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 173 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. 1847
Vegetarian restaurant in Birmingham
26 Great Western Arcade - B2
Opposite Snow Hill station, in the Great Western arcade, this bistro fixture (with a sibling in Manchester) is well worth knowing about if you’re meat-free. “Mainly vegan food is attractively presented and very tasty even for non veggies”.
3. Maribel
British, Modern restaurant in Birmingham
6 Brindley Place - B1
Offering fine dining without the pretence, Maribel is based in Brindleyplace, Birmingham and prides itself on letting the food do the talking.Head chef, Harvey Perttola (Opus, Hampton Manor and Swinfen Hall), is ...
4. Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Birmingham
Steaks & grills restaurant in Birmingham
200 Wharfside St, The Cube - B1
The Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill is located on the 25th floor of Birmingham's iconic building the Cube. It offers panoramic views of the city with floor to ceiling windows you will be sure to get a superb view. It's newly refurbished restaurant and bar is simply spec...
5. Sabai Sabai
Thai restaurant in Birmingham
268 High Street - B17
Husband and wife team, Torquil and Juree Chidwick, first opened Sabai Sabai as a small, cosy, family-run Thai restaurant in Moseley 10 years ago. Proving a real hit with the locals they opened the Harborne restaurant, oozing a subtle eastern sophistication with carved wooden b...
7. 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!”
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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!”
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