Kafenion — Restaurant in Birmingham

Been coming here now for a few weeks with family for some takeaway ice creams whilst walking the dog. Up until yesterday the majority of the service and friendliness of the staff had been good, although one lady working there taking the orders a couple of weeks back was quite cold and unwelcoming, but the majority of the time the staff had been very friendly. However, unfortunately yesterday's experience was quite lacklustre and disappointing. I had ordered 2 ice creams and a chicken souvlaki for a change. The young, brunette girl who took the order and payment was lovely - super friendly and nothing was too much trouble. However, unfortunately the young, blonde girl calling out the completed orders and handing out the orders was completley different and this is what made the experience yesterday so disappointing. There was some slight confusion with regards to the ice creams my parents had ordered - a very minor confusion which I apologised for on a couple of occasions (not that I should have really) - unfortunately the young, blonde girl made me feel as though I had caused a huge, massive amount of confusion and made me feel very uncomfortable, unwelcome and very dissapointed. She was very unfriendly, very abrupt and quite rude - it was disappointing to see as the rest of the staff we had been previously served by have mainly been nice. Also, please bear in mind this is not the most 'afforable' place exactly to go and grab a drink and something to eat, so I do believe we should have gotten much better service by this particular member of staff. I work in a very similar workplace and would never have treated a small misunderstanding in the same manner as yesterday - it makes people very uncomfortable and I did feel very looked down upon. Unfortunately, I was also very dissapointed with my chicken souvlaki. The flatbread it comes with (quite surprising as I don't believe this to be traditionally Greek, exactly what this café advertises itself to be) was too thick and quite dry, even with the tzatziki inside. The chicken was also quite dry and very bland - seemed to be no lovely Greek seasoning or flavouring, just very plain and bland, not overly enjoyable at all. Also, the chips inside the flatbread were slightly undercooked and were quite dense in the middle. For £8 I was very dissapointed with both the one aspect of the service and the quality and authenticness of the food. Unfortunately, I would not reccommend the chicken souvlaki after the experience yesterday. Overall, this café is set in a lovely, beautiful location and some of the staff there are lovely - for some of the others the same cannot be said unfortunately. However, I do feel as though this establishment is a bit halfway there to be honest and believe some things are more focussed on style rather than actual substance, which is unfortunate. Would definitely recommend popping there for a drink, an ice cream or a cake/pastry, but was not impressed at all by the hot food yesterday, nor the service. Sorry Kafenion, I've been as...

I can’t fault their food but don’t bother if you are a group any larger than 3 who want to have your meal/ coffees onsite. Very tight space indoors, and you are expected to squeeze past tables to order and pay at the counter at the back. We were a group of 10 who wanted to support a local business as our office is nearby, and a nice walk to a late lunch would have been lovely. We tried a number of times to get through on the phone in the day with no answer, eventually stopping by one morning in person to try see if we should book ahead, and was told that we can’t make a reservation, but for a group that size we could come and wait a bit for a few tables to open up. It seemed reasonable however today we finally went to the cafe and were met by surprised looks by the staff at the size of our group and told we can’t sit inside and to sit in the outside area. We arranged the tables ourselves and then when looking for a server to take our order, we were informed can’t open a tab and we have to order upfront at the counter and pay. We were treating our team for a local bite so had to gather our group order ourselves and go to the counter to order and pay. We had also long finished our drinks by the time the food arrived and everyone was put off having to go order and pay again to get more drinks. If we had been allowed to open an bill for the group or sit inside (even at a few separate tables would have been okay) we likely would have spent far more on our bill, multiple drinks and perhaps even cakes per person, but the treatment we received and dismissive attitude put us off and we could not leave fast enough to get out of the cold. Please in future specify a max group number for walk-ins on site and on your website and on google so people are well aware if they haven’t visited you before. And consider bookings even just for a set time of day, or specific days per week, for local groups who may be larger but would still like to come enjoy a low key meal together (on a...

As an establish, the Kafenion is nonchalant around Covid and in fact rather disrespectful towards those choosing to take a more cautious approach. I understand that providing communal water is quicker for staff and that many people are quite happy with that. However, given that both sets of people in front of us had handled the jug (plus whatever else previously) and we required a full jug for the table on a very sunny day, we requested fresh water (and did really hope for a clean jug to be used!). Staff merely assured us that they do wash the jugs (yet we had just watched others touching said jugs and picking up multiple glasses before selecting ones to use) and made it clear that this was not considered a reasonable request. A different staff member did grudgingly oblige, refilling (but not actually washing) the communal jug. Alongside a purchase of multiple drinks and ice creams, I am quite certain that was not an unreasonable ask on our part.

No staff wear masks.

We usually sit on the green but sat in the garden this time. First time doing so this summer - a lot of work has clearly been put in to make this a peaceful, enjoyable space. Herbs in pots on each table are a nice touch, albeit in need of watering.

Jude's ice cream is very nice and there is a good selection of flavours with something for everyone. Food has recently improved, somewhat (although we did not purchase any today). Tea is nice and coffee is fine for a standard cafe - by no means a specialist coffee shop though. Interior remains dark. I remain to be convinced of any meaningful connection to a Kafeneio however …perhaps a little Greek hospitality and friendly service could be a...