- Birmingham
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United Kingdom
After traveling around the UK I finally made it to Birmingham. Hearing all the "Why go there?" from the Brits it made me want to go there even more.
England's second city does not seem to have a good reputation with British people. After visiting I thought it was great and also seems to have the best hostel in the UK. I can see that Birmingham and the hostel are both overlooked. The hostel had great beds, very clean and very funky decor. The common room is the best I have been to - it has a cinema, nintendo Wii, PlayStation, a small bar with beers from all over the world, books, and is very bright. An outdoor garden with too many plants, I think that is what I like about this place, they go over the top with everything, it is very welcoming.
I stayed in the 'pod' beds they have. They are very clean, you get a great night's sleep, your own reading light, curtains and I am told TVs and iPod stations are soon to be put in. I loved this idea.
What I liked most was the staff. They are very friendly and helpful - even after you have left you can always contact them for help and advice with British travels. There is a very homely feel to this place. The location is great even if the area does not look so good. They are located a street up from the National Express station.
Birmingham is worth visiting even if just for the hostel. But if you speak with the staff they will show you so much to do in and around Birmingham. Definitely an up and coming city and great if you love shopping.
58 Coventry Street, digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5NH 01216430033 www.birminghamcentralbackpackers.com/
This place is a real oddity. Very old fashioned and mainly inhabited by ageing Poles. Pictures of the (last) Pope abound.
Head downstairs for the great little Polish food store (good vodka and sausages) and the interesting restaurant. This place serves seriously authentic Polish food. Anyone who has eaten Polish food will know that it is an acquired taste, but for those who already know they like it, this place is excellent. Beware - the menu is in Polish and many of the staff do not speak English.
Polish Catholic Centre Social Centre Bordesley StBirmingham
B5 5PH
0121 358 7102
Simply one of the best video rental shops in the country. They literally have everything you can possibly think of. Brilliant.
Woodbridge Road
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 8EH
Telephone: 01214496000
www.itchybirmingham.co.uk/venue/182912/Cinephilia.html
Part of much missed old Victorian Central Library and now housed in the new building on Chamberlain Square. Open once a year for City Discovery Day. Worth a visit if you are around the city centre that day.
www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=1717&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=260
One of the most charming small museums in Birmingham with a recently added visitor centre and tea room. A real Brummy gem. The house itself is very small, but taken together this is a real treat.
Opening Times:
Open from 31st March to 28th October
Tuesday to Sunday 11.30am - 4pm
Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays
Blakesley Road
Yardley
Birmingham
B25 8RN
Tel: +44 [0]121 464 2193
www.bmag.org.uk/index.php?type=element&maincat=1&subcat=2&subelement=2
The Custard Factory is a large former industrial complex housing creative businesses and a number of nice cafes and bars, including the Medicine Bar and Rooty Fruity.
There a few galleries, shops and showrooms that are also worth a visit.
You don't feel like you're in Brum when you visit this place, which for most people is a good thing.
Gibb Square, Birmingham, B9 4AA
0121 224 7777
info@custardfactory.com www.custardfactory.com/
Like the Anchor down the road, another family run traditional Brummy Irish pub. Nice interior and good, reasonably priced beer.
As with the Anchor, this isn't a cosy gastro pub, but a genuine old fashioned Brummy boozer. In no ways rough, but probably not somewhere to take a date. Authenticity is a real rareity in Brum though, so this place should be appreciated by those who appreciate these kinds of places. If that makes sense.
276, Bradford St, Digbeth, Birmingham, West Midlands, B12 0QY (0121 622 2586)
This is a great little family-run traditional Digbeth Irish pub. They serve a good range of beers. The front bar in particular is notable for its partitioned booths.
This is not some National Trust pub, but a proper old fashioned Brummy boozer. Don't expect to be seduced first time. This is the kind of genuine and authentic pub rarely found in the city. Worth a visit.
Bradford Street, Birmingham
B5 6ET United Kingdom.
Tel: 0121 622 4516
www.the-anchor-inn.fsnet.co.uk/
Simple little veggie place in Digbeth. It's been there for years and still produces consistently tasty and wholesome food. Good value too. One of only a few such places in Birmingham.
54-57 Allison Street
Eastside
B5 5TH
0121 6330261
Just one of the best restaurants in Birmingham. Upmarket and quite pricey but a millions miles away from most of the rubbish served up elsewhere in Brum. Well worth splashing out on. Four lovely rooms upstairs as well for any one staying over.
Simpsons Restaurant
20 Highfield Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 3DU
Tel: 0121 454 3434
info@simpsonsrestaurant.co.uk
www.simpsonsrestaurant.co.uk/index.asp
The University of Birmingham's own botanical gardens. Much more interesting than the nearby Botanical Gardens.
Several acres of charming gardens and glass houses in the grounds of an old Victorian house. Adjacent to a small lake and woodland in the heart of Edgbaston. Absolutely delightful.
Winterbourne Botanic Garden
University of Birmingham
58 Edgbaston Park Road
Birmingham B15 2RT
0121 414 3832
www.botanic.bham.ac.uk/
This historic Grade 2-listed building is Birmingham's finest example of Victorian pub architecture, resplendent in decorative tiles and stained glass.
The pub serves Oakham's award-winning real ales, guest ales from the region and across the country and imported bottled beers from around the world. Authentic freshly cooked Thai food is served from 12 noon-2.30pm and 5.30-10pm Tuesday to Sunday.
One of Birmingham's true gems.
144 High Street
Birmingham
B6 4UP
0121 333 5988
By far the best Indian restaurant I have ever been to. A real eye opener, making the traditional curry houses (which I love) seem like the Indian version of a microwaved Wetherspoons burger. Whilst it might appear a bit "posh" to some, its certainly not pretentious - just very good quality and a wonderful atmosphere.
For the quality of food, prices are very reasonable.
Proper desi food. This is probably one of the best restaurants in the Balti Triangle as it's been christened.
It's balti food aimed more at brown people - of which I am one, so when you pop in you will see the place is usually rammed full of desi families.
Worth going just to check out the chairs.
No Chicken Tikka Massala here. Just proper Kashmiri cusine. I recommend the Achari Chicken with Chilli naan bread.
Only downside is that the portions aren't great.
706 Stratford Road, Sparkhill Birmingham
B11 4AT Map
Tel 0121 778 4450
I had dinner at Sibila's yesterday and it was such an experience! I found a fantastic atmosphere (quiet and tidy in, views out), a wide range of food options and a very friendly staff. Please, try the 'Chinese Hat and Mediterranean Soul' or the 'Grilled Haloumi Caesar Salad'. Just splendid, honestly. Another recommendation: table for 2 by the window. Again, a great experience.
Although purely vegetarian, this Southern Indian restaurant is the best place for a curry in Birmingham. Don't just take my word for it, the walls are adorned with photos of TV chefs visiting! There's enormous variety in the menu, to ensure that no meat eater will go away feeling robbed. Plus, there's a fantastic sweet shop next door.
Advance booking is recommended!
569-571 Stratford Road, Sparkhill,
Birmingham B11 4LS
Tel: 0121 766 7199
The re-invention of England's great Victorian cities as laid-back, 'continental' style urban spaces has been a bit of a hit and miss affair: a couple of trams and a branch of Pret A Manger do not a cafe culture make. But there have been some notable successes in the re-branding of these former industrial titans that has been gathering pace from the 1980s and 90s onward. And nowhere is this exemplified better than in Birmingham's superb Symphony Hall.
It is unprepossessing from the outside (the bog standard 'post-modern' architecture, all atriums and shopping-mall sheen, betraying the fact that it shares its premises with the 'International Convention Centre') but the perception is transformed on entering the auditorium itself: a vast, arresting horse-shoe of red, silver and gold.
The acoustic in the hall is truly astonishing and is probably best experienced at an orchestral concert by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) who, post-Simon Rattle, are continuing to make great music under the less frizzy-haired but still highly dynamic directorship of Sakari Oramo.
The orchestra has adopted the highly civilised practice of giving midweek matinee repeats of their evening concerts. These are ideal for layabouts (like me), anyone at a loose end in Birmingham (difficult concept to grasp, I know); and, especially and splendidly, pensioners.
From my balcony seat eyrie the rows of white perms in the stalls below looked like the little knots on a candlewick dressing gown; and a slight but clearly discernible aroma of Murray Mints hung limpidly in the air.
A slight gripe is that, for these matinees, the blokes in the orchestra dress in ordinary business suits - as if they had just strolled in from the Heating and Ventilating Contractors (Midlands Branch) Annual Conference across the way. Obviously the full penguin suit is not really on for an afternoon gig so I'm not quite sure what the answer to this sartorial conundrum is. Something like a Seinfeldian 'puffy shirt' would get my vote.
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is one of the best things about the city. It was brought to fame by Sir Simon Rattle (now with the Berlin Philharmonic) in the 1980s.
Easily the most important of recent cultural heritage about the city, since it's one of Birmingham's very few claims to international fame. The city has a long way to go to catch up with the likes of London, Manchester and Glasgow in terms of self belief, culture and progress, but if it gets more of the likes of the CBSO as home grown talent, then it will go a long way.
Vegetarian restaurant tucked away in the corner of the Custard Factory in Digbeth. Serves up big plates of tasty veggie fare, such as bean chilli and vegetable curries, for one price. Also serves nice fruit smoothies, organic teas and hot chocolate and divine homemade cakes.
Custard Factory, Digbeth
Really unusual bar, with a Gothic theme - almost like you are sat inside a haunted house. Lots of leather chairs, fireplaces and intimate booths. Serves tasty food too. Great place to escape the shopping crowds.
Underneath the Burlington Hotel, off New Street in the city centre.
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