Birmingham restaurant recommendations from Jess Phillips MP

Birmingham is well known for its selection of great restaurants and coffee shops.

Our city also has the most Michelin Star restaurants in the UK outside of London (five) - and there’s also a great range of takeaways and traditional independents across the city representing our diverse culture.

We all have our favourites, and Yardley MP Jess Phillips has now revealed some of hers.

In an interview with The Guardian, Ms Phillips, who grew up in Kings Heath, discussed her number one places to visit for food and drink.

Here’s the top choices from the Labour MP.

Best for Samosas

Jess is fond of a good samosa and says how she has bought 40 in a week.

Her top recommendation is the Milan Sweet Centre Indian takeaway in Balsall Heath for these delicacies.

The restaurant has been in the area for 46 years, and serves a wide range of authentic Indian food, including meals and snacks.

She told The Guardian: “If there is one place in the world where you can find a good samosa, it’s Birmingham.

“There are obviously lots of places for a great curry but there are also some really brilliant Indian vegetarian sweet centres.

“Milan Sweet Centre in Balsall Heath is an institution – I’ve been going there since I was a kid and every week I buy at least 40 samosas. They also do great barfi and jalebi sweets.”

Best for coffee

She said the best place for coffee in Birmingham is Flock in Kings Heath, a pop-up inside the Grace + James shop, bar and deli.

Grace + James sells wine, local beer, British and European cheese and charcuterie to eat in or takeaway, alongside the coffee and hot drinks from Flock, run by Alasdair Houston.

Best for noodles

She also recommended Eat Vietnam in Stirchley, where she goes in the evenings, saying: “They do your regular big bowls of noodles with pork, but what I love is their Marmite peanut butter cauliflower.”

The restaurant, located on Pershore Road, offers umami-packed traditional Vietnamese food in a pop-up setting.

It’s also big on small business within the local community, and previously operated in Loaf Bakery, The Plough (Harborne), Fusca (Warwick), The Lord Clifden, Faculty Coffee, and Practise Pizzeria at DigBrew before finding its home on Stirchley high street in the old Maggie’s Munchies cafe.

Best for cocktails

For cocktails Jess also recommends a Stirchley venue. She is a particular fan of Couch. She says: “The cocktails are wonderful – the mixologists are real enthusiasts and have been all round the world training.

“The nightlife and food scene in Birmingham is so good because it is driven by people who specialise in one thing – and the people at Couch are definitely cocktail geeks.”

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