Birmingham's central restaurants long had a reputation as soulless places which emptied quickly, but this state of affairs has changed dramatically, with smart, new venues sprouting up in the slipstream of the growth in the conference- and trade-fair business, particularly along Broad Street, near the ICC. There's also a concentration of decent, reasonably priced restaurants in the Chinese Quarter, just south of New Street station, on and around Hurst Street. Birmingham's gastronomic speciality is the balti , a delicious and astoundingly cheap Kashmiri stew cooked and served in a small wok-like dish called a karahi , with nan bread instead of cutlery. Although balti houses have opened up within the city centre, the original and arguably the best balti houses are in the gritty suburbs of Balsall Heath , a couple of miles to the south of the centre, and Sparkhill , about three miles to the southeast. Some of these are listed here - all are unlicensed, so take your own booze.

City centre pubs vary as much as you'd expect. The liveliest, catering for a mixed bag of conference delegates and Brummies-out-on-the-ale, are liberally sprinkled along Broad Street, in the immediate vicinity of the Convention Centre, and in Brindley Place. Most of them are decorated in sharp, modern style, but there are one or two more traditional places here as well - as there are in other parts of the city centre.

Nightlife in Birmingham is thriving, and the club scene is recognized as one of Britain's best, spanning everything from word-of-mouth underground parties to meat-market mainstream clubs. There's a particular emphasis on special/specialist nights with leading DJs turning up at different venues on different nights. Live music is strong in the city, too, with big-name concerts at several major venues and other, often local bands appearing at some clubs and pubs. Birmingham's showpiece Symphony Orchestra and Royal Ballet are the spearheads of the city's resurgent high-cultural scene. The social calendar also gets an added boost from a wide range of up-market festivals , including the Jazz Festival in the first two weeks in July, and the Film and TV Festival in November.

For current information on all events, performances and exhibitions, pick up a free copy of the excellent, fortnightly What's On , Birmingham's definitive listings guide. It's available at all of the tourist offices and many public venues.