The Grove Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Birmingham

The grove - Handsworth

With a few recommendations to choose from the Grove in Handsworth was chosen as the destination of the next Tikka night. Having missed the last three due to work commitments i was very much looking forward to this one.

When we arrived i was pleasantly surprised to see how busy it was. This always shows it is a good establishment.

Having sat down for a quick pint of cobra we all decided to order. Having already checked the menu online i knew what i was having. The idea of having a buzzer and self service is great. Theres no miss communicating with bar/waitress staff as we have encountered in other establishments which was good.

Masala Chips - finding a good masala chip is hard as found on previous excursions. These although a very generous portion they unfortunately didnt live up to much. I have had worse but also had much better 4/10

Masala sauce - a very good sauce to accompany the meal with. Right blend of spices to dip into. 7/10

Regular mixed grill - portion size was out of this world. If id known how big it was before hand id of asked to of shared with someone out of my group of friends. The lamb and chicken tikka absolutely melted in your mouth. Best chicken tikka meat iv had for a long while. The wings were ya standard tikka wings. Not amazing but not bad. Nice to have to large portions of sheesh kebab which went down lovely. 9/10

Cheese and garlic naan bread - now this is how you do a naan bread. This is up there with the best iv had. Cannot fault it for one bit. Not overpowering with garlic but just enough to have the bite. Lovely cheese pull with no grease. 10/10

Overall a great experience and i can see why it get so busy in there. Would definitely...

Traditional Victorian era pub which branched out into serving traditional Indian food and Indian barbecue taking that combination to the ‘next level’ leaving other pubs in Handsworth trying but failing to copy the formula.

The Grove pub used to have two bars; one of these was extended to create a restaurant area. Now the two areas, the ‘old’ bar and the newer restaurant side have two distinct vibes.

The bar area on the food side has a weird mix; a few loud, aggressively drunk, regulars and diners enjoying the tasty food which comes in large portions. The crowd tends to be largely male but increasingly families and couples are dining here. Increasingly there is a mixed crowd but can be quite a ‘lad’s boozer’ atmosphere sometimes.

The mixed grill is one of the most popular dishes being served on a sizzling platter when eating in and is delicious with the chicken tikka and lamb chops being the highlight. In fact, it might be worthwhile getting these two along with the paneer tikka as individual dishes. The menu has an extensive offering of curries but these are mediocre and more often than not swimming in oil. The naan and rotis are fresh and taste great.

Regarding the facilities, there are big TVs on every wall and showing sports. A token pool table in the corner is a legacy of the ‘old’ pub. Car park is large but the toilet facilities are a disgrace.

Décor is great if you like photos of Princess Diana, signed Liverpool and West Brom football shirts and pictures of fruit.

An interesting tasty night out – recommended as long as you’re not expecting an upmarket dining experience in an art...

My friend previously ordered chips takeaway from this place and they used disgusting old oil and I had diarrhoea for weeks after eating those chips. I think they mix the chip oil with other foods and don’t use fresh oil. I went today in daytime without realising it was same place. My opinion is that this is a place for having cheap large portion size of drinks and food catch-up with friends on a budget. There is also lots of parking. The food here is large in portion size. The cost of food is cheap for the portion size so you get more for your buck. However the taste of food is average and quality of food varies depending on who is staffing the kitchen. Food wise there is nothing to boast about! Don’t expect perfect food. Its not high quality cooking. I had paneer naan wrap. Naan was over burnt for me but it was cheap. Hygiene could be improved - my fork had a coriander leaf on it from someone else so they did not wash it properly. I had lemonade from tap. Tasted diluted. They don’t show you to your seat and give you a remote for you to go and collect the food yourself. That threw me a little to not have table service. You pay to sit in a large building, TVs everywhere to watch footie matches. To improve staff need some smiling training and they need to find a good maintenance person- toilet sinks were blocked. Easy things to correct would be staff friendliness and maintenance. Also I hate places that don’t serve Heinz ketchup. This place uses some cheap ketchup which they could change. Hygiene of forks and knives is lacking and food quality is lacking. I feel another bout of diarrhoea...