Blue Piano - Birmingham

Great night of live music! Awesome place to chill and enjoy some sweet tunes from midnight city!

Having visited the blue piano a good number of times over the past 4 years, the blue piano had come to me to be a place I loved to go on an extra special occasion, like birthdays and graduations, to justify the high price point for exceptionally delicious dishes and great service. I was lucky enough to visit again today, and had been looking forwards to this event for the last few weeks. Upon arriving at the restaurant,this we were treated to a refreshed change of decor. Despite the facade lift, the menu still holds onto its routes of a wide offering of east asian cuisine, including clear staples like beef rendang, Khmer chicken curry, sea bass and other dishes. I ordered my usual the Singapore carrot cake as a starter, along with one of their curry dishes for the main, and whilst the Singapore carrot cake is exactly as I recalled (and hit the craving id been living with since booking in the table) the curry seemed to be made with an alternative recipe to the one I was used to, with the sauce having an unusual thickness to it compared to before, and the chicken and veg had lost their previous 'melt in the mouth ' texture, feeling more sandy for the root veg, and chewy in the mushrooms. Alongside this, the service itself to our table was poorer than we 've come to expect, with no follow up on the quality of the food with the table, or check ups on if we 'd like to order more drinks. If I was new to the venue this wouldn 't have been much of an issue, but the notable change in service style has made apparent the impact of the change of ownership. That, alongside the reduced number of tables in the venue itself from the redesign gives a different, more empty feel, with a far less enjoyable and busy atmosphere like we 've experienced before. It feels as if the blue piano has lost some of its core demographics and hasn 't quite worked out what is going to be it 's unique offering beyond tastey food. We 're it to be based in the very centre of Birmingham, I would expect despite these changes the restaurant would still do well, but given its slightly more up market and far out location, I 'm not surprised that without a core sell, such as a boujee evening out with exemplary service like it had before, it 's seemed to lost its heart. Saying this, If you 've never been, the food still is worth the trip alone. Whilst there has been a sharp rise in the numbers of Vietnamese and Indonesian restaurants through Birmingham city centre, the variety of offerings, and ability to cater to dietary requirements still is a good offering. I 'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are able to steer it into a much more rounded experience for my next return. Also worth noting, this review is solely around the restaurant, and not the hotel.

Excellent meal as ever. Very attentive staff and a true hidden gem.

Wow, what a place! We initially booked as we were attending a wedding that was nearby and subsequently the couple moved the wedding to The Blue Piano 3 weeks before the big day! The building itself is beautiful, I love the flooring downstairs. Our room was nice and clean and had all the basics needed. The staff were really lovely and friendly from phone calls before we stayed right until the end. Drinks prices seemed pretty standard to what you'd expect these days. I didn't try any of the cocktails so I can't comment on them but the Singapore Sling sounded good. The food for the wedding breakfast was okay. I think there was possibly an issue with getting the food out as our table was one of the last to be served and I think that unfortunately affected some of the dishes. Still tasty but a little cold and the rice was very stodgy (was listed as Jasmine rice but it tasted like standard boiled rice). The chips were good though. I have worked weddings though so I know how it can be. The buffet food on the other hand was a different ball game. The pork spring rolls were phenomenal!! Best spring roll I've ever had. The other food was also really good but it took a lot of restraint to not load a plate of spring rolls and leave some for the other guests! Only downsides to the room was the mattress wasn't comfy, it was very soft and also only one packet of biscuits in the room. The pros definitely outweigh the cons and I'd stay again.

We were the only diners in the restaurant when we arrived but one more couple arrived an hour later. The overall ambience wasn't great and the lack of customers on a Saturday evening was a red flag Unfortunately this was a disappointing experience. Our starters arrived quickly and were actually really good however my main course was very poor. I ordered Nasi Goreng with chicken. The overwhelming flavour from the first bite was of turkey, due to the gamey flavour. It was most definitely not chicken. The meat was pale with no seasoning whatsoever and seemed to have been added to the dish rather than cooked with the rice. I would hazard a guess the meat had been reheated in the microwave. The rice was sticky and claggy with no flavour other than tomato paste. I wasn't planning on leaving a review but unfortunately it was the service that made the experience so bad. We asked for the bill and when it was brought to us, I told the waitress that my dish was especially bad and that I'd like her to feed back to the chef. However we had intended to pay and had not even asked for the dish to be removed from the bill. The waitress went off to bring the card machine back but instead the more senior waitress/ manager ? came over and abruptly asked what was wrong. I again explained that the nasi goreng was inedible, bland, lacking flavour and just really poor. Her response was abrupt, bordering on aggressive as she quickly responded that the chef has cooked that dish for 12 years and has never had a complaint. Abruptly she told me she would remove the dish from the bill, to which I said we hadn't requested a reduction. The sheer appearance of anger on her face and in her body language was astounding. I'm sure on the busier Friday nights with live music there will be a better ambience, but for a Saturday evening our experience wasn't great. We should have just gone into town where there are some fantastic south east Asian restaurants.