Indian Brewery Snowhill — Restaurant in Birmingham

Walked in alone at lunchtime, straight to the bar at the front, just ahead of a group of 7-8 people. I was asked if I had a reservation before the lady realised I wasn't part of that group, and then the tone towards me seemed to change and attention shifted to the others to be seated first. I suppose this is understandable as there were more of them, but it's more how impolitely I was brushed aside like maybe I was a problem, in the way or something.

I didn't mess anyone around, I knew exactly what I wanted to order and as soon as she was back to serving me, I ordered my food and a beer, and I paid up immediately. I was then kind of left to find myself a table, and I deliberately sought out the smallest one as I was alone. Despite the fact the place wasn't very busy at the time and how things had gone so far, I still wanted to be courteous and take up as little space as possible.

I don't normally mind my food taking a while as it's usually a good sign, but I did notice people coming in after me, being seated, having their orders taken and then getting their food before me. I also noticed a few times everyone else in the room got asked if everything was ok, & I got ignored despite being in close proximity to everyone. I didn't really mind this as I usually can't be bothered with chit-chat while I eat, but it was becoming obvious I wasn't really welcome there.

The food was quite average, so that may explain why they may possibly be anxious about desi people visiting and catching it out. I was the only desi customer in there. Since this experience I have read other desi peoples' reviews and seen that this kind of experience is a recurring issue here.

As I was done eating and about to leave, I leaned back to take a sip of beer & accidentally made eye contact with the lady who had served me at the start while she tended to another group, so she then prompted herself to ask "ok?" in a stop-start way. To which I just nodded and made a hasty exit away from the awkwardness.

I have given an extra star because credit where it's due, the beer was...

I’ve visited The Indian Brewery in Snowhill, Birmingham twice now and both times have been absolutely fantastic. The food is consistently delicious, beautifully presented, and excellent value for money. I highly recommend the Indian style fish and chips with masala fries, a great twist on a classic dish, and the chilli chicken small plate, which is packed with flavour.

The drinks are equally impressive. The Long Island Iced Tea cocktail is particularly good and expertly made, strong and flavourful as it should be (in comparison to other places where the cocktails are watered down or packed with unnecessary ice). And their selection of craft beers and ales are equally as impressive!

The service is brilliant as well. The staff truly go above and beyond to make your experience enjoyable. On my most recent visit, a friend accidentally knocked over his drink and a lovely female member of staff not only replaced it free of charge but also helped him clean up, which was greatly appreciated.

It is clear the team know the menu inside out and are happy to recommend dishes based on your preferences.

If I had to mention one minor point, it would be that during a heatwave (which are only becoming more common here in the UK) it can get very warm inside as there is no air conditioning, or at least on our visit - it wasn’t turned on or not functioning if there is any. Tie that in with the nature of the food, and you’re sure to be sweating buckets. Perhaps something to consider fitting and/or fixing in the future.

Aside from that, I genuinely cannot fault the place and will definitely continue coming back whenever I am in the area. Highly...

Came in for 7:30. We ordered drinks immediately, beer was awful. Music was so loud I could barely think of hear anything. Ordered our food at just before 8. Staff avoided us like the plague, had to keep going up for drinks at the bar as no one was around to order. We complained about the wait time for our food at 9pm where we were told “5 minutes… maybe 10”… food didn’t come out until 9:30. One half assed apology was made by the member of staff who served our food. Our friends relatively enjoyed theirs, didn’t think it was worth the wait though. Ours was absolutely horrendous. We ordered the “naughty chicken”; a butter chicken served on top of naan. I don’t know whether the chef got confused or there was a complete misunderstanding but the butter chicken was so spicy we could barely eat it. It in no shape or form resembled a butter chicken. I am no stranger to spicy food, asian and indian cuisine is my favourite but this was another level. My partner feels sick hours later. To top it off, when we paid and got our receipt we found an additional gratuity charge we were not aware of. If we had known then we would of had it removed, we shouldn’t need to pay gratuity when I barely saw or spoke to the server and the food was almost inedible. We were no way compensated for the wait, instead completely ignored. Service was horrendous, food was sub standard and beer was quite honestly just shocking. Will not be attending again, and quite honestly the quality of the food was nowhere near justifiable...