fruity fresh smoothies, milkshakes to mocktails and fizzy drinks. The fizzy drinks come in various sizes, you can opt for a can, a glass bottle (my personal fav), a large bottle to share or a bottomless drink.
The Luso mineral water (500ml £2.35 glass bottle) served is from Portugal which provides an authentic touch and tasted lovely (for those that are into different types of mineral water you’ll really enjoy it!) and is a must if you opt for a more spicy meal. Alternatively, you can opt for sparkling water if that clenches your thirst.
Appletiser (£1.95) and 3 flavours of J2O (£1.95) are also available served in the glass bottle. I personally enjoyed having an Appletiser for a change as they are not usually sold in restaurants that I’ve dined in.
The dessert available at Semedos ranges from waffles, cakes to gelatos of various flavours, however, we did not actually try them.
The verdict
I’ve visited Semedos a few times as have others whom I recommended the place to and it has not yet failed us. All the food tasted good and I love that you can choose your spice. The staff are friendly and the service is great which complements the lovely food. The chicken is succulent and the corn on the cob is a must. Semedos is yummy and worth travelling to.
LOCATION – 54 Warstone Ln, Birmingham B18 6NG
OPENING TIMES – Monday to Saturday 12pm – 11pm, Sunday 5pm – 11pm
DELIVERY – Available from 4:45pm (Order online for an exclusive discount and special offers)
MENU AVAILABLE AT – semedosonline.co.uk
CONTACT – 0121 233 2288
HMC certified
Cash only!
#HFGBIRMINGHAM
