D’COCINA Birmingham — Restaurant in Birmingham

We arrived at noon for our reservation for 8 adults and 4 children. It took about 15 minutes for everyone to gather, but the staff greeted us warmly and seated us promptly. The restaurant’s décor was lovely, with spacious tables, though maneuvering behind chairs to my seat at the back proved tricky. Cutlery was set out but later removed as five of our group prepared for a boodle fight. They sat together at one end, their table was set, and orders were taken—verbal only, no notes.

I ordered lechon kawali with fries. We also placed drink orders, soon learning the restaurant wasn’t licensed for alcohol. Some opted for coffee, water for the kids, and other soft drinks. A few minutes later, we were informed there was no coffee available—odd, considering the limited drink menu. The Filipino tang wasn’t available either, so I settled for a Coke.

A couple of kids ordered Filipino hot dogs with chips. We confirmed we wanted all our food served together. The boodle fight was expected around 1 PM, allowing time to socialize and enjoy a drink—at least, that was the plan.

Service issues began at this point. One main dish and the kids’ hot dogs (sliced red sausages on sticks rather than in buns) arrived at 12:45, fortunately, as the children were complaining about hunger. However, drinks were still missing. They finally arrived about 35 minutes after ordering.

By 12:55, the kids’ chips and my son’s generous portion of fish fingers and chips had arrived. One child was still left waiting because she was supposed to eat from the boodle fight, despite the agreed timings.

At 1 PM, my meal arrived—without rice, just chips, and no ketchup like the others had. Still no boodle fight, leaving 2 kids and 1 adult finished, while 6 adults continued waiting.

At 1:15, the boodle fight was served. The presentation was impressive, and it looked delicious. There was plenty for six, and the child who had been waiting finally joined in. Visually and taste-wise, the food was fantastic—kudos to the kitchen. The frustrating part was that the staff supposedly came from an established London restaurant, yet they struggled with service, despite the place not being particularly busy. Given the small menu, stock issues shouldn’t have been a problem.

By 2:15, after finishing most of the boodle fight, we requested takeaway boxes. As we discussed dessert options, we asked for the menu, only to be told we had reached the two-hour limit and wouldn’t have time. None of us were aware of this policy. Given the slow service, this seemed unfair.

Menus were offered, but the group decided to take our business elsewhere—especially since they couldn’t even provide coffee.

The bill took another 30 minutes to settle. Since one person had paid the boodle fight deposit, adjustments were needed, but the system couldn’t handle it, forcing individual contributions.

Once payments were sorted, my receipt arrived last, showing I had substituted rice for chips—explaining its absence and the lower bill. Had orders been written down, these errors might have been avoided.

Overall, while the food was excellent, the service left much to be desired. Some in our group vowed never to return, but I might give it another chance—provided they significantly improve service efficiency. The pricing isn’t bad, but major corrections would be needed before I consider a...

I'm really really sad to be writing this review. We were all really looking forward to celebrating my Inay's Birthday with some good Filipino Food. We had seen some of the reviews on different social media platforms & they looked good. Few bumps at the start but no big deal. Thought they would have smoothed out after 5 months of opening. There is only one Filipino Restaurant local to us in Kenilworth but we really wanted to try this new place.

I had booked a table of 20, 3 weeks prior. We had a mix of children & adults.

We have all experienced the Filipino hospitality & how attentive they are in the Philippines. We have also eaten in Filipino Restaurants in London & the one in Kenilworth.

We were all HIGHLY disappointed. First off, our table was split over 2 tables so we couldn't really talk to each other. The restaurant only had 3 other tables in at the time of our booking & only small groups (one was a couple, a table of 3 & a table of 6 so not busy at all) they could of accommodated us & put tables together.

This is where we noticed the little things. 4 of our table have worked in restaurants/food places before so we know the standards & protocols. Even as a non restaurant worker you know good service. Asking if we could have water & to order drinks was not a good start. This is down to the server to always take the drinks order first.

This is where the big problems started Half our starters arrived, eaten & finished. Half our party still hadn't received there's, including the childrens. We did ask how long they would be & they didn't know. When they finally arrived they also started to bring out our mains. Some of the children had their mains & starters which meant the mains were getting cold. We did mention at the time we had 4 mains still to come. No problem, we thought they'd be right out.

So we waited..............just under 10mins had passed still nothing so we asked again. They still didn't know. We were waiting on 2 chicken inasal, adobo & pancit.

So we waited again........then what really annoyed us another table of 3 who came in at least 30mins after us recieved their mains. Looking over they had been served the chicken inasal which 2 of our group were still waiting on. We asked again how long, they said they didn't know. By this time the rest of our party had finished or were finishing up their mains.

We couldn't wait any longer as we'd already been there for at least 2 hrs & we were still waiting on the missing food. In the end we had to cancel the orders as we had a train to catch & it was getting late.

All in all we were missing 1 starter, 2 rice & 4 mains. We were all looking forward to dessert but ended up not having any because of the wait time. Half our party didn't eat together & 4 of our party didn't eat at all.

Most of our party won't be returning which is a shame because the food we did have was amazing. The service was an absolute shambles. They still added on a £31 service charge which we asked to be taken off & all we got was a sorry. No voucher to come back no money taken off the bill. Really disappointed. I don't know what order the chef is cooking the meals in but there seems to be no system or timings in the kitchen.

I do want to give it the benefit of doubt, I may return in a few months but I won't be rushing to go back if i go...

We were a party of 8 people who had booked in advanced for 12pm - opening time; five people for boodle fight, and three à la carte. The people who had the boodle fight were happy with their food. The issue was for the three of us who ordered à la carte. The boodle fight people were more than three quarters though their food, and the table of three in front of us who came in and ordered after us had finished their meal. This was 50 minutes after we'd ordered.

I spoke to the waiter, who checked the kitchen and said it would be another 10 minutes. I asked if they had forgotten about our order, and he said no. I then found and spoke to the manager, explained we'd ordered an hour ago, the table in front of ours had finished their meal, and we were still waiting. The manager said that the main chef had left the kitchen but was now back and cooking our food. Such a strange response from the manager as food had continued out of the kitchen in that hour and other tables had had their food.

When our food did arrive, the boodle fight people had finished their meal.

I had ordered the beef pares. It was nice, good flavour for the rice, and the beef was tender, but the portion size was small, especially for the £16.99 price. The soup which came with the meal was ok, nothing exceptional. I'd rate the beef pares 7/10.

One friend ordered the beef caldereta. He said his meal was bog standard food. Nothing that was amazing or terrible.

Another friend ordered the special pancit. She said that the presentation was awful, and it was very bland. She rated it 3.5/10.

Someone had wanted to order the sweet and sour fish, but they were out of fish. They were also out of coffee jelly.

We asked for the bill and said we would work out how much each person owed and let them know so we could pay individually. When the bill arrived they had forgotten to deduct the deposit we had paid from the bill. When the new bill came, someone had asked for the service charge to be removed. The waiter, sounding annoyed asked why, and my friend said perhaps some of us didn't want to pay the service charge considering the hour long wait for food. He then came back with a third bill and still with an annoyed attitude said we couldn't split it and had to pay it in one go - not a "would you mind..." but a "you have to...".

Overall, some good food, some not good food. Service was terrible. It was obvious the wait staff had little to no experience, and it didn't help with the manager saying the head chef wasn't in the kitchen. A simple, sorry our wait staff member is new and forgot to process your order. Charging for Service Charge was an insult, and the very least they could have done...