Lakeside, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

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.

“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”.

Wild food chef and hunter-gatherer Mike Robinson is behind this “regular favourite” in a Grade II-listed building dating back to 1500 (and now host to the Indigo hotel chain). Reporters “love the excellent offering of game – particularly venison” (they manage their own deer herds and have a deer larder in the Cotswolds) and “everything is delicious” (“there’s an à la carte, thank god”) and given that they’re “cooking with flame” there’s also “plenty to watch”.

“Only the view can recommend it” – is the charge rather too frequently laid against what should be the ideal pre-theatre refuelling spot for visitors to the RSC. “It has stunning views over the river and park, so what’s not to like? Almost everything in fact!” according to its detractors – “we’ve been frequent visitors over the years and every time we go we hope it has improved, but sadly it never does” – “the food is average, the staff ill-informed about the menu”. Fans are a bit more optimistic: “a lovely setting for food that’s fine, if a little unexciting”.

“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”.

What does it say about the culinary tastes of the British middle classes that this spin-off chain, with about 40 locations based on the original Theatreland icon, has been such a rip-roaring success? True, there’s some “great people-watching” at the “always buzzing” Chelsea Garden venue (which has one of SW3’s best gardens). And, without doubt, those branches in Kensington, Tower Bridge and Kingston also particularly stand out amongst the rest for their “super atmosphere”. In general though, the knock-off look of their locations “isn’t a patch on the original on West Street, yet pretends to be exactly the same”. And when it comes to their brasserie dishes: although its many followers tout them as “acceptable, albeit nothing special”, their rating-average identifies them as “underwhelming tick-box fare”; all offered by service that’s very “indifferent”. And yet they are “always busy”! In June 2024, it was announced that billionaire Richard Caring had successfully sold his entire Ivy restaurants stake. Now that he is laughing all the way to the bank, it will be interesting to see if ratings reverse, continue or deepen their southward trend.

“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!”

“One of the nicest restaurants in Birmingham, without a doubt” – this small greige and wood-toned venue just off St Paul’s Square was launched by Ben Tesh and partner Lucy Hanlon in 2017. “It’s a quiet, relaxing, informal place with charming service in which to eat very fine food prepared meticulously by chef Ben, who has his very own quiet style of cooking. The menu takes the form of a tasting menu and each dish seems to complement the previous one: excellent food that’s often subtle, frequently original, occasionally challenging, but quite special when set against the background of the Birmingham dining out scene”.

“Different but brilliant!” – “The Wilderness remains the most exciting restaurant in Birmingham” according to a fan of Alex Claridge’s “extraordinary former factory in the Jewellery Quarter” (although this was said before Alex opened his ‘Albatross Death Cult’ – see also). “The atmosphere may not be to everyone’s taste, to put it mildly, with its ‘lively’ background music, black decor and amazing energy coming out of its open kitchen. But this is a real dining experience of successful, sometimes quirky dishes, served in an exciting venue by the remarkable head chef Marius Gedminas and chef-patron Alex Claridge, who continue to create dishes that are original, excitingly presented, accurately cooked and delicious”. Top Tip – “the drinks pairing is a welcome change to the usual, with lots of different things to try”.

Stop Press – in October 2024, Glynn Purnell announced that he was shuttering his eponymous Birmingham restaurant, which had held a star since 2009, but was apparently no longer financially viable. Fortunately, this two-year-old outpost from the Brummie chef is still in business, turning out hearty, high-quality pub food like pies and steaks in a period building on the high street. Reports this year were a little muted – mostly to do with the “very noisy” dining room (the garden and pub areas are usually preferred) and the slow service, both a “pity as the basic food is very reasonably priced and interesting”. Perhaps in time the chef will re-focus here?

“Sitting around the pass watching the chefs work calmly and efficiently really adds to the exceptional experience” at this “stunning space, tucked away deep in the Warwickshire countryside”, which has fully justified the pivot the property made a couple of years ago from a more conventional country-house experience to this very contemporary venture built into the walled garden of the manor house. “The design of the open kitchen and restaurant is impressive, with most tables afforded a view of the chefs at work”. “The 15-course menu is equal to the setting, with faultless cooking matched by a really heartfelt dedication to produce and its provenance and care”. “To cap it all, you are very well looked after by a team who are obviously passionate about their ideas”. “The overall quality of the 15 courses is excellent and for most courses the provenance of the main elements is identified”. “Visit in summer, and it’s a pleasant end to the evening to be able to sit around the fire pit in the courtyard”. You can also book an Overnight Experience that leaves those who stay “greatly impressed with the set-up” and with accommodation that’s “stylish, comfortable and quirky”.

Open in June 2024 in the Jewellery Quarter – just after our annual diners’ poll had closed, so lacking feedback for a rating – chef Alex Claridge, of nearby The Wilderness (see also), replaced Atelier, his cocktail bar that closed down last year, which had become ‘an albatross around my neck’…, hence the name. Here the idea is a ‘mostly seafood’ chef’s table restaurant whose 14 diners at a time are cooked for by Piotr Szpak, a sous of five years’ standing at Wildnerness; all with the aim of delivering an ‘alternative luxury’ experience with 12+ courses of fish and seafood that’s ‘both brutalist and ornamental’. In her October 2024 review, The Guardian’s Grace Dent anointed it as “one of the top five seafood places in the UK today”: a “strange, industrial space”, with a “relentless, post-punk dark wave backing track” but also a “forward-thinking, experimental, edible maritime journey that will keep you in its tentacles for at least three hours”.