Merlin's Cafe Bar — Restaurant in Birmingham

I Visited the weekend, not sure they have any idea what they are even doing…is it a cafe? Bar? And/or a Restaurant ? The place wasn’t busy, yet was we were waiting over an hour for 2 plates of chips, some chicken bites and a burger ; which when arrived, were just frozen items you could of cooked yourself in an air fryer in 20 minutes. Chips were cut from potatoes they brought in, but nothing special about them in the slightest. The entire restaurant was very cold, due to the nasty draught everytime someone opened the door. The tables were wobbly, which isn’t ideal when there’s a multitude of drinks on them, and the chairs wasn’t the best. The decor and concept of the venue is unique, which suits Halloween, but it’s tacky and isn’t going to suffice all year round. I think they would have been much better off sticking to a horror theme, as that’s what it is being essentially marketed as online. The food should also align with the aesthetic as it’s truly disappointing. Theres a lot of potential for this place if they narrow down their niche, as it’s in a great location. I Struggled to find it straight away as there’s no sign posts for it, so that’s another factor that needs to be taken into consideration. Birmingham has next to no metal venues anymore, so I’d like to see this place become a landmark for Birmingham, I understand it’s just opened, but it’s got a long way to go! I may go in for a drink again, but I’d never waste my time or money on food, Greggs is better...

Upon travelling to the location - which was difficult to find and in a suboptimal location in the city - we were at first confused by the decor, which did not resemble the marketing imagery we had seen. This venue does not deliver on the brief: it's a diner with a collection of supermarket halloween decorations. More importantly, we were dismayed with the poor handling of our legitimate complaint regarding the cocktail we ordered. The drink contained activated charcoal, which not only pervades said drink with a sulphuric odor, but also makes medications more difficult to absorb. We didn't realize this until querying the odd taste - the charcoal is not listed on the menu, or I would never have ordered it since I am on daily medication. PSA: if you're on any kind of medication, please do not consume charcoal and if you own a F&B business, please do not prepare items with active ingredients without listing them on the menu. The bar staff offered to remake the drink without the charcoal, but after waiting 20 minutes for this we decided to cut our losses and leave. It took a further wait to get a refund, which was thankfully forthcoming, but not without an attitude from the bar manager. Since we cannot trust the menu for accurate active ingredient and allergen advice we will not be returning, and I recommend that you also take your paying business elsewhere to other rock and alternative venues...

Before I got terribly sick, myself & my partner went to Merlins Cafe Bar a new horror theme cafe/bar and the food was unbelievable I very rarely come on here and talk about my food experiences but this place deserves the hype.

My partner got the All day breakfast which has amazing fresh sausages, I got myself a chicken burger with American style thick cut bacon and my god, it has to be the best chicken burger I’ve ever eaten in my life. You know in ads where you see someone bite into a burger and it gets a crunch? this had it, I’ve never experienced anything like that before. The chips were amazing too reminding me of my the chips my Nan used to cook which sent me into a flashback just like in ratatouille where it sent me to being a kid again they was lovely and very well cooked. We also got a portion of macaroni and cheese croquettes which we’ve had in other places before and have let us down so was worried but after the first bite that worry was gone. The food was all fresh & you could taste it.

We got both a homemade cake which was beautiful too. The service was amazing the owner came over spoke to us about his journey, music & more.

Again I cannot suggest this place more and that’s why I’m taking the time to write this out so more people will go check...