Cork and Crust — Restaurant in Bromsgrove

Ok...but definitely room for improvement at the price !! It will be busy as people give "the new place" a try...but I think few will return when there is better elsewhere.

Place is brand new to Barnt Green and a welcome addition to a place lacking in eating establishments (The Victoria and Barnt Green Inn is basically the same menu). The venue is very nicely decked out. The outdoor seating and full open frontage will work well in the summer.

If you have any COVID concerns then this place may not be for you as it is a small restaurant and tables are packed in with no real separation and limited room for staff to walk between the tables.

Food was ok...but some very strange pricing such as the sharing starter platters that are £12-£13 per person when individual starters range from £5-9. Perhaps they are trying to cover visitors who just want a nibble and no main. Still very pricey !!

Starters we had bread & olives and Calamari. Bread (Artisan) was dry and tasteless and should have been served warm. The Calamari were cooked well but the lemon was weirdly served on a bed of blue rock salt that looked like crushed up toilet blue.

Mains we had Pizza and a couple of steaks. Pizza had loads of cheese but not much spicy sausage topping and left it feeling a little underwhelming. Fillet steak was the real star but the Sirloin was extremely disappointing. It was thin and extremely tiny and was definitely under the quoted weight. Because of the dimensions it was overcooked too. £4 Fries were very tasty but an expensive addition to what is already a pricey dish. £4 side salad....meh.

Drinks menu was interesting but again very expensive and that is before you even contemplate trying a bottle of wine.

Worst bit about this place is that it is yet another example of a Birmingham restaurant insisting on adding a service charge in the hope you will be too embarrassed to remove it...which, of course, we were :-). Service was ok but staff did lacked the sparkle and menu/drinks knowledge that you would expect from a premium venue. Add to this that the staff (one without a mask) were leaning across us to serve food and repeatedly clattering glasses and then started clearing the table even though a member of the table had not finished. They also did not ask if we wanted table water and then took ages to bring it when we did ask for it. Tipping should be an option reserved to guests who feel that the staff have gone above and beyond. By defaulting on a "service charge" you are encouraging staff to have no real interest in going the extra mile...such a shame considering the industry has had it so tough over the last 14months.

This place has got great potential but needs to sort out the issues if it wants to see return visitors. Also if they want to remain a premium priced venue then they need to make sure their food and service reflects...

Table booked for 7.00,order taken fairly swiftly but noticed although tables occupied and waiting to dine there were no tables served food.Noticed a few diners talking with staff .Waited until 8.20 for a chicken salad and a pizza,had to enquire about the delay ,just excuses about the booking company.But when food arrived ,honestly Aldi/Lidl price busters ,even pizza express produce better pizza than what I was served - plus the level of sodium in mine would be good during the winter to melt ice around Barnt Green- i could get out of the village to work . Chips(fries) were just disgusting, hard bits of potato left under the pass for an hour too long .Sorry but this isn't the standard expected when people dine out .If you have staffing/ other issues then tell diners ,don't rely on perceived reputation or regular custom. Still charged full price although half the food went into the rubbish bin - or maybe...

Heard bad things about this place but wanted to give it a chance. I called up to make a booking and the lady said, ‘Sorry, I am busy doing a wine tasting event so won’t be able to take your booking, can you call back in a few hours?’ A very good way to turn down business. I am not going to call back. The response and tone was rather dismissive. It was the tone that was shocking. Pay attention to the poor reviews, there’s a pattern!

Edited to add: Very unprofessional reply back from the ‘Restaurant’. I could say a lot on this but I won’t stoop as low. What you could have done was recognise the unprofessionalism, apologise and try to make amends. Instead, your reply was illegible and sarcastic. I won’t take up journalism but perhaps the local social media pages would like to see the chain of negative reviews...