The Early Bird Bakery — Restaurant in Birmingham

Absolutely do not dine here! This should be 0 stars across the board! Please be careful, and read recent reviews!!

Stealing deposits, poor service and overpriced food!

Couple of points from this shambles of an establishment:

We arrived 6 minutes early, got grunted at and told to wait outside because we were early. Outside in the cold November weather! The upstairs decor isn't anything special and TBH felt a little like a supermarket cafe (nothing wrong with that, but for the price of the food, i'd expect a little more) Our food arrived after around 35 minutes (not a bad wait time). We asked for the food to be popped into the middle of the table (there was 3 of us) and we the staff weren't proactive to offer small plates (when we clearly made it obvious we were sharing food). This wouldn't have been a complaint, but every little counts and maybe your staff should be a little more attentive and proactive! By this stage and 50 minutes in, we still didn't have our drinks, apparently there was a back log due to having one barista. We chased our drinks several times, and once they'd arrived I was greeted with a 'miso' late. I questioned what this was as i'd ordered a caramel late - which during ordering I clarified the syrups available and this was always described as caramel, not miso, and not salted caramel. I explained I didn't ordered Miso nor was I told you don't do just plain caramel. Long story short, the server was rude, laughed at us and blamed me! As it had already taken about 50 minutes for our drinks to be bought out, I asked for my drink to be re-made (without syrup) and to be prioritised. We were all basically laughed out and told NO. To add the Matcha we bought was also disgusting (an iced drink served with no ice in sight)

To summarise Poor service (rude, laugh at customers, not helpful, no service in sight tbh) No attention to detail when taking orders Overpriced food (as others say, also way too seasoned) and gave me horrific belly ache

To top it off, when booking you're asked to pay a £10pp deposit and that this will be taken off the bill - we were made to pay the full bill on the day and were told we'd get an immediate refund of our £30 deposit. This deposit hasn't been received (we've had to chase it), we've been promised it has be refunded (it hasn't), we've asked for proof (and been ignored).

Be careful, this is dodgy practice! You cant say on your website the money will be taken off the total bill on the day, and for this not to happen! I am tempted to report the to trading standards, because i'm sure some people would be likely to forget to check the refund!

Something dodgy is clearly going on with this establishment, avoid at all costs!!!

We were given our drinks for free and 10% off the bill. We had IB anyway, so really we were only given our drinks for free.

Do...

Went following hearty recommendation from friends and booked via the website. No confimration provided so arrived a few minutes early, but all well. Shown upstairs which was difficult for an elderly person to negotiate as serving staff and customers all use very narrow, steep flight of stairs. Seated and drinks order taken promptly, water and glasses provided without asking. Almost £4 for a VERY small flat white which was barely luke warm was perhaps the first sign that this place might just not be all it's cracked up to be. 25+ minute wait for our food, although the waitress did advise that she had checked on progress and it shouldn't be too long. Food arrived: well, portions are generous and probably are reflective of the prices being charged for brunch items. But my companion and I were both left feeling extremely underwhelmed by the whole experience. Pork was lovely and tender on the rarebit, but no evidence of any cheese really and the side of bacon at an additional £4.50 was ludicrous in the extreme - leather-like strips of almost unidentifiable dark something. The truffle mushroom arrived on two massively thick slices of sweet bread, lightly toasted and smothered in mushrooms, topped with finely grated cheese, and with feta inside. Side of very deep fried hash brown cubes, with a chilli peanut butter dipping sauce at another £4.50. They were not really my idea of has browns, but at least were hot. The sauce was more gimmick than anything. The kale dip which accompanied the mushrooms was a good antidote to the hugely rich and over the top dish. In all, we were defeated by the amount of food, its richness and total over-the-top level of ingredients and combination of flavours, especially with the rarebit which is served on a brioche bun. Almost £50 for a brunch for two, with just one coffee apiece, and unfortunately some leftovers on both plates. And they have the cheek to add a discretionary 10% service charge on top. For one, the food is too much in every way, quantity, price and trying to be too trendy and flash. The noise levels are intolerable - every table is crammed and hard surfaces do nothing to deaden the noise. There seems to be only one toilet, which seems permanently occupied. Overpriced, over-done, over-trendy, over stuffed - underwhelmed. Won't be coming back or...

28/04/2024

Been back again for brunch, visiting family here from Plymouth.

Arrived dead on 9.00am luckily as the cafe filled up quicky and we were a party of 5 so managed to find a table.

Service on arrival was good as usual with another Spanish lady who seemed to be in charge. Drinks were taken and bought to our table by a young girl who unfortunately wasn't of the same calibre we've come to expect, she didn't smile and didn't know the menu very well, I ordered a decaf mocha which wasn't as great as the single shot mocha I had on our previous visit.

The menu had changed slightly since the last time we visited, I ordered the breakfast bap again which was just as good. Bap soft and doughy, fillings so tasty and the perfect runny egg. Hash brown fries just as good. Tried one our parties toasted sandwich which was tasty and filling.

We didn't have time for a cake to takeaway this time unfortunately which I was gutted about as the counter looked jam packed with delicious treats.

Still a lovely vibe in the cafe with good music playing, only let down a little this time with the young waitress, but the other lady who greeted us on arrival also food checked us and settled our bill was just as great as our last visit so not all bad. Look forward to coming back soon.

06/03/2024

Just been for brunch, I had a hazelnut praline single shot mocha which was delicious, I also ordered the breakfast bap with a side of hash brown chips, which was very well presented and tasted delicious.

Maria was our server and she really was the life and soul of this place, there was a lovely vibe in the cafe with lots of hustle and bustle but at the same time very relaxed and chill.

Can't wait to come back soon and eat some more tasty food and drinks. We had cakes to takeaway. I had the cookies and cream brioche which was gigantic and yummy, even had cream filling in the centre, could easily be enough to share between 2. My wife had the almond, rhubarb and orange cake which was rich and light and fluffy. Really really lovely...