Birmingham restaurant named as one of the most innovative in Britain by London travel editors

A restaurant in Birmingham has been named as one of the most innovative in Britain - and recommended as a place worth travelling to - by travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller.

Michelin starred restaurant Opheem by Chef Aktar Islam, on Summer Row near the Jewellery Quarter was named, as one of the best restaurants in the UK by the magazine’s editors for “pushing the boundaries”.

Aktar - grew up in Aston cooking in his father’s restaurant. His parents moved to the UK from Bangladesh and opened the restaurant. The appreciation for his restaurant came amid some surprise from the London based publication at the quality of Birmingham’s quality dining scene.

The editors wrote: “Birmingham is hardly fertile ground for legendary fine dining. But times are changing; the city’s culinary status is rising, and a handful of restaurants quietly making waves has turned into a sizeable cluster of tables to book.”

They added: “The 10- and five-course tasting menus won this spot a Michelin star – cooking styles and ingredients dance across the Indian subcontinent, and the menu references its geographical touch points throughout.

“A Bengali-inspired dish might pair Orkey scallops with mooli (also known as daikon) and apple, while plates drawing on Keralan cuisine might combine Cornish cod with curried brown shrimp, kohlrabi and raw mango. This is a place to test the boundaries of what you think you know about Indian cooking.”

The Birmingham City Centre restaurant has won accolades by multiple food guides in the country. The Good Food Guide named it one of the best restaurants in Birmingham in 2023 as did SquareMeal 100 and Harden’s Top 100 Best UK Restaurants list 2023, while the Michelin guide also lists it.