Banana Tree Birmingham Bullring ★9.7

A fully halal kitchen with a full bar behind it

Banana Tree Birmingham Bullring pulls off something the city’s pan-Asian scene rarely manages: the kitchen is entirely halal, and the bar still pours cocktails all evening. That one combination changes who can sit at the table: the friend ordering a Long Island Iced Tea and the friend who never would can share one menu, and neither has to compromise. Hence its standing as a big-group booking in a city centre where most Thai and Malaysian rooms force a choice.

The Concept · The Story

The brand is much older than this room. Banana Tree began more than thirty years ago as a small cafe in Maida Vale, opened by chef William Chow — an architect by training — on the argument that Southeast Asian cooking has no clean borders, so one menu can run from Thailand to Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia without apology. The group passed to the Big Table Group in 2022, and Birmingham arrived on 1 September 2023, taking over a unit the group’s own Cafe Rouge had vacated: 118 covers and ten new jobs. Two habits hold across the group — more than forty per cent of the menu is plant-based, and every order of Blackened Monks Noodles sends a fixed donation to Orangutan Appeal UK, a partnership now past its tenth year.

What to Order

The house classics are what people come back for: Pad Thai in tamarind and palm sugar with peanuts and crispy shallots, Singapore Laksa, chicken katsu curry, sticky Korean BBQ wings and steamed chicken dumplings. The newer end of the list shows the kitchen’s range — white miso ramen, char-grilled duck, grilled teriyaki salmon and Malaysian Kajang satay. Noodles come with an upgrade path rather than a fixed spec: soba arrives with steak, salmon or duck, and the Pad Thai has a steak version. Order the Blackened Monks Noodles if you want the plate with a story attached.

The Space

The restaurant sits on the upper level of the Bullring & Grand Central, a short walk from New Street Station and within sight of St Martin’s — a station stop as much as a shopping one. Inside, seating spreads over two floors around a busy central bar, in the warm-wood-and-neon register of a night market rather than a dining room; outside, a wooden patio takes the overflow in fair weather. Because the room is split across levels, the noise never settles evenly — the bar end is loud and sociable, the upper seating calmer.

Good to Know

Is the food halal? Yes — the kitchen is fully halal, while alcohol is served at the bar.

What is the cocktail deal? Two-for-one on cocktails and mocktails runs all day, every day, rather than inside a fixed happy hour.

Are there set evenings worth planning around? Wednesdays are Noodle Nights for club members, bottomless bowls run Sunday to Thursday, bottomless brunch is a weekend fixture.

Is it a good choice for vegans? Yes — over forty per cent of the menu is plant-based, built in-house rather than bought in.

Will it suit a large group? It seats well over a hundred across two floors, and the sharing-led menu makes mixed groups straightforward.

Opening hours