Indian Cafe Racer Opens New 65-Cover Restaurant in Birmingham
Indian Cafe Racer has relocated from a pub backroom to a permanent 65-cover restaurant on Bristol Street in Birmingham B5, marking an expansion for the homespun eatery Azad Kayes.
From Pub Backroom to Bristol Street Expansion
The restaurant originally operated in the fledgling years tucked behind a curtain at the back of the Wellington pub just a few doors up from its fancy new home. That initial iteration featured a Royal Enfield motorcycle, chequerboard floors, and a psychedelic Indian soundtrack. The homespun spot quickly became oversubscribed and forced a move to larger premises at 88-90 Bristol Street, Birmingham B5. The dining room features large glass windows facing a dual carriageway and maintains an interior that errs on the dark side with wipeable tables and paper menus.
Operating hours run for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday between noon and 4.30pm, and dinner is served all week from 5pm to 11pm. À la carte dining costs from about £30 a head, excluding drinks and service. The dining room offers an ever-changing menu featuring dishes such as shaktiman and salad named after an Indian comic-book superhero, gol gappa, chicken pepper fry, and grilled aubergine and portobello mushrooms known as farzi steak. Additional menu items include papdi chat, gobi manchurian, chilli chicken, dahi puri, chicken 65, spiced lamb chops, tandoori king prawns in house masala, slow-cooked Rajastani lamb finished with smoked charcoal and butter, dal makani, and naans.
Indian Cafe Racer Counters Balti Triangle Decline
South Birmingham’s Balti triangle once featured 30 bustling restaurants along Ladypool Road and Stratford Road, but only two now remain, pointing to a sharp shift in supply and demand across the district. Indian Cafe Racer counters this local trend by drawing inspiration from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata, alongside Indo-Chinese small plates and a cocktail bar serving drinks named Angry Young Man, Red Carpet, and Tiger Rides Bike, as well as karak chai and Bombay Bicycle IPA.
The brand’s name traces back to the lads who raced motorbikes such as the Royal Enfield between roadside cafes in the 1960s. That particular motorcycle was once manufactured in nearby Redditch before production shifted to Chennai, creating an industrial circle that the modern restaurant completes.