A proper weekday dinner near Birmingham city centre (no chain curry)

If you want a weekday dinner in Birmingham that is better than a chain curry, take the tram from the city centre to the Jewellery Quarter and eat at Aara on Icknield Street. Our kitchen runs from 12:00 to 22:00 Monday to Thursday, walk-ins are welcome when we have tables, and you can book or call ahead before you leave the office.

That is the short answer. The rest of this post covers how to get here after work, what to order whether your table leans north or south, and how to sort a team dinner without a long email chain.

Why leave the city centre for a Tuesday dinner?

Most weekday dinners in town follow the same pattern. Somewhere near the office, a menu that reads the same in every city, and a curry that tastes like it came from a central kitchen. It is fine. It is rarely the meal anyone talks about the next morning.

Aara is one independent kitchen with one menu, cooked by people who grew up on these dishes. Our tikkas are marinated overnight and finished in the tandoor. Our biryani pots are slow-sealed and cooked dum, so everything finishes together in the pot. And we cook from across India, so the colleague who always orders butter chicken and the one who wants real heat both leave happy.

The Jewellery Quarter itself makes the trip worth it. Visit Birmingham describes it as a Conservation Area with over 200 listed buildings and more than 100 independent retailers and craftspeople. After a day of screens and meetings, it is a calmer place to sit down than the main shopping streets.

Getting here after work

From New Street or the Bullring side of town. The Grand Central tram stop sits right at the entrance of New Street station on Stephenson Street. Take a West Midlands Metro tram towards Wolverhampton and get off at Jewellery Quarter, on Vyse Street. Birmingham Museums puts the trip from Grand Central to the Jewellery Quarter at about eight minutes.

From Colmore Row and the business district. The same tram line runs through the office core. West Midlands Metro describes its Bull Street stop as being in the heart of the Colmore Business District, and St Chad's, on Livery Street, as an easy commute to Colmore too. From either, stay on towards Wolverhampton: after St Paul's, the next stop is Jewellery Quarter.

From Snow Hill. If you are already at Snow Hill station, the Jewellery Quarter is one stop away by West Midlands Railway train. Birmingham Museums describes it as a three-minute journey. Trams and trains both call at Jewellery Quarter station on Vyse Street, and from there your maps app will take you the last stretch to Icknield Street.

Heading home. If your train home leaves from New Street, the tram back to Grand Central drops you at the station entrance. Check the Metro journey planner for the last services on the night.

What to order on a weeknight

You do not need to know the menu. Here is how most weekday tables order.

Something to share while everyone arrives: poppadoms with the mint & tamarind chutneys, then Chicken 65, Malabar chicken, Apollo fish or the street-style chilli sauté with paneer or chicken.

From the tandoor: chicken tikka, malai chicken tikka, lamb sheek kebab and lamb chops, or paneer tikka and soya chaap tikka for vegetarians. If the table cannot decide, the tikka platter settles it.

The North Indian favourites: butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, paneer tikka masala, chicken korma, bhuna masala and dal tadka, with tandoori naan (butter or garlic) or tandoori butter roti. These are the dishes most people mean when they say "a curry", cooked the way we would want to eat them.

From the South: the Andhra chicken fry is fiery, on the bone, with curry leaves and our house spice blend. The Telangana mutton curry is slow-cooked and deep, with roasted poppy seeds and dry coconut. The Madras chicken and South Indian fish masala sit in between. Add poori or bagara rice if you want to eat it the way we do at home.

The one to share: our slow-sealed dum biryanis come in vegetable, chicken, chicken tikka, lamb or king prawn, in regular or large. A large in the middle of the table is the easiest group order there is.

To finish: a Masala chai, a mango lassi or kulfi before the tram home.

We use halal meat in our meat dishes. If anyone at your table has an allergy, add a note to your booking and mention it again when you arrive.

Booking for one, two or the whole team

• Two or three of you on a weeknight: walk in, or book online at /book for a confirmed table.
• A team dinner: book online and add anything we should know in the notes.
• Parties of 12 or more: please call 0121 389 9882 so we can set the room up properly.
• Fridays: we are open until 23:00, and bookings are recommended at weekends.

Aara is a South Indian restaurant at heart, with the North Indian classics cooked properly alongside, which is exactly why it works for a mixed office table.

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

Spending the whole day in town? See where to eat after a day out in Birmingham.