Shababs Balti Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

My mum booked a table for 20 people for my dad’s birthday. First and foremost, it is important to note that all our guests arrived an hour late at 6.30pm than the previously discussed time of 5.30pm. Despite this, the food was impeccable and incredibly tasty. We ordered a very large amount of food and all of it was well-cooked and well-presented. My mum had made two separate trips to the establishment previously to discuss the booking with the owner, he was very polite and sold the restaurant to her very well which resulted in her leaving a deposit of £100 and the menu fully decided. Therefore, our arrival was guaranteed. Yet, when our party did arrive, the customer service was absolutely appalling! We were constantly told this was due to our initial lateness, but this was not the case. Overall, the actual day was worlds different than the previous visits and was incredibly disappointing: 1)We asked for our food as soon as our last guest arrived at half six. The waiters told us our food had been pushed back due to our lateness and would arrive in half an hour. This was understood, yet our food arrived 2 hours late. This was only after 3 of our guests had to physically get up and complain to the owner. This is when they began to prioritise our table, despite the fact, we were one of the largest bookings there. It was clearly evident that we were being ignored and the predominantly Caucasian guests were being served and attended to before us. It is key to note many of these tables had arrived after us with no prior arrangements and were still getting their food delivered to them within a half an hour time frame. 2)The main waiter who was designated to our table was incredibly prejudiced, rude and condescending in the way he communicated to us. Many times, when we asked about the preparation of our food; we were either completely ignored as if we weren’t there or met with a very hostile and rude reply of that we were an hour late so we should deal with it. Any other queries, such as asking for more napkins or water, was met with incredibly rude responses from other waiters such as ‘What?!’ and ‘Wait’ as if we were schoolchildren. It was very disrespectful, not just in terms of customer service but also just in terms of communicating with other human beings. However, what was incredibly upsetting was that this was not the standard that all the other guests were being treated to. It could be clearly overheard, that the same waiters, were approaching other tables in a kind and playful manner and were incredibly attentive to their every need. At many points throughout the night, several of our guests mentioned our main waiter and another standing in a corner and laughing and whispering whilst pointing at our table. Let’s not play stupidity here, we were the only table upstairs of Asian descent, so it is inevitable that this looked clearly like a personal attack based on prejudices carried by your staff. 3)We asked our main waiter to take the birthday cake into the kitchen with candles at 6.30pm so it could be brought out, lit and ready, when my father arrived. When we decided to cut the cake at around 8.40pm, we requested for the cake to be brought out. The main waiter brought the cake still in the box with the candles still in their original packing, and literally slammed it down in front of my dad and walked off. If there was any reason why the kitchen was unable to take the cake out and light it then this could have simply been told to us instead of given to us in such a despicable manner. Also, if cake bringing and lighting is considered not part of your policy, this could have simply been mentioned, even though this is considered normal in nearly all restaurants. Overall, yes, the food was delicious, but it was not worth the ridiculous wait, the belittling way we were treated and the bill of £272 (which could have been spent at another restaurant with much higher levels of...

December 2023

How this place is affiliated with BBC, I really don't know, it's shockingly abysmal. Do not be sidetracked by this affiliation.

Service is none existence, waiters were not waiting on us, their product knowledge was 0/10 and they had zero interest in serving us Sauces and chutneys were watered down and tasteless Food portion was, I kid you not, a child’s portion One of the dishes, the buttered chicken, I am being very precise and serious when I relay this to you, the chicken in grams was no more than 100g cut up into tiny, stingy, greedy, money grabbing cubes Lamb curry and fish curry was nice You get charged if you want your curry hot, we were bamboozled, if you want a hot curry, in a curry house you will get charged for it, (that’s like Nando’s charging for the bone of a chicken”) chillis are the essence of curries, completely disgraceful and disgusting. We were upsold a hotter curry and not told it would be chargeable All the sauces were charged to the bill without our authorisation (although it's in the small print) which coughed up to £20.00. As a principle, if a customer orders more chutney/sauces in a curry house, this has never been the case. If this is the case, then it is your duty to say this will come at a charge upon ordering, not my duty to fish through your 100 item menu list to check this will be chargeable. We were offered for this cost to be removed from the bill, we declined, its not about the money, its about the principle of being honest and transparent. We paid the full bill. Naan's tasted like packet ones, they were all the same shape on this evening, they may have used a naan machine this evening, this is not authentic at all, they were tasteless, tough and dry It felt like I was on Broadstreet, no management or control of the restaurant noise, drunk customers, rowdiness, no sense of others who wish to dine in a dignified manner (management issue not a customer issue). We are also paying customers who expect a level of ambience.

I've read the managers previous comments, which were also unhelpful. "You can't win, both ways". My response to that is, yes you can win, manage your restaurant, be hands on, and make sure your team are on point to manage things well in your absence

I know this cuisine very well. I can strongly say, I would never go back here, even if you paid me and it was free.

I will stick to my regular wonderful Al-Faisals, 140 Stony Lane B12 8AQ. The only reason we came to Shababs was because Al-Faisals was closed at this time.

The food at Al-Faisals is exquisite, the buttered chicken is tantalising, authentic, rich and full bodied. Proper authentic dishes, and the service is second to none. Saad being our favourite waiter and the manager is professional, caring and warming.

Please check it out. I have no affiliation, only a passion for dining and people not being cheated.

Having read the responses from the manager of previous feedback, no doubt there will be a long winded unprofessional stance, this is more evidence into the general working culture within this restaurant which has a ripple effect, this ripple effect seeped into our awful experience.

The end, Shababs 163-165 Ladypool Road Birmingham is “Truly...

Absolutely appalled. This place has gone way downhill and completely lost its true self. A shame. This was once one of the best curry houses in birmingham. The food was exceptional. Do not let the past fool you as the present is all that matters. Firstly, we ordered fish pakora starter, it came in very small bits, size of popcorn, looked like the Bottom of the barrel, you can see the scrimping on cost. Fish was poor quality, pakora batter was spongy and wet. Poor taste. This was immediately sent back. We then received an under cooked chicken tikka starter. Again poor flavour and very wet texture, pink. In pieces. Our mains arrived, a chicken tikka balti and a chicken tikka masala balti, both tasted exactly the same except one was red in colour. I did not expect the coconut taste at all and we wouldn't want it. Low in taste in both, no spice, poor flavour and a very small portion and very tiny pieces of chicken. The rice.. now I swear to god this was pre packet tilda pilau rice. It was bright yellow, very spongy! Dry! And actually bounced! The naans was suspiciously uninformed, both exactly the same size and round, both with exactly the same markings just like a pizza base, they looked factory brought in and reminded me of a Turkish flatbread or chippy naan you get with a kebab from a place that actually don't do fresh bread. All of it was sent back! A complaint was made to the on duty manager and he straight away offered the meal for free and to be removed from our table. This was by far the poorest experience I've ever had in a curry house and This used to be one of my favourites. There is no way apart from inexperienced western based people would enjoy this. As a proud Brummie who has been brought up in this wonderful multicultural city, within my proud multicultural family. This is literally was an actual embarrassment to our wonderful food culture and our people who are lucky enough to be apart of it. Remove...