We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The guest, using the username 2956jd, claimed she had informed bosses at Opheem in central Birmingham that she had a dietary restriction and couldn’t have beef. However, she claimed the Indian restaurant couldn’t “cater for main course ‘no beef'” and would “substitute it with chickpeas”.

Aktar Islam, general manager at the high-end restaurant, told the diner “we will always try our best, but we cannot pull rabbits out of a hat…. or in this case lamb or chicken.”

The star chef, who has appeared on MasterChef and Saturday Kitchen, told BirminghamLive: “My restaurant is not an episode of Ready Steady Cook. My team can’t just knock something up. In most fine dining restaurants, we can’t just rustle up whatever someone wants.

“On this occasion, the reviewer did tell us she could not eat beef on the booking – and we did our best to accommodate with an alternative that we already serve. It is incorrect to say we said we’d give her chickpeas instead as we don’t serve chickpeas.

“My manager offered a dish from our vegetarian menu – a Chettinad dish with aubergine. The lady was sadly insistent that we should have ‘better’ alternatives/menu options like chicken or lamb.

“My team had the equivalent of a couple of hours of phone time on the days previously speaking to this diner – they all had tried to explain our menu and why we don’t offer a huge variety.”

Nevertheless, the diner left a three-star review on the popular website, writing: “We could not believe it, normally a restaurant of this stature will offer other options, but they refused and also pointed out if we cancel we will be charged the full monies.

“Never ever had such experience really.”

The woman had visited with family members in November last year.

Mr Islam, from Aston, Birmingham, continued: “We cannot offer a bespoke menu to cater for a diner’s needs. No restaurant can do that. We focus on what we can actually offer at that time.

“Fine dining restaurants have carefully curated and created set tasting menus. We do try to cater to dietary needs as much as possible by offering the best alternative we can.

“On the night I even ran to my other restaurant Pulperia in Brindley Place (a city centree area nearby), to get some monkfish and put together an alternative dish – but the diner still wasn’t satisfied.

“The diner also said we are very expensive and as we said in our response this again is incorrect if compared to other Michelin starred restaurants in the city,

“And there are restaurants in Birmingham that do not have a Michelin star but charge a lot more than Opheem for their tasting menus.

“Also, what I said in the response is something she forgot to mention in her criticism – that she took to verbally abusing me questioning my credentials for cooking Indian food. She had a problem with me not being Indian.

“I found this to be unbelievably rude. She was close to getting thrown out but thought I wouldn’t embarrass her in front of her family.”

Opheem won a Michelin star in 2019, just one year after opening. 

It was praised for its “progressive Indian cooking” and how the food blends “traditional techniques with a modern outlook”.

The restaurant offers tasting menus of five or ten courses, with the latter costing £115 per person. The smaller option is £95 each.

Source: Read Full Article