Mazaj Lounge & Restaurant

Head down to Balsall Heath and you'll find Mazaj tucked away on Moseley Road, a proper neighbourhood spot that's clearly doing something right if the ratings are anything to go by. You're walking into somewhere that takes its food seriously — the kind of place where they're not messing about with fusion nonsense, just executing the classics with real skill. The mezze is clearly the move here, with customers coming back for the grilled meats and that confident Middle Eastern cooking that makes you wonder why you ever bothered with the chain places in town.