Dinner at 1565 - Park Regis, Birmingham
After a friendly welcome, as is most often the case, we dived straight into mains in order to leave room for dessert.
The cod, mackerel and steak were all well cooked and presented, although I'm uncertain as to why the sauce for the latter is a paid-for extra. I'm happy to pay for additional sides any day of the week but prefer the meal to be offered to be both of a reasonable portion and balanced already.
While the food and atmosphere were of an acceptable standard, this particular busy Saturday seemed to be training night as there was a smattering of little errors. Bread is rather delightfully freshly slice in front of you but I saw the server forget to give butter and/or oil every time. Predictably, we had to ask for it when he came to our table too.
The chips never came with the steak. They came soon after we stopped a server to tell them, but they were ordinary chips, rather than the steak chips seen going to other tables. The steak knife never appeared, despite asking two people. In the end a regular knife was fine, the steak was medium rather than medium-rare but that does vary.
Each time the staff were apologetic and friendly, especially the one who took our order who couldn't actually pronounce one of the items and had to go and check. Her nerves made her forget to ask for our drinks order so more tracking down of staff was needed to get the wine in.
The desserts lifted the meal and all three, while not particularly innovative (they don't always have to be), were presented well and tasted wonderful. My Vanilla Creme Brûlée was offered with a mix of textures and both the Plum Pudding and Hazelnut Mousse went down well. A good end to a tricky start.
I'm also delighted 1565 serve ethical BELU water as it's obtained as locally as possible and profits go to WaterAid.
It's a shame that this happened on a birthday celebration as there was a matter of spilt champagne for the last birthday meal I organised here. Then as now, the staff sure intend to give a good service. Hopefully, we'll have an opportunity to give the Park Regis another go.
Price £125.13 including service charge for three main meals and desserts, I bottle of sparkling water and a bottle of wine.
