Immortalised by a credit on an Ocean Colour Scene album, Ruprai Food & Wines is an Kings Heath institution. When the band were between record labels, OCS singer Simon Fowler would pop round the corner from Westfield Road to Ruprai for liquid-based inspiration.
The 'food' is before the 'wine' in the title, but the ordering of the words is merely an attempt at glossing over what people mainly come it for. Its the wine. Or generally speaking, booze. And what a glorious stock of the stuff they have.
At the very low end you have cider that has possibly never seen an apple in its life. At the high end are premium spirits like absinthes, (3 varieties nonetheless), and my favourite bourbon, (some say the only bourbon) Maker's Mark. And inbetween, a range of wines of all shades, varieties, and vintages between £3.99 to around the fifteen quid mark.
On the day I bought a bottle of Hardy's Shiraz 1998 for £4.99. At £4 cheaper than anywhere else this is typical of savings to me made at Ruprai. read more