Vaibhavam South Indian restaurant(Licensed Restaurant) — Restaurant in Birmingham

Non-welcoming, grumpy, slow and incomplete service: We were in Birmingham exclusively on a food tour. We had a good anticipation and wanted to have our lunch in this place after seeing the google reviews. It was definitely not a pleasant experience. They had a problem inside the kitchen and that spilled over to the customers that day. We could hear from the washing area, people shouting at each other in the kitchen.

1. Firstly, this place accepts only cash payment. We were asked to withdraw cash from an ATM machine outside the restaurant paying extra charge(commission). This machine is related to this eatery probably (Registered to Sudiksha foods).
2. Though we did not reserve a table in advance, they had joined two tables and accommodated 4 of us. That was the only positive thing in their service.
3. The reception of customers was pathetic. Do not even about a smiling face.
4. We had ordered fish curry, chicken chettinadu, parotta, steamed rice, masala dosa and coffee. We had also asked for vada. The service was very very slow, we were fine with that as it would take time to freshly prepare things.

Dosa was good but in the sides, except the red chutney (tomato/onion) everything else was bad including the sambar. Chicken chettinadu and Parotta were really good. While the fish curry was mediocre, improperly seasoned and the fish did not take in the flavours. I wanted to take away Chepala pulusu (Nellore tangy fish curry), but did not dare to do that after seeing the first one and the time they take.

We did not receive vada, when asked the supplier she went back and came back to us saying that we had not ordered. I had to remind her the following words "We had asked you whether you serve freshly prepared vada or a reheated one." She recollected it but did not respond whether she would bring one or not. Not even a simple apology.

My wife had requested them to give aloo masala by the side of dosa instead of adding it inside as it may make the dosa soggy. Their answer was that they can not do it. She did not get half of her order (vada) and remining half in a way the she wont like it. Left the place without have having sufficient food.

Over all, it was a bad experience for us. On the other hand, this is the only place where they did not add the optional service charge...

Never go here! This shop is an unhygienic place. They use too much coloring chemicals in the starters. And the lady, I believe she is the owner! Literally she behaves so arrogant to me.

They don't treat the customers well. Not recommended at all!!! The place is too small for families to sit in. Better look for something better BARSANA is a good option nearby.

What happened at restaurant? As a customer I have the right to reject a food which is not up to the health standards for me. And i just gave advice to u, to treat customers politely. If ur business needs to grow, u have to understand that the customer is always RIGHT attitude and DONT argue with any customer that what you are doing is RIGHT. It's unnecessary to say 'you are in the restaurant field for many years' and you know everything about cooking, everywhere starters are served with colors.

I politely said it's too much chemical you have used, so we rejected the food. That's it. If you are a good business person you should have charged me only for the food which we had! But, Un Respectfully you came to me and said we will charge for whatever I did not eat also! Which is totally unfair approach. However you didn't charge anything at the end because you understood you were wrong!

And i am not judging a book by cover, i am judging because you were rude and i received unfair talk from your side.

Added; 27/03/2023 Hello Owner madam, first go and read all your 1 star reviews, and try to learn or go to a customer service class to improve yourself with some SERVICE knowledge. With your attitude you can never be successful in a SERVICE Industry. Anyhow Good luck!!! Only passers-by or one time tries will come and eat at your restaurant!

A quote for you, said by Mahatma Gandhi.

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the...

The food is okay. However, we had the unfortunate experience having the worst ever experience from the staff. Even while accepting the possibility of the night being busy this is no reason to be rash towards your customer. Hope to give you better star in future.

Edited in reply: We came as a family- even though available, no high chair was offered to my little one who’s 1 year old. While taking our orders we were rudely and wrongly accused of ordering an item extra. We were more than happy to accept the order as a takeaway but the false accusation was unacceptable. My little one was happily making some giggling noises and I was careful enough to step out of the restaurant to avoid any inconvenience for the other guests- which was not at all required as every customer going out was literally happily playing with my baby. However whilst we were taking turns to have the food, my wife was rudely asked to “make the baby silent as others are watching”. This was the worst insult which made me give 1 star to you. We have been in the UK for the past 3 years and never have we ever faced such an awkward situation.

We did have high expectations reading your reviews about the staff being polite and courteous which sadly was not the case with us. Maybe you were having a difficult day but this was much of an insult to us.

Let me make it clear once again that your food was upto standards and thank you for listening to my grievance - I’m changing my rating to 3 stars solely because of these reasons.

Thank you.

Edited in reply:

Thank you for the time and effort you’ve put in for the detailed reply. I do appreciate it. Hopefully our further visits might...