Edgbaston Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: Yummy brunches, fine coffee and stone-baked pizza are the top attractions at this funkily decorated pub, on the high street (which has a good garden for the summer months).

“Birmingham‘s most long-standing fine-dining restaurant is still going strong after 31 years, under the continuing leadership of Andreas Antona & Luke Tipping” and some locals see its strong performance in recent times as something of a “comeback”. “The setting in the old Georgian house in Edgbaston is of course a pleasure to visit and the view into the small but attractive garden adds to the ambience when the light nights of summer are with us”. “Chef Luke delivers a thoughtful menu using high quality ingredients and perfectly judged cooking” and results are “stylish” and “delicious”. “Careful” service all the while leaves diners feeling “very well looked after”.

This “busy” high performer on the Brummie dining scene “goes from strength to strength” under head chef Tom Wells, maintaining its rating after the departure of founder Jamie Desogus. Guests can sit at tables or at a counter overlooking the open kitchen, and the tasting menu “offers excellent cooking using seasonal, high-quality ingredients” – “a mixture of old favourite signature dishes and dishes new to repeat diners”. A ‘5 for £55’ set meal on weeknights and a ‘Chosen’ reduced tasting menu are also available.

2021 Review: The “lovely Thai food” at these reliable cafés is “impressively authentic given that they are a chain” – “excellent value” and “fast”, if occasionally let down by “iffy service”. Founded in 2008 by Saiphin and Alex Moore, who inherited the name of their first East End site, the group has 18 branches in London and expanded to Liverpool, Manchester, Reading (delivery only) and Leeds following the sale of a majority stake to US investors. The couple also have two spin-offs, Lao Café in Covent Garden and the new Chinese noodle bar Hoh Sek in St Katharine Docks.

“A big central Birmingham venue full of atmosphere and always busy” – London’s all-conquering chain opened in 2022 in a large (300+ covers) site near Birmingham Town Hall, and its “inclusive and exciting approach” (modelled on the Parsi cafés of 1940s Mumbai) with “perfectly spiced” dishes (“served in stay-warm ironware that looks good”) and “engaged, friendly, well-motivated staff” make it “possibly the best option in Brum city centre if you don’t want to spend a fortune”. All this said, it occasionally disappoints, and doesn’t score quite the tearaway ratings of its London cousins.

“The best Peruvian restaurant in Birmingham!” – chef Robert Ortiz produces “seriously interesting food”, according to fans of this converted bank building in Moseley, where the “delicious tasting menu is very affordable”. Formerly of the Lima group in London, he has opened an offshoot in Hackney’s Broadway Market.

2022 Review: One of a quartet of Syrian cafés, serving up “authentic” Middle Eastern titbits and more – including ‘fuul’ fava beans, pastries and flatbreads – from breakfast until late. This is the first branch, opened in Moseley.

“Phwoar!” – “Aktar Islam’s remarkable restaurant situated on the edge of Birmingham‘s Jewellery Quarter goes from strength to strength”: it remains Brum’s most commented-on destination in our annual diners’ poll (and, in early 2024, became Brum’s first-ever Michelin two star restaurant in the tyre men’s awards). “Aktar’s cooking has matured wonderfully” and here (and with his Aktar at Home delivery service) is succeeding in “taking Indian cuisine to a new and exalted level”. “Despite us being bored with taster menus, these are exceptional”, with “totally outstanding flavours and presentation”. There are two options (with five- and ten-course alternatives) which “provide good value and a great and memorable experience”. “After canapés in the chic lounge/bar, the main meal is served in the dining area with a view of a large open kitchen where the chefs can be seen purposefully and calmly going about their work. Service is very good and the atmosphere is relaxing”. “Quite simply the best”. Top Menu Tip – “The signature potato dish is amazing! Never had anything quite like it!”

2023 Review: Rectangular pizza cooked in 90 seconds is the draw at this top local pizza pit-stop, which is consistently well-rated: choose a base sauce and cheese and then zhoosh it up with various toppings.

“Adam’s is probably the smartest and most formal restaurant in Birmingham”, and with the demise of Purnell’s (RIP) some would say it is “now by some way Birmingham’s number one spot”, especially if you are neither seeking a hip, multi-course experience nor non-European cuisine. Established in 2016 by Adam & Natasha Stokes, it’s a conventional space near Victoria Square – “front of house staff are smartly decked out and behave like professionals: polite and helpful with well-measured friendliness”. “Sound, thoughtful cooking is well-judged”, “prepared from high-quality ingredients” and “presented very attractively”. Most nights there is an à la carte (£89 per person) or five-course (£109 per person) option: on Saturdays it’s just the seven-course tasting menu for £137 per person. “The room is pleasant enough, though a large party can make it noisy”.

A rooftop fire in July 2023 briefly shuttered this hugely popular hangout of stars, and offering northwest Indian food that’s packed with taste; it’s now back in business and while “not cheap”, you can expect “a stand-out meal every time with a proper cocktail bar and Bollywood ambience” befitting its owner – nonagenarian singer Asha Bhosle, who was namechecked in Cornershop’s hit ‘Brimful of Asha’.

2022 Review: Sicilian-born Carlo Distefano founded his now international chain thirty years ago with this Brum institution, creating a template of classic upscale Italian food served with immaculate professionalism in a smart and “romantic atmosphere”. He now has 22 restaurants in England and branches in the Middle East and Bangkok.

2021 Review: “Latino steak restaurant in the heart of Birmingham city centre” – this well-appointed new branch of the expanding Brazilian chain offers its trademark “generous meat and buffet” formula. It’s tipped by one or two reporters as “good for business meals”.

The “junior sister to Adam’s” on Bennetts Hill “is one of the rare places in Birmingham where the diner can enjoy fine fish dishes, though some of them are rather expensive” (albeit not quite as expensive as its acclaimed sibling). “Not surprisingly, the diner may start with a choice of oysters” but there’s a wide range of other “excellent” fishy dishes too (including caviar for the plush) and, while it “couldn’t be further from the sea, it makes up for it with the quality of the food” – also now available to sample in their newly refurbished ‘Aphrodite’s Bar’.