Autumn has arrived, Birmingham’s restaurant scene is firing on all cylinders and October brings two major new city-centre openings. From Japanese newcomers and great-value steak to intimate independents, Peruvian cooking and one of the city’s finest plant-based experiences, here are The Birmingham Edit’s ten restaurants to try this month.
There is something particularly appealing about eating out in October. The nights draw in, menus become a little richer and suddenly spending a couple of hours around a table feels like exactly where you ought to be.
This month is especially interesting in Birmingham. Two eagerly anticipated restaurants open within days of each other, while some of the city’s smaller independents are producing food every bit as exciting as the big names.
Here’s our October ten.
1. KIBOU Birmingham — Temple Row
We have to start with one of October’s biggest arrivals.
Japanese kitchen and bar KIBOU officially opens on Monday 12th October, taking over the former Riva Blu site overlooking Cathedral Square. The new restaurant will accommodate around 200 guests across its restaurant, bar and lounge, open sushi kitchen and private dining room.
The menu ranges from sushi and sashimi to karaage, gyoza, tempura, ramen and katsu curry, right through to A5 Joshu wagyu. Throw in Japanese whisky, sake and cocktails and this looks set to become much more than another sushi stop.
Best for: A brand-new night out and Japanese sharing plates.
2. Flat Iron Birmingham — Temple Street
Just two days before KIBOU, another significant newcomer arrives.
Flat Iron opens its first Birmingham restaurant on Saturday 10 October, bringing its straightforward philosophy of quality steak without traditional steakhouse prices to Temple Street.
The signature featherblade Flat Iron steak is the obvious starting point, but look out for Wagyu specials, the green chilli cheeseburger and sides including beef-dripping chips and truffled macaroni cheese.
Set across two floors of a historic building, this could quickly become one of central Birmingham’s busiest tables.
Best for: Steak without the special-occasion price tag.
3. Panko & Sushi — Brindleyplace
Fresh through the doors on 29th September, Panko & Sushi gets its first full month in Birmingham this October.
Its Brindleyplace restaurant serves sushi alongside katsu, teriyaki, ramen and other Japanese-inspired dishes, with both sit-down and grab-and-go options.
Particularly appealing is the £9.95 Express Lunch Menu, while the two-course children’s menu is £7.50 — making this one of our more affordable October choices.
Best for: Pre-theatre food, lunch or casual sushi.
Panko & Sushi Birmingham information and bookings
4. Trillium — Snow Hill
Glynn Purnell’s latest chapter deserves a place on your autumn dining list.
Created with Loki Wine founder Phil Innes, Trillium takes serious cooking and deliberately removes some of the formality surrounding it.
The menu revolves around seasonal modern British cooking with European influences, with dishes intended to work whether you want a conventional meal or prefer ordering plates for the table. And, unsurprisingly given Innes’ involvement, wine is very much part of the experience.
Best for: Great food, excellent wine and relaxed sophistication.
5. Land Restaurant — Great Western Arcade
If anyone still believes plant-based dining means compromise, send them to Land.
This intimate independent builds its tasting menus around what is in season, taking inspiration from flavours around the world and allowing ingredients to dictate the dishes rather than forcing them into a predetermined format.
Current options include a £60 short chef’s menu and £75 full chef’s menu, with alcoholic and non-alcoholic pairings available.
It’s imaginative, thoughtful and ideally suited to autumn.
Best for: Plant-based dining that even committed meat-eaters can get excited about.
6. Restaurant Folium — Jewellery Quarter
Folium is exactly the sort of independent restaurant that gives Birmingham’s food scene its character.
Chef and co-owner Ben Tesh now leads the kitchen solo, with an ever-changing approach shaped by British ingredients and techniques including fermentation, pickling and preserving.
There is craftsmanship everywhere here, extending from what’s on the plate to locally made ceramics and woodwork.
It’s personal, intimate and a world away from identikit restaurant dining.
Best for: Food lovers who appreciate serious independent cooking.
7. Tiger Bites Pig — Church Street
Some evenings don’t need white tablecloths and three hours at the table. Sometimes you just want something ridiculously tasty.
Enter Tiger Bites Pig.
Its Taiwanese-inspired bao are handmade and steamed in-house each day, alongside rice bowls and dishes drawing influence from Sichuan cuisine. Behind the apparent simplicity is a kitchen doing a remarkable amount itself — fermenting kimchi, pickling and slow-braising meats.
The move to Church Street has also allowed the team to expand its drinks and dessert offering.
Best for: Bao, big flavours and casual lunches.
8. Chakana — Moseley
October’s list wouldn’t be complete without venturing beyond the city centre.
In Moseley, chef Robert Ortiz brings the colours and flavours of Peru to Birmingham through Chakana.
Ortiz has Michelin-star pedigree, but Chakana itself is deliberately accessible and relaxed. Peruvian cuisine’s combination of indigenous ingredients with international influences gives the kitchen a wonderfully broad palette to work from.
If you’ve fallen into the habit of ordering from the same cuisines every time you go out, this is your October excuse to change that.
Best for: An adventurous dinner with friends.
9. Tropea — Harborne
One of Birmingham’s great neighbourhood restaurants remains impossible to ignore.
Tropea’s approach to Italian food is built around regularly changing menus, great produce and the sort of dishes that make sharing across the table almost compulsory.
It’s relaxed enough for a spontaneous dinner but good enough to build an evening around — precisely the sweet spot every neighbourhood restaurant wants to occupy.
Best for: Italian food and long, leisurely dinners.
10. Raja Monkey — Hall Green
Finally, we’re heading to Hall Green for a restaurant that celebrates the enormous variety of Indian food without turning dinner into a formal affair.
Raja Monkey describes itself as an Indian neighbourhood café-restaurant, bringing together street-food influences and more substantial dishes in colourful, relaxed surroundings.
In a city rightly celebrated for Indian cooking, it’s a reminder that some of Birmingham’s most enjoyable meals are found well beyond the centre.
Best for: Relaxed Indian dining with plenty of personality.
October is looking delicious
What we particularly like about this month’s ten is its range. You could spend serious money on an elaborate dinner, grab bao for lunch, discover Peruvian cooking, eat an entirely plant-based tasting menu or try two Birmingham restaurants that didn’t even exist a few weeks earlier.
That’s the point of this series.
The Birmingham Edit isn’t simply looking for the ten most expensive or decorated restaurants in the city. We’re looking for ten places that give you a genuine reason to book a table right now.
And in October, Birmingham gives us plenty to choose from.
