Asha's Indian Restaurant & Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Birmingham

We arrived at Asha's on a Saturday evening. The place was extremely busy, very dark and hot. We were escorted to our table and given the menus. After 15 minutes of waiting to be asked for a drink, I had to flag down the waiter, he took our drinks/cocktail order (which took a further 15 minutes to arrive). We then ordered the following:

Poppadum Assorted Dips Tandoori Chicken Tikka to share as a starter

Coriander Chicken Lamb Rogan Josh Saffron Rice Peshwari Naan

The starters were lovely, fresh pappadums with various variety’s, tasty dips (although small) and the chicken was succulent as described. This made up for the very slow service at the start and we were excited for our mains.

The mains, naan was soft and flavoursome, rice was fine, it didn’t have much flavour, looked like saffron rice but tasted like plain rice. The lamb was soft, and the curry was tasty, although quite oily. The chicken though was awful, very, very dry, my wife couldn’t eat it after just one mouthful, neither could I, the sauce was ok, nothing special, seemed to lack the coriander flavour that was described. We complained about the dry chicken when we eventually found the waiter, he said that he would swap it for a new one, but we said no… as by the time they cooked a fresh one I would’ve eaten my food and we would both end up eating alone, so my wife joined me in my lamb curry.

We had to fight for the waiter’s attention at all times to get served, the service was not at all attentive, it was awful. At the end of the night, we struggled to find a manger or a senior member of staff to talk too about our experience, staff were nowhere to be seen, the whole ambiance at the end of the evening was very unprofessional, the jobs (mopping, brushing, packing things up etc…) which should be done when everyone leaves, were done while customers were still there eating and drinking.

The bill was £137 for the above, which is very expensive for a curry and 4 cocktails. I wouldn’t have minded paying the high price if the food and service was up to it, but it wasn’t. Incidentally, they did not take off the dry chicken off the bill.

I will not be visiting anytime soon unless things drastically change, not worth the money, it is extremely cringy to see that they mention Tom Cruise on the menu and have photos of famous people visiting. All hype and marketing make this place seem much better than it is, it should be about the food and service, not who eats there. It’s a shame as it never used to be like this, it seems like it’s run by a younger generation that does not respect food...

We went to Asha's for the first time to celebrate a birthday, and were very impressed with pretty much everything.

We opted for "the Asha's Experience" menu, which is a 6 course meal including a glass of prosecco on arrival. Everything we ate was top notch, starting with the delicious lime pickle served with the poppadoms which was some of the best we have every tasted. We opted for the lobster tail platter (served before the main course, the other choice is a leg of lamb) and were very glad to have done so! Everything on the platter, which included chicken, lamb chops, paneer, potato patties, and of course the lobster, was delicious. The main dishes were served with rice, naan breads, a lentil curry and some chopped salad, and again, they were fantastic. Both of our orders were exclusive to the Experience menu, but there was also a good selection of other dishes from the regular menu available too. We couldn't finish at this point, but the staff were very helpful and packed up the leftovers for us to take home. Although the Experience menu gives you a taste of many different dishes, some of which are quite small, overall it's by no means a light meal, so if you have a big appetite you will certainly not be disappointed.

Drinks wise, we had planned to get a bottle of wine with our meal, but after looking at the extensive cocktail menu, we opted instead to try a few through the course of the meal. All of them were fantastic, but of particular note were the Chairman's Special, and the Wu Empress which we will likely go back to try again. We were told it's possible to visit for drinks only, and I would strongly recommend doing this if you're in the area but not looking for a meal.

Also have to give a mention to the staff for their great service. Our waiters were polite and attentive, and both the food and drinks came out promptly, even when the restaurant started to get busy around 8pm.

Overall, a great experience, and we will absolutely...

“Ashes to ashes, dust to disgust”

Once upon a time, Ashes was the “jewel of Birmingham curry houses.” Now? It’s more like the costume jewellery of the Balti world — looks shiny from a distance, but up close, it’s cheap, tacky, and liable to turn your skin green.

I’ve been coming here for over a decade, and each visit feels like watching a slow-motion car crash: service gets sloppier, food gets floppier, and the décor… well, if dated wallpaper and dim lights are your vibe, congratulations, you’ve time-travelled back to the 1980s without the fun.

The staff? Think Formula One pit crew, but without the professionalism. They rush you like you’re competing in Ready, Steady, Get Out! — plates down, plates gone, no chance to breathe, let alone enjoy your food. The waiters should swap their notepads for stopwatches.

And don’t get me started on their “function room.” We booked it for 20+ guests, three hours between 5 and 8 p.m. Apparently, in Ashes time, that means: “arrive at 5, panic at 5:30, and feel unwelcome by 6.” Instead of consulting the hosts (you know, the people who booked the room), they actually asked random guests when to serve the food — a game of “Who Wants to Be a Caterer?” that nobody wanted to play.

Food-wise, it’s not what it used to be. Once rich and flavourful, now it’s spicy, rushed, and frankly limited — both in cuisine and in customer care. It’s like they’ve burned all their recipes along with their reputation.

Honestly, the only thing that’s consistent here is the chaos. Disorganised mess after disorganised mess. At this point, calling Ashes the “best Indian restaurant in Birmingham” is like calling a broken rickshaw the fastest car on the road.

Ashes? More like Ashtrays. Once you were fire. Now you’re just smoke...