Athens is a traditional Greek restaurant with a delicious menu and old-fashioned abstract decor…read morethat adds to its charm. The waiters are probably the funniest and most charming restaurant staff I have ever come across. And I suppose they have to be when dancing with customers is part of their job description! On Fridays and Saturdays, they have a belly-dancer who encourages diners to join her under the spotlight. Then the waiters get everyone on their feet to dance inside and outside of the restaurant. They end the night with current pop and some old-school music. The food is delicious and served surprisingly swiftly, even when the restaurant is packed. At the weekends they have a standard offer - starter and main course for £16. It's very filling so you probably won't have space for dessert! There's nearly always a hen party going on. Booking in advance is recommended.

For an hilarious night out on the cheesy side but with some pretty good food then you may want to…read moregive Athens a go. Yes, on busy nights with group bookings there may well be some plate smashing. The waiters are super funny and really helpful if you are new to Greek cuisine as some of my group were. Expect some dancing and lots of laughs but if the drink is flowing you get so caught up in the atmosphere you don't really mind. The food portions are big and really tasty. If you aren't into the whole belly dancing experience then weekends are the time to avoid. The biggest plus is that with Snobs next door it's easy to roll from one to the next. Expect to see big groups and always book in advance.

I'd not had Greek food in about 40 years. But I met up with an old friend and we agreed to go to…read moreSantonini's. We went in around 1pm, and were the only diners apart from one other couple. We left around 3.45 The warmth of greeting, and the service were outstanding. Even better (we both chose the Mezze) was the quality of the " selection of small dishes served to accompany alcoholic drinks". Around six or seven dishes were placed in front of us (can't tell you which - I'm not versed in Greek food though some wonderful puff pastry concoction, Greek fries, sausages in spicy sauce, and hummus {my friend told me} were some of the food.) We duly ploughed our way through maybe half of what was in front of us. It was only then that we (well, certainly *I*) realised that this was just part 1. Part 2, dishes of lamb, chicken, kebabs, moussaka and more dishes yet replaced those that we'd fully consumed or tried to consume in part 1. And again the quality of every dish (and the variety) was first rate. Despite this we could eat barely half of what we were given. We followed this with Turkish coffee and an ouzo on the house. (Mmmmmm ..... oouuzooo). We paid each £27, (including my Greek beer and my mate's glass of red) and the (serious) offer of doggy bags for the food we couldn't manage. Now, it sounds strange but the generosity of the food was slightly overwhelming, rather challenging, "EAT ME" on a big scale! Hence British reticence makes me give 4 and not 5 stars. It IS possible to have too much of a good thing. Maybe I should have taken up the doggy bag offer! But maybe Santorini's should restrain their generosity and offer a little, just a little less of each serving of Mezze 1 and 2, difficult though it is to rein in Greek hospitality? (And no, I never thought I'd say any restaurant offered me TOO MUCH food! LOL) The place has been up and running for a year. My friend and I plan on meeting in Brum again in the near future. If I have anything to do with it we shall eat here again - the best compliment I can pay to excellent food, good service and a delightful family atmosphere. I wish Santorini's and its staff every success.

I have always tried to use Independent family restaurants and endeavour to be as positive as…read morepossible when reviewing, so it is with great disappointment that I write... Reasonably quick to take order, acceptable wine then the big delay for the food to arrive, in the meantime asked to move tables to make room for a larger party which we obliged in doing, at our new table we waited and waited and waited eventually a member of staff noticed the lack of food and obliged in re taking our order... after a short wait it arrived... but was the wrong order as well as the lack of the starter. Perhaps I should point out our order was for two wrapped kebabs one chicken souvlaki and a lamb doner, not exactly complicated. When pointed out they were quick to rectify with a sad looking souvlaki offering. Given the price of the kebab meal was £6 x 2: I was hoping the bill would reflect the level of service... but no it would seem a £9 service was deemed an acceptable charge as well as getting the drinks charge wrong. Finally got the bill amended with no real fuss. All in all a great disappoint and felt that I had almost been mugged... Advice... avoid!!

Finally got around to trying this place I have to say it's actually very me! I was thinking of…read moresomewhere to grab something quick and fresh last night before the rep and this tiny shop was just ideal. There are only a few small tables but the food here is to stay or go making that not an issue at all. I went for the chicken and beef kebab which was served on fresh bread with yoghurt dressing and a simple salad. Now with a dish like this you can't really have anything bad quality as there are so few elements....this was pretty much perfect. All well seasoned, fresh and tasty. No complaints from me at all! I like the speed and vibe of this place, the food is no frills served by friendly people in a relaxed and laid back way....I'll be back....definitely

Simple, humble, independent takeaway Greek cuisine at its quirky & affordable price, conveniently…read morelocated tucked away opposite New Street station in a modest but slightly cramped place. Fresh, simple, lovely menu and great service. Inside was a small dining area with a couple of tables and stools with an open kitchen and billboards scribbled with the different choices on the menu. Freshly prepared platters of meat & also vegetarian dishes, salad side with dressing and Pitta slices. Overall I'd recommend highly if you'd like traditional greek food.

With the development of New Street Station, it was inevitable that great new places were going to…read morepop up around Stephenson Street. This new lunch spot is something quite different for the centre of the City, but will definitely find it's place in amongst the independent deli's and great places to grab something different on the go. Looking clean, basic and unassuming from the outside; even the name doesn't give away what this business does at first glance. I heard about this place through Twitter and had it bookmarked to visit for quite some time. After a busy morning on Friday, a hurried lunch on the go was the way forward and I remembered that I had promised myself a visit to 4023. After snapping some pictures of the exterior, I popped in to peruse the menu and decide what I was going to have. There is seating inside, but literally enough space for maybe 6 - 8 diners. The menu is small, but very well formed. You can choose from koftas, meze platters, wraps and salads and have these served to take away or eat in. After troubling over the selection for a couple of minutes, I decided to go for the lamb meatballs in a bread wrap to take away. Even with a busy venue, lots of orders coming in and a queue out the door; I got my order within 5 minutes. I took this to the Cathedral to enjoy a spot of winter sun whilst I ate my lunch. The meatballs were delicious. Hot, filling and tasty... The bread was obviously fresh and the salad was the perfect accompaniment. My lunch cost me £3.50 (just the wrap, no sides or drinks) and I felt this was good value for money as I wasn't hungry again until the late evening. I definately want to go back to sample some of their other specialities. If you want to eat in, get there early (as it's only a tiny place). If you're happy to take away (and create jealousy in the office), go and give this place a go!

I feel that my culinary life in Birmingham is much more complete with the discovery of Forty Twenty…read moreThree (hat tip to Jeanette & Brandon). The seemingly obtuse name references the geographic coordinates where Europe (Greece) meets Asia Minor, the area most known for the Mediterranean cuisine served at 40 23. It's Mediterranean street food at its best. The food finds a balance, not being too heavy or too healthy. The result is ultimate deliciousness. Forty Twenty Three is on the stretch of Stephenson Street that also hosts a Greek Deli next door. The businesses in this area of the city tend to fall on the small side, and 40 23 is no exception. The interior is tiny and spartan, with seating for about a dozen people. Fortunately, word has not gotten completely out, so unless you are there at noon or at the after work rush hour, you should be able to snag a stool at the counter and watch these pita masters assemble your food. If you don't want to leave the house, 40 23 has partnered with Deliveroo. It's hard to imagine not eating inside the restaurant, as you'll want to chomp on that pita as soon as it comes off the grill. The menu covers a range of goodies, with the hot items being composed of a small list of ingredients that work wonders in different combinations. At their most base, the dishes have a pita as a wrap or cut up on a platter with a salad. You essentially get to choose the filling, ranging from meats (souvlaki, chicken, meatballs, kebab) to vegetarian items (grilled veggies, halloumi, mushrooms). You'll also find several pastries and pies, like spanakopita, and desserts including a truly excellent baklava. I've been here many times for lunch and dinner in the past several months, and my go to is one of the vegetarian wraps. I've tried all three, and the halloumi is probably the best, when it's available. The wrap is either very, very popular or 40 23 is facing some serious supply side issues. The grilled mushrooms are my second favourite. The juicy mushrooms mixing with the other vegetables, wrapped in a warm pita is a little slice of heaven. Sides for your mains include rice, pita bread, vegetables, or chips. The hand-cut chips are the stand out item on the sides menu, so much so that you'll want to order your own (no sharing here). A row of spices in glass jars are placed at the counter in the event you wish to kick your food up a notch. If excellent street food in and of itself was not enough to get you in the door at Forty Twenty Three, then the fire sale prices should be intriguing. A veggie pita wrap without a side, which is more than enough for one average person, can be had for less than a fiver, including a drink. At these prices, you can support a local family run business using fresh ingredients, and still come out ahead of paying for corporate fast food. The sometimes varying hours, supply shortages, and lack of seating at times would normally be enough to warrant four stars, but the food here is so affordable, and so, so good that I hope everyone will run, not walk to city centre and see what the Mediterranean's best has to offer our street food scene.

In my mad mission to catch up with everything new in Birmingham, I came across this place in "new…read morebusinesses on Yelp". Whilst I had been aware that something new was coming to Bennett's Hill - I had no idea what that would be. Tapas is getting really big in the City at the moment. I love Tapas (both as a food and a concept). Small plates shared around a table of friends - it's a great way to try lots of things without being so stuffed you can't move at the end of a meal. I was super excited to learn that Amantia was a new Spanish restaurant with a focus on Tapas! I booked a table for lunch for 4 of us on the Saturday and perused the menu. There are lots of different types of Tapas starting from £5 and going all the way up to £10 for a meat board. Although it's not the cheapest, the prices seemed fair for a restaurant offering something different, good quality and in it's location in the centre of town. We hungrily walked down on Saturday excited to try something new! The restaurant itself looks great! Deep purple walls, smart furnishings and little touches of Spanish flair - it's so good to see this space being used and looking different. We were greeted straight away by the friendly staff and our table had been laid out prior to our arrival. Whilst we were waiting for our lunch companions, we decided to order a bottle of wine. We went for a bottle of white (which wasn't too badly priced at around £16) and had another look at the menu. When everyone was settled, we were ready to order! Although the menu recommends three tapas dishes per person, we went for two each and chose a selection of dates with cheese and bacon, pastry parcels with chorizo and black pudding and a whole range of different options off the menu. Everything ended up being amazing. The dates were a particular surprise (and a table favourite), as well as the aubergine chips and the black pudding parcels. Although we were pretty full by the end, me and Dan ordered a cheese board (with a glass of sherry) and Stuart ordered a almond cake. We were mightily impressed with the "cheese to cracker" ratio (more cheese than crackers) and the Sherry really complimented the cheese choices. All together our bill came to around £110 with tip (which wasn't bad for 9 dishes of tapas, a bottle of wine, two lagers, a glass of red wine, a sharing platter of cheese with sherry and a cake). The service, decor and food were all sublime and I was definitely impressed with this new offering.

I have only been here as part of a Yelp Elite event, but from what I can gather the place is really…read morelovely, and the food (for the most part) was fantastic. I sampled as many tapas as I could and there wasn't a single thing I didn't like... manchego with almonds... fried calamari... various croquettes (my favorite was actually the mushroom) and chorizo. There were three paellas and they were all pretty good; I found the seafood one to be too salty for my taste. The chicken and chorizo one was really good but definitely had strong seasoning which others might not enjoy. I think I will be back for more tapas, in any case! Churros and chocolate for dessert... so delicious. The decor is very simple and elegant, although a bit too bare for me personally, I personally think the place could use a bit more 'flavor' in it's interior design to match the food. But it didn't really detract from the experience. All of the staff we encountered were very friendly and attentive, even with an incredibly large group.

My sister and I went to Ulysses on Saturday, for my birthday celebrations. We came across the…read morewebsite after google searching for unusual dining experiences. The website alone is an experience in charming kitsch, replete with dancing Elvis icons, delightfully cheesy music in the background, and a picture of the owner, Panos, with some seriously cool hair. Absolute heaven. We wanted to have a fun, no-foodies-allowed dining experience, and Ulysses completely fulfilled our palates and desires. We went on a Saturday, around 6:30, to have time for pre-dinner drinks, and make sure we got the train back out of Brum in time. From the first to the last, Ulysses provided a total dreamy Greek experience. The entrance to the building has fantastic classic Doric columns, with traditional Greek script on the sign. The entrance is lovely, very large, with comfy leather sofas to sit and wait for a table when it's busy. The entire place is huge, easily fitting about 70 guests. Imagine if you will, everything you'd ever dream of in a Greek restaurant. I'm not just talking about divine, falling-off-the-bone lamb. I'm talking murals of Athens, of the first Senate, of Socrates and Plato telling Aristotle to stuff it with the misogyny -- this place has it all. I'm talking Corinthian columns, fake marble design, plastic greenery all over, and huge pictures of the Parthenon: the cheesier the better. This is what Ulysses offers you. It's unapologetically kitsch in the extreme, without a hint of irony. The owner is Greek, the waitstaff are Greek, the food is Greek, and if you don't like the Greek flag, you'd better keep it to yourself. This place is so Greek, it makes My Big Fat Greek Wedding look milquetoast and WASPish. The owner greeted us himself, seated us, and chatted to us while we looked over the menus. He then recommended a white wine based on our request, which was dry, but with a bit of interest (hey, I don't give you a hard time about YOUR naff wine taste). We had the hoummus and kalamari for starters. The pitta bread tasted home made, nice and slightly crisp on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. Just like me. And three-day-old gummy bears. The kalamari was very nicely seasoned, not too gummy (come on, cephalapods, get a backbone), and lightly fried. The hoummus was WELL nice, great home made tahini, lemony and garlicy. My sister got the Sea Bass for her main, and even though we didn't come to this restaurant for the food, I've never tasted or seen such well cooked sea bass. It was cooked in a light herb crust, which was gorgeous to crack, and had obviously been slow cooked for a long time, as the fish was lovely, moist and flaked straight off. The spices and herbs had infused the fish, so it was delish. My main was the Aphrodite Chicken, which made me feel pretty just to order. It was lovely breast of chicken cooked in a cream, garlic and white wine sauce, fairly standard, but done very competently, and exactly what I wanted. Instead of a dessert, Panos brought us out to lovely, enormous cocktails, both of which were covered in little Greek flags, blue and white swizzle sticks, and a swizzle stick in the shape of an ancient Greek olympian (sans clothing, hurrah). We were too full by that point for more food, so I can't comment on the dessert. The place was about half full by the time we left, around half eight, and everyone, including the big hen party, seemed to be really enjoying themselves, and lots of laughter all round. The entertainment was a bald fellow with a keyboard, playing a lot of 80s tunes, and some Andrea Bocelli (Italy is close enough, I'm sure). There is a free car park in the back, and it's right near Birmingham New Street station. They do large parties and corporate dos, and I don't think you could do better than this place for an office party. We had an absolute blast, and can't wait to go back, next time with a camera.

Having never been to a Greek Restaurant before I didnt no what to expect. But I needn't have…read moreworrried it was a wonderful night with music, dancing and delicious food. I had a wonderful meal of which my Moussaka which I know now is layers of mince beef, courgettes, potatoes, aubergines with a cream cheese sauce.Well the vegetables were so fresh and the and the sauce divine. I will definately be going back for more very soon. The evening was such fun and the staff very attentive especially in explaining the dishes to a novice like me. Myself and friends would like to thank all the staff for a wonderful 40th birthday meal see you soon.

Mambo's fast food is another fast food mecca placed at the city centre. One of those places that…read moremake me wonder why people STILL prefer spending some money in plastic burgers! The food in this place is absolutely delicious and the fact it's a really friendly establishment where you can seat, enjoy your meal and also have a good chit chat with the staff, is just a bonus. As I am still learning about the art of eating a really good and well-done kebab I still think most of my experience eating this fine and simple dish was positive but I do adore the options at Mambo's and the fact the salad served in this shop is almost like a homemade one! The chips are also crisp the prices in this place is something really unbelievable ! So trek down to Mambo's as soon as possible and you will know what ! mean!

You might have noticed that I am a prolific eater, I quite simply adore food in all its…read moreincarnations, and the combination of living in Birmingham and being a Yelp scout provides me with ample opportunity to check out as many eateries as I can stomach, which is a lot! One of my favourites (there are a lot of those too) is Mambo's Fast Food on Hurst Street, which strives to be better than your average kebab house. I have to say that I think they are doing a great job and hitting all of their targets. You can pick up a Donner Kebab alongside salad and of course chips, all for under a fiver, in fact it is priced at a surprisingly good three pounds ninety. I say surprisingly good because the quality of food here would lead you to believe that it was pricey, clearly this is not the case. Worth a special mention is the salad, as strange as that may sound when discussing a kebab house. This is because it is a lot fresher, crisper and generally tastier than your average kebab house salad. So if you fancy a kebab which is a cut above, then Mambo's is where you should take your business.

Great tapas and awesome service. Will go back on my next trip to Birmingham. The chorizo tapas was…read moreexcellent.

Definite lunchtime win yesterday when I popped into Bar Estilo for a meeting . I am a big fan of…read moretapas but for some reason have never ventured inside this place in the Mailbox. When I went in I was quickly greeted by the barman who offered me a drink, as it was lunchtime I went for a diet coke although they do offer a full bar menu with all the usual drinks you would expect plus sangria..... After living in spain for a while I am a HUGE fan of the stuff but the afternoon is just not the time or it can be a bit of a slippery slope haha. I went for the Salmon dish (Salmon a la plancha) served with almost a lentil stew and the oven baked figs....this was all on recommendation of the lovely manager Jaz. Now figs.....I wouldnt usually go for fig....not even in a fig roll situation they just dont do it for me, so naturally I thought yes to giving them a go in a more savory dish.....I have to say it was great! They served with goats cheese and honey and were actually delicious...maybe I am a convert! The salmon dish was also fresh and lovely....well presented and all the food came out quickly. Perfect at lunch time. Good vibe to the place overall and definately somewhere I will be trying more of the food in due course!