As an absolutely massive (and the second) city, there is always a tremendous amount of choice. The backdrop of cultural diversity in Birmingham means that there is always something exciting and different to try. The range of different types of cuisine in Brum is ridiculous, and you would definitely think that. If I gave you the full list, you would say, ‘that’s ridiculous’, only proving I was right in thinking that's what you’d think.
For starters, in town, we have an incredible ‘Chinese Quarter’, but actually, it is also home to Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Vietnamese….and many many more. The food is vibrant, delicious and hugely varied. There are restaurants for people that want to play safe, and also traditional restaurants that serve things I don't want to type. (That's generally where I go)
Within the Birmingham food scene, there is an incredible and rampant street food culture, which has evolved into a beast. Not only are there some big operators that promote vendors and huge social spaces for food and other activities, but most breweries now have an obligatory street food vendor on site for key nights and key dates. There is so much choice now within the Birmingham street food scene that the onus is on the trader to be as good as they can be. Brum is now at the stage where some of the very popular street food gangs get into a position where they are opening their own Birmingham restaurants off the success of their street food.
The Michelin Guide people must love Birmingham. Not only do we have a double starred restaurant now, but we currently have five restaurants with stars in total. To add to that, there are countless (you can count them, but I couldn't be bothered there are so many) restaurants that are good enough to be in the Guide at all.
The Birmingham restaurant scene is so fresh that there are regular pop ups for those in the know, collaboration nights between chefs, special one off nights at some restaurants, and plenty more. The scene is so exciting that last week, I completely stumbled on a Brazilian cafe that also had a Capoera studio. I mean…come on!
And I haven't even got to the Birmingham balti culture. In fact, you should already know about that, so I’m not going to bother telling you. So if you want to learn more about the best food in Birmingham, maybe even the UK, check out my latest blog posts below!
Checking out the best independent food in Birmingham!
