lasan restaurant

on a recent visit i have to say i was blown away.
menu: exceptional
cleanliness: exceptional
staff: superb
cost: tad expensive but worth it.

every so often i visit a restaurant that totally blows my mind. lasan in birmingham is such a restaurant. having been obsessed with the great british menu last year during the olympics in london it has been my goal to visit the restaurants of certain chefs from that show, which i particularly like. daniel clifford's restaurant is next week and lasan was my most recent. aktar islam is a very talented young chef. perhaps a little too talented. what i mean by this is that his cooking is perhaps a little confusing and stylized for some people and perhaps doesn't fit into any category. lasan is like a brilliant high end french bistro, but with indian flavors. so those looking for classical indian dishes will be disappointed. you won't find a chicken madras or vindaloo anywhere on this menu. and dishes are not served up in piles of saucy, lumpiness like every other indian restaurant i've ever been to. it is delicately and meticulously placed on the plate. when i booked lasan i expected to se

rich food. visited lasan a couple of years ago for valentine's day after we enjoyed their food at the good food show at nec. the food and service is excellent, although the flavours are very rich (not a bad thing, but not something i'd personally choose on a regular basis). i particularly enjoyed the salmon tikka starter, and we loved the tandoori poussin dish at the good food show. great to see their popularity grow, i've been on their mailing list for a while and they have worked very hard to get to where they are now.

bad bad service. i have been to lasan twice in the past month. to sum up the first time, the food was good but the service was poor. the restaurant only offered a time of 6.30pm, even though they were almost empty the entire time of our stay. the waiter could barely speak english - in fact, i had to ask him to repeat himself numerous times. he also wouldn't leave us in private - he was at the table pouring out water every few minutes, or rearranging chairs or something on the table - he was very invasive of our space. we both left feeling very irritated by the service but happy with the food, particularly the paneer starter.

the second time was different - this time the service was very odd and the food was average. the restaurant only offered times of 6.30pm and 9pm. however, i managed to change the time to 8pm and the restaurant was half empty the entire time we were there. after ordering my paneer starter and paneer main, the waiter tried to convince me to order an alternative starter containing meat (the fact that i was ordering two vegetarian dishes should have been a clue that i'm a vegetarian!). my partner ordered the same starter but the waiter told him to order another dish - no explanation whatsoever. considering the main reason we went back after the first experience was for this starter, to be told we couldn't both have it was extremely disappointing and frustrating.

when the food came, my starter was cold. the main contained far too many chillies for a dish which wasn't meant to be hot, and the sauce didn't have much taste to it. one of the waiters who brought the food was also very abrupt - rude even, and something i don't expect in any restaurant, particularly an expensive one.

we won't be going back there - both of these visits have been for special occasions which have been marred by celebrating at lasan.

this place has excellent service and very welcoming and friendly staff. the food we ordered was all delicious and well prepared and arrived promptly after being ordered. for the price it is a very good deal. recommended!

i really enjoyed my time at this restaurant. authentic and tasty food. i ordered the lamb samosa for starters. it tasted great and the tamarind chutney was just the perfect dip for it. for mains, i had the makhan chicken with a side of mushroom ride. the chicken was well cooked and the sauce was just heavenly. it is creamy tomato and cashew sauce. also, i had a little thing on the house as a welcome treat and it was mouthwatering. highly recommended. service is as amazing as the food.

what good indian food in uk after a long time!! we started off with paneer tikka and paneer was succulent just like you get fresh ones in india and it was amazing with beetroot chutney and what not!!

for mains we had aloo gobhi, paneer saag and dal makhani with tandoori roti and naan and i just felt i was having food in delhi. it is difficult to find good indian food in uk, so this was a good change. 

the portions are a bit small or you can say that the food is pricey but then again, this is a michelin star restaurant.

i used to live almost directly above lasan. it was the ultimate temptation; my arrival home from work each day coincided perfectly with the start of dinner service. exotic scents wafted out of the restaurant as i lugged my bag upstairs, causing numerous tantrums as i peered into the fridge and realised dinner would be nowhere near that enjoyed by those seated downstairs.

now this was one fabulous experience from the word go. i chanced upon lasan rather randomly, when i was in a last minute fix to reserve a table for a birthday and everything else in birmingham seemed full or unaccommodating. although the name seemed questionable (garlic?), i did not have many alternatives and made a quick reservation for lasan online. i was called back within minutes to confirm and inform me that kitchens would close 30 minutes after my reservation so i should feel free to arrive early. this was a pleasant change after a slew of rude restaurateurs earlier that day.

when i arrived, i was taken in by the sheer elegance of the decor. understated and minimalistic, yet classy, the ambience is very very inviting. an offer to put my coat in a 'cloakroom' bowled me over and evidenced what i was to expect during the next hour.

this is no ordinary indian quick bite restaurant. it is a sit-down at ease, several course fine dining experience. we were served pre-starters in the form of papad and pani puri, both delicious to begin with. our starters arrived shortly after, and i was immediately sold on the marvellous presentation of dishes. the dahi kebab i had were delicious and yet not too filling to leave me unexcited about the mains.

for mains, the nilgiri paneer was a seemingly small portion, but rich and filling. it was a wonderful culmination of spinach gravy and tandoori paneer, nothing like i have ever eaten before. the pahadi dal was a great combination of 3 lentils, again quite filling. we chose the bread basket, with assorted rotis and also a garlic and coriander naan, which was the best i have ever tasted. soft and full of flavour, it complemented my meal beautifully.

to add more value to this meal, the service here is outstanding. no complaints whatsoever on this count. whilst i was leaving, i was asked if i wanted to call for a taxi. while these may seem like insignificant details, i have grown accustomed to the lack of adherence to the spirit of hospitality in the uk dining industry and things like these really make up for an overall incompetence.

i wouldn't call the meal cheap but with the entire experience, i was expecting a larger dent in my wallet.

all in all, i am more than pleased that i stumbled upon lasan and i am only too convinced that gordon ramsay did well by recommending it.

walking in makes one feel immediately relaxed. the food was an experience, down to a good house merlot. the experience was that of the tongue reawakening, from the immense flavour. this only complemented the same phenomenon that had occurred to the eyes only moments before. the food was satisfying, and the service was attentive, and warm. there was no pressure to buy more than one could eat, reinforced by a message at the end of the dessert menu, not to overindulge.

the morning after my friends wedding, i was very keen to make an early move and drive back down south. my fiancee on the other hand was very keen to have some lunch in birmingham before heading home. in particular she wanted to have some curry. with nothing planned, i quickly searched a couple of restaurants to see which were opened for sunday lunch and was pleasantly surprised that aktar islam’s restaurant was. i quickly booked a table for the two of us before quickly packing up and checking out from our hotel.

few restaurants garner local adoration like lasan. since a young and ambitious aktar islam swept to glory on ramsay’s f word five years ago, we have seen his elaborate cooking style develop and timekeeping skills worsen over two series of great british menu, amongst many other cooking programmes. lasan has become synonymous with transporting the curry away from the balti triangle and in to more refined parts of the city, taking with it a fresh approach to the cuisine, from improved ingredient quality to elegant presentation.  ask anyone local for a recommendation of where to eat and lasan will inevitably come up, regardless whether or not they have actually been there.  the city of birmingham likes to claim the curry as our own; its only natural we want one of our local stars to sit amongst the higher echelons.

food , presentation , ambiance...top class

staff are very efficient , service is brilliant.

food is 5* ,a really good atmosphere and for the quality of food the price was very reasonable.

food is of the the highest quality- not too spicy, but full of flavour. lasan certainly lives up to its reputation.

a little steep with the prices . the decor and bar set up looks great . service superb . macher jhol is def worth tasting . ice cream with blackberry is yummy !!

perhaps the most famous indian restaurant in birmingham, lasan sits tucked in a quiet street around the corner from st paul’s square. it was the winner of tv’s prestigious great british menu in 2011. and it was also designated best local restaurant by gordon ramsay’s the f word. suffice it to say that the venue, led by head chef aktar islam, has become a bit of a culinary institution. we went along to try the new menu.

the interior somehow manages to combine old-world glamour and contemporary style, with a distinctly indian infusion. ornate, gilt-framed mirrors add to the feeling of space, while elegant statues of hindu gods cast their eyes over the simple dining room. we were sat beneath a wooden sitar, that stringed instrument whose haunting notes make indian music sound so, well, indian.

food

the new sunday summer banquet menu is designed for sharing. although we were presented with the menu for reference, this is a try-and-taste rather than a pick-and-choose experience. all the dishes listed are prepared and brought to the table for guests to enjoy.

our starters were wonderfully soft potato cakes, pakoras and onion bhajis, served with a trio of chutneys including tomato and mint coriander.

then the main courses, a selection of six dishes, accompanied by a basket of assorted naan breads. we ate keema mutter, minced lamb with green peas, dhaba murgh, a spicy chicken curry inspired by indian street food, and subzi jalfrezi, made with marinated vegetables and free of meat.

tarkari biryani, a delicately seasoned preparation of saffron-coloured rice, made the perfect accompaniment to these rich sauces. we were familiar with tarkewali dal, a lentil curry, but found salmon khatta a new experience. the fish imparted its flavours assertively, giving the curry a very distinctive character.

dessert was a vermicelli khmeer, that classic indian pudding of delicate sweet noodles in a creamy milk bath, flavoured with aromatic spices, almonds and dried fruits.

drink

for us, a chilean cabernet sauvignon was the smooth yet spicy accompaniment to this generous indian spread. only a few of the wines are available by the glass, including this one. look for valdivieso.

pricing

three courses, totalling twelve different dishes to sample altogether, costs £19.98 per person. children under 10 eat for £9.98.

updated:

2 course - £30.95
3 course - £35.95
4 course - £38.95