There’s a new breed of Brummie.

One who will never mutter anything about canals and Venice. One who won’t tub-thump incessantly about ‘second city’ (who wants to be second at anything?) and who’s focus is on helping the UK’s most aspirational city move forward, not on slinging mud back in the direction it all too regularly comes from.

Right now, Birmingham is ripe for the picking and food is at the forefront of its meteoric rise.

From Michelin stars to market stalls Brum is a bona fide gastronomes destination. I’m the editor of free Birmingham e-magazine ichoosebirmingham.com, take my hand (not literally, that’s impossible) and I’ll show you why…




1. We’re home to the best street food event in the UK

This isn’t outlandish opinion, it’s hard fact. Digbeth Dining Club won best street food event at the British Street Food Awards, 2014. They won it in 2013, too. And they’ll probably win it in 2015.

2. We have award winning burgers

(Picture: The Original Patty Men)

At the same awards The Original Patty Men, who regularly use Krispy Kreme donuts as their burger bun, won the best street food burger, 2014. Add to that the mercurial Meatshack, who also flip tear-inducingly good beef, and you have a genuine burger aficionado destination.

3. We boast FOUR Michelin Stars

Where Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds have no Michelin stars, we have four. Suffice to say Simpsons, Purnell’s and Turners are all outrageously good but, right now, the tide is with Adam’s, winner of our most recent star. A mesmerising menu marries with a charming, unfussy city centre restaurant to produce a memorable and, importantly, affordable dining experience.

4. Our supper clubs are better than yours

(Picture: Two Cats Roaming)

From the fine dining of Latvian food specialists Two Cats Roaming (pictured) to the holistic seed to plate, learn while you dine coolness of Kitchen School, Birmingham’s supper clubs are brilliantly varied and buzzing with excitement.

5. The Cube is a foodie’s playground

(Picture: The Cube)

A wondrous canal-side one-stop-shop. From Bun & Bowl (where they’ve already narrowed your choice down to burgers or shrimp), to Brazillian passador-heaven Rodizio Rico via a French cafe and a Japanese Teppan-yaki, The Cube is a lip-smacking playground for the hungry and thirsty.

6. You can drink 100 types of beer in one bar. ONE HUNDRED.

Pure Bar & Kitchen serve 100 different beers. Count them. One. Hundred. Beers. A glorious partnership between Michelin-starred restaurant Simpsons and local brewery Purity means both the food and the drink are nothing short of sublime. These guys make a Scotch egg that’ll leave you wondering why anyone else even bothers making Scotch eggs.

7. Ladypool Road – you won’t find better Indian food in the country

To say we do Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi food wonderfully well is a waste of words, so allow me to simply implore you to visit Ladypool Rd, part of our Balti Triangle on a weekend night. The visible haze of meaty smoke that billows out of the restaurants and fills the street is real, unapologetic, true Birmingham. To walk the road is an experience in its own right and that’s before you’ve even started eating. Pssst… Shababs and Al Frash restaurants, both on this map, are sublime.



8. You can get a decent meal for £4.50 at University College Birmingham

(Picture: University College Birmingham)

Two restaurants at University College Birmingham are open to the public: the Atrium and the Brasserie. Both have been awarded 2 AA Rosettes and are, rather wonderfully, manned almost entirely by students on the chef, food service and hospitality courses. Superb quality food comes at farcically affordable prices.

9. The Plough is the pub to end all pubs

There are good pubs, there are great pubs and then there’s The Plough. A beautiful garden, a flawless selection of beers and spirits (try Ryoma – their Japanese rum), immaculate coffee and a glorious food menu (the beef brisket will stop conversation dead) makes this the Brum pub to go to, if you only go to one. Which would be utter madness, of course.

10. Pips Hot Sauce

Chilli sauce aficionados, of which there are millions, must try Pips Hot Sauce. Still made in small batches from her kitchen in South Birmingham it’s not the bravado-powered loopy juice that blows one’s head off. This is measured, garlicky, smoky heat of the highest calibre.

11. Gin!

The Jekyll & Hyde gin parlour serves gin by the bath tub full. Sort of.

I CHOOSE Birmingham is a free, weekly email magazine about the best things to do, see, eat and drink in and around Brum. Subscribe at www.ichoosebirmingham.com

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