Adam's Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

Some of the food was lovely and some was not, but very disappointed with the service. Perhaps they look down on customers that have bought groupons but we felt we were treated dismissively and many waiting staff didnt seem bothered with us. This is disappointing because we were looking forward to the 7 course tasting menu which I bought for my wife as a mothers day treat and this was our first return to Adams since we came when they first opened. Our meal started off well with snacks and a first course of langoustine and asparagus mousse which was probably the best course. The next 3 courses were pleasant and I was looking forward to course 5 which was longhorn beef. I wanted to get a glass of red to go with this so asked the waiter for the wine list but after 5 minutes I realised he wasn't coming back. I asked another waiter and explained what happened and was hopeful as he walked off. He then seemed to pour water for people on every table whilst in the meantime the beef course had arrived. He then appeared with the wine list somewhat pleased with himself. I was a bit annoyed but politely said not to bother since I didn't want my food to go cold. He then returned a minute later with a glass of argentinian cabernet franc i had not asked for (not what i would have picked to go with beef i had wanted bordeaux but it was fine) but I thought a lovely gesture to comp this to sort things out and the beef was good. The next dish was a predesert of grapefruit prosecco granola which had a horrid bitter metallic lingering aftertaste so we both left this and had barely any of it. The staff did not ask why we hadnt eaten it when they collected it. Didnt seem to care. The rhubarb desert was ok but still seemed to have a slight metallic aftertaste perhaps lingering from the dish before I can't be sure. So we had enjoyed 5 of the 7 courses and one was most unpleasant. I should have known better but thought why not try the cheese for £25. I had expected a cheese board so perhaps should have read the description closer but it did say one was semi-hard. What we got was three ramekins of nondescript blended cheesy goo with crackers that fall apart as you try to eat them so a bit disappointing. When I got the bill I checked it and we had been charged an extra £30 for 2 glasses of cabernet franc. So not only had they charged us for the wine that seemed to be comped - they had tried to overcharge us. I called the waiter over and explained that I had only had 1 glass, had thought this had been complimentary and outlined the problems from earlier of the 2 waiters going AWOL (neither had apologised) when I asked for the wine list. He went off and returned some time later saying that he had removed the cabernet franc from the bill but no apology for trying to overcharge me or the problems we had. By now I was livid and ought to have refused to pay the £37 service charge but was polite and paid up since one of the girls who served us was very good. I can't see myself ever going back to Adams based on...

You definitely won’t leave Adam’s in Birmingham hungry.

The 7-course taster menu was £115 and the a la carte, 3 course menu was priced at £85. We chose the a la carte menu because I preferred the dessert options and, knowing that if we each chose something different we would get to taste 6 different dishes…

BUT we got a lot more than 6 dishes. Before we even got our starters we received 3 surprises from the kitchen and a substantial bread dish. The delicious sourdough bread came with an in-house butter and whipped pork fat. Both were gorgeous but I did tell my husband that I think the pork fat would have been more tasty if I ate it first and was then asked to guess what it was…I’m getting a little squeamish in my old age!

Prior to dessert we got a pre-dessert dish and after dessert we got a crunchy biscuit post-dessert dish filled with a beer cream and a present to take home.

The food was excellent. The ambience was top class. Personally, I prefer Adam’s ambience to that of Purnell’s, and marginally more than I did Carter’s.

However, I thought the staff could be more ethnically diverse, no black or brown folk, but if you looked around the clientele were diverse so they should perhaps reflect on that.

Although the al la carte menu was almost twice the price of Purnell’s I considered it to still be great value for money because of all the extras. They did push the alcohol a little harder as I think that’s where the profits lie but we don’t really drink and are just there for the food so…we just had sparkling water.

Overall, a great experience. They could get 2 Michelin stars in the future because the attention to detail is massive, loads of ingredients and loads of tiny detail to the food.

WHAT MY HUSBAND THOUGHT:

The decor was lovely and the staff attentive and polite. The waitress we were served by was from Slovakia and the waiter was Italian. We were offered alcohol numerous times and although non-drinkers could see the impressive wine list and flights to accompany the tasting menu.

I thought I might get full on the gifts from the kitchen before the starters arrived, including the bread, but that wasn’t the case even though the portions were a reasonable size.

In all, I’d recommend Adam’s for any type of special occasion or even a lazy business lunch.

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This place has been simple but excellent in the past. Have been a repeat customer over the past 5 years. Not a great experience however Saturday.

Before reading, I want you to understand it costs nearly £500 for food, drink and the service charge at this restaurant for two people! So naturally my expectations are high, and I think I'm justified in expecting the food and service to be ON POINT!

The food was good I have no complaints about this. But came out at odd intervals, sometimes our plates felt snatched away and the next course came out straight away, not even time for the sommelier to replace the glasses and feed the learned by rote speel with the wine course. Other course took much longer to the point where we didn't have any food or drink infornt of us for nearly 30min and wondered if we had been forgotten.

The waiting staff were unable to remember the food they were placing Infront of us, saying it was cucumber, then it wasn't cucumber, then actually it was! It didn't matter anyway because she mumbled bellow the volume of the restaurant in general and I had to lip read most of what was said. A smile and a friendly attitude would have helped here. Instead, she looked so depressed I didn't raise it. But as the night wore on, I wish I'd asked for someone else as the inadequate service continued.

Another 'trainee' took our food to another table - in a pandemic - and the sommelier had to go and correct her and did so by pulling on her arm which seemed a little over the top. We had been waiting for nearly 30min for this, the main course and the frustrations we're starting to show.

Finally, when we wanted a cocktail to finish the evening, again ignored for over 20 min whilst they served the top of the restaurant. We tried to speak to wrong table girl and got totally blanked.

Eventually I put my hand in the air and waived at the maitre d and he obliged in short order.

There was a distinct feeling that we had to suffer the training of staff that evening. It wasn't the polished experience I expect for the price point, I don't think they were ready and I certainly won't be back any time soon if at all. Shame had some good memories here...