Fargo’s as ‘Fresh’ as ever on Ladypool Road in Birmingham

THIS PLACE HAS SINCE CLOSED DOWN!

We have built great relationships with local and national suppliers to ensure we obtain a high standard of produce.

HMC-certified Fargo’s is as established a modern restaurant as any other fully Halal eatery on Birmingham’s famous food stretch of Ladypool Road.

Since opening in 2011, it’s been through a number of iterations, having first launched as Fargo’s Food Factory, before settling on Fargo’s aka Fargo’s Fresh.

But Fargo’s owner is certainly versatile, having adapted his business in response to the Covid situation by splitting his premises into two sections.

While retaining Fargo’s on one side, he opened up an entirely new concept called Frank’d which serves Shinmei Koshihikari Rice bowls and fried chicken full of Japanese, Korean and Indo-Chinese flavours.

Following the lockdown, however, Fargo’s returned to something closer to what it was during its pre-Covid era, with Frank’d continuing as a sort of auxiliary business.

The restaurant itself is a colourfully spacious one, with plenty of boothed seating therein, as well as tables upstairs; and an eclectic menu that’s taken inspiration from various cuisines across the world.

Passion Ikon – Passion fruit syrup, pineapple juice, apple juice, cranberry juice, vimto; Bora Bora – Grenadine, passion fruit syrup, lemon juice, apple juice; Blue Moon – Passion fruit syrup, blue curacao mint, lime, lemon & lime soda – £4.50 ech

The Passion Ikon and Bora Bora – it’s shorter, colour-inverted counterpart – both had a candy-like sweetness, with the former having a slight edge over the latter thanks to a citrusy underone. Otherwise, these were relatively simple concoctions that lacked the layering of flavours so crucial in defining some of the better mocktails out there.

With all that crushed ice, the Blue Moon was definitely more a slushy than a mocktail, with an overarching bubblegum flavour that lingered pleasantly alongside the freshness of the mint and lime therein. Though nothing outstanding, these beverages were, nonetheless, perfectly good drinks.

Fully Loaded Nachos – Fargo’s Nachos, choice of: Texan ground beef or Mexican shredded chicken, £7.50

How many restaurants dish-up Fully Loaded Nachos, but fail to bring everything together into a harmonious whole? Fargo’s version was masterfully done, courtesy of a superior quality of tortillo chips, which were light and crispy as opposed to the heavy and stodgy variety typically found elsewhere.

Ultimately though, this entire plate was driven by two homemade components: A deeply rich, moist and meaty Texan ground beef, which had a sour edge to it, and was sprinkled with spring onions; and a creamy textured guacamole – all of which was nicely complimented by the finely diced tomato and red onion salsa, and plenty of strong jalapenos.

We also appreciated the finer details here, including the cheddar cheese, properly melted over the warm tortillo chips (sometimes served cold at other places), being topped by all the condiments, as opposed to being haphazardly sprinkled over the top, only to solidify into gummy mess.

Cheeseburger Spring Rolls - Aberdeen Angus beef mince & cheese filo pastry rolls. Served with a choice of 3 sauces, £4.50

Cheeseburger Spring Rolls - Aberdeen Angus beef mince & cheese filo pastry rolls. Served with Bo's Beef Classic (Bo's burger sauce), £4.50

Cheeseburger Spring Rolls - Aberdeen Angus beef mince & cheese filo pastry rolls. Served with Chilli Bomb (Spiced comeback sauce, chilli bomb sauce, roquito peppers), £4.50

Cheeseburger Spring Rolls - Aberdeen Angus beef mince & cheese filo pastry rolls. Served with Yankee (French's mustard, chipotle ketchup, dill pickles, shoe string fried onions), £4.50

These were a tail of two halves. Despite these inhouse made spring rolls being superbly executed, turning out as they did with a lovely crispy exterior and a moist cheesy-filled interior, it was frustrating to find the beef underseasoned.

Even the trio of sauces, which were all exceptionally good, especially the chilli bomb concoction which its delayed fuse, couldn’t disguise the fact that these spring rolls required more seasoning (table salt did, of course, do the trick).

New York Strip Steak (medium rare) – Aberdeen Angus dry aged 10oz sirloin steak, £21.00

This New York Strip Steak is a relative new comer, and what an inclusion it is too! If pictures could kill, you wouldn’t be reading what follows.

Fat Fries, £2.50

All three of us agreed that this was comparable to any steak we had last year, and would have given #FtLionAwards ‘Best Grill’ 2021 a run for its money.

In between medieum rare and medium, this dreamily tender and glisteningly succulent piece of sliced, dry aged sirloin was simply mesmerising, with the charring achieved on the outside elevating this to ecstatic bouts of pure pleasure.

Add to that a zingy chimichurri sauce and caramelised onions, and you better believe this will be considered for our end of year awards.

And, of course, what’s steak without chips? In this case, we ordered a portion of Fargo’s Fat Fries, that were presented freshly hot and crispy, just the way we like ’em.

Green Chilli Cheese Burger – 2 x 3oz smashed Aberdeen Angus beef patties, American cheese, chilli bomb sauce, spiced comeback sauce, roquito peppers, shredded lettuce & red onion, £9.50

Again, this Green Chilli Cheese Burger is one of the newer additions to their constantly evolving menu.

As is all the rage these days, this was a double smashed patty affair, with plenty of satisfyingly gooey American cheese, and three types of chilli-inspired sauces, all working in tandem to deliver a burger which, texturally, was a deliciously coherent munch.

Flavour-wise, however, two of the three Lions would have preferred the beef better seasoned. The remaining one disagreed though, insisting that the combination of the Aberdeen Angus with everything therein was more than sufficient in delivering a tasty burger.

Nagatron Steak Kebabish – Wok fried strips of lamb fillet & chicken steak, mixed peppers, onions & nagatron sauce, with mixed leaves and Japanese Fried Rice, £13.50

Based on past experience, we weren’t holding out much hope for this Nagatron Steak Kebabish. Thank goodness the owner persuaded us to give this popular new dish a go.

Inspired, of course, by the Pakistani Kebabish, not only was the wok fried strips of lamb fillet and chicken steak of a superior quality, having been served soft and juicy with plenty of spice and character, but the freshly made Japanese Fried Rice (no doubt incorporated from their Frank’d concept) an absolute triumph.

Truth be told, we could have had the plump, fragrant rice all by itself, given how well the heat of the wok, or wok ‘hei’, had infused it with smokiness. A hearty, deeply aromatic and absolutely delightful plate of food.

Fargo Fries, £2.50

And here’s commitment to quality and consistency for you: Hand-cut fries each day, every day! While the aforementioned Fat Fries were good, be sure to get these skin-on and rustically presented Fargo Fries (signature fries for a reason). Top notch!