I tried the controversial Symphony Hall rule and now I get why it\'s divisive

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A food writer has discovered a surprising new dish at Symphony Hall - the legendary Brummie bacon cake.

The heavy, scone-like bakes, made with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and bacon and topped with cheese, are said to date back to the 1860s, though no one really knows who first started making them.

Now they're serving them up warm at the B:Eats cafe, which is at the Symphony Hall, though you don't need a ticket to a show to try it out.

I was trip-trapping over the bridge at Brindleyplace, trying to make a decision on what to have for lunch, when the sign promising the classic Birmingham bake winked at me from the ICC spot.

As well as bacon cakes, the cafe menu features a few distinctly Brummie dishes. The Birmingham Soup (£9.50), a spin on that broth Matthew Boulton made for city workers in the 18th century, wasn't quite what I was looking for on a hot day, but the veggie version of the bacon cake (£6.50) was too alluring to resist.

Given it was such a beautiful day, I ordered my bacon cake to go. There's a big risk when you're in B:Eats on your lunch hour that some amazing musician is going to start playing music and the next thing you know, you've lost hours of your life being happy and your boss is ready to flog your earhole off. That's my warning, keep your wits about you.

When they handed over the to-go box, it weighed significantly more than I'd imagined. The massive whopper looks like the rock cake of my dreams, but it was still warm and giving off the smoked scent of bacon.

I took it and stood in the glow of the Golden Boys, that statue of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch outside the cafe. "Cop a load of this," I said to Boulton, but he didn't react. I imagine he's seen a lot of bacon cakes. Cheese was baked into the top, as golden as his face.

Though the cake is normally served with butter, they'd forgotten to put mine in. It could have done with it but even without, it was ace. It really was like a savoury rock cake, beautifully crisp on the outside and bouncy and flavourful inside, I felt like a proper Brummie eating it.

It took about an hour for me to finish the thing, that's how big it was. I nibbled it in the ICC, scoffed another chunk near that cloud sculpture beside the canal, stood snacking looking over at Black Sabbath Bridge while a passing narrowboat played The Cure and had another mouthful on Brindleyplace where a toddler wobbled near the fountain, sparkling in the sunshine.

B:Eats is at the ICC, Broad Street, B1 2EA. This review was conducted at random and food and drink was paid for by the reporter.

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