Curry house to open in high street

AN curry house is to open in the home of a former Michelinstarred restaurant which closed unexpectedly.

Turners at 69, in Harborne High Street, will re-open as an Indian restaurant run by the owners of Umami, in nearby Lordswood Road.

The new restaurant, called Tiffin, will open in late February.

Acclaimed chef-owner Richard Turner closed his restaurant in January, after securing a deal with Umami co-owner Abdul Hoque, to take over the lease.

Tiffin, described as “a casual down-to-earth eatery”, will have more in common with the curry houses in the Balti triangle than Umami, renowned for its fine dining style of north Indian cuisine. Since opening in 2015, Umami has won rave reviews from foodies and even counts Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and his Birmingham-born wife as regulars.

Umami manager Abdul Hoque told the Birmingham Post: “We have enjoyed immense success at Umami but it’s very much an upmarket dining experience.

“As we’ve discovered, there is a huge appetite for Indian food in Harborne but what is missing is somewhere casual.

“We have a lot of regulars but Umami is more of special occasion place – people in Harborne want to go somewhere they can just drop in for a bite to eat. We’ll be serving more traditional balti style dishes - for example lamb bhuna, chicken korma and our prices will reflect our down-to-earth menu.

“Of course the dishes will be simple, the focus will remain on quality. The space is small, we will do 30 covers and there is no bar, but we want to offer something cosy and homely.

“We will be making a few cosmetic changes to the Turners interior but nothing major.”