Malt House — Restaurant in Birmingham

ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING AND DISGUSTING LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE. WE WILL NEVER STEP WITHIN THIS ESTABLISHMENT AGAIN.

We arrived on Monday lunch for something to eat with our 2 year old son. On arrival I enquired at the bar if we sit ourselves and was told yes, just remember your table number and order at the bar.

We found a suitable seating area, setup our son in a high chair and proceeded to spend 10 minutes perusing the menu. After deciding what we all wanted I went to the bar, waited to be served, and when it was our turn the barman Chris then informed me it was an hour's wait for food. I asked Chris "why were we not told this when I asked the other barman about seating" he immediately became hostile - telling me not to point at him (even though I was pointing toward the other barman that I had already spoken to) and said "do we expect to have someone on the door telling us this waiting time on arrival?" I tried to explain to Chris that I had already been to the bar 10 minutes ago and was not informed of this and having a 2 year old could not wait this length of time, but his attitude towards me was just hostile and rude, and obviously has had no customer experience training. He said to me that 10 minutes ago the wait time would of been different - so I asked if it was not an hour 10 minutes ago how long was it? he said it was 45 minute wait...I explained to him that I found his attitude towards me hostile and rude, that we still should have been told it was 45 minute wait at that point, and I would be sharing this whole experience in a review, his words were "go right ahead"...

As I was leaving I decided to ask to speak to the manager, Chris went in to get him and several minutes later Dave the manager came out. It was obvious Chris had already primed his side of the story, but I calmly said what had happened and that I was deeply disappointed by the whole experience.

Dave also seemed to care less, did not say sorry at any point about our experience - said we have all had young children and could not do anything about the wait time. A very disappointing response from the manager and only continued to leave a sour taste in my mouth about the whole experience.

Needless to say we left and ate somewhere else, that could accommodate us and our son in a timely manner along with excellent customer service. NEVER will I step in The Malt House again. I will also be following this up with...

First time visitor to the Malt House this afternoon. The location is fabulous, really nice next to the canal, and inside it really has some charm.

The barman who served was very friendly, polite and genuinely seemed happy to be doing what he is doing. The happy vibe was very welcome!

Inside, quickly found a table I liked and enjoyed my drink while passing by in central Birmingham. All of the tables were clean, but did notice food under the floor on mine - could do with a little attention taken to under the tables when cleaning away.

Visited the toilets during my visit. They were clean but with so many signs of vandalism - I do think it needs a bit of a refresh. It's not a major thing as were clean and fresh.

There is a serious concern noted on this visit that must raise, which is pretty much why have to note this review as 2* to be sure it can be looked into.

This pub is in breach of "The Calorie Labelling (Out of Home Sector) (England) Regulations 2021" specifically in relation to omission of the statement of "(c)subject to paragraph (3), the statement that “adults need around 2000 kcal a day”." on each of the menu's requiring it. I noted this is not on the main menu that is printed on A4 paper, but also the main drinks menu to which it applies for drinks below 1.2% ABV. This law has been in place since April 2022 so should have been implemented by now.

In addition, I noted a number of symbols next to menu items, but no key as to what they mean? There is a * and a + but with no matching small print? I have uploaded a photo of the menu to show this.

Conclusion: This is really a nice place, but it could do with some attention. Specifically around the food labelling regulations on the menu and a lick of paint as required. I do hope this feedback is taken constructively as intended and...

I am not sure if this is a regular thing but this was an event thing. We arrived pretty early before it got super busy. We placed 2 ordered to our table on the app. First off on the food menu if something was blocked off then it was out of stock but they didn't do that to the drinks menu, so when something was out of stock the person who came over explained and I changed it but she was so rude about it! Her attitude was awful!

Food wise, as I said 2 orders were placed. I had the mac and cheese and my sister had the tapas (this was one order). The mac and cheese was 100% out of a can with little extra cheese added to it. It was small and awful for the price. My sisters tapas was worse! Half was cold and the main thing, the halloumi was cooked either with fish batter or in the same oil. So much so, my sister was convinced she ate a fish goujon. I asked them to check and they said it wasn't. I'm a vegetarian and did not feel safe eating that halloumi!!!

When they delivered the first lot of food they said we will be back with your other bit in a moment. 20 minutes later my sister and I had finished and we had to ask someone.

My niece ordered the kids pasta and she couldn't eat it. The pasta had clearly been sitting in warm water and it was soggy and over cooked. She did get complimentary ice cream though. The burger my SIL had was fine. Although the best thing was the...