Il Paradiso — Restaurant in Birmingham

I had booked a table for two at 7pm on Wednesday through open table. When I got to the restaurant it was completely empty and the lady asked if I had booked, which I confirmed. Once we had sat down she stated that the chef was stuck in between London and Birmingham and only the trainee chef was present therefore there would be no pasta dishes and no seafood dishes. We could only order pizza, starters and dessert. This was a shame as we both were going to order pasta as the reviews on this previously were good.

The food that we did eat (pictures below) was nice so fair play to the trainee chef howver it was just pizza and was no different to getting pizza in other restaurants.

Service - The lady was nice and friendly however there nothing offered due to the main chef being away and majority of the menu missing. I am not sure if this was due to us being the only ones at the restaurant as it remained empty throughout our meal. I did call and speak to the manger the next day as Open-table had e-mailed me to say I did not attend which was a surprise as the lady confirmed this at the start I thought. Ladi the manger said next time we were there he would make sure we a re...

Mediocre at best.

Took a punt on a local, independent Italian with good reviews. We were disappointed on all fronts.

Service was slow and inattentive. We were sat for 10 minutes before even being served water. Had to catch the eye of the waiter to get any attention. Restaurant was less than half full.

Food was of a poor standard. Caprese Salad was tasteless, low quality salad tomatoes, unseasoned, average burrata, and rocket salad with red onions and cucumber. No Basil. On a Caprese? Barely any taste to it. My partner had the Bruschetta, likewise unseasoned, no garlic or basil.

We both had pasta for our mains. Very average. Not unpleasant, but on a par with something you would knock up at home on a busy weeknight. Average quality store bought pasta; tasty, but simple and shallow sauces; ok servings of protein on each. Good portion sizes make this slightly less than a complete ripoff.

Desserts were clearly store bought, not made fresh and certainly not a home made tiramisu as the menu proclaims.

The whole experience was disappointing. No love of food or quality produce anywhere near that building,...

Went for 5.30pm birthday meal. The restaurant was empty (just like I like it) and the service was second to none. The staff were friendly and attentive without being intrusive. More diners arrived for 7pm service and even more after that. We were a table of four. Two had mushroom risotto, one had chicken in sauce and one had salmon in sauce. All the food was enjoyed and favourably commented upon. The plates were cleaned and there can be no better compliment for a chef. Of course we had dessert. Three tiramisu and an ice cream. Together with extras and wine the bill was less than £128 for the four of us.

I have since recommended this restaurant to friends. Well worth people...