Birmingham's best oriental restaurants

For those who know me, you all know that oriental food is the way to my heart. For the longest time now most of my food cravings 99% of the time is oriental. So I thought why not put together a little food guide compiling all my favourite oriental restaurants in Birmingham. 

1. Siamais, Brindley Place 

Siamais is a great dinner restaurant and therefore a great place to get dressed up for. Siamais has a beautiful flower installation with a swinging chair and is the perfect place to get those all important pictures making Siamais quite a picturesque restaurant. From a vegetarian's perspective there are not many options however the two that I have previously enjoyed are the stir fried tofu with snake bean and tofu with Choo Chee paste. Each dish has a very distinctive flavour with the right amount of spice. With each dish costing £9.95 you can't go wrong especially with the generous amount of tofu they give. 

2. Sabai Sabai 

Sabai Sabai has three restaurants in the West Midlands one being in central Birmingham the other being in Harborne and one lastly in Stratford Upon Avon . Personally over the two locations that I have attended I would recommend going to the Harborne one due to the restaurant itself being larger therefore it's able to accommodate larger group bookings. Again I would only go to Sabai Sabai for dinner only because the dishes are a little bit more pricey averaging around £12.45 per dish. Nonetheless, the vegetarian options are ENDLESS and is this is what I love about Sabai Sabai, as any dish can be turned vegetarian by simply adding the tofu option. 

3. Cafe Soya 

Cafe soya is my ALL time favourite oriental restaurant and 99% of the time is my go to place to get food. It's combination of being super super affordable and ridiculously tasty with an endless vegetarian/vegan menu is a win win for me. So for those who are constantly craving (like myself)  GOOD vegetarian Chinese food this is definitely the place for you. Situated in the Birmingham Arcadian it has a variety of mock dishes such as duck, lamb, fish and chicken thereby satisfying your tastebuds. An average dish would cost between £7-8 which is definitely a bargain especially when the portions are very generous. I can hand on heart say that cafe soya has never failed me so its safe to say this place needs to be added to your food lists!

4. Rofuto 

Rofuto, a restaurant within the Park Regis Birmingham sits on the last level of the hotel giving you panoramic views of the city is more on the expensive side of oriental dining. In this case I would recommend going for a special occasion giving you that all important opportunity to dress up and relishing in more expensive dishes. From a vegetarian perspective I would advise ordering a few dishes to share that way you get to taste majority of the menu. From what I can remember the food was tasty, the atmosphere was lively and the service was AMAZING. 

5. Chung Ying

For the longest time I had Chung Ying patiently on my food list waiting to get ticked off and it so happened that I arrived at the perfect time to claim my 20% off dim sum. The offer is anytime between 12-5pm Monday - Saturday. Ching Ying is famously known to have the largest dim sum menu and it certainly did not disappoint. I never got round to tasting any of the mains (which gives me an excuse to go again) but if your in the mood for dim sum this is the place and again really affordable on the pocket like most oriental restaurants in Birmingham.

6. Buddha Belly - Digbeth Dining Club 

Although Buddha Belly is not a restaurant they serve the BEST mock chicken covered in a peanut sauce with rice from their stand at Digbeth Dining Club. The mock chicken tasted so 'meaty' that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between actual or mock chicken. As of this year buddha belly is a permeant trader at Digbeth Dining Club meaning that you can feast on their dishes Thursday-Sunday every week. As a vegetarian I would highly recommend visiting Digbeth Dining club on a Thursday as that's a day they dedicate to all vegetarian and vegan food stalls. Not only was this Thai dish delicious but the atmosphere was UNBEATABLE with lively upbeat music playing in the background. 

7. Tattu

Now everyone must have heard about Tattu, it's literally talk of the town. A brand new fine dining underground oriental restaurant has opened its door to the city of Birmingham and we could not be more excited. There was so much buzz around this restaurant that I had to visit. As soon as your inside you no longer feel like your in Birmingham but instead feel like your in a restaurant that's worthy enough to be in London. Every corner was so picturesque that I couldn't stop snapping away.

The starters were beautiful and although the vegetarian menu wasn't that extensive the starters had left a long lasting impression on me. Following on with the mains I would 100% recommend getting the mock chicken dish which was much much better than the mushroom hotpot (don't bother wasting your time or money with that one). Overall my dining experience at Tattu was pleasant with the starters winning a place in my heart (or more like my stomach). In terms of expense, Tattu was reasonably priced and totalled to £34 per person which included a mocktail, various starters and mains.

8. Pho

Last but not least we have Pho offering up their finest Vietnamese food. Pho is literally another go to place where I indulge in my version of comfort food. My go to dish is the tofu Ca ri (I've had it so many times that I've never sampled the rest of the menu...thats how tasty it is). The ca ri is so rich in flavour that I never get sick of it. Located in Grand Central overlooking the train station the restaurant provides a busy yet lively atmosphere and is the perfect place to have some lunch and people watch (please tell me that I can't be the only one who does this). Price wise the tofu ca ri is priced at around £10 (not your cheapest lunch time dish but it's reasonable...in my eyes anyways).


And that's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed reading my Birmingham oriental restaurant guide and I still have so many that I want to get ticked off my food list so I will soon be back with a part 2 :)

Indico

As you may know I am OBSESSED with Indian street food that's why I have to dedicate a whole blogpost to Indico. If you truly appreciate delicious Indian street food and Bollywood/authentic Indian decor then this is the place for you to eat. For me Indico has been one of those places that have been on my food list for so long (food lists are revolutionary, you all need one) and was pretty excited to visit. Indico is located in Solihull hidden behind a few other restaurants situated next to the Asda. So if you see the Asda you are definitely in the right place.

As soon as I sat down I was blown away by the decor, art and the vibrant colours that reminded me of India. Before you knew it, my phone was whipped out capturing as much of the artistic beauty of the restaurant. I can hand on heart say that I have never visited such a dynamically decorated restaurant, all the more making my lunching experience more worthwhile.

Not only is the decor one of my favourite things about Indico but their lunch time menu which is between 12pm-5pm has happy hour on the cocktails/mocktails thereby two mocktails costing you £4.50 (bargain alert). The one on the left was soda shikanji which was almost like a mojito with a masala twist and the one of the right being the Jaipur passion one of the tastiest drinks I have ever had. 

Food glorious food. How amazing does this display of food look? I can conclude that the food was definitely as incredible as the decor. Some of my favourites from this spread were the chole bature which was £6.50 (such a generous portion as well), the masala fries (however I do wish there was more fries within the serving), the pani puri and the aloo tikki. 

Another Indian fact for you: I'm not a fan of kulfi. So you must all be thinking what am I doing with a kulfi in my hand if I don't like them? I decided that although I am not the biggest fan of them I couldn't leave the place without having a traditional Indian desert and surprisingly it wasn't so bad. 

Overall I would really recommend trying out Indico as it has student friendly prices, mind blowing interior design and great food. The service was just as great making my lunch experience totally worth it. I want to give a huge thank you to Indico for hosting me and I look forward to being back here soon.

Afternoon tea at the Ritz, London

It was for my 19th birthday that I had decided that I well and truly wanted to mark the occasion therefore I decided to have an afternoon tea at the Ritz hotel, London with my two best friends. I never gave it a second thought to have an afternoon tea anywhere else but the Ritz itself. To have afternoon tea at the Ritz came with the price tag of £54 per person (however this has now gone up to £57) which I was more than happy to pay as I heard so many grand reviews about the Ritz. And what a better way to spend your birthday right. The booking process was very sleek where you could book online or over the phone. I opted for the phone option as I had dietary requirements of being a vegetarian that does not consume eggs or gelatine. When I booked over the phone the procedure that I had encountered was that they take your card details as lets say a 'deposit.' So if you do not attend your scheduled slot and don't cancel you afternoon tea beforehand your card gets charged the total amount. However this is nothing to be alarmed by.

I was completely stunned with the elegant interior of the Ritz and did not really know what to expect but this blew any expectations that I did have out of the waters. And may I add how picturesque this corridor is! (As you can tell I really have a thing for 'picturesque' places.)

Now for the most anticipated part yet...the review. I was overwhelmed with the vast range of tea's that was available (in a good way.) After great deliberation I ended up with a simple yet light camomile tea as I didn't want to feel too full up. The service was AMAZING and that's something important to highlight as it made my experience even highly enjoyable. The waiter pours out your tea for you because let me tell you ladies those metal tea pots are not exactly the lightest things. And yes it gets better. Not only do they pour your tea out once for you but they continuously top it up. You literally do not have to lift a finger.

In terms of the sandwiches they were unlimited which was great because you really do get your moneys worth (yes I'm the biggest cheap skate but who isn't?!) However, I personally was not the biggest fan of the sandwiches and maybe that was partly because my options were very limited being someone who doesn't eat egg. Although it was a little disheartening enjoying one sandwich out of four, the sweet treats greatly made up for it and I was so pleased with the eggless selection. Bearing in mind I had no idea what the menu consisted of beforehand everything was an utter surprise to me.

For me, my afternoon tea experience was heightened when the waiter brought out a birthday cake and my birthday was very much authentically celebrated and I believe I was not the only one. Immediately straight after the whole room came together to sing happy birthday. It was really something special.

Overall I exceptionally enjoyed my first high end afternoon tea experience at the Ritz and didn't let the sandwiches put me off. This is another great recommendation to come to with your loved ones to celebrate an occasion or simply when you fancy a cup of tea and cake!

Indian street food in Birmingham

Now the first question you must all be thinking is do I not get enough Indian food at home? And the answer is, ironically I do but nothing beats going out for an Indian to feast on some okra fries and some gol gappeh (which are the very things that I am desperately deprived of at home.) I'll be sharing with you my three favourite restaurants, location and of course the most important part the price, especially when you are on a budget...or in other words a student.

Lets start off with Zindiya Streatery and Bar which is located the furthest pinpointed in Mosley. This was the first ever place where I was able to experience Indian street food and boy was I amazed. I was completely taken away with it's interior and was one of the predominant factors that lead me here. Lets just say the interior is very 'instagramable' and leave it right at that. Although situated the furthest, hand on heart it is definitely worth the trip there.

They even had Limca on their menu which made me feel like I was transported back on the streets of India that tiny bit more. *Lets cheers to that*

The food was deeeelicous and is a perfect place to try a bit of everything as all dishes are perfect for sharing and are extremely filling. However some of the food was on the spicy side but that's personally me who has zero tolerance to spice and find black pepper a kick to the throat. (Yes as rare as it sounds there are Indian's that can not hack spice that exist.) And to top it all off the food was reasonably priced and doesn't amount to much when sharing portions with your friends.

The next popular place that had been on my food list for a very loooong time was the Indian Brewery located in the heart of Birmingham, Snow Hill. With this place being more accessible than Zindiya there is no excuse but to come and see what the fuss is all about.

 There is no doubt that Indian food is very colourful and most significantly flavoursome and this is exactly what Indian Brewery was all about. The food was aesthetically pleasing to a point where I did  not want to ruin the presentation but that didn't stop me. The way the seating works at the Indian Brewery is that you take a seat wherever you fancy on a bench (exactly the same concept as Wagamamas) and you order at the till as opposed to being placed at a table where a waiter/waitress takes your order from you. In terms of the price it does not vary from Zindiya's, making it reasonably priced; again perfect for sharing allowing you to dabble in a range of dishes.

Last but not least Chaii Wala, which is dotted all around the country but the closest one to me was Soho road making it a fantastic get away place when you need to take a break from all that suit shopping.

Service was incredibly fast and the food although lacking those prominent flavours that were seen in Zindiya's and the Indian Brewery the food was still appetising. Famously known for its karak chaii, I was reluctant to try it as I am sadly not the biggest fan of Indian tea. (Yes, yes I know what your all thinking.) But to my very surprise I enjoyed my little cup of chaii...after filling it up with 7 brown sugars.
In comparison for all you money savvy individuals Chaii Wala was the cheapest out of the three. Now that's what I call a bargain.