Boar's Head World Buffet — Restaurant in Birmingham

In summary my family's experience of Saturday: Arrival was poor as the chap hurriedly opening up did not hold the door as he was passing back through for a member of our group with a pushchair - not a great first impression when the door slammed in her face. Food was largely good felt the majority of our party, some of it very good (indian and chinese), some of it poor (desserts) Customer service from waiting staff - satisfactory/average but no complaints Customer service from management representative I dealt with - THE WORST I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED in 43 years

I booked a 5pm table for the early bird offer for my family of 8 plus a baby.  One of our party has been there before and decided not to eat as she hadn't enjoyed it in the past.  When asking for the bill at around 6.15pm I advised the waiter that the bill should be for 5 adults and 2 children as 1 adult had decided not to eat based on previous experience.  To this I was told "you have to pay anyway as YOU SAID 8 people were eating".  To which I replied well yes, but she decided not to after having a look at the food on offer.  What followed was the poorest experience in any restaurant I've ever experienced anywhere in the world - a lady who identified herself as "a manager" aggressively arguing the absurd restaurant charging policy (to charge a person even if they haven't eaten anything), marching a waitress over to me and shouting in my face "you told her 8 people were eating so you have to pay for 8", parading us around the restaurant to point out the small print in (less than obvious) locations that say that you have to pay even if you don't eat, rudely stating that the restaurant clearly wasn't our kind of place, aggressively shouting "so have you paid anything or what?!" while we stood outside after leaving our table having paid our bill for 7 people in full.  We should have only paid the early bird price for 7 people as we asked for the bill WELL before we had to vacate the table by 6.30pm, but given the disorganisation, time wasted in all the to-ing and fro-ing and debacle caused by the manager they insisted we pay the full price.  We did this, not because we felt we should or because it was owed, but because we were sick to death of being spoken to and dealt with in such a disgusting manner and because we wanted to leave the shocking place.

Essentially, we were treated like criminals/scum bags trying to scam a free meal and I would never set foot in the place again, and would strongly recommend against anyone going there, despite the food being good, as the service levels are a much bigger indicator of the type of...

I have been here many times since it opened and the food is brilliant, however I doubt I will go much anymore. I went this week with some friends, just 6 of us that was my first mistake even though I had booked our table it was in the room at the back. I don't know what the problem is with that room but whatever noise there is it seems to be amplified by at least 4! It was so loud in there that we could not hear each other speak! That room also seems to be where families with children are seated, I certainly don't have a problem with children however I do have an issue with their food being thrown on the floor! This is dangerous! Anyone could slip on it and have a nasty fall, it appears no effort is made to clear the mess up during the evening but obviously done when all the customers have gone, sorry but that's not good enough!! So there we are 6 friends trying to have a nice meal, pity we cant hear ourselves speak or walk without slipping on piles of food. Then the straw that breaks the camels back, time has nearly moved to the The Boars Head closing time, a very late 10pm. . . god forbid any customer stays past 10!! The bill was presented without asking and given to the person who in there opinion looks like they might pay, wrong because actually I was paying (or at least that was my plan) before I had had a chance to intervene my friend was asked cash or card the machine brought over and everyone had paid!! Then to add insult to injury we are more or less shown the door, my poor husband needed the toilet as we left and found the manager following him in to make sure he left!! Really that's how you treat paying customers. . . we are not allowed time to drink up or have the final chat of the night! By the time I got home and went over the nights events I was embarrassed that I had taken friends there, is that how you're suppose to end your birthday night out??? Needless to say I wont be having it...

There are times when it is brilliant but it is expensive especially on the evening and as such expectations are high as a result.

The place, food and staff are generally excellent.

Biggest issues are that they don't cater at all for vegans so one of our large birthday party went home hungry and was charged full price ( a LOT for a bit of salad). The staff knew this before we ate, while we were dining and at the end when we paid the bill and just didn't care.

There should be clean cutlery on the table as it seems they want you to eat all of your meals with the same cutlery. Not pleasant when you go from Currys to lasagne, to pizza, to stir fry to stew and so on. They are happy to buy and wash a lot of plates but cutlery it seems is too much to ask.

Another issue which is common with other unlimited buffet places is that there's one price for children and a big jump to adults (over 10 IIRC) and there should be an intermediary charge as a 10 year old eats less than half that of an adult. This pretty much rules it out when dining with what are very clearly older children but still definitely children.

After spending over £200 it would have been nice to have a bottle (or two) for the table or at least some sort of discount for our vegan family member or the overpriced older children.

I won't be choosing it again for a...