Akbar’s Brum

We phoned up to see if we’d need to make a booking but were told we could just turn up. It’s easily located but just beware the car park is a one way system so don’t go down the wrong way like we did! There’s ample parking, or at least there was the time we visited.

We visited around 7pm and it was quite busy so we had a short wait until taken to our table. The waiting area is quite vast and comfortable. The whole ambience in the restaurant is appropriate. There were 6 in our party and there were two tables put together with 6 chairs although where it was positioned meant it was a tight squeeze for us. The location, the entrance and waiting area and kitchen serving area have an upmarket feel whereas the seating and the menu itself (a laminated sheet) don’t follow through with this theme so don’t worry about how you’re dressed!

As mentioned, the place was busy and the waiter for our area was sufficiently attentive. The timings and wait for food was perfectly acceptable and all food was served hot. For starters we had poppadoms, masala fish at £4.95 (highly recommended!), keema/cheese samosas at £3.50 (2 in a portion- tasted okay but not worth the £3.50) & chicken wings at £4.25 (5 small middle portions- again, tasted okay, but not worth the £4.25). The sauces came just as we were finishing our starters which was a bit disappointing.

For mains, we had the biryani (meat) with the keema sauce at £8.95 (the option was that or raita), a chicken tikka makhani at £9.95, a karahi gosht £9.95, a chicken jalfrezi £8.95, a family plain naan £4.50 and a family garlic naan (ordered after the first was finished) at £4.95. Everything was of a good size portion wise. The meat biryani was confusing by definition on the menu and what we got was a a meat biryani (pulao style) with an accompanying watered down keema (mince) curry with some big pieces of potato served in a small round plastic container served alongside some salad. The meat biryani was flavoursome but not spicy and my 4 year old was devouring it! All of the mains were flavoursome and the right level of heat (we asked for medium) although we all seemed to prefer the karahi ghosht over the chicken jalfrezi. We ate to the point we couldn’t eat anymore and there was plenty to take home. They served us containers and a bag so we could pack our own food. They were a bit slow to serve the bill but this came with lollies - only 5 for a party of 6 though! Overall it was a pleasant experience and I would definitely recommend it and we will be going back.