Willow Mere Green — Restaurant in Birmingham

Dined here again a few days ago, for a birthday occasion, and the restaurant continues to deliver on all fronts; long may the 'bar' remain high so this can continue to be our go-to place of choice!

At the (first) time of reviewing Willow is still yet to open its doors "fully" as it completes its "soft" phase to iron out any wrinkles. Well, I can confirm that having dined there yesterday there aren't any ! The theme is Mediterranean but not so OTT that it's being too unrealistically overemphasised; the environment that's created is one that relaxed, fresh, & chilled-out (if only we had the Mediterranean weather!!). There was a price incentive/discount which I tested to the full, and having chosen the most expensive starter & main I would gladly order both again at the full price because the value (£36 full price for crab & crayfish ravioli and steak) is excellent; my (vegetarian) better half had an extensive choice & opted for garlic mushrooms (actually much fancier than my words suggest) and halloumi skewer with accompaniments - which would definitely be ordered again. The restaurant is an all-dayer, open for breakfasts, brunches, lunches, a la cartes, cakes, coffees & teas etc - in other words, a place to pop into or to while away a couple of hours. So relaxed a vibe that four legged members of the family can be accompanied by well-behaved owners - something that we will be taking advantage of. Okay, it was our first visit but first impressions count and, as we dine out at least once a week, we were suitably impressed.

Have since returned and pleased to see the place buzzing at 2pm on a Thursday. Thought we'd struggle to get a table having not reserved, and as we were accompanied by our 2 x 11 month old labradoodles, but the staff offered us a larger table (54) without any quibble. A bit of feng shui with the furniture & the two dog beds supplied by Willow and we all settled down for a couple of hours dining (& wining). Garlic mushroom (stuffed with mascarpone) starters followed by 1 x double steak burger and 1 x halloumi and courgette skewer main courses tasted as good as they looked. Bottle of house red was equally enjoyable. As for the dogs.....they enjoyed a couple treats and...

The food and atmosphere were excellent, but unfortunately the service did not match the quality.

I arrived around 2 p.m. today when the restaurant was understandably busy. As a female server walked by, I said politely, “Excuse me, I’m ready to order whenever you have a moment.” I had no intention of rushing her, yet she abruptly yelled at me to “be patient and wait.”

When it came time to order, I explained that I’d already had breakfast and just wanted to chat with my cousin, so we planned to share one full breakfast, a smoothie, and a cappuccino. I hadn’t checked whether the restaurant had a minimum-order policy, but if there was one I would have gladly complied. Instead, the same server raised her voice again, repeatedly questioning whether I was “only ordering one dish,” which felt unnecessarily rude.

To be fair, the food was excellent—the breakfast was delicious, the coffee perfectly balanced, and the smoothie a pleasant surprise. When it was time to pay, a friendly male staff member quickly brought the bill. However, the same female server ignored me, took payments from two other tables, and even accepted another order before acknowledging me. After five minutes, another male staff member kindly stepped in to process the payment.

I can’t say whether this treatment was because my cousin and I are Asian, or simply because she thought I was being impolite or ordering too little. Either way, such high-quality food deserves service that is welcoming and respectful...

Loved it! Service was friendly and professional from the outset with the lovely Sean. The decor and atmosphere was really nice. They were having some issues with the smoke alarm which did spoil the atmosphere a little, but the staff kept us informed and did their best to deal with it as well as they could. Sometimes stuff happens which is beyond your control and I appreciate that this is likely not a regular occurrence! In the end they had clearly stationed someone right next to it to turn it off as soon as it went off, so the little bursts almost became quite amusing. Atmosphere would also have been 5 without this though.

I had the Lamb shoulder with harissa potatoes, mum had the sea bass in prosecco batter and my husband had a burger.

The lamb shoulder was served fully off the bone but was so tasty, & the flavours right across the plate were gorgeous. I had a side of broccoli tender stems which were perfectly done.

There were 2 good sized potions of sea bass and my mum said the batter was light as a feather.

My husband said his burger was perfectly done.

We were really full but decided we could be tempted by the deserts. I had the limoncello cheesecake, mum had tiramisu and husband had the chocolate and orange tart. Again, everything had wonderful flavours and were wonderfully light.

An exceptionally good meal that came in at about £35 a head which I think was good value for the standard we experienced.

Would definitely recommend and will...