Curry Mile
Birmingham’s famous “curry mile” consists of a long string of curry restaurants (also known as balti restaurants) located south of Birmingham city centre. The area that comprises Stoney Lane, Ladypool Road and Stratford Road is sometimes referred to as “the Balti Triangle”, due to the multitude of balti houses dominating the neighbourhood. As the “Balti Triangle” was the initial place they appeared, back in the 1980s or even earlier, the oldest ones can still be seen there; among them is “N.Pasha’s and M.Niam’s K2”. From that point they have spread throughout the whole city, but still it remains the area where the most are concentrated. They are very successful not just because of the great taste of this type of curry that is specific to Birmingham, but also due to their convenient prices and friendly atmosphere. The norm is for them not to have a license to sell alcohol, and that results in lower prices, which brings an abundance of customers.
Birmingham’s many balti houses are also renowned for the custom of serving Karack naan bread, which is quite sizeable and is meant to be shared by an entire table. People who reject pretentiousness and prefer simple décor and a homely atmosphere will find their tastes more than catered for . Balti houses always serve traditional Indian food (balti food is actually named after the pot used for cooking it), and it appears that locals can’t get enough of their spicy curry, chicken and mushroom, gosht, aubergine pakora, coriander naan bread and many others. There is even a restaurant that meets the needs of vegetarians and vegans, called Jyoti, which serves one hundred percent animal-free products.
Although some people are skeptical about the chances of so many similar restaurants to thrive in a single area, balti houses have proved them wrong so far, as they are still in demand, as much as they were thirty years ago, when they first started to flourish.