24 Carat Bistro — Restaurant in Birmingham

Well well what can I say not the best of experiences, I don't know who are writing these good reviews as what my party and myself experienced was something completely different. I booked because of these so called good reviews, I originally booked a buffet as I was told it would be less hassle, paid £80 deposit for my party, that's when things went south. I got text asking for our starters and mains ??? communication was lacking, they have several menus which were pretty similar, was always told to look online for this menus and that menu. It took 3 weeks tooing and throwing, not being able to get through on the land line, leaving messages and not getting a response, (my phone died so didn't have Jan's mobile) finally got a call back and what I was told when I first booked was different after I booked. There was no kids menu was originally told they could cater for them. Now for the meal luckily for me I brought with me everyone's starters and mains because nobody knew what they were having even though it was given weeks ago, spent ages going through what everyone was eating again. Starters were nice apart from the small portion and the plantain was hard like those banana chips you can buy, mains was a big disappointment I had the ackee and saltfish with plain rice, left half of it as if wasn't that nice. Dessert was the best part of the meal but again a small portion, all in all it wasn't value for money, in fact over priced for food not freshly prepared and I have never left any restaurant hungry, each person also had to pay 10% service charge on top of their bill. Everyone in my party said they would not return. Jan tried her best on the night but by then I had a feeling that I would regret booking for my birthday, thankfully the company made the evening pleasurable. Would have been cheaper to eat at DEEP EXPERIENCE, which is also a small restaurant on Bristol Street where you are guaranteed to be served freshly cooked food, which has not been microwaved...

Hidden gem

No seriously this is a hidden gem among the gold and diamonds of the jewelry quarter. It's not the most obvious restaurant as it's hidden down the side passage of a shop.

Entering you get the feel of a small little home in Jamaica and welcomed as if you were family by the staff, like stepping into your grandma's for dinner.

When finding places like this most people stick to something obvious like a burger or something and chips, STOP !!!!! ask for their recommendations and take your taste buds on an adventure of flavour and you won't regret it. We didn't.

I had rice and beans with jerk pork, it was all cooked to perfection, sometimes you can get pork and it's been over cooked and it's drier than biltong. NOT THIS PLACE, the pork cut perfectly and melts in your mouth like butter. My wife had jerk chicken and the meat fell off the bone, I snuck a bit and it was complemented by the sauce.

The one thing that BLEW OUR MINDS was the cornbread, now that was amazing, bursting with flavour and left us wanting more, I literally mean that, after our visit we went everywhere to hunt for some to enjoy at home.

The selection of food is just enough, not too much that the chefs are overwhelmed but most of the menu is home made and it shows, the flavour is there.

I cannot fault anything at this restaurant.

Get yourself down there and enjoy a piece of Jamaica, with the friendliest family atmosphere, most of all treat...

Was invited to my sister in law’s birthday meal there was 12 in the party, I was disgusted with the portion sizes and the quality of the food as it wasn’t freshly cooked that day or maybe that week. I questioned Jan about the surcharge and was told we were charged for the table, even though my husband and I were on a table for 2. The starter which I had was the sweet potato croquettes were edible, the dumplings that my husband had were small and not freshly cooked before our visit, main course chicken was bland regardless of the sauce and the rice was cold with a bit of lettuce on the side of the plate. Dessert was also a disappointment as how Jan described it was not how I received it and again a small portion and my husbands dessert was more glass than that Christmas pudding sundae. Over priced substandard food was what we received that evening and I was also overcharged for my soft drink, and my husband’s Stella was warm and didn’t taste like Stella, more like normal lager. I was also disgusted at seeing food wrapped in cling film sitting next to the till when it should have been in the fridge. Other members in our party who had the blondie for dessert said rather than having white chocolate they found apple pieces in their blondie. Not a place I would ever go back to in my lifetime we paid £80 for the privilege of eating food not freshly cooked, for that price you would expect freshly...