Indian Restaurants in Birmingham: Where to Eat Curry

Decide what kind of Indian meal you actually want

Start with the shape of the meal rather than the length of the menu. A sit-down curry house dinner usually means a starter, a main with rice or bread, and a slower pace; a modern street-food kitchen means several small dishes arriving as they are ready, passed around the table. The third option is a quick city-centre feed, which generally rules out anywhere that encourages you to linger over three courses.

Group size changes the answer more than budget does. Sharing plates work best for two to four people who are happy to compromise; larger tables get more value from a curry house where everyone orders their own main. If you are eating alone or in a hurry, pick somewhere with a short menu and quick service rather than somewhere built around a long, sociable meal.

It also helps to know how Birmingham cooks in general, from balti houses to modern British kitchens, before you narrow the list. Our guide to what to eat in Birmingham sets out the dishes and the traditions worth knowing, which makes the choice between a curry house and a sharing kitchen much clearer. Read it first if you are new to the city.

Indico Street Kitchen, The Mailbox: modern Indian and Sri Lankan sharing plates

Indico Street Kitchen is at 113–115 Wharfside Street, Level 3 of the Mailbox, Birmingham B1 1RF, and it describes itself as an Indian street kitchen and bar trading since 2016. The menu runs from Old Delhi chaats and Punjabi-style curries to Hyderabadi biryani, with Sri Lankan dishes such as Jaffna lamb curry and dosa added to the same kitchen. It is the most modern of the city-centre options covered here and the one built most clearly around sharing.

The house instruction is to order two or three plates each and share the lot, with dishes cooked fresh and sent out as they are ready rather than in strict courses. That suits a table that wants to taste widely, but it is a poor fit if you want your own main brought in sequence. The kitchen also publishes separate food, drinks, dessert, kids and allergen menus, so anyone with dietary questions can read the detail before booking.

Indico in practice: signature dishes, prices, hours and booking

The signatures listed on the menu are butter chicken at £16.50, Jaffna lamb curry at £18.50, Lanka flame-grilled prawns at £16.50 and Hyderabadi lamb biryani at £22.00, which puts a sharing meal here at the upper end of the mid-range. Given the two-or-three-plates rule, budget for roughly two to three times the price of a single dish per person before drinks. Starters, breads and side dishes add to that.

It opens every day from 12pm to 10pm, with the kitchen closing at 9:30pm Sunday to Thursday and 9:45pm Friday and Saturday, so a late arrival risks a rushed order. There is a two-course kids' thali with a drink from the children's menu, which makes it a workable family option. Tables can be booked on the restaurant's site, and the Mailbox setting means you are in a busy leisure complex rather than a quiet suburban dining room.

If you drive, the restaurant advertises 25% off parking at Q-Park Mailbox on Royal Mail Street with a code from its site, which takes some of the sting out of city-centre parking. Check the current code and the parking terms before you travel, because offers of this kind change. For everyone else, the Mailbox is walkable from the city centre and served by buses and trains into central Birmingham.

Taj Mahal: a long-running curry house for a traditional dinner

Taj Mahal describes itself as the longest-serving Indian restaurant in Birmingham, trading since 1962, and its offer is the traditional one: classic curries and vegetarian dishes in a warm, conventional dining room with table booking and online ordering. Pick it when you want a familiar curry-house meal rather than a concept, and when a broad menu matters more than a short, sharp one. Its own claim to long service is the reason to choose it if you want the old-school Birmingham curry experience.

The menu is wide rather than specialist, spanning meat curries and vegetarian options, so mixed groups with different habits tend to find something without much negotiation. It is less obviously a sharing house than Indico, and less of a quick stop than a takeaway. The site takes bookings and orders online.

Omar Khayam: the old name out on the Bristol Road

Omar Khayam, at 711 Bristol Road South, Birmingham B31 2JT, describes itself on its own site as the oldest Indian restaurant group in Birmingham, with a phone number for bookings beginning 0121 477. It is the outlier here on geography: this is a suburban trip south-west of the centre rather than a walk from New Street. Choose it when you want to eat where you are staying in the south of the city, or when you specifically want a long-established name rather than a modern one.

Because it sits well outside the centre, it works best with a car or a planned bus or train journey, not as a fallback after a day of shopping. The site carries the address and contact details, so it is worth planning the journey in advance rather than turning up and hoping for the best.

How to choose by budget, group size and occasion

For a birthday or a group of friends who want to try plenty of dishes, Indico is the natural pick: the sharing rule and the mix of Indian and Sri Lankan plates give the table more to talk about. Expect to spend more per head than at a curry house because of the small-plates format, and consider booking ahead at weekends. The Mailbox location suits people already in the centre for the evening.

For a straightforward family dinner or a midweek curry, Taj Mahal's traditional menu is easier to plan around, especially with children or people who know exactly what they want. For a suburban evening in the south of the city, Omar Khayam fits the bill. If your main criterion is keeping the cost down, look at our guide to cheap restaurants in Birmingham for places where a full meal costs less than a sharing spread.

If curry is only one part of a bigger eating plan, mix it with the city's other strengths rather than eating Indian twice. Our pick of the best restaurants in Birmingham covers the rooms worth booking around the Custard Factory and the centre, so you can pair a curry night with something different the following evening.

Sunday lunch: is a curry the right call?

A Sunday curry is a legitimate Birmingham habit, and it can be a better bet than a roast if you are feeding a mixed group or eating later in the day. The catch is timing: kitchens wind down on Sunday evenings, and Indico's kitchen closes at 9:30pm from Sunday to Thursday. Book an earlier table and you avoid the end-of-service squeeze.

If you want a proper Sunday lunch with all the trimmings, curry will not scratch that itch, and you are better off looking elsewhere. The same goes for a large family gathering where everyone expects a set roast. Decide which meal you are actually having before you set out, because the two experiences are not interchangeable.

Getting to the Mailbox and the Bristol Road

The Mailbox sits on Wharfside Street in central Birmingham, within walking distance of the main rail stations and well served by city buses, which makes it the easiest of these three to reach without a car. Parking is available at Q-Park Mailbox with the restaurant's advertised discount. For the Bristol Road South address, plan a bus or a drive and allow extra time at peak hours.

Each named place we cover here has its own short guide, collected under Birmingham pubs and food landmarks.

Which Indian restaurant should you book?

Book Indico Street Kitchen if you want a modern, shareable meal in the centre and are happy to spend a bit more for the format. Book Taj Mahal if you want a traditional curry-house dinner and a menu that covers every taste at the table. Choose Omar Khayam only if you are in the south of the city or want a specific trip to a long-established name.

Whichever you pick, reserve ahead for weekend evenings, check the kitchen's last orders before you set out, and confirm current prices and hours on the restaurant's own site before you travel. That is the only reliable way to plan around a late finish or a large group.