Birmingham vs Manchester: Where to Eat Indian Food in Northern England

Birmingham and Manchester both claim to be Britain's best city for Indian food. They are good at different things: Birmingham owns the balti and the Kashmiri grill tradition, Manchester has the broader regional spread and the better South Indian cooking.

Birmingham: the Balti Triangle and beyond

The balti was invented in Birmingham in the 1970s — a genuinely British-Pakistani dish, cooked fast in a thin steel bowl and served in it. The Balti Triangle around Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath is where to eat one, ideally with a naan the size of a bin lid and no cutlery.

Birmingham's other strength is Kashmiri and Pakistani grilling: seekh kebabs, lamb chops, karahi cooked over fierce heat. Alum Rock Road and Stratford Road are the streets to walk.

Manchester: the Curry Mile and the newer wave

Rusholme's Curry Mile is the famous stretch, though its best years as a curry destination are arguably behind it — much of it has shifted towards Middle Eastern shisha cafes. The more interesting Indian cooking has moved outward: Levenshulme, Cheetham Hill, Longsight and the city centre.

Manchester's real advantage is range. It has serious Gujarati vegetarian kitchens, a genuine South Indian dosa scene, Sri Lankan and Keralan places, and a handful of ambitious modern Indian restaurants doing regional tasting menus.

So which city wins?

If you want one perfect meal of grilled meat and bread, go to Birmingham. If you want to eat across five regions of India in a weekend, go to Manchester. Neither city rewards eating in the obvious tourist stretch — in both cases, the best food is one or two neighbourhoods further out than the guidebooks suggest.

Also worth the trip

Leicester has arguably the finest Gujarati vegetarian food in Europe along the Golden Mile. Bradford remains unbeatable for Pakistani curry at low prices. Both are under two hours from either city.