Harborne Indian Kitchen's commitment to authentic Indian cuisine and warm hospitality has earned it the title of Restaurant of the Year at the local business awards. At 25 Lordswood Road in Harborne, Birmingham, the restaurant serves a menu of Britain's favourite classic Indian curries and balti dishes, bringing together traditional flavours, carefully prepared food and attentive service. It took its current name in May 2024, but it was previously the multi-award-winning Umami, and it has carried on that tradition of Indian dining under a new identity with the same passion for food and hospitality.
The win means a great deal to the team because it reflects the support of the customers who have made the restaurant part of the Harborne community. After more than 15 years in the area, Harborne Indian Kitchen is proud to call the neighbourhood home, and the award is another reason to celebrate its relationship with local diners.
Continuing a restaurant legacy in Harborne
As Umami, the business had already established itself as a multi-award-winning Indian restaurant with a reputation for quality food and customer service. When it moved to the Harborne Indian Kitchen name, the intention was not to leave that history behind but to carry forward what had made the restaurant special under a fresh identity. As the business explains, it continued the legacy “under a new name from May 2024 but with the same heart and soul.”
That continuity matters to a restaurant with longstanding customers. For regular diners, a favourite Indian restaurant becomes part of family celebrations, evenings with friends and the familiar routines that make a local community feel like home, and the team knows how much those connections are worth after so long in the area. Its approach remains the same: authentic Indian food in an elegant, welcoming setting, with the hospitality customers have come to appreciate. The new name is another chapter in a story shaped by the people who visit, and Restaurant of the Year is a fresh milestone as it carries that legacy forward.
Classic Indian curries and balti traditions
The restaurant is built on a love of the flavours that have made Indian cuisine such a popular part of Britain's food culture. Its classic curries and balti dishes give customers familiar favourites prepared with an emphasis on tradition and quality. For many diners, Indian food has a special place, whether it is a meal shared with family, a weekend evening out or an occasion worth celebrating, and the restaurant aims to pair those flavours with an atmosphere that makes dining out memorable.
The team describes its approach as serving authentic Indian food in an elegant and inviting environment, giving equal weight to the meal and the experience around it. Good hospitality means helping guests feel comfortable, making sure they enjoy their visit and giving them reasons to return, so customer service gets as much attention as the dishes leaving the kitchen. The restaurant takes pride in the care its staff put into preparing quality food and looking after guests each day, and that care has helped it keep its reputation through the change from Umami to Harborne Indian Kitchen. Restaurant names and dining trends come and go, but for the team good food and real hospitality still guide the experience they want every customer to have.
A reputation built on food and service
Over its years in Harborne, the restaurant has earned several recognitions for its food and service. The team is particularly proud of its five-star food hygiene rating, which reflects the importance it places on food safety. Customers want confidence in the standards kept behind the scenes as well as in the dishes they order, and everyone in the business sees the rating as an achievement to be proud of.
Another milestone is a Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Award, one of the restaurant's proudest because it comes from the experiences customers have shared. With diners having so many options, recognition through their feedback is especially rewarding, and it shows the value of concentrating on what matters most to guests: enjoyable food, attentive service and a pleasant meal. The restaurant has received other awards for its cuisine and customer care over its years in Harborne as well. The team knows, though, that a reputation has to be earned every day, with each service a chance to welcome customers and keep up the standards that built its following, and it treats the awards as encouragement to keep doing what it does best rather than a reason to become complacent.
Getting through hard times
Running a restaurant is demanding at the best of times, and Harborne Indian Kitchen has faced its share of difficulties. One of the biggest has been the rising cost of living, which has hit businesses and customers alike: higher costs force difficult decisions, and tighter household budgets affect how often people dine out. The restaurant has had to manage those pressures while still providing the food and service its customers expect.
The business also singles out the summer of 2026 as a particularly hard trading period, with the seasonal weather and the football World Cup arriving at the same time. The team had to stay adaptable and resourceful, concentrating on keeping the restaurant running and looking after its customers. As the restaurant explains, it was through “sheer grit, resourcefulness and determination” that the business managed to get through the period. Keeping an independent restaurant going over many years takes consistency, teamwork and the determination to keep giving people a good experience when times are hard, as well as good meals when things are going well. Those months reinforced how much the restaurant relies on its loyal customers and dedicated staff, and they make the Restaurant of the Year title, arriving after so much hard work and perseverance, all the more welcome.
More than 15 years in Harborne
After more than 15 years in the area, the restaurant considers Harborne its home. In that time it has built a strong connection with local residents and the wider community, and those relationships have continued through its change of name. The team speaks warmly about the support it has had, describing the community as wonderful, loving and supportive, and that loyalty has helped the restaurant through the ups and downs of the hospitality trade.
For an independent restaurant, regular customers make an enormous difference. Seeing familiar faces return, welcoming people who have been coming for years and introducing new diners all add to the sense of connection the team values. A restaurant also becomes part of an area's social life, a place where people spend time together, celebrate occasions and take a break from their everyday routines, and being part of that in a community it has called home for so long is something special to the team. That is why the award feels so personal: it comes from the people whose support has kept the business going and whose loyalty keeps the team motivated. For Harborne Indian Kitchen, the community is an essential part of its story, not just where it operates.
Supporting local football
Away from the dining room, Harborne Indian Kitchen has supported local sport in the Birmingham area. It has worked closely with local sports clubs, particularly football teams, sponsoring teams and various tournaments. Support from local businesses helps community sports organisations give people the chance to take part in activities they enjoy, and the restaurant values being able to contribute in this way. Football clubs and tournaments are an important part of local life, connecting players, supporters, families and volunteers through a shared interest.
For a business that has spent more than 15 years building relationships in Harborne, contributing to the wider community comes naturally, and its backing for local sport reflects its appreciation of the people and organisations that make Birmingham's neighbourhoods good places to live and work. Restaurants and sports clubs are very different places, but both bring people together. The restaurant is proud to have supported local football teams and tournaments, and the involvement strengthens its connection to the area and its wish to remain part of local life.
Why every customer matters
Asked for a single customer story that sums up why it does what it does, the team finds it hard to choose. After so many years serving Harborne, there are too many experiences and relationships to single out, and every customer has played some part in the story of the business. Some have supported the restaurant for many years, while others have found it more recently under its new name. Each visit is a chance to offer hospitality, share the team's love of Indian cuisine and give someone a good meal out.
The team does not take loyalty for granted. People have choices about where to spend their time and money, and every decision to visit is appreciated. For the restaurant, the relationships built with diners mean as much as the awards it has received along the way. Customers have stuck with it through different stages, including the change from Umami to its current identity, and their encouragement has kept the team motivated through the challenges of running a business. That is why it sees the latest award as belonging as much to its customers as to the people behind the scenes, and why it would rather celebrate the support of everyone who has helped the restaurant become what it is today than pick out one memorable moment.
An emotional win
Being named Restaurant of the Year was a moment of enormous pride for the team. After years of serving the local community and working through the challenges of the hospitality industry, the news brought real excitement, and the team's reaction was one of delight and gratitude, particularly for the support customers had shown. The award recognises the relationships built with diners, the dedication of the staff and the commitment it takes to keep a restaurant going over many years, as well as the food, and the team describes the achievement as both proud and personal.
Above all, the restaurant wants to celebrate its customers. As the business explains, “This award is more for our customers than anything else. Their feedback and kindness is what motivates us to do what we do each day.” The award is something positive to share with the people who have supported the restaurant, many of them for years. It is also an important moment for the staff who work tirelessly to prepare food, welcome guests and deliver the standard of service the business prides itself on, and knowing that effort has been recognised is very rewarding. It gives the team a reason to celebrate what has been achieved, to keep its standards high and to thank the Harborne community for its loyalty and encouragement.
The team behind every meal
The restaurant is just as proud of the people who work hard behind the scenes. A consistently enjoyable meal out depends on everyone in the business, from preparing the food to welcoming guests and looking after them throughout their visit, so the award is a shared achievement that recognises the care put into the everyday running of the restaurant as well as the food. The restaurant is especially grateful to the staff who work hard to produce quality dishes and provide what it describes as impeccable customer service.
Hospitality can be demanding, with busy services, changing customer expectations and the practical challenges of running a restaurant, and teamwork and a shared commitment to doing the job well see it through. Customers experience the restaurant through many small interactions: a warm welcome, helpful service and the quality of a meal all shape the impression someone takes away. Every member of the team has a hand in creating that atmosphere, and the award is a welcome chance to acknowledge their contribution.
Celebrating with Harborne
After the announcement, the team is most excited about sharing the news with its customers and hearing their reactions. Rather than major announcements or ambitious expansion plans, its immediate focus is on enjoying the achievement with its community, which says a great deal about the restaurant. After more than 15 years in Harborne, the team knows its success has been built on the continued support of local diners, and sharing the award with them is a large part of what makes winning special.
The business also hopes the award will give people extra confidence in choosing Harborne Indian Kitchen for an Indian meal. From its classic curries and balti dishes to the hospitality of its team, it remains committed to the qualities that built its reputation. The name changed in 2024, but the business is clear that its connection to the community is as strong as ever, and it sees Restaurant of the Year as another milestone in a long Harborne story rather than an ending. Its message to customers is that it values their support, appreciates their loyalty and intends to remain part of the community it calls home.
A thank you to customers and staff
The team's first thanks go to the customers whose loyalty, kindness and support have sustained the restaurant over the years. The business calls those relationships its most prized asset. Every visit, recommendation and word of encouragement has played a part, and the team wants customers to know how much that means. More than 15 years in Harborne have given the restaurant a deep appreciation for the community around it, a connection that has carried the business through difficult periods and given it the motivation to keep serving quality food with warm hospitality.
The team is also very grateful to its staff, whose hard work and dedication keep the restaurant running day to day, from the people preparing dishes in the kitchen to those looking after diners. The award is something to share with everyone who has helped build and maintain the restaurant's reputation, the result of years of commitment and countless conversations with customers. Asked what it would most like to say to them, the restaurant keeps it simple:
“Thank you for all your love and support, this award is for you!”