This restaurant really does it for me. I am a regular visitor so I can tell you that even when its busy they maintain a high standard of food.
The Butter Chicken is to die for, seriously I have never tasted a dish so absolutely full of flavour and totally perfect. Sizzling starters are also fabulous and spiced just right, hot but with a depth of flavour.
The chicken tikka is wonderful as is the tandoori fish starter. I have tried a number of dishes on the menu and the only one that disappointed the tandoori chicken, which was bland at best.
The service is very good and the staff are welcoming and comical, which makes your evening out so much more enjoyable.
The atmosphere is great and the decor modern but still feels warm.
I genuinely couldn't recommend it enough, but maybe I should think twice in case I have to wait for a table :-)

I've been a regular Friday night patron of the Al Frash for a while now, having defected from the Punjab Paradise after a particularly dreadful service.

The decor is nice, and the chaps running the service, led by Jay are friendly and efficient. Right from the off they were eager to please and do a great job of keeping everything moving.

Popadoms are great (never having that tell-tale taste of old or burnt oil which always find a very worrying start). The accompaniments are fine, including the flame-thrower red dip Andy mentions, which I would guess is a combination of Tamarind and Chili. Whatever it is it makes a welcome addition to the normal rosta of raita and onion salad. For those of us who appreciate a bit of a kick, its a welcome warm up for the palette.

The mixed grill starter is very good. Especially, for some reason, the onions on the bottom of the sizzle plate, which I think have been kept in lemon water. This gives them a very appetising citrus edge. The sheek kebabs are full of flavour, and as hot as you'd expect, the tikka is good and the chicken wings tasty.

I tend to stick to a straight chicken balti, hot, sometimes with the addition of black-beans. This is a mouth-watering combination which I can hole-heartedly recommend. The balti is full of flavour, not just heat but with a depth of flavour that comes from expert cooking rather than the rushed approach you find in some balti houses, where the spices have not been given the time to cook properly. I've been to the Al Frash at peak times on a Friday and the dishes are still properly cooked - the consistency is very, very impressive.

My wife is dieting and so goes for the tandoori option. She reports that the chicken tikka main course is very good, if rather hot, but that the tandoori chicken main course is very disappointing. Her comment was that it was just chicken, and not very good chicken at that. The accompanying salad is present, and thats about it. Not much effort is made to accompany a dry, tandoori style main course with a generous salad which is a disappointment.

The nan bread is as good as any I've tried. Crisp, fluffly, the business.

The Al Frash is one of the more expensive establishments in Ladypool Road, but is worth it. Mind you, we're talkgin about £2-3 above the norm, not breaking the bank!

In conclusion, the food is great, but above all, consistent. This alone makes it worth a recommendation. Throw in the friendly, humourous and efficient service and it is a winning combination.

Give them a try!

The restaurant has been established for quite a long time but in recent years Al Frash has become a little bit Al Flash decorwise with its abstract masterpieces including the famous ‘Balti Eating at Sunset’.

However the most important question was whether the food would justify the restaurant’s claim to be the No1 Balti Restaurant in Birmingham. Certainly the signs were promising with a packed dining area, even on a Wednesday night.

Things started off well with some excellent poppadums and a trio of dips ranging from a mild mint yoghourt dip to a chilli variety of flame thrower strength…a real culinary ying and yang. All served up on Al Frash logoed plates…lepidopteramists among you can decide whether the butterfly is genuine or just a Balti butterfly!

Starters were a shared mixed grill sizzler with tasty tikkas (if slightly salty), sleek sheekh kebabs and a selection of wings and ‘niblets’. However it was the main course that was the real highlight with my sizzling bowl of Balti Chicken and Aubergine absolutely superb with the bonus of the aubergine being tender without disintergrating into an anonymous slush. The bowl was scraped absolutely clean with the aid of a deliciously honeyed Peshwari naan. My companion was equally pleased with his Balti King Prawn Pasanda which was in the Henry VII class in its kingliness with masses of prawns floating in a sea of spicy creaminess. Incidentally this wasn’t my first visit to this butterfly Baltihouse and I can heartedly recommend the Meetha Gosht (spiciness and sweetness beautifully balanced), White Rose (an unusual Cashew Nut take on a Korma) and the Balti Aphrodisiac (which is positively dangerous in mixed company!).

As a bonus the service was great with a couple of enthusiastic young guys serving things up with a disarming combo of efficiency and humour. One of the slightly pricier baltis but still brilliant value for money for a superbly enjoyable meal. This is one butterfly that is a real catch!

ANDY MUNRO