For Aktar Islam, cooking is a process of discovery. Each dish on the extensive tasting menu at his two Michelin star restaurant, Opheumit’s the result of years of curiosity and cultivation—something you can taste in each course. The restaurant, an oasis of calm on a busy street in the center of Birmingham, showcases the breadth of Indian cuisine across 10 courses, from an elevated take on Delhi’s aloo tuk to a West Bengal-inspired fish stew called amla tok.
Instead of focusing on a particular area, as many Indian restaurants do, Opheem tells the story of a British chef who grew up in a multicultural city with immigrant parents. Islam, 46, has spent his entire career exploring the possibilities of Indian flavors, ingredients and culture.
“My parents are from Bangladesh and West Bengal, and I’ve had the cultural delicacies that I was brought up with and understood,” he told the Observer, speaking from the dining room of his casual London restaurant. In 1722which opened in April. “But I was also able to experience a lot, which made me curious about cooking in other parts of India and the Indian diaspora. My approach and understanding of Indian food is very broad and diverse.”
Islam grew up in the Aston area of Birmingham, which is a segregated area near the football stadium. His parents owned a restaurant, India Palace, but his mother used to watch the BBC Two show Food and Drinks and they copied recipes, meaning that Islam learned more than just Indian cooking. His neighbors also traded dishes, exposing the chef to food from around the world.
“We’ve got a bit of everything,” he says. “People ask why the cooking at Opheem is so extensive, and it’s because I’m a Brummie, born and bred. I actually have no affiliation or bias. I enjoy everything.”
Since then, Islam has eagerly studied Indian culinary traditions and cooking styles. He has built a library of hundreds of books, some of which are on display in Opheem’s lounge, and others are in his home or in the downstairs test kitchen. But most of his knowledge comes from personal experience. He travels a lot and spends a lot of time cooking with the locals—that’s where the nuance comes from.
“It’s great to learn recipes, but actually cooking with someone from that part of the world and asking them to explain certain things is even better,” he said. “Books are good because they’re true—everything is written down in black and white. But with Indian food, recipes are guides. It’s how you cook and how you react to the pan or the spices. It’s very personal. Cooking with someone and hearing their stories, you get the full essence of what they’re trying to do.”
Islam started cooking at a young age. At the age of 13, he worked in his parents’ restaurant and later worked in other restaurants around the Midlands region of England. He opened his first restaurant at the age of 20, but it wasn’t until he launched Opheem in 2018 that Islam really hit his stride as a chef. The beautiful, modern venue (a former night club) was the perfect platform to showcase his Indian cuisine, regardless of region. It was an opportunity to put his vision at the forefront of his work.
“I remember being 13 or 14 and having a bad idea,” he says. “When I first started cooking, I was trying to tell these older curry chefs what to do. Early on, I realized that what we thought of as Indian food in England was not true Indian food. We have this model of British curry houses, but their dishes had very little to do with root recipes or root inspiration. I wanted to fight at that level.”
Those old cooks used to tell the Muslims to shut up and continue chopping onions. He says: “I sat there muttering, ‘One day I will show you.’ “I’ve spent most of my life learning and teaching people and trying to encourage the curry industry to go on that journey with me. And that journey is not moving forward. It’s about looking to the past and our roots.”
Opheem received its first Michelin star in 2019, becoming the first Indian restaurant in the UK outside of London to do so. “It was a big moment,” recalls Islam. “It’s something I’ve been working towards all my life [former] restaurants, I was involved with other like-minded people. One of them said to me, ‘Nobody wants your fancy junk plates.’ With Opheem, I could do whatever I wanted to do, regardless of his opinion. In addition, I had registered a really young team, so when I got the star, I did it with the 19-year-old team. ”
In 2024, Opheem received a second star, becoming the first restaurant in Birmingham to receive the honor. While Islam won’t say specifically that he’s aiming for a third star, it’s clear from what’s happening at Opheem that he and his team—now grown—are working at a high level. The service is precise, the experience is refined but not overwhelming, and the dishes show years of detailed evolution. Certain plates, such as the Orkney scallop and aloo tuk, have been constant items on the menu, constantly tweaked to get closer to perfection. Some dishes change with the seasons—I had a nice presentation of asparagus in late May that was already replaced by a bowl of tomatoes in mid-June.
Fish broth, topped with Cornish sea bass and gooseberries, at first seems like an unusual course. The fruity, slightly tangy broth tasted like nothing in an Indian restaurant. But Islam says that it is actually one of the traditional dishes that he makes.
“People look at us and say that we are making a lot of progress, which we are, and they think that the famous curry restaurant is the most authentic,” he said. “But actually, Opheem is more authentic than all these. That broth is cooked the way it would be cooked in a village house in Bangladesh. All we do is refine it by removing some impurities and increasing the taste of acid, umami and so on.”
He adds, “In India, would they take a six-pound bass and dry it for a week in a salt-aging room? No, they wouldn’t. But that’s the difference between us and them. But ultimately it’s about the taste itself. What you have is the pure refinement of that taste.”
Opheem’s tour ends with a nod to Birmingham rather than India. One of the desserts is titled “After Eight,” a nod to the British chocolate usually served at the end of a restaurant meal. When Islam worked on Stratford Road, in what is known as the Birmingham Balti Triangle, when he was young, visitors often walked with After Eight in hand. His version is very elegant and complex, but hits the same chocolate and mint notes.
He says: “It’s an ode to that time and that part of my experience that I live in. “I wanted to give a nod to the culture of Birmingham that has affected and influenced the way I cook and what I cook.”
If Opheem is a personal exploration of Indian cooking, Oudh 1722 is the result of personal interest. The restaurant showcases the Islamic interpretation of Awadhi culture, a historic cuisine from Lucknow shaped by Persian, Mughal and Central Asian influences. Islam has had many opportunities over the years to expand Opheem or open restaurants elsewhere, but he has generally resisted. Oudh 1722 is something else entirely.
“I always wanted Opheem to be a completely different place in the world,” he said. “It’s food from my heart, and it can’t be duplicated anywhere else. In Oudh, my favorite food is from a culture I respect, and I deliver it in my own accent. In Europe, people always lean towards old French as the best. In India, it’s the same in Lucknow.”
It includes familiar dishes like biryani and curries, as well as lesser-known dishes like gilawat, a well-grilled kebab that literally melts in your mouth. Islam describes kebabs, which were invented in the 18th century, historically as “the height of decadence and sophistication.”
“Nawab [Wajid Ali Shah] he wanted to be able to enjoy all the flavors of meat, but not even have to chew.” “So you end up with this kebab that’s soft and silky smooth, lightly smoky with all the aromatic spices—it’s got 32 spices in it. Doing that honestly and doing it right is a lot of work and culture. Being able to do that is great.”
A recent adaptation of Islam is in Indian tribal cuisine, a style of food rarely found outside of India. “Indigenous Nations [in India] they are probably the biggest group in the world.” “That’s something I’m looking at now because I want to learn more. It’s great to read about royal courts and the finer side of cooking, but to fully understand something, you need to be able to look at everything from every possible angle. “
In Islam, it is important to differentiate these food styles and celebrate the differences across the country. “It still falls under one banner, but I want to try to break it down more,” he says.
Rising as a chef, Islam had no true mentor. He is mainly self-taught, although he admits that Gordon Ramsay has given him a lot of valuable advice. The chef appeared in Ramsay’s Channel 4 series, the F word, in 2010, a pivotal moment in his career. “He unlocked my potential,” Islam recalled. He made me look at food in a very different way too, he told me, ‘If you believe in it and invest in it and really work hard, you can make it happen.’
That is the advice that Islam is now passing on, to his team and to other chefs in the UK. Since Opheem’s success, other definitions of delicious Indian food, such as. BiBi of Londonthey are out. He encourages chefs to not only do their research, but also find their voice.
“I have always been very supportive of anyone who wants to improve themselves,” said Islam. “Where people get lost is looking at what we’re doing and thinking they can replicate it without fully investing and understanding food. I’ve seen restaurants up and down the country imitate us, but a few times I’ve had to say to them, ‘You need to start making food that’s yours. Be your own journey.’ I know that if you make food that stands up for you, you will reap success.”
He adds about his potential legacy, “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I think I’ve been able to help the cuisine mature, and help the cuisine I love and respect start its next phase of the journey.”
To do that, Islam has played a long, ever-curious game. His long-term experience means there’s always something new to learn and there’s always something new to eat.
