We visited the Toby Carvery for a mid-week meal. The food was decent, and the venue is spacious,…read morebut we had a large group of ten who were slightly crammed into a side room. Our waitress was polite but perhaps a touch inattentive, we had to seek her out to remind her about orders and ended up waiting a long time for food and drinks to arrive. Overall, not a bad experience, but distinctly average.

What a great spot for lunch after a business meeting at the Jaguar-Land Rover vehicle Assembly…read morePlant in Solihull, England. The Olton Tavern is a cross between a restaurant and British pub and has great food and drink in a relaxed atmosphere. This was my one chance while in the U.K. to grab some real British Fish & Chips and the Olton serves "Line-Caught" Cod for their plate's centerpiece. It is served with lightly seasoned 'chips', really good mushy peas and a sea herb tartare sauce. Paired with a pint of Ember Pale Ale on draft, this dish was as near to perfect as one can get anywhere in the British Isles. I'm stingy with my '5-stars' ratings but the Olton Tavern honestly earned one today.

I used to go here quite often as it had a Wackey Warehouse around the back and was a great place to…read moretake the kids for a play for 2 hours then go and enjoy a family meal. I believe it changed hands a few years ago and closed the WW down. Since then I have only gone to the pub once for a carvery quite recently and it was a reasonable price £8 for adults and I think it was half price for kids (this was a Sunday). Food was a good quality and we were all pleased with our meals, however because of the closure of the indoor play centre it is not somewhere I would choose to go ahead of others nearby. Nonetheless it is a nice place for a family Sunday lunch and will probably go there again around Christmas.

I've been coming to this Harvester for many many years…read more Unfortunately I have to say that it has dramatically gone down hill over the last few years. You will actually see a review below from my friend (ravenous banana) which was written back in 2012 - I thought it was time to write a review myself. The service here is very poor, the staff always act as if you don't exist. Weather your waiting for a table at the door, waiting for the table to be cleared or even waiting to pay them, you just don't get acknowledged. The majority of the staff are grumpy and half of them have no idea about what's going on. There have been times where I've said I'll just walk away without paying as nobody has any interest in getting the bill or taking a payment. I've had the pleasure of waiting up to 40 - 45 mins just for the bill. The food is average, the portion sizes have decreased recently so your actually getting less for your money. The free salad bar is good however someone needs to re-think where it's placed, there's not a lot of room around it at all. They could also do with adding some new types of salad as it's always the same things (quite boring!). The restaurant itself isn't the cleanest, tables and chairs are clean but the floor usually has half a tonne of food sitting on it. The toilets are ok but there never seems to be any soap in the Men's (I've been told its the same in the Women's). To be perfectly honest I have no idea how the place is open. It's that poor I don't know why people still go there and how they've not gone bust because of the poor management. Many people must walk out of there without paying - It's not even worth paying for! I'd rather drive the extra mile or so and go to the Harvester in Monkspath, it's so much better that this place. It's a shame how something that was once so good has turned into a place like this. I hope the management see this and take some action - It's needed!!

After a day trip into Knowle, we were heading back to Birmingham for the evening. We decided to…read morestop at the Sheldon Harvester on the way home. The carpark was full and it looked like they had a nice offer on where you could grab a main course, dessert and bottomless soft drink for a tenner- promising start! We were seated and orders were taken fairly quickly. We decided to splurge a little and went for the 'Plantation Platter for two' instead of going for the meal deal. Priced at £20 with spit roast chicken, wings, ribs, corn and spicy prawns we decided to only have a little of the unlimited salad while waiting as not to spoil our impending feast! When our drinks arrived (just two bottomless pepsis) they came without ice or any fruit/ straws etc. As someone who has worked in bars/ restaurants I was pretty confused as to why any soft drink would be served without ice unless requested. After a surprisingly long wait (a table that had walked in around 10mins after us had their food served and were paying the bill by the time we received ours) I asked if the sauce on the plate was correct. He said that the recipe had changed so it looked different, pointing and touching the wings with his bare hands! After this shock we dug into the food, quite hungry by now. The sauce on the ribs was way too sweet and the same stuff had been smothered all over the wings. My partner's portion of spitroast chicken was cooked to perfection, but unfortunately mine was really dry and stringy. We were taken aback a little at the portion sizes- 4 tiny prawns (which were actually delicious and the best part of the whole meal) and 2 vastly different sized 1/3 corn on the cobs completed the meal that consisted of 4 wings, half a baby spitroast chicken and a 5bone rib between us with 4 pineapple rings and our sides- rice and chips. (Don't have the new recipe periperi sauce, it tastes like cheap spicy ketchup.) From the menu description of a 'platter' it looks like individual platters would have been better value. We were going to order desert but after about 15 mins of waiting for our plates to be cleared we decided to just grab the bill. By this time the restaurant wasn't so busy and servers were gathered at the bar talking. One lady who appeared to be management seemed to be doing all of the work, going between relaying tables, clearing them etc. We asked her for the bill and waited for about 10mins before noticing that she appeared to be just looking around for other things to do, completely ignoring our request for the bill. We waited for a further 5mins before I went to the bar and asked another server for the bill, after having to but into the social conversation between servers after standing right next to them and being ignored! When we eventually received the bill it was placed on the table without a word and nobody came round to collect it/ check if we were paying by card etc. So I took it to the bar where a girl was folding napkins (goodness knows why there was a massive pile of them already done and there were lots of dirty plates left on tables). I explained that this was the bill for the table over there blahblah etc, and held the bill out for her to take. She looked blankly then looked down to her napkins and didn't take the bill! I put it down next to her in disbelief and left wondering why we'd gone to so much trouble to try and pay for a substandard meal when clearly nobody was interested in taking our money! Will not be visiting again!

Absolute disgrace!! Rude staff members!! and manager. We had reserved a table and paid a £55…read moredeposit. Unfortunatly we couldnt make the reservation last minute due to 50% of the table being off ill.. All we wanted to do was move the booking to a date in the new year. This wasnt possible and was met with such negative comments. I have been here a few times over the year as we are local however never again if thats the way they treat customers. be warned they will NOT move or refund a booking....

Service was spot on. Posh pod was great experience. Servers and food were great. Family celebration…read morewent extremely well and everyone enjoyed their time.

Always enjoyed the food here, but it's generic fare on the weekends…read more Next door to Britain's exhibition centre, it's hardly. Not surprising that the chef takes the weekends off while the tumbleweeds and church bells ring in this desolate wasteland occupied by sales reps midweek. Gorgeous pub with great service. Average in the weekends. No footpath access

Located close by my UK office and nearby the NEC as well, this place feels like you are walking…read moreinto a close friend or relative's home. Very cozy feeling with fireplaces and comfortable chairs/couches. Honestly, this is exactly what I expect a typical British pub/eatery to look and feel like. This place offers quite a few different drinks on tap with wine and liquor as well. No comment on the alcohol here as I opted for water. The food is traditional British cuisine with a number of fish/vegetarian options. I choose the fish pie, which quite honestly, was disappointing. The vegetables on the side were limp and far from fresh (unfrozen and heated up without any flavorings at all). The fish pie was not filling at all and lacked flavoring as well. I hesitated in giving this place 2 or 3 stars and in the end decided it could be rated higher for the atmosphere and potential. I think I ordered a poor dish and should have gotten the fish and chips instead, so I'll be trying that out next time along with one of there many desserts (too bad there wasn't the time to eat a dessert!)

I got the opportunity to experience the Asian High Tea here yesterday…read more We arrived a few minutes early but were promptly seated by the window with a lovely view of Pendigo Lake. The restaurant was clean, bright and airy. The high tea is served in 'Waves' - the first being a savoury selection of Chicken Yakatori, a Prawn and Tofu Ball and Duck Long Bao. This was accompanied by a refreshing Ginger and Lemon Iced Tea. The Second Wave was a selection of savoury and sweet items, with an Avocado Maki Roll and Squid Ink Tapioca Cracker, to a Yuzu and Lemon Curd Tartlet, Hazelnut and Chocolate Delice, Spiced Stawberry Trifle and an Orange Scone with Orange Curd. I also had a Mandarin and Kumquat Bellini. Afterwards, we were given a coffee, and as it was my friend's birthday we were treated to a complimentary taster dessert of a macaron and white chocolate and raspberry pop with a bitter chocolate sauce. It was the BEST high tea experience I have ever had. Each item was at a perfect temperature and presented beautifully, and everything was absolutely delicious. My favourite was the squid ink and tapioca cracker, which I would have normally avoided on a menu but was like nothing I have ever eaten before. The service was impeccable too - the staff were extremely friendly and promptly brought out each course with a smile. Definitely somewhere I will be visiting again!

We booked for the Asian high tea as we wanted to try different afternoon teas and I found this one…read moreonline. There were four of us though we were waiting for fourth person to turn up, we decided to be seated early ahead of our 2pm booking. Our waitress took our cocktail and water orders, one girl wanted the glass on the table changing but never got it till she asked again. We wanted our cocktails first but they served the ice tea before our friend arrived. When the drinks arrived, I wondered why two drinks looked the same as one was a mocktail but they looked the same... Looking at the ingredients it seemed mine was not a cocktail. I called waitress over to query to which she said they only serve mocktail with the High tea so I pointed at the menu and said these are cocktails as other friend had a Bellini. She clearly didn't understand the menu or what we had ordered. I felt like I had to have what she wanted to give me not what the customer wants!! I told her to check what the cocktail is alcoholic or not and give me one of the alcohol ones. Or that they charge us correctly for what they placed on the table! Not a good start! I prefer the first wave of the chicken and the buns etc. I liked the squid ink cracker but the desserts were bit rich and sickly. You get a hot drink with the second wave. We ended up being only people towards end of our meal. No one came up to ask if we wanted anything else, all the staff stood chatting by the Bar. After waiting for ages, I went up to the reception n asked for the bill. Thankfully it was correct!

Weatherspoons at the airport. Food and prices not bad for airport. One thing which impressed me was…read morethe pleasant and helpful attitude of the staff.

Wetherspoon's pub grub with a 100% price mark-up! If that's what you want (e.g. three small plates…read morefor UKP 20 instead of 10!), then you will be fine at the Wetherspoon's Birmingham Airport (past security). That said, the spacious pub area is rather pleasant - more so than in many downtown Spoons. The drinks selection is predictably stupendous, and the mark-up there is not quite so outrageous. I had "The Ultimate Burger" there, again at an inflated price, but it was well-prepared and -presented. In the past I've experienced several airport Spoons where the food was not only pricey but also poorly prepared - not so at this one. Since the "pub range" at Birmingham Airport is small indeed, and if you can live with the mark-up's, then the Birmingham International Wetherspoon's is definitely a solid option. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Given that I'm travelling a lot with work just now, I'm attempting to entertain myself by trying as…read moremany airport restaurants as I can do. Luckily, in Birmingham Airport there are a few choices for food & drink and so this evening I decided to try All Bar One - located by gates 1-20 near where (I hoped) my flight gate would be. On arriving, I was greeted by a conscientious and unimposing waitress who wasted no time in getting my drink - and then food order. I'm a sucker for a Pinot Grigio Rose, and after a particularly long day at work, decided I deserved a large glass pre-flight. The wine arrives in a lovely little decanter, and is very easy to drink! I opted for the skinny burger - £9.95 for a burger on half a bun, topped with avocado & with a quinoa and edamame bean salad rather than fries. At only 522 calories it's a pretty decent choice for the calorie-concerned of us...although I did add a helping of Monterey Jack cheese. Because cheese. I love places which have a skinny option for burgers - but honestly I'm not sure the half bun concept works. It fell to pieces the second I tried to cut into it - so I ended up just eating the patty (and cheese) together before tackling the bun and the rest on its own. The patty was a bit dry, although by no means was it untasty (not a word but I'm going to make it one now...) The salad was very leafy - more leaf than anything else to be honest, but tasted nice enough, although I did feel a bit like a rabbit by the end of it. Price wise the burger was actually pretty decent for airport prices, and the wine was as I expected. If they can sort out the architecture issues of the skinny bun, they'd be doing really well.

Decent (modernized) pub food, surprisingly good selection of lagers and ales, predictably inflated…read moreprices at this Birmingham Airport bar & bistro. This bar and restaurant is located in the Departures area of Birmingham Airport (South Lounge). The menu offers a modern interpretation of pub and burger bar staples, with something for everyone - everyone i.e. who is prepared to spend over 10 UKP for a simple burger with a few fries. That said, the pulled pork burger I had (see photo) wasn't huge but of decent quality and well prepared. You can order extras (like I did, a thick slice of halloumi cheese). I scanned the meals presented to other people at the surrounding tables, and everything sure did look good. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of lagers and ales, which included one of my all-time favorites Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (and on tap, too!), one of the great beers of the world. I strongly recommend this wonderful American IPA to people who have never tried it. As you may expect, drinks aren't cheap either. There's also a huge selection of wines and cocktails on offer. The waiters/waitresses were extremely welcoming and very efficient. The decor is streamlined and modern, some of the stools less comfy than others. All in all a superior lunch/drinks option at Birmingham Airport.