Where to eat after a day out in Birmingham: Indian near the city centre

If you are looking for an Indian restaurant near Birmingham city centre after a day at the Bullring, New Street or the canals, take a short hop into the Jewellery Quarter and finish at Aara, 108-109 Icknield Street. We cook dishes from right across India, serve the full menu from 12:00 every day, and you can book a table before you even leave the shops.

This is not a list of every restaurant in town. It is a simple trail: three places your day out in Birmingham probably already includes, the easiest way out of each, and dinner at the end of it. Each stop links to its official page, so you can check times before you go.

Stop 1: the Bullring and Grand Central

For most visitors, a day in the city starts at Bullring & Grand Central. Grand Central sits on top of New Street station, so the shopping and the trains are part of the same trip. If you drive in, the centre's visit page lists three official car parks (Bullring Centre, Moor Street and Edgbaston Street) plus the Grand Central car park. It also reminds drivers that Birmingham's Clean Air Zone is active in the wider city centre, so check your vehicle before you travel.

If you prefer something more traditional, the council's Bull Ring Indoor Market on Edgbaston Street is one of the UK's largest fish markets. It also sells meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables and household goods, and is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00am to 5:30pm. That closing time works well for a dinner booking: finish the market, then head over to the Quarter.

Stop 2: New Street station

Birmingham New Street is where many day trips begin and end, and Network Rail describes it as a major transport and shopping hub. If your train home is later in the evening, you do not need to spend the gap on the concourse.

The Grand Central tram stop is right by the station entrance, on Stephenson Street (West Midlands Metro). Take a tram towards Wolverhampton and get off at Jewellery Quarter, on Vyse Street (stop details). Birmingham Museums puts the tram trip from Grand Central to Jewellery Quarter at about eight minutes. Then, when you have eaten, the same tram takes you back to New Street.

Stop 3: the canals

If your day includes a walk by the water, the Canal & River Trust's city-centre walk is a one-mile route between Livery Street, by Snow Hill, and the Mailbox. On the way it passes the Farmer's Bridge Locks, Old Turn Junction and Gas Street Basin. Look out for lines of poetry carved into the lock arms at Lock 8. At Lock 9, under Newhall Street Bridge, the Trust notes that the Jewellery Quarter is just to the west.

Walk the route from the Mailbox end and you finish at Livery Street, beside Snow Hill. From Snow Hill, the Jewellery Quarter is one stop by West Midlands Railway train, which Birmingham Museums describes as a three-minute journey. Both the train and the tram stop at Jewellery Quarter station on Vyse Street.

The last stop: the Jewellery Quarter

Visit Birmingham describes the Jewellery Quarter as the home of British jewellery, with more than 100 independent retailers and craftspeople, over 200 listed buildings and World Craft City status. It is a calmer place to end a busy day than the main shopping streets.

Aara is on Icknield Street, the same street the council lists for Key Hill Cemetery, on the western side of the Quarter. From Jewellery Quarter station, use your maps app for the last stretch. If you have come by car, there are three free parking spaces in front of the restaurant and free parking on Pope Street.

What to order after a day on your feet

Our menu cooks right across India, so a group that wants different things can all order well.

To share while you settle in: Chicken 65, Malabar chicken, Apollo fish or a street-style chilli sauté in paneer or chicken, with poppadoms and the mint & tamarind chutneys.

From the South: the Andhra chicken fry, the Telangana mutton curry and the Madras chicken carry the heat and spice of the dishes we grew up with. Our slow-sealed dum biryanis come in vegetable, chicken, lamb or king prawn, with bagara rice if you want a fragrant rice on the side.

From the North and the tandoor: butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, paneer tikka masala and dal tadka, with tandoori naan or tandoori butter roti. Our tikkas are marinated and chargrilled in the tandoor, and the tikka platter is an easy order for a table that cannot decide.

To finish: a Masala chai after a long day of walking, or a mango lassi with kulfi.

We use halal meat in our meat dishes. There is plenty for vegetarians too, from paneer tikka and soya chaap tikka to chana masala and the vegetable dum biryani.

Plan your evening

We serve the full menu from 12:00 every day, until 22:00 Sunday to Thursday and 23:00 on Friday and Saturday, so a late lunch after the market works as well as dinner. If you are coming straight from the shops on a Friday or Saturday evening, book ahead.

Aara, 108-109 Icknield Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B18 6RZ.

Coming from the office on a weeknight? See a proper weekday dinner near Birmingham city centre.