Opheem

What You Walk Into

Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter has spent a decade repositioning itself as something other than a wholesale district, and Opheem at 65 Summer Row is a fixed point in that shift. The restaurant occupies a space divided by intention: a spacious bar and lounge where snacks and opening drinks arrive before you're taken through to the dining room proper. The lighting is calibrated rather than atmospheric in a vague sense, described consistently by diners as "smart, chic and spectacularly lit." The open kitchen provides the room's focal drama, visible from the dining room in a way that signals transparency about what's being produced and by whom.

The move from lounge to table marks a transition in the meal's register, not just its geography. The move from lounge to table marks a transition in the meal's register, not just its geography. Readers note that "the meal is unrushed" and that "small, excellent dishes" arrive in deliberate sequence. That rhythm is a team decision as much as a kitchen one.

The Team as the Product

At restaurants operating at this level, the collaboration between kitchen, sommelier, and front-of-house becomes the actual mechanism of the experience. Opheem is a useful example of how that collaboration works when it's functioning well. Chef Aktar Islam, Birmingham-born and operating here since 2018, sets the culinary register: modern Indian cooking that draws on British seasonal produce and riffs on familiar subcontinental recipes without dismantling their logic. His food "is a clever take on Indian food as we have come to know it in the UK," redefining expectations "and taking it to an entirely new level."

But the wine operation, led by head sommelier Stefan, is not decorative support. The wine list has been built to complement spicing rather than compete with it, which is a harder brief than it sounds. Matching wine to Indian-inflected cooking requires working against the assumption that heat or acidity renders wine redundant. The by-the-glass programme starts at £16, and the matching flights are noted repeatedly in reader reports as a "distinct style" that enhances the food rather than running parallel to it.

Front-of-house at Opheem has moved in a notably warmer direction since the restaurant's earlier years. Service is described as making guests "feel in good hands," with "such kindness" permeating interactions. The chefs who deliver dishes to the table are part of that warmth, not separated from it. When kitchen staff present food and can speak to what's in front of the guest, it collapses the distance between production and service in a way that feels natural rather than performative.

The Food: Where It Sits in the British Indian Conversation

Modern Indian fine dining in Britain has been developing a distinct register, one that holds onto the logic of spicing and technique from the subcontinent while using British produce and European fine-dining structures. British fine dining has its own history to push against, and Opheem sits within that shift with a modern Indian menu built on British seasonal produce. Opheem's two Michelin stars, awarded in 2024, confirm its place at the forefront of the category.

The menus work across five or ten courses. Dishes reported from the dining room give a sense of the approach: cucumber, green chilli, and apple juice as a palate shot alongside snacks including an oyster emulsion with chilli broth and coriander oil; tandoori sand carrot with mini lentil pakoras, mint, and coriander; aloo tuk built from pink fir potato with mango and tamarind; hogget loin with slow-cooked shoulder and a lingering heat. Petits fours have included a pistachio-crumbed madeleine from the oven and a chocolate finale involving pine ice cream and mint. A just-baked milk bread has drawn notice on its own terms. What this sequence demonstrates is textural variety working in parallel with spice calibration. The "clever textures, thrilling contrasts and exact spicing" noted by diners are architectural decisions rather than accidents.

The apple macaron with chutney and liver parfait has been singled out as a standout among the snacks, described by one diner as "one amazing thing." Signature snacks like this function as a kind of arrival signal, establishing the kitchen's range before the formal courses begin.

Birmingham's Fine Dining Context

Birmingham has built a serious multi-tier fine dining scene, and Opheem sits at the upper end of a set that includes Adam's and Simpsons, both operating at the ££££ price point in the modern cuisine bracket. Bayonet and 670 Grams represent the city's more creative and specialist end. For Indian dining at a more accessible price point, Asha's occupies the £££ tier and a different register entirely.

Nationally, the two-Michelin-star tier in Britain outside London includes L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, and The Fat Duck in Bray, alongside three-star houses like Gidleigh Park in Chagford. Opheem's position in that national comparable set is notable because it arrives with a cuisine identity that sits outside the European tasting-menu mainstream that defines most of that group. It competes on technique and consistency while arguing for a different culinary tradition. The Ledbury in London and Hand and Flowers in Marlow similarly operate at the summit of Britain's non-metropolitan fine dining bracket, though through entirely different cuisines. Opheem's reader poll ranking, one of EP Club's top-10 most commented restaurants outside London in the annual diners' poll, signals that the audience response matches the critical recognition.

Planning Your Visit

Opheem is at 65 Summer Row, Birmingham B3 1JJ, in the Jewellery Quarter. The five-course menu is priced at £140 per person and the ten-course menu at £185 per person. The choice between the two is primarily a function of time: the longer menu extends the evening considerably and allows the full sequence of the kitchen's current programme. The wine flight, led by Stefan, is the recommended accompaniment if you're approaching the meal as a coordinated experience rather than ordering selectively by the glass, though by-the-glass options begin at £16 and the list has been built to work at multiple entry points.

Reservations at this tier in Birmingham require forward planning. Opheem has operated at this address since 2018, has held two Michelin stars since 2024, and features in multiple high-profile annual rankings, which together keep demand consistent.