Purnell's - Birmingham

This is hard to write because we had a fabulous evening and exceptional food apart from the ‘main’ course. Unfortunately this was not rare but raw and when challenged we were offered sharper knives since it wasn’t possible to cut through with the ones provided. It’s such a shame because we were having a great time and truthfully if they had just said sorry we probably would have omitted the course without issue. A little thing ! I would however hope that there is learning from this review and I would still have no issue recommending this restaurant as one of the best I have eaten in.

Warm greeting on arrival, coats take and shown to a sofa. Some time for drinks order to be taken and then arrival of very pleasant maitre d’ (we assume) who took our order and that was the last interaction we had with him. Three course lunch served very promptly but with not oodles of passion. Had to ask for more water, then had to ask if we had any wine left. The staff were pleasant but no one seemed to be conducting the flow and checking in. It was quite a perfunctory experience…bring the food, go back for the sauce, explain the dish, clear the dish….don’t get me wrong, the food was lovely, but just felt a bit disappointed by the dining experience.

Having eaten at purnells before, we decided to arrange a surprise engagement, working with the whole team made the evening so special, Adrien was just amazing and Glyn himself produced the stunning ring to the lucky lady in truly magical performance, of course she said yes. The tasting menu was off the scale and a massive thank you to everyone involved the whole team, you smashed it.

Me and my wife went for lunch we have done the four other Michelin star restaurants in Birmingham so this was our last and as they say always leave the best till last and we are so glad we did what an experience the moment we walked in we were welcomed by the front of house staff like we were friends the food was on another level we are lucky enough to have eaten in a lot of Michelin star restaurants and a few with more stars but I can honestly say purnell's is by far the best we have eaten in so congratulations to all including the kitchen staff for what I can say is an extraordinary culinary delight many thanks to you all see you soon

We went with very high expectations, and it met and exceeded them. The food was stunning, a great mix of excellent flavours combined with some theatre (especially with the mint choccy chip! . My favourite course was the 'Haddock and Eggs ', which was incredibly clever and tasty. The wine pairing was great, a good excuse to try wines from countries you don 't normally see (Uruguay and Japan in particular , the sommelier clearly knew his stuff. The service was also on point, a perfect balance of attentive without being intrusive. Every member of the team was friendly and knowledgeable. If you 're thinking of going, then get it booked, you won 't be disappointed!