The Court Oak — Restaurant in Birmingham

Ordered two cocktails here, I am 18 years old so of course was asked for proof of age which I was absolutely fine with, but then a member of staff checked my provisional license and asked "is this real?" - so of course I assured her it was - as it definitely was real. She then asked her supervisor to look at my ID, she barely glanced at it and did nothing to try and work out if the license was indeed real, such as holding it up to a light or asking me about any of the information on the license. She then rudely threw my license back on the table and said "this is fake - I am not serving you" - which is especially shocking considering she seemed to be some form of manager/supervisor and yet had no manners towards customers. Originally, I was told my ID seemed fake because there was something "off" with the colour, but the supervisor then compared it with someone else's provisional license and the problem was no longer the colour, but the fact that it was "raised in the wrong area" - which was inconsistent with what I had previously been told. I even mentioned that there have been changes in the design of driving licenses, which may explain why mine might have looked "off" as I have owned my license for years - but the supervisor was not having any of it and completely dismissed my attempt at trying to resolve the situation. She kept repeating to me "this is fake", which felt extremely accusatory and hostile. I completely understand the importance of verifying age and challenge 21, as a waitress myself, but the way I was treated by staff was extremely rude and would not recommend this service to anyone. It's a shame because I have been here previously, and been served alcohol with the same ID (which is real), and the cocktails and garden were nice, but has since been ruined by the bad manners of some of the staff.

Unfortunately I am not able to reply directly to the response given by the owner, but it seems there have been a few misinterpretations of what has happened; I'm not sure how anyone would have heard me in the garden saying my ID was fake, because it isn't so I would never have said such a thing and even so, if I had a fake ID would I really announce that in a middle of a beer garden? Additionally, I did not present anyone with a 16-17 college card, because I do not attend college so this is simply not possible, proving that your staff just were not paying attention to my attempts to prove my age, as I actually had presented them with my buspass which also displayed 18 years of age. I completely agree with being cautious about age verification and I understand the consequences of selling alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, however I am of the legal age to purchase and consume alcohol. I'm not writing this review to be stubborn, I just don't want this happening to anyone else as it is extremely frustrating and staff should...

I went out for a dinner with two other people and the overall atmosphere seems quite nice as you walk in but unfortunately the customer service of the staff is lacking. We ordered food and drinks which took a while since there was only two members of staff behind the bar on a busy Saturday which we understood. We then had two of the three meals (both lasagne) brought out to us with no cutlery shortly followed by the two bowls of chips and one bowl of undercooked fries. The third meal (mac and cheese) still hadn’t came out after 10 minutes neither did the cutlery so we had to ask for some from the staff member who brought out half our food and was stood chatting with another colleague while the food got cold. When we asked where the third meal was there was no apology or explanation just a simple it will be out soon. We had to ask for the food again after another 10 min as we wanted to eat together and was given a very rude and unprofessional attitude and response from the same staff member she then waked off. The food was then brought out half cooked and lukewarm clearly the chefs had forgotten about the final meal and just brought out the first two way before. This genuinely wouldn’t of been as much of a problem if there was any apology or explanation but she was just completely disrespectful and had just a complete lack of care. They didn’t even check to see if the food was okay and avoided our table completely. The only redeeming part of our visit was the shift manager Connor who did in fact apologise and refund the meal for us as it was inedible. We are really disappointed with this visit as we really enjoy the sizzling brand and have never had this...

We usually eat in The Wernley if we visit a Sizzling Pub but thought we'd try The Court Oak for a change. The pub was not particularly busy and we could only see 4 other tables that were eating but it still took more than 45 minutes for our mains to arrive (2 adult and 2 kids) during which time we saw no staff in our part of the pub. The food was acceptable as usual in Sizzling Pubs. We then made the terrible mistake of ordering dessert!!! (bear in mind the kids desserts had been ordered as part of the mains some 75 minutes earlier!) 55 minutes after ordering desserts I complained at the bar ("I'll go and check....."), 10 minutes later the two adult desserts arrived........but no kids desserts!! I complained again and the kids "Build Your Own Sundaes" finally arrived another 5 minutes later with a mumbled apology for the delay and the fact there were no strawberries so we'd been given "extra chocolate buttons". We left as soon as the boys had finished their desserts as by now it was 8pm (table was booked at 5.30pm and we'd arrived at 5.25pm!!) and nearly half an hour past the kids bedtimes! I fully appreciate that the hospitality industry has taken a massive hit during COVID but this is by far the worst service we've ever had in a Sizzling Pub. 2 and a half hours for 2 courses is a joke and we most definitely will not be returning to this establishment!! Only given one star because it won't allow me...