The Four Oaks — Restaurant in Birmingham

I can’t post without Staring this place. But it would have been no stars from us!

We booked a family meal for Boxing Day 2018 and even paid a deposit upfront over the phone. On arrival we just got horrible looks from everyone when walking into this so called nice pub! The waiter just dumped us as far away from everyone else and left the menus on the table. Considering we had 3 kids under 5 years old with us I felt the waiter should have been abit patient. We requested to be moved to another table which another waiter helped us with. The original waiter just walked off. Fine, we just sat down and ordered some drinks.

After our drinks we placed our main menu food order from the Boxing Day ‘set menu’ and were all so excited to try out the meals we had chosen. After a few minutes the waiter advised that the starter is no longer available, we were so disappointed that they couldn’t even meet their Boxing Day menu considering they knew we are coming with x number of people as they took a deposit from us!

We all choose a different starter and carried on enjoying our drinks in the meantime excited for our Boxing Day meal only to see the waiter come back to advise that the salmon dish has ran out!! What a joke we all had enough by then and advised to speak to the manager who didn’t even bother coming to the table to at least give us some discount on the drink for all the inconvenience they caused us. No apology from the manager which I found so rude. The waiter was apologetic but she was only the messenger and probably felt so uncomfortable reporting back to us that they can’t even meet the ‘set menu’ requirement considering we booked in advance and even paid a deposit!!!

Shocking service from this so called lovely pub. Never again! They were quick to return our deposit and deduct our drinks which we didn’t even finish. Such poor service as we thought we were going to have a great time there. Big disappointment. If they knew they couldn’t meet the requirements they should have called us on Boxing Day so at least we wouldn’t have had to put our guests and kids through all this drama and a...

This place has been refurbished beautifully and has two lovely outdoor seating areas. Our only criticism of the decor would be of the faux fur rugs scattered on the backs of some seating. We think that they constitute a potential hygiene issue.

We had a chicken dish and a Caesar salad. Both were very tasty but the salad lacked the bread described in the menu. I would describe its presence as "crumbs". The house wine was a little over-priced at £8+ for 250ml. I had the Chardonnay which was slightly sweet.

The biggest problem was the service. Our meal was booked for 12.15 and we arrived a little later. A lovely young lady enthused about the refurbishment and called for a table server. We were shown to a table and told that the unpriced items on the specials' board were unavailable but that there was a special available. Why not clean/paint the board instead of explaining the same thing to all their customers? We are not asked if we wanted drinks.

About 20 minutes later a suited gentleman asked us if we were being served and we said no. We could not see any other customers. Someone then came to take our drinks order and also took our meal order.

A few minutes later someone else brought us "homemade bread" with a tasty butter. We found the butter flavour interesting but too sweet as an amuse bouche. However it was a thoughtful touch.

The water was served with ice and lemon in a lovely jug.

There were a lot of staff about so the service problem is one of poor organisation as is the Specials' Board. We didn't think it deserved the 10% service charge but paid it to save fuss. When we have good service we usually pay at least 15% voluntarily.

We think a lunchtime menu would be a good idea.

We will go again as we think the staff will become more organised. Sooner...

Went for the evening last week with family and the food was amazing! Fresh, tasty ingredients cooked to perfection for every course. You can see a lot of care goes in to the presentation. Had to return this week with a friend to see what she thought. Our meals were perfection on a plate. Empty plates noticed everywhere as the servers took them away. I’ll be returning for brunch next time and might sample a Sunday roast in the near future. Highly recommend the melt in the mouth pork starter and the creamy charred halloumi which wasn’t too salty or chewy like you find elsewhere. Pan fried sea bass, again beautifully cooked with a crispy skin. Lovely garnishes. Truffle chips-Devine! The battered cod is huge , crispy, not greasy, flaky fish. Tried the feather blade steak, had it medium rare, a little chewy but very tasty. Would go for sirloin next time though. The crème fresh mash was a delight, very moorish! My friend had the chicken main with roast potatoes, she was full but couldn’t leave it alone. Haven’t tried any deserts yet, but expect they’ll be just as tasty. Atmosphere is lively with quieter places to eat if preferred. Staff are so attentive, nothing is too much trouble, always smiling. Parking was an issue this time which is a real shame. My compliments to the chef(s) and kitchen staff! I’ve been to many lovely places over the years but for me, this is now my favourite place to dine and socialise. Will be a firm...