Results tagged “Lasan” from Birmingham Mail - Restaurant Spy

Eating out is a treat. So imagine the pleasure of eating out at two of Birmingham's finest restaurants on the same day.

First came a cookery school followed by a four-course lunch at Simpson's. Then that night I sampled numerous new dishes at Lasan based on the management's recent tour of India.

Strangely enough, next day I wasn't very hungry at all.

But suddenly, the appeal of trousers with elasticated waistbands seems all too apparent...

Forget the "credit crunch". There's a much better phrase to describe the predicament of the world's financial institutions.

My wife and I last night went out for dinner at the excellent Lasan with a couple of Spanish lecturers who are involved with the course my wife runs at BCU.

One used the wonderful phrase "bank cramp" when struggling to find the right words to describe the current situation.

Somehow I can't get rid of the mental image of Alistair Darling, physio's bag and wet sponge in hand, rushing into RSB's board room and vigorously massagng the seized-up limbs of the chief executive.

Maharaja has been serving great quality curries for nearly 40 years and I've been a fan for longer than I care to disclose.

It underwent a major refurb in the summer and now looks light and airy, though the standard of the food and welcome remain unchanged.

My visit set me thinking about how many superb curry houses we have in Birmingham and I decided to work out my top five.

They'd be (in no particular order):

Buffets are not my favourite way of eating. Quality is too often sacrificed for quantity and they are generally the domain of gluttons rather than gourmets.

But last night I visited Lasan for a special Punjabi buffet that was being held and to say I was very impressed indeed would be an understatement.

The deftly spiced and well balanced dishes would have been top-notch had they been served a la carte rather than as a buffet.

Highlights included sassy and crumbly lamb koftas and a rich dish of black lentils. Breads, too, were excellent.

Imitation, so the saying goes, is the sincerest form of flattery. So I guess Birmingham's superb Lasan restaurant should be very flattered indeed.

I met Lasan's charming and innovative owner Jabbar Khan for lunch yesterday and he told me a fabulous story about a recent trip to India.

He was sitting in Mumbai railway station leafing through a local paper when he came across an advertisement for a local restaurant...carrying a picture of one of Lasan's dishes and describing it as one of the Mumbai restaurant's specialities.