Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Birmingham
Hardens guides have spent 15 years compiling reviews of the best Birmingham restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 166 restaurants in Birmingham and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Birmingham restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Birmingham Restaurants
1. Opus Restaurant
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
54 Cornwall Street - B3
Finally liberated from the scaffolding and hoardings that had obliterated its front since 2015, this smart Colmore District brasserie is on the up; it garnered very impressive marks this year, if little in the way of commentary (beyond it being “perfect for business”, and holding “very good special events”).
2. Maribel
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
6 Brindley Place - B1
Fine dining without the pretence, Maribel Restaurant is based in Brindleyplace, Birmingham and we let the food speak for itself. With award-winning Richard Turner at the helm, our kitchen develops new dishes each week creating a menu that is consta...
3. Adam's
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
16 Waterloo St - B2
“Certainly Birmingham’s No. 1 restaurant” – Adam & Natasha Stokes’s “shining star of the city’s dining scene” occupies a “contemporary looking, peaceful and calm” site that’s “classy and comfortable, and – if lacking a picturesque view – buoyed by the happy contentment of diners”. The “outstanding” food “continues to impress, with superb flavour combinations, high quality sourcing, and real innovation – without resorting to gimmicks – to focus on letting ingredients shine”. “An excellent wine list contains many top growths but also good wines at reasonable prices”. “Service too hits a utopian balance of being professional but approachable and engaging”. Its most dedicated fans are furthermore “amazed that it doesn’t have another Michelin star” as they say “it is definitely deserving of at least two: I say that in comparison to the likes of The Fat Duck, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Simpson’s, to name just a few!”. The chef’s table again comes recommended: “a magical experience of true theatre!”
4. Purnells
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
55 Cornwall St - B3
“Stunning…”, “fantastic…”, “exceptional every time…” – folks continue to be “blown away by the innovative cuisine” produced by TV-chef Glynn Purnell’s luxurious 45-cover HQ, “in the smart city-centre business quarter”. There are an array of menus on offer, with just tasting options available Friday lunch and Friday & Saturday evenings.
5. Harborne Kitchen
restaurant in Birmingham
“Fabulous, fun and inventive” meals appear from the “open-to-view kitchen” at Jamie Desogus’s two-year-old in a former butcher’s shop in a residential area. “It’s run by a young but knowledgeable team whose enthusiasm is infectious” – and their ambition is clear in the multi-course tasting menus on offer, including an ‘express’ lunch consisting of a mere five courses, plus bread and snacks.
6. Simpsons
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
20 Highfield Road - B15
A Midlands institution which has spent 25 years at the top of the gastronomic tree – this Edwardian villa is still the place to go for “a real treat” with “first class food” and “outstanding service” from “wonderful staff”. A number of long-time customers rather regret the change to a simpler format: “the relaxed formal restaurant has been replaced by an OK Brasserie” – “…come on Simpsons, put back the white tablecloths!”
7. Carters of Moseley
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
2c Wake Green Rd - B13
By all accounts “100% worth the trip to Birmingham”, Carters’ “pleasant informality” but “serious” 13-course tasting menus – “birch sap water”, anyone? – “always make for a great night out” (kudos goes to the “charming staff”). When it comes to Brad Carter’s cuisine: “so much work goes into each detail, and yet this is not style over substance: the core is original food, that works at every level. Taste, texture, visually, aroma. Course after course looks beautiful, but more importantly tastes unbelievably good!”
8. The Wilderness
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
27 Warstone Lane - B18
“A unique experience” – provocative chef Alex Claridge’s dimly lit and theatrical two-year-old (“in a new semi-industrial venue” in the Jewellery Quarter) cold be a star in the making. “The food is absolutely stunning, and the drinks pairing innovative – not just wines, but a selection of cocktails and other beverages to create the best food/drink matches”. “We had the extra course with ants... not totally convinced the ants were a great addition, but it did taste good”.
9. Lasan
Indian restaurant in Birmingham
3-4 Dakota Buildings, James Street - B3
“Not your typical curry house: this is fine dining Indian food!” – Jabbar Khan’s contemporary Indian in the Jewellery Quarter may have lost its charismatic frontman Aktar Islam (see Opheem), but, boosted by its 2017 revamp, continues to win impressive ratings across the board.
10. Asha’s Indian Bar and Restaurant
Indian restaurant in Birmingham
12-22 Newhall St - B3
“Still churning out excellent Indian food in Birmingham (the kebabs are particularly lovely)” – this well-liked Indian in the city-centre wins solidly good ratings all-round. It’s part of the empire of well-known Indian singer and actor Asha Bhosle, which boasts 17 locations in five countries (the next of which in late 2018 is to be in Solihull’s Touchwood centre).
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