EN Steak & Cocktail Bar Birmingham — Restaurant in Birmingham

One of the Worst Dining Experiences We've ever had avoid at all costs! I would give zero stars if that was an option. My partner and I visited EN Steak last Saturday, and unfortunately, it will be the first and last time we ever set foot in this restaurant. Let’s start from the outside, the restaurant faces a dirty, rubbish-filled canal that clearly hasn’t been cleaned in ages, definitely not the kind of setting you expect from a supposedly premium steakhouse. Inside, the place was completely empty except for us and another couple who arrived shortly after. You’d think we’d get top-tier service given the lack of customers, wrong. Red flags started piling up quickly Our starters arrived within five minutes, which raised eyebrows. The chicken was clearly not fresh it tasted microwaved and rubbery and was not cooked thoroughly. We then ordered steak and “Wagyu beef” at £100 for mains. What they served was absolutely not Wagyu. It smelled and tasted off so bad I couldn’t swallow more than one bite. When I raised this with the staff, they waved a “Wagyu authentication” receipt in our faces which was only a delivery receipt, to show the meat was delivered early that morning, useless!!! and also the menu misspelled Kagoshima as Kogoshima, by the way, which doesn’t even exist .It was clear this was a poor attempt to cover up serving substandard, possibly spoiled meat. We were told we just “didn’t like the taste” and that it was a matter of personal preference. No, we know what quality meat tastes like, and this wasn’t it. We have been to many restaurants which serve Wagyu and it all tastes the same, not this one! To top it off, both of us fell ill after the meal, and I barely ate anything. The steak was drenched in water, and bizarrely, we were told it would keep cooking itself on the plate, ridiculous. We tried to express our concerns politely to the manager, who was shockingly rude and dismissive. She smugly told us we were the first to complain in two years which I seriously doubt, given the quality of both the food and service. Instead of taking our feedback seriously, she made excuses and offered no accountability. While our waiter started off attentive, his demeanor changed the moment we voiced our complaint. Suddenly, he couldn’t even make eye contact. The entire experience felt uncomfortable and unprofessional. Despite all this, we paid our full bill. I should have asked to get the service charge taken off!! This isn’t about the money it’s about the principle of serving safe, fresh food and treating customers with basic respect. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of EN Steak. Their food made us ill, their “Wagyu” is a scam, and their attitude toward customer feedback is disgraceful. No wonder the...

Be careful when accepting water at this restaurant! When we sat down, we were asked, "Do you want water for the table?", Without being informed about the type or price, leading us to assume it was complimentary tap water (common practice for most restaurants). Instead, we were charged ~ £5 per 750 mL bottle!

Further, I noticed the restaurant responded in a different review, "We believe 10 to 12.5% service charge is a very standard thing here in Birmingham, but in our restaurant this is discretionary and removable – we wish you had asked us to remove it for you as it’s a standard approach."

However, we were told that this 12.5% service charge was mandatory for groups over 6, and was told it cannot be removed. In my experience, this service charge is not a common thing in Birmingham, but that is a matter of opinion.

This feels quite shady and is a shame because it was a nice restaurant.

Food was acceptable, and service was decent. The food came out surprisingly slow for a steak house but still lovely none the less.

EDIT: RESPONSE TO OWNER'S RESPONSE

Thank you for acknowledging the error made by your server and for the apology, though this does not alter the fact that we were unexpectedly charged £10 for bottled water when we had anticipated complimentary tap water.

I would like to clarify that we did request the service charge to be removed, as we were under the impression it was discretionary. However, we were informed that it was mandatory for groups of six or more, which contradicts your earlier statement. If this was another error on the part of your staff, it is important that this inconsistency is addressed.

I encourage anyone reading this to verify both my review history and the restaurant's reviews. This is the only review I have posted about your establishment.

To suggest otherwise is not only inaccurate but also defamatory. It is disappointing to be met with such an accusation when providing honest feedback.

To clarify, I have updated my review a few times, possibly triggering notifications (to yourself) that I added a review, because it was not initially visible on your page. No changes were made during these updates. It is disheartening to see the owner resort to baseless claims instead of addressing the core issues raised. I think this, paired with the experience we had, really paints a...

I would love to review the food... But, we gave up and walked out.

OK, we arrived early, but, we checked and were told, no problem and shown to a table.

Where we were left.

Watching the waiter fawn over three young pretty girls, for whom he couldn't do enough, as we wondered where the menus were.

We found them, on the table, upside down, rather tattered and slightly sticky (for early in the afternoon this was not a good omen!) and tried to work out where the drinks menus were... A few minutes passed and we headed to the bar area... Past the waiter, two other staff and finally to the bar where the bar tender was ever so busy - on his phone - so didn't even acknowledge us, we did eventually get a lady ask if we needed anything and we asked about a drinks menu, which she provided - really, we should have been given this right at the beginning.

Cannot say we were impressed with the lack of choice, but, I had already seen this before booking and figured the reviews showed it was worth trying.

We settled on what drinks we wanted... But, not being three young girls to flirt with, we were still being ignored by the waiter. He did come over to patronisingly explain how the board of weights worked (Im sorry if this confuses you, but honestly, I don't understand how it isn't self explanatory, you don't need someone treating you like a toddler).

Still no offers of drinks, no care whatsoever about us at all.

By now, with the lack of respect we were so blatantly being given, the lack of choice on the menu, the lack of choice on the drinks, even if anyone actually wanted to ask us what we wanted, we decided we weren't going to be spending our money here.

Getting up, putting on our jackets, getting the walker for one of our party, we left.

No questions as to why we were leaving, no care about the loss of custom - and considering we were the ONLY other people in the restaurant besides the ladies being flirted with, at lunchtime on the second Saturday before Christmas, well, I cannot help but breath a sigh of relief that we made the decision to leave.

Miller and Carter, just above, packed, but we were welcomed and they found us a table and we left three hours later after having spent our £400 budget, unfortunately NOT with an independent, but seriously, if you want customers, then you do need to...