The Vittles Guide to Birmingham’s Chinatown
Lap-fai Lee recommends his favourite spots in Birmingham, a mixture of classic Cantonese spots and more recent regional specialists
Welcome to the Vittles Chinatowns Project. In this guide, Lap-fai Lee picks the best restaurants in Birmingham’s Chinatown, which is still primarily centred on the local Chinese community but has evolved with the advent of Chinese students and the recent influx of Hong Kong migrants.
You can read the rest of the project here:
Who is Chinatown for?, by Xiao Ma
The New Chinatowns, by Barclay Bram
Crying in Wing Yip, by various
The Vittles Guide to London’s Chinatowns, by various
The Vittles Guide to the UK’s Chinatowns (including individual guides to Manchester, Liverpool, Cambridge and Glasgow), by various
Birmingham’s Chinatown is not a tourist destination like the London equivalent. It is a living Chinatown; our businesses primarily cater to the local Chinese community. Growing up, we would go to Hor Tung for dim sum, but below the restaurant was a Chinese shop that seemed to sell everything, including copies of Hong Kong shows on VHS for rent. When the old Bull Ring was demolished, the Chinese community shifted its focus to The Arcadian, Hurst Street and Ladywell Walk, and more restaurants, Hong Kong-style bakeries, Cantonese BBQ joints and noodle shops started to open. When Chinese students arrived in the 2000s to study at Birmingham’s three universities, mainland Chinese flavours arrived with them. I will always remember my first taste of Sichuan boiled beef 水煮牛肉 – it was so different to the Cantonese and Hakka food I grew up eating at home.
With the recent influx of Hong Kong immigrants, the pendulum has swung back. The cha chaan teng diners are now in, bringing back that nostalgic colonial comfort food to dear old Blighty. With all the redevelopment in Southside – the district’s recent nomenclature – the area is now buzzing with activity and opportunity. Yet despite the changes, Chinatown continues to reflect the Birmingham spirit; it’s quiet and industrious, always self-deprecating. We’re confident in who we are and what we have to offer. All you have to do is come with an open mind. You will find something delicious, but more likely you will find a mind-blowing dish from a place you’ve never heard of, and it will change your life.
Peach Garden 桃苑 and Look In 樂意燒味 Cantonese/siu mei
Birmingham Chinatown is very good at Cantonese barbecue due, in large part, to the brothers who opened Peach Garden. Then they had a bust-up and one of them opened Look In. This is the city derby for Canto BBQ fans; you’re either Peach Garden Rovers or Look In Utd. But people who think there is a real difference between the two offerings are mistaken. They’re the same. The only real difference is in the timing because real barbecue fans know fresh is best. That’s why, when deciding where to go, you should simply peer through both windows at the lacquered roast meats. Analyse the crispness of the pork crackling and the juiciness of the char siu. Choose where to dine solely on what looks delicious right now. Peach Garden is slightly bigger. On Mondays and Tuesdays, if you come early enough, there is roast piglet available too.
Peach Garden, Unit 4–6 Bath Passage, Ladywell Walk, B5 4SZ
Look In, 6 Ladywell Walk, B5 4ST
After the paywall: recommendations for the best Cantonese, Sichuan, Shandong and Yunnanese cuisine – including the only good noodle specialist in Birmingham.