Black & Green

That number tells you most of what you need to know about Black & Green.

If you are weighing up whether to book, the short answer is yes, with one condition. Black & Green runs a set tasting menu for all guests simultaneously, so if you want à la carte flexibility or the ability to eat at your own pace, this is not the format for you. But if a tasting menu occasion is what you are looking for in the West Midlands, this is the most credible option at the £££ price point outside Birmingham city centre.

The Experience

Black & Green is a compact, considered operation: tall tables with stools, a black and green interior that is spare without being cold, a format built around the idea that everyone eats together at the same time. That communal rhythm is not incidental, it shapes the whole evening. Service moves at a single pace, dishes land when the kitchen is ready, the room has a focus that larger, more loosely structured restaurants often lack. For a special occasion, that structure is an asset. There are no awkward pauses waiting for the table next to you to finish, no sense that the kitchen has forgotten your group. The meal has a beginning, a middle, an end.

The tasting menu is short and changes with the seasons, which is both a practical commitment and a signal about priorities: the kitchen is working with what is genuinely good right now, not running a permanent greatest-hits list. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms that the food meets a standard that is independently verified, not just locally well-regarded. Michelin Plates are awarded to restaurants producing good cooking, they sit below Michelin Stars but represent a meaningful threshold of quality and consistency. Two consecutive years of that recognition at a neighbourhood scale is not an accident.

Wine pairings are the norm here, the database notes that most guests take them, which suggests the pairing programme is well-matched to the menu rather than an afterthought. If you are considering whether to add the cheese course, the guidance from the venue itself is that it rounds the meal out into something more satisfying. On a special occasion, that is usually the right call.

Groups and Private Dining

Black & Green's format, all guests served simultaneously, a short menu, a bijou room, makes it better suited to small groups and couples than to large parties. The simultaneous service model works well for tables of two to four where conversation and shared experience are the point. For larger groups looking for a private dining room with a separate menu or flexible timing, this venue is unlikely to deliver that. The room itself is small by design, so if your occasion requires a private buyout or a dedicated events space, contact the restaurant directly to understand what is possible. For intimate celebrations, anniversaries, milestone birthdays for small groups, serious date nights, the format is well-calibrated. You are not competing with a busy main room for attention.

Practical Details

Black & Green is at 49 Hewell Road, Barnt Green, Birmingham B45 8NL, a village setting south of Birmingham, accessible by rail from Birmingham New Street to Barnt Green station. At the £££ price point with wine pairings, budget accordingly for a full evening including the cheese course. Reserve ahead, particularly for weekend evenings and for any occasion with a fixed date. If you are planning around a specific event, an anniversary, a birthday, give yourself at least three to four weeks. For wider context on what else is worth your time in the area, see our full Barnt Green restaurants guide, our full Barnt Green hotels guide, and our full Barnt Green bars guide. If you are making a longer trip of it, our full Barnt Green experiences guide and our full Barnt Green wineries guide are worth a look.

How It Compares

Black & Green holds its own against neighbourhood tasting-menu restaurants at the £££ tier across the UK. For context, the venues most commonly cited in the same conversation, Moor Hall in Aughton, L'Enclume in Cartmel, and Hand and Flowers in Marlow, operate at higher price points with corresponding ambition and booking difficulty. If you want Michelin Star-level cooking and can travel, those are the targets. If you want verified quality at a more accessible price without the multi-month booking lead times those venues require, Black & Green is the more practical answer for the West Midlands. For Birmingham city-centre options, Opheem in Birmingham is worth considering alongside it, a different cuisine register, but similarly credentialled. Further afield, hide and fox in Saltwood and Midsummer House in Cambridge operate in a similar neighbourhood-fine-dining space if you are comparing formats nationally. For the Black Country and wider Midlands, Black & Green is currently the clearest answer at this price tier for a tasting-menu occasion without the logistical overhead of a major city or destination restaurant.

Pearl Picks, If You Are Comparing Further

If Black & Green has you thinking about what a step up looks like, Gidleigh Park in Chagford and Waterside Inn in Bray represent the classic country-house tasting-menu tier in England. For something more contemporary and internationally framed, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Auchterarder and Ynyshir Hall in Machynlleth are two of the most distinctive tasting-menu destinations in the UK outside London. For a London comparison point, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London sits at ££££ and represents what the formal French tasting-menu format looks like at full stretch. If your interest is in modern cuisine internationally, Frantzén in Stockholm and Maison Lameloise in Chagny offer useful reference points for how the format scales at the leading end.