Lasan Restaurant

This is where Unilocal can get it wrong in its rankings. Lasan is clearly one of Birmingham’s best restaurants and is as prestigious as our Michelin star choices. Was surprised to see it so far down the rankings! Had some amazing meals here and although on the pricey side, deserves a rare 5 stars from me. Beautiful ambiance inside with usually great service (apart from one time I only decided to have a main and felt awkward). If you haven’t been then its a must visit place in Birmingham’s food scene.

Lasan… Lasan… I discovered this restaurant thanks to Unilocal 0:)
Now it’s a must go when I am around birms. A very classy restaurant, that can be a bit posh and the service is sometime a bit too much but whatever the food is great.
It’s not just Indian food, there are tons of good Indian restaurants…
But lasan put it at another level :
The top quality products, the Indian spices and the modern way of cooking makes it a unique place.
Of course everything comes at a price but I think it worth it.
And as it’s in St Paul’s square there are good options to continue the evening :)

Like many who live in the jewellery quarter, Lasan is on my aspirational list of food places to go. The price and the reputation stop it being «that place you go when you fancy a curry», but like not trying that restaurant at the top of the road, you don’t quite feel you’ve moved in until you give it a whirl.
Years after moving in, I’ve whirled.
I went with a group of friends; our menu was part of Lasan’s celebration of winning The Great British Menu. Chef Aktar Islam recreated his winning menu for a restaurant full of diners. This was offered together with a true bargain of a wine flight, which I couldn’t miss out on; in fact, I was early to the departure gate, for once in my life!
Our party was quite large, but the service was excellent. Food arrived at perfect intervals and the staff were able to keep track on who was flying, and who was taking the solo route, drinks wise.
The food itself was fantastic for the most part. In fact, the only course that was a little disappointing was the main course. Everything else was an exciting taste experience, whether it was the delicate Cornish bass with a punchy coconut sauce or the delicious chai spiced pannacotta, served with a coconut ice cream. And for the record — wines (and rum) were perfectly matched.
I’d love to give Lasan another whirl. It would be great to experience the current menu and see how Lasan has developed over the years. I was pleased with my first visit, but I get the feeling it could impress a little more second time around.
Oh and as I’ve now *officially* just moved in, gifts to welcome me to my new home are gratefully received ;).

Visited Lasan for the second time, and lives up to the high expectations again. Lasan delivers an excellent experience, with great dishes. The staff is very skilled in serving the needs and wants of their customers. You pay more than your average casual restaurant, but you know and experience where it went, and it is certainly worthwhile. Go here if there is something to celebrate, or when you want to endulge yourself occasionaly, and you won’t be disappointed.

Lasan is one of the many places I’ve wanted to visit since moving to the Jewellery Quarter 6 years ago (ish) although it’s unfortunately somewhat out of my normal price range. Many of my friends have eaten here and raved about it though, plus it has been included in The Sunday Times top 100 UK restaurants and is Michellin recommended, so when the opportunity came up with their £20 Winter Banquet menu we jumped at the chance and had high hopes for our meal.
As we entered via a side street just off St Paul’s Square the understated yet stylish interior whisked us away from a grey, cold winters day in Birmingham into a realm of delicious smelling cuisine and culinary delights.
Whilst waiting for the rest of our party to arrive we shared a nice bottle of red and eagerly awaited the start of our meal. They didn’t lie when they said it was a banquet! Delicious pieces of salmon and chicken alongside vegetable pakoras and bhajis to start, followed by an all encompassing selection of mains dishes including a fantastic mutton curry (which fortunately a few people weren’t too keen on so I could have extra!) accompanied with naan and rice. Even with a large group of nearly 20 there was more than enough to go around!
After polishing that lot off (and maybe a bit more wine) we were presented with our dessert of Gulab Jamoon Aur Rabri, something I’ve never tried before but the cardamom infused custard was absolutely delicious.
If you’re looking for a top notch Indian meal, or are looking to impress on a date then head over to Lasan — but book in advance as it gets full very quickly. If you keep an eye out they also do a summer banquet menu so you can have the same Lasan quality dining but without the hefty price tag.

Das Essen war sensationell — spannende und herausragende moderne, indische Küche. Das Lasan toppt die wenigen anderen modernen Inder mit einer gekonnten Mischung aus indischen Aromen und westlichen (leichten) Zubereitungsarten und Texturen. Die üblichen Ghee– und Saucen-​Pools gibt es hier nicht.
Das Personal könnte etwas erfahrener sein, aber bemüht und freundlich sind sie alle Mal. In jedem Fall frühzeitig reservieren!
Vorweg hatten wir Tikki und Dhal, beides ausgesprochen köstlich. Das Tikki ist eine Mischung verschiedener vegetarischer Vorspeisen und hatte eine tolle Bandbreite verschiedenster Aromen, das Dhal war sehr nuanciert und einfach lecker.
Der Cod im Hauptgang war auf den Punkt gegart und die wenigen Gewürze ließen dem Fisch Freiraum und machten doch eindeutig ein indische Gericht aus; das Lamm wiederum war eine Explosion aus zig Gewürzen, darunter sehr wohldosiert Zimt und Kardomon, die eben nicht, wie so oft alles andere überstrahlten.
Es ist dringend angeraten, Platz fürs Dessert zu lassen.

I went here for my Birthday with a table of 12. I was really unhappy before I went though, as they wouldn’t accommodate my friends request to go off the banquet menu and only mentioned a deposit after conversation number 4! I also found them a little rude over the phone.
We were directed to the bar not our table when we arrived (which as pricey). The restaurant is very nicely decorated however, and especially geared toward a nice romantic dinner for two. The food was nice and the staff were pleasant. I have been lucky enough to go to quite a few top restaurants, but equally many chains and have had a much better experience– staff wise. That said I was glad I tried it but wouldn’t go back unless for a romantic dinner.

After visiting the two sister restaurants (Raja Monkey and Fiesta Del Asado) I was delighted to be invited to a Christmas lunch at Lasan. Although I’ve lived in the Jewellery Quarter for a good 7 years but hadn’t ever visited due to the whispers I had heard regarding the high prices.
Well, on receiving an invite to the winter banquet (a three course meal for £19.95), I had my tastebuds primed and ready to give it a go. To give you a bit of background, Lasan has been around since 2002 but due to the steady increase in the number of awards it has received over the years (British curry awards, Gordon Ramsay’s ‘F Word — Best Local restaurant’ and BBC’s ‘Great British Menu’) it has gained a reputation to impress.
The venue itself is just off St Paul’s Square, so very easy to get to from the City. There is no parking available, but street parking is plentiful around the area. The restaurant itself is classy and intimate. On a Sunday lunchtime at 1:30, you would still struggle to get a table if you hadn’t booked.
We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Malbec (shared between 4) for £24 whilst our starters were bought out. Between succulent pieces of meat, fish and delicious vegetable sides; we got a chance to try everything. The Salmon was truly amazing. The mains were also impressive with a chicken dish, a mutton curry, a fish curry, aromatic rice and fresh naan.
The meal was rounded off with ‘Gulab Jamoon Aur Rabri’ (Warm Khoya roundels with North Indian cardamom scented custard). I hadn’t tried this before, but would love to have it again!
The food, the wine, the company and the setting were perfect. £19.95 was a very reasonable price to pay, but I would recommend you give it a go now. The normal banquet price starts at £30.95!

I have been to Lasan twice now once for my birthday and another time a special treat with my partner. You do need to book in advance which is understandable as it is wonderful in there. The service we recieved was fantastic as soon as we walked in and the food also is stunning. I would recommend it to anyone for a treat or special occassion, as the experience is incredible but of course the mains are more than the average.

Here, we have another of Birmingham’s fine Indian restaurants. Tucked away behind St Paul’s Square, it’s easy to drive past and not know it’s there. This would be a huge mistake because once discovered, you’ll never forget your experience. The manager and his staff work hard to make you feel special, the service is fast and friendly, the décor is modern and comfortable and the food is superb. To start I went for the Chok Ki Tikki and vegetarian, potato dish which went down well. For my main course I had the Murgh Jalfrezi, pan roasted, maize-​fed chicken with hot and spicy onion, tomato and pepper sauce. Washed away with a cold, crisp bottle of Sancerre, total bill came to a shade under £70.00. This place had a very famous visitor recently, Michael Buble spent the evening here and this was featured in «An Evening With Michael Buble» television programme on ITV. So if it’s good enough for the Bubble, it should be good enough for you.

My husband and I had a very delicious and odd lunch at Lasan.
We called ahead to get a reservation and were able to get in at 12:30. They sent an email, a text, and also called to confirm the reservation. Okay, they wanted to just triple-​check that we were making our reservation because the restaurant is so famous and busy that we we would be taking up somebody’s seat! That’s the only explanation!
Turns out, we were the only people in the restaurant. An hour after we arrived, one more couple made an appearance.
Anyway, as C.R. said, Lasan is priiiiicey. They bring a super delicious amuse bouche and some pappadums at the start of the meal, which was a nice touch. My husband ordered the lamb (something!), which was perfect and beautiful. I ordered the pumpkin and the dhal from the vegetarian menu. Both were perfectly and evenly spiced, and I could have eaten that dhal every day for the rest of my life. We ordered the bread sampler (£4) and some rice to go along with it all. The bread was great, but I felt a little cheated at having to pay £4 for some bread, which I had made myself a few weeks before to a fairly high degree of success. Restaurants, listen, that’s about 4 pence worth of ingredients!
All together, we spent £55 for lunch. *gulp* Gah, looking at that number on the computer screen makes me even more shocked.
That said, we were very pleasantly and perfectly full without feeling disgusting and bloated. The ingredients were clearly high quality, and the spicing was just amazingly right. The chefs are obviously incredibly talented and dedicated to making perfect and sophisticated Indian food.
Would I go back? Well. Let’s say I win the lottery or suddenly become independently wealthy! Then I would go back! Otherwise… a bit too rich for my blood.

Hello, I wanted to provide some feedback on our recent visit to Lasan to share with people who think just because its been on TV that its great. We went there on Sunday 27^th Nov for our anniversary. The first thing I noticed was the lack of atmosphere, the music was on then off. The place was 3quarters full so that’s no excuse. Staff were friendly & service on the whole was prompt. The amuse bouche was lovely & set our expectations for a lovely meal. The starters (pakora mix & afgani lamb) these good. For mains we had a kerala prawn curry & a punjabi chicken curry, both had very small amounts of meat & the curry (sauce) they were in seemed processed to the point were they tasted & looked like baby food. I didn’t have a pudding as my meal was spoilt. My Fiancée did and it was nice but nothing you couldn’t get in any curry house in Leicester. The bill was as we expected for a place with such accolades. We mainly eat in Leicester & Birmingham and come from a Gujrati family so definitely know Indian food. As it stands our experience of Lasan has been poor to average and we would not come back or recommend it to our friends or family. It’s a shame as we watched the TV show they won & really wanted it all to be great. I have given it one star as I would not go back to this place.

This place is expensive. £20 for a main course, £8 for a vegetable side dish, so you need to get over the idea of paying that sort of money for an Indian meal at lunch time and understand that this is the equivalent of haute cuisine. Once past that hurdle, this place is super. Leaving aside the dubious décor, the staff are pleasant, the atmosphere nice, and the food divine. We can the Beef Dalcha, a Keralan King Prawn curry with coconut, and side dishes of pumpkin and aubergine. All the dishes were delicious, with subtle flavours, rich textures, and a zingy freshness that didn’t come out of a tub marked ‘red sauce’. For anyone writing a history of the relationship between Indian and English cookery this place is fascinating: they have really taken on board the concept of sourcing and announce the provenance of various ingredients (Cornish crab, Herefordshire lamb etc), as well as doing an Indian take on English dishes such as lamb and mint. The result is wonderful. Go.

I visited Lasan tonight because it was close to my work place.
We read that you needed to book 3 weeks in advance — I think it is true. We had dinner so early, they actually allowed us to eat in, but we did think we were going to get rejected when the gentleman who greeted us found out we hadn’t made a reservation.
The manager was extremely courteous and gracious. He seated us and everyone gave us their utmost attention.
I ordered the Beef Dalcha (Slow stewed short rib of Scotch beef in traditional Hyderabadi gravy of lentils spiced with whole Kashmiri chilli, cinnamon and green cardamom). The short rib was awesome — so tender. It fell off the bone! I couldn’t ask for it any other way.
Unfortunately, I have been extremely congested so I couldn’t taste too much. =((I didn’t know they had pollen here in the UK! I haven’t been able to breathe well at all.)
They give you pappadum and three sauces: yogurt, some orange sauce (too bad I didn’t ask), and a chutney.

I have been to Lasan before and after their success on The F Word, and both times my experiences have been the same.
The food itself is good. It has clearly been prepared with a great deal of care and passion. The sheikh kebab starter looked so pretty, i didnt want to eat it! My mama, however, thad an aubergine curry, which was slightly bland. It seems as though they struggle with veg dishes.
My papa wanted to have the venison but was told it wasnt halal. He then asked for the rabbit, and again was told it wasnt halal. This is not a problem, however, as the owners are muslim, one would have thought they would have gone through greater lengths to obtain halal meat. The feeling i got from them from the show was that they want to have ‘well off custmers’ to create an exclusive restaurant. Its a shame theyre trying to do this by over priced food and alienating a large portion of the curry eating population.
Overall, pretty decent, but their pretentious, arrogant attitude has let them down.

Lasan’s is one of those places you only ever hear really good things about, but you reckon you’ll never get round to going to. Mainly as I live in London. But I found myself there for someone’s birthday at the weekend.
Clearly riding on its success on a certain TV show, you can eat the menu that was featured for £39 a head (I wondered how much it would have been pre-​show) we instead settled for the a la carte menu.
And what a menu! As I don’t have much experience I would have preferred a little more guidance on what to order, but perhaps it is better not to pander to the needs of curry cretins like myself.
When the food came it was all a bit spicier than we’d imagined but all beautifully cooked and delicious. My boyfriend’s slow cooked lamb was particularly good and beautifully rich.
The only downside of the meal (aside from the long wait for the food) was that the waiter had written our order down wrong — not a problem when in our case we ended up with a few extra naans, but annoying if it had been anything more substancial.
The deserts too were fab although I struggled to fit much more in!

What a wonderfull establishment. Bit tight on the poppadoms coming pre broken, Starters however were nice and well presented with interesting accompanying dips. Main of Lamb shank melted off the bone however sauce was a little too rich to finish off the dish. Partner had seabass which was spiced to perfection. Also excellent choice of desserts and well presented. Will definitely be back

Recently visited Lasan on a Saturday night in a party of 4. Our table was booked for 6.30, and we were the first to arrive.
We received a warm welcome from the staff upon entry and were sat down in the very tastefully decorated restaurant.
Menu had recently been updated since winning The F Word’s best local restaurant, allowing you to choose from the standard menu and also Aktar’s food featured on the TV series.
Starters were fantastic all round, very tasty and portion size is reasonable. Main courses were equally fantastic, I had their equivalent of a Lamb Bhuna which was the best indian meal I have ever eaten.
I should point out that just about all the food that we ordered (all 4 of us had something different), was fairly hot. The heat was perfect for 3 of us, however one of our party found the food just a little too hot.
Overall, fantastic atmosphere, friendly staff and great tasting food, well worth the money.
I will be rebooking soon, and would recommend to anyone.

I cannot recommend Lasan highly enough and completely disagree with the other review by Nandini7. I am of Pakistani heritage and think that Lasan is the best Indian restaurant in Birmingham, and I would go as far as to say the best Indian restaurant I have been to in this country. It isn’t traditional Indian — they are doing something different adn being inventive with the food. The sauces are subtle, fragranced and spicy and I would just love to know how to make them (in fact I am thinking of going to one of their courses at Lasan Eatery). The star dishes for me are the tandoori salmon, the moilly fish curry and the stuffed marrow (I’m not really into marrow but I would urge people to give this one a go!).
The food is fantastic but also the setting and service are also excellent.

the restaurant is rubbish. went for lunch sometime back for my sisters birthday and received bland foor. we are of indian origin and know our indian food. however compared to every other indian restaurant this food tasted so plain. my father asked the waiter what they used in the sauce, only to be told they used tomato soup! and also because the ‘gora’s’ like their food bland.(gora’s translates to white people) in which my father replied ‘hang on, the gora’s can sometimes take their food spicier than we do. this is not the 70’s’ we’re currently living in a society where everyone is keen on different palates and cuisines, and flavour is key to food. this restaurant has received awards! for their crap food. really. come on. can i recommend lazeez signature or asha’s restaurant in birmingham for good indian food. i wouldnt go to lasan if i was given a free meal. it was that bad.