Regina’s Bar & Restaurant

Amazing place with a very cozy atmosphere and friendly staff. The service was fast, the food/drinks were delicious, and everything was clean and well organized. You can really feel that they care about their customers. We are especially grateful to Alex for the pleasant service and outstanding hospitality. Thank you for making our visit so enjoyable — highly recommend this place!

Regina’s was excellent today. We booked through First Table, so paid the usual First Table fee and were then asked separately for card details to secure the booking, which did make me slightly sceptical at first, but it was all absolutely fine. We arrived at 12.00 as a family of four before a matinee at the Hippodrome, and the timing worked perfectly. The restaurant was quiet when it first opened, which made for a very relaxed start, and the place itself looked fantastic. We were given a huge booth, offered coat check, and made to feel welcome straight away. A quick note for families: this is not really a children’s restaurant in the usual sense. There is no children’s menu, so the menu is the menu. That was not a problem for us, because our children are 10 and 13, eat adult food, and are perfectly capable of behaving properly in that sort of setting. They were made very welcome. But if you are coming as a family, expect to pay for four proper meals rather than a cheaper kids’ option. The service was extremely attentive throughout. Our waiter was excellent, although I completely missed his name because he said it at speed while I was distracted. The restaurant also seemed very well staffed, with a busy kitchen and a clear sense that things were being properly looked after. The menu was strong across the board. It would suit pescatarians, meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans without difficulty. I had the bruschetta to start, then the ravioli, followed by cheesecake, and all of it was excellent. The children had steaks, ordered well done, and they really were well done, in the English sense rather than the French sense where it still arrives half red. That is worth knowing if that is how you like your steak. The chips deserve a paragraph of their own. They were, quite genuinely, some of the best chips I have had in Birmingham in the 20-plus years I have lived here. They were almost in the Heston-style triple-cooked category, which lots of places attempt and very few actually pull off. These did. What really surprised me, though, was dessert. Regina’s social media and general presentation do not seem to make much of the desserts, which is odd, because they were outstanding. My wife had the baklava, which was excellent and not something you often see done properly. The tiramisu was theatrical in the best possible way, presented with a sort of wrapping that was removed at the table so the topping spilled out onto the plate. It looked brilliant and tasted even better. In truth, while some of the savoury dishes sit within a genre you can find elsewhere in Birmingham, albeit done better here, the desserts felt distinctive enough to be worth the trip on their own. Even the toilets were immaculate. The ladies’ toilets, I am told, were impeccable, and the men’s were so well done I actually took a picture. Everything about the place felt polished, stylish and properly thought through. By the time we left around 2.00, the restaurant had filled up and had a clear Saturday lunchtime scene to it. There were lots of groups of women brunching and catching up, and it had that slightly dressed-up Mailbox sort of atmosphere. Smart casual felt about right. You would feel underdressed turning up in a football shirt and shorts. First Table made it especially good value, and it did not feel as though we were treated any differently for booking that way. A few items are excluded, as is standard, so you cannot assume absolutely everything on the menu will be included. The soft drink prices were reasonable. I cannot comment on the alcohol as we were there at midday. Overall, Regina’s felt like a genuinely special-occasion restaurant: not somewhere you would want to pay for every weekend, but somewhere that delivers when you want something a bit more polished. Stylish, welcoming, excellent food, exceptional desserts, and easily somewhere I would return to.

My friend and I went for her birthday meal/Galentine’s, and we were so excited given all the positive reviews. However, unfortunately, our experience wasn’t so positive. When my friend was booking a reservation, we noticed they had a policy requiring customers to have at least two courses, including a main. However, we are the type of people who always prefer starters and desserts. I do totally understand why this policy exists and would have been fine with it, but my friend added in the booking notes that we would want starters and desserts as our two courses, and she even called the restaurant, who confirmed it was fine for us to do so. She had also ticked that it was her birthday, yet she wasn’t given a birthday plate, which isn’t mandatory of course, but I do know Regina’s does them. So when we got there, we were told we must have mains. I originally wanted the Wild Mushroom & Goat Cheese Ravioli but was told they didn’t have any. (Our booking was at 1:30pm on Valentine’s Day, so this is of course strange.) I then chose to have the Pan Fried Salmon, which I must say was DELICIOUS. The salmon was cooked perfectly and tasted so good with the cream sauce and potato. Then we got desserts. Once again, there was an issue. I originally wanted The Globe, but I was told they didn’t have any. At this point, I am questioning whether the food here is even made fresh? I went for the Basque Cheesecake, which wasn’t creamy, and the texture was strange. Also, on the menu it said it is supposed to come with orange and olive oil marmalade, orange dust, and orange sorbet. As evident in the picture, that’s not the case. The sorbet was raspberry, I think and there was no marmalade, and it wasn’t presented the best either. For my drink, I ordered a Mango and Chilli’s Tommy, and I did not even taste the slightest bit of alcohol in it. I don’t even think the mango juice was fresh, as it tasted artificial and overly sugary. I’m glad the salmon tasted great, however overall the experience was disappointing.

A very enjoyable experience from start to finish. The service was attentive, calm, and professional — the staff were helpful without being intrusive, which I really appreciated. Everything felt well organized and unhurried. I was guided to the table smoothly, given time to settle in, and the overall service flow was excellent. Food quality was outstanding, and even small details like offering water were handled politely and naturally. The atmosphere was comfortable and elegant, making the whole visit relaxed and enjoyable.