Birmingham Food: What to Eat and Where to Try It
A candid guide to Birmingham food, from balti and Staffordshire lamb to Michelin-starred tasting menus, with named places and the area each one sits in.
On this page
Birmingham food splits cleanly into two decisions: how much you want to spend and how long you want to sit. A short set lunch at Folium in the Jewellery Quarter is one answer; a plate of something filling near New Street is another, and neither is the wrong one. This guide works through the dishes worth ordering, the rooms that serve them and the areas they sit in, so you can pick by occasion rather than by ranking.
The city's reputation rests on two things that rarely share a table: the balti tradition and a fine-dining tier with real Michelin weight. Between them sits a middle ground of neighbourhood kitchens, big-plate smokehouses and group-friendly rooms with a menu everyone can agree on. Where a venue's timing or prices change often, check its own site or phone ahead rather than trusting a printed number.
What Birmingham food means now
Birmingham's old tag, the city of a thousand trades, has a food equivalent: a lot of small, specialised kitchens rather than one signature cuisine. That is good news for a day-tripper, because it means you can eat well at almost any price point, but it does mean choosing an area first and a restaurant second. The city centre, the Jewellery Quarter, Harborne and Moseley each reward a different kind of day.
The practical split is between the cheap-and-cheerful end and the special-occasion end. If you want food you can eat in under an hour before a train, aim for somewhere central; if you want a tasting menu, block out two to three hours and reserve. Our guide to cheap restaurants Birmingham is the place to start for the first, and this page covers the second.
Balti and the curry houses
Balti is the dish most closely tied to Birmingham, cooked fast in a thin steel bowl and served with bread rather than rice for many diners. Order it as a shared centrepiece with naan and a starter between two, and you get a cheap, filling meal that leaves room for a pint afterwards. The style suits a group more than a solo eater, because the bowls are built for mixing and swapping.
For a dedicated list of where to eat it, work through our Balti in Birmingham guide, which keeps the focus on the dish rather than the street. If you are weighing a curry against the city's Indian fine dining, the Indian restaurants Birmingham round-up sets the two side by side. Either way, balti houses fill up early on Saturdays, so arriving before the rush is the simplest way to avoid a wait.
The fine-dining tier: Opheem and what it costs you
Opheem is the headline act, a city-centre restaurant serving Indian cooking at the top end and holding two Michelin stars. A meal here is a commitment: expect a multi-course format and a bill to match, so it belongs on a celebration rather than a quick lunch. Treat the reservation as the anchor of your day rather than something to fit around shopping.
The trade-off is time as much as money. A tasting menu at this level runs long, which rules out a pre-theatre dash or a same-day train home if you want to enjoy it properly. Our fine-dining guide covers the wider tier, and the Best Restaurants in Birmingham hub is the place to compare Opheem with the rest of the list.
Adam's and Simpsons: the tasting-menu tradition
Adam's Restaurant is one of the city's modern British fine-dining names and appears on the same shortlists as Opheem. That puts it in the special-occasion bracket rather than the quick-lunch one, so fix your date first and ask about the sitting length when you contact them.
Simpsons Restaurant is now closed, so ignore any older list that still sends you there and do not build a day around it. If you had your heart set on that style of cooking, put the booking into Adam's or the fine-dining tier instead. It is worth checking a restaurant's own site before you travel, because closures and changes of format are the one thing printed guides get wrong most often.
Orelle: a dining room with a view
Orelle is a city-centre restaurant that appears on Birmingham best-restaurant shortlists alongside the fine-dining names. That makes it a good fit for a date or a celebration, and a less good fit if you want a quiet, low-key dinner.
Compare it with a neighbourhood bistro before you commit. Fine dining usually comes with a higher price and a more formal pace, so if your priority is a long, relaxed lunch, a neighbourhood room will serve you better. The best restaurants in Birmingham list is the simplest way to hold both options in view at once.
Folium in the Jewellery Quarter
Folium sits on Caroline Street in the Jewellery Quarter, a small independent run by chef Ben Tash and his partner Lucy Hanlon and open since 2017. It serves a short tasting menu, and a reported six-course lunch at £45 per person makes it one of the best-value ways into this style of cooking in the city. The room is quiet, which suits a long Saturday lunch far better than a loud group night out.
The cooking leans on Midlands produce, with dishes such as chicken liver parfait, Staffordshire lamb with chicory and a Yorkshire curd tart to finish. The restaurant has been described as open from Thursday to Saturday, so check those days with Folium before you build a trip around it. Booking is worth arranging ahead for a Saturday lunch even though the room may look empty, and confirm the current menu directly before travelling.
Staffordshire lamb and Midlands produce
Staffordshire lamb is the regional ingredient to look for on menus, and it turns up as a main course in the tasting format rather than as a cheap cut. Its presence on a menu is a decent signal that a kitchen is buying close to home, so scan for it before you settle on a dish. Order it if you want the most distinctly local plate of the meal.
Other Midlands produce shows up in less obvious places: in the butter, the bread and the puddings rather than the headline course. If local sourcing matters to you, ask the kitchen where a particular ingredient comes from, because menus rarely spell it out. To compare the named places one by one, browse Birmingham pubs and food landmarks.
Joey's Smokehouse and the big-plate end
Joey's Smokehouse is the answer when the table wants meat, chips and no ceremony. Portions are described as generous and the pace is quick, which makes it a sensible choice for a group with mixed appetites or for a meal after a long walk around the city. Do not go expecting a quiet room; go expecting to leave full.
This end of the market is where Birmingham is easiest to enjoy without planning: walk in, order, and keep the bill modest. It is also the end where queues build at peak weekend times, so eat slightly early or slightly late to skip them.
MyLahore and Grand Central Kitchen: eating near New Street
MyLahore and Grand Central Kitchen both appear on Birmingham lists as central, group-friendly options, which makes them sensible picks if you are arriving into the city and leaving again the same day. MyLahore is known for South Asian cooking, while Grand Central Kitchen is the straightforward all-day option. Neither is the kind of room that needs a tasting-menu booking for a solo eater or a pair.
The trade-off is atmosphere: these are rooms built for volume and speed rather than a lingering evening. Use them as bookends to a day rather than the main event. For the full spread of central options, the Cheap Restaurants in Birmingham guide is a good place to look next.
Harborne Kitchen and the neighbourhood angle
Harborne Kitchen makes the case for eating outside the city centre, where a neighbourhood restaurant changes the shape of your day. You get a calmer room, a menu built for a proper sit-down and a reason to explore an area you would otherwise skip. It suits a weekend lunch better than a rushed weekday dinner.
Neighbourhood rooms like these on either side of the city change the shape of a weekend: calmer rooms, menus built for a proper sit-down and a reason to explore an area you would otherwise skip. If you are choosing between them, pick by which side of Birmingham you are staying on rather than by reputation, because the journey is the deciding factor. Book ahead for weekend evenings in either area; both fill with locals rather than visitors.
The Wilderness: a small room for a date
The Wilderness is a small, modern room that suits a date or a celebration rather than a big group. A set format keeps the evening structured and means you are not choosing course by course. Because the room is small, seats go quickly; book as soon as you have a date rather than hoping for a walk-in.
Ask about the sitting length when you book, since a compact room often runs two services an evening. That matters if you are catching a train or meeting someone afterwards. It is the kind of place where the booking policy is worth reading properly before you commit.
Dishoom Birmingham and the safe pair of hands
Dishoom Birmingham is the group-friendly option, with a menu familiar enough that nobody at the table has to guess. It handles mixed tastes, dietary needs and a party of six better than most, and the format makes splitting the bill simple. That reliability is the point: you go for a smooth evening, not a surprise.
The trade-off is that it is a known quantity, so if you want something you could not get at home, look elsewhere in this guide. Book for evenings and weekends where you can, and expect a queue if you try to walk in at peak time. Our Best Restaurants in Birmingham hub lists the alternatives if the group is more adventurous.
How to choose by occasion
For a pre-train breakfast, stay near New Street and keep it to a single course; for a solo lunch, a balti house or a counter seat works better than a tasting menu. A group dinner needs a room that takes bookings and can seat six without drama, while a special date wants a small room and a set menu. Match the format to the occasion before you match the cuisine.
Budget is the second filter. Lunch menus are the value entry point to otherwise expensive kitchens, and several of the city's better rooms charge less at midday than in the evening. If you want to spend well rather than much, book the lunch sitting. For the cheaper end in more detail, see Cheap Restaurants in Birmingham.
Booking, timings and the weekend trade-off
Reserve for anything with a set menu, a small room or a weekend evening, and leave the walk-in places for weekday lunches and solo meals. Saturday is the pinch point: restaurants that look quiet at midday can be full by eight, and the reverse is often true of the rooms serving lunch. Decide which sitting you want before you pick a venue.
Two practical checks cover most surprises: confirm the day the kitchen is open and confirm the price of the menu online before you travel. Some rooms open only part of the week, and set-menu prices move with the season. If you are still shortlisting, the best restaurants in Birmingham page holds the wider list.
Lunch menu or tasting menu?
The honest answer depends on your diary. If you have three hours and a reason to celebrate, book one of the tasting-menu rooms and build the day around it; if you have ninety minutes, take a lunch sitting or a walk-in near the station. Birmingham is unusual in offering both at a high standard, so there is no need to compromise on quality either way.
Before you travel, confirm the day and the price with the restaurant itself, and skip Simpsons Restaurant, which is closed. Then pick the area that fits your train and let the rest of the day follow. For venues compared by style and occasion rather than in a single ranking, our Best Restaurants in Birmingham guide is the natural next stop.
Explore more Birmingham guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Birmingham known for balti?
Yes. Balti is the dish most closely associated with the city, cooked quickly and served in a thin steel bowl with bread. It is a cheap way into Birmingham's food scene and works best shared between two or more people.
Do you need to book restaurants in Birmingham?
Book for any restaurant running a set or tasting menu, for small rooms and for weekend evenings, because these formats seat a fixed number of people per sitting. Walk-in works for quick lunches, station-adjacent kitchens and big-plate smokehouse-style rooms.
What is the best area in Birmingham for food?
The city centre is easiest for a day trip, while the Jewellery Quarter and Harborne reward a slower visit with quieter neighbourhood rooms. Choose by the side of the city you are staying on, since the journey between areas eats into your day.
Sources
Notes on eating out in the UK
Optional updates when our city guides change.
You might also like
Continue reading
More guides you'll find useful
