Lavang — Restaurant in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Discovered this gem whilst staying away with work. Absolute prime location for residents and serving the community wonderfully well. From the street, the restaurant looks well, contempory gold writing on a black background. The frontage is nicely segregated using black barriers on chrome stands, with black veranda. The area is finished off with two pre-lit plants. Internally, the decor has a touch of class with chasing faux floral features and blossom trees - not your typical Indian restaurant interior.

I read the reviews, checked the menu, and decided this was were we would go for dinner. Given it was a Wednesday, it didn't even cross my mind that I might have needed to book. First fail on my part. I drove past and noticed how busy it was. I convinced my colleague that this was a positive, not a negative. We sheepishly walked in, apologising for not booking, and pretty much expected a Mary and Joseph moment - sorry, no room at the inn! However, accommodation was made for us, and we were seated instantly. The waiter gave us menu's and explained that they didn't serve alcoholic drinks, but we could go to the One Stop (couple of doors down) and we could bring our own drinks. We opted for soft drinks, as we didn't actually mind not drinking alcohol. We had poppadoms and chutney tray, meat samosa starter, chicken tikka, chicken bhuna, pilau / boiled rice, chips, and garlic naan. When our starters arrived, they did some funky Heston Blumenthal smokey dry ice display, which was pretty cool. Our mains were super hot, absolutely no bacteria growing on them anytime soon - piping!! By the end, we we stuffed. Overall, the food was very good. Service, second to none. Price fantastic - had to check twice that they hadn't forgotten anything, but no, it was correct. My only slight gripe, and not directly related to the restaurant/meal/service etc., but as it was a warm day/evening, the main door was open, which was actually a welcomed pleasure initially, until other diners stood near the entrance smoking, and the smell obviously travelled inside. As a non smokers, I dislike the odour, more so when I am eating. It's possibly not the best spot for smokers to stand, and I would look to discourage it.

Not to take anything away from Lavang, because they were superb! I would recommend, and I am totally envious that this restaurant is the next to my house!!

Next time we are in Birmingham, we will...

WOW!!! So glad we gave this place a try!

I went here with my wife after being recommended it by a friend. We drove there (plenty of parking around outside) and were greeted by Mohan who was brilliant from the get go, so friendly, and welcoming. Definitely ask for his recommendations if you need help picking!

We ordered the lamb chops as a starter - we've had these from other Indian restaurants and they have been dry and chewy but these were so great, I'm not sure the sauce/marinade they have used but it was incredibly tasty, and moist. Not chewy at all.

Mains - I ordered the Butternut squash chicken curry (after having seen this on their website), served in the Butternut squash. I don't think I've ever had a curry like that before. Delicious. My wife ordered the North Indian Naga King Prawn - she loves the king prawn currys but last time we ordered a curry like this from a restaurant in Birmingham they were really cheap with the ingredients - putting only 2 king prawns in the curry! That wasn't the case at all for Lavang they put loads in there and it had a good kick of spice. The taka daal was also a great addition (would recommend picking a vegetarian dish to go along with your other currys because they are relatively inexpensive around £5ish).

Also the Butternut Squash curry came with rice on the plate (so maybe ask if your dish comes with rice before ordering extra).

We were so stuffed afterwards but we were recommended the desserts - we don't usually order deserts after curry but so glad we decided to have the Lemon posset to share. It was incredibly light and refreshing with a passion fruit top, the perfect end to a brilliant meal.

Overall we had such a lovely time, the food and service were just amazing! We eat out quite regularly but we haven't had a meal this good in a long time.

We will definitely be...

We went as a party of 4 and from the moment we walked in the staff made us feel welcomed and valued. This was our first visit (won’t be our last) and we wanted to see if it was as good as the reviews said it was. We were expecting very good things from reading the Google reviews but our expectations were exceeded by a country mile. The food was incredible, the meat was fresh and tender….who needs a knife when it falls apart. The flavour of all the dishes we had were a burst of flavours in your mouth that made you want another mouthful even when you were full. The deserts are handmade not frozen rubbish most places use and I have to say that by far they made the best chocolate mousse cake I’ve ever had it was light and fluffy and tasted incredible. The lamb madras was the best curry I’ve ever tasted and to be fair the honey glazed lamb chops were incredible too. Throughout our experience staff were friendly and attentive. I can’t remember the last time I went for a meal and smiled so much throughout. An absolutely incredible experience and definitely up there as one of the best restaurants I’ve visited. We will definitely be back very soon.

The reviews don’t do it justice if you like a good curry come and give this place a try you won’t be...