Mellow's Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

OK, I'm going to give my honest opinion. Firstly having tried to book a table from 1pm that afternoon for the meal at 7.30pm was IMPOSSIBLE! Noone picked up the phone. Tried online and would only release time slots an hour in advance but when I went back at 5pm to try and vook for 7pm slot, everything was gone. So we decided to turn up and give it a try. When we arrived my friend asked about being seated and then forgot to come back and give an answer. We asked someone else again and was told they were full, however only 3/4 of the tables had people seated in there. I informed then we had been calling and noone had answered, they then decided they could squeeze us in. Which was nice of them. The staff were friendly, the waiter we had it was her first day! Which I thought was poor management as why would you give someone who has never worked in the industry before their first shift on a friday night on the last day of the month (yes silly). When we finally got around to ordering a whole 30mins after being seated, we had to wait at least 20 for our drinks which we were missing 1 of, I reminded the 1 waitress (not the 1 assigned to us) that we ordered 1 more but she never returned! So we then asked someone else to get it for us, which they did straight away. It then took over 1 hour for the food to come. Upon tasting the food I was not happy with a few things. I am a carribean woman and know how carribean food is suppose to taste and am well aware Mellows serves carribean fusion food. However when ordering the Sea Bass XL you have a choice of what states chilli prawns or Jerk prawns. I ordered chilli prawns as I thought they would be spicy as it did not exclusivly say SWEET CHILLI. The prawns were sweet so I ordered the Jerk prawns instead, the came as a side bowl to add to my plate, however they too were sweet in nature with some spice added. NOT HAPPY! I am yet to find a carribean reasturant which actually caters to the carribean palate, the Jerk sauce was a BBQ base. I thought why serve 2 sweet type of prawns its meant to be fusion so give people a choice of sweet and spicy, Do a proper jerk sauce with all spice and scotch bonnet peppers even. Also make sure its clearly labled on the menu! The sea bass was cooked perfectly, so was the spinach. the sweet potato fries were over done and dry, the plantain was somewhat to be desired. The cocktails were good, no where near the nicest in Birmingham though. We were also told last orders at 8.30 but other people were seated well after and still got served. When we finished our food we were rushed out because they were having a private function, but when trying to pay with cash we had to wait 10 minutes for someone to get some change because they had none in the till? Completely baffled, as they'd been serving at the bar all night. All in all I enjoyed the atmosphere, the decor was good; made the place feel light but the service way too slow for the amount of people they were serving. May go back at a less busy time to try something else to see if any other food would taste good. I hope the owner reads these reviews as he could make it a very good carribean restaurant with queues out the door if management was on point. Service was faster and he stopped catering for the British palate as people like different things mixed...

My recent visit to Mellows left much to be desired, and I feel it's important to share my disappointment. The evening started on an unfortunate note as we were seated beneath a leaking ceiling, drenching both my partner and me. The sorry state of the ceiling, hanging precariously, added to our discomfort. Requesting to move, we were met with a wet chair at our new table, leaving us quite displeased.

The culinary disappointment continued when our ordered chicken arrived undercooked. Despite bringing it to the staff's attention, their response was dismissive, and we had to insist on a replacement. Shockingly, the laughter from the kitchen staff and waiters about the situation was audible and distasteful, making us question the professionalism and hygiene practices at Mellows.

Our dissatisfaction extended to the cocktail order. The menu promised two cocktails for £15, but the bill reflected individual charges. Seeking an explanation led to contradictory responses from different staff members, adding to our frustration.

A particularly disconcerting encounter involved a waiter with light brown maybe green eyes? and a durag on whose lackadaisical attire, and sagging trousers revealing his underwear! fell far short of the expected standards of personal presentation and hygiene in a dining establishment. In addition to this, his response to our inquiry about the bill was appalling. He skimmed the bill plate across the table at us, coupled with a dismissive remark: "There! I sorted it for ya."

While the food, excluding the chicken, was palatable, the overall experience was overshadowed by the staff's attitude and lack of customer service. In an industry where customer loyalty is key, Mellows failed to meet expectations. Considering the competitive dining landscape and the premium prices at Mellows, one would anticipate a higher standard of service.

Moreover, the observable disorganization within the Mellows team further marred our dining experience. The palpable lack of order and coherence in their operations significantly tainted the overall atmosphere, amplifying our disappointment. It's disheartening to write this review, but I believe honest feedback is essential. Unfortunately, Mellows has lost a potential returning customer due to this subpar experience.

I hope the longevity of this business becomes a...

Initially would have got 1 star but the service improved in-house on the day. Booked over a month and a half in advance for my father’s 60th Birthday - the entire pre-dining experience was horrendous. Endless calls to a restaurant that doesn’t pick up their phones or return voicemails, personal whatsapp number provided by staff in the effort to “handle” the booking (which was never responded to after payment which was still over a month in advance and was highly unprofessional anyway). When staff do answer the phone (extremely rare), rather than represent the business enthusiastically and open with the restaurant name and who you’re talking to, they just want to advise you’re speaking to “a waiter enit’. #Shocking

Wasn’t impressed that my father’s sisters travelling from London and Bristol had a separate table booked for their family, that the restaurant was made well aware of over a month in advance, that was then cancelled “due to overbooking” within days of the meal - (no deposit was required for this table) but let’s not even get into that!

After a concerning talk with staff/management a week in advance which almost ended up in a refund of deposits paid due to the sheer experience and blatant disappointment, we seemed to be able to get on the same page about the booking. At the end of the day, it was a surprise meal and I new my father would have loved the concept as long as he stayed unaware of the amount of hassle it was causing the family.

So...

On the day staff were friendly and accommodating. All smiles with the family until the hiccup at the end regarding the bill...

Mixed reviews across the table on the food, some thought there’s were great, others were over cooked and dry - but hey, that’s the hospitality experience. Overall, its average food presented very well.

To summarise Pre-dining experience is horrendous- they need someone to come in and take control of front of house operations and start training/releasing staff, like immediately.

*Food is average but presented well.

*The business needs to stop running like a stereotypical caribbean takeaway with bad service- because it genuinely has much more to offer and the restaurant itself is finished beautifully.

Nevertheless it’s safe to say, I will not be returning - but I’m pretty sure if anyone is looking at a non-party booking...