Moving to a new city means a whole lot of places to discover. Every month I will try to give you an overview of where we went and what we liked in our dearest Brum.
We zeggen hier vaak “Birmingham heeft veel potentieel”. Het is niet de meest sexy stad, maar ik ontdek het een beetje meer elke dag. Annmarie, mijn huisgenote, en ik zien het als een persoonlijke taak om nieuwe leuke plekjes te vinden. Dankzij mijn blog hebben we ook een goed motief: ik heb me voorgenomen om elke maand een overzichtje te maken van de cafés, resto’s en dergelijke die we bezochten. Dit doe ik enkel in het Engels – en wil je een vertaling, dan zal je me hier moeten komen opzoeken en geef ik je een persoonlijke tour 🙂
– Dads Lane Fish & Chip Bar: First night in Brum and Julie asked me what I wanted to eat. Only one answer possible: “Fish & chips!”. Luckily, there is a fish and chips shop around the corner from where she lives in Selly Park. And it was a good one! On the one side you have the shop, on the other the restaurant. Funky mix, but the food was grand.
– Pitcher & Piano: I went here for lunch with Raquel on my second day in Brum. I very much like their interior (fireplaces!) and they do 6£ lunch which is not bad. I have to admit that it is my size of lunch, if you are a guy or you have a big appetite, I would suggest you go for a double lunch 🙂 We went there a second time for a meetup, more precisely the 20’s and new to Birmingham one, where Keith gained eternal fame by only finding out we were at a meetup after an hour of awkward socializing with everyone around us. They have 2-for-1 after work drink specials!
– Strada: Day three in Birmingham – still no house nor a kitchen, so out for dinner again it is! Raquel and I went to Strada as I was craving pasta. I had ravioli with ricotta cheese & spinach which cost around 10£. Good food, small portion though.
– Woktastic: Lunch time! As we had a training in the afternoon we decided with some colleagues to try out a place close to work during lunch time. And like it we did: a 6£ bento lunch box, in my case with salmon. Quick service, friendly waiters.
Friday lunch outside the office – Japanese Bento Box – Vrijdagse lunch op locatie met een japanse bento box
– Yardbird Jazz Club: When you go out in England, one must remember two things: everyone dresses up big time and nobody wears a coat. And then you have Yardbird, where I feel completely at ease in my jeans and T-shirt. They do jazz gigs as well rock/pop/reggae and have Belgian beers on tap. Need I say more? 🙂
– Yorks Bakery Cafe: is one of those places where I would go sip my coffee or tea all day every day. They have great coffees and teas, it is a hipster hub, there are board games and jazz evenings on Mondays. My personal favourite (for now) is their Jasmine Dragon Pearls green tea.
– Old Joint Stock: We launched an after-work-drinks-tradition with my new colleagues and this is the first place we went to. A theatre and pub, all in all a very pretty location, as you can see on the picture. Although a bit crowdy on a Friday night (like most other bars) we did manage to get a table to sit at with about 8 people. Fun times!
The Old Joint Stock Theatre and Pub
– All Bar One: After-work-drinks-with-the-colleagues, 2nd edition. Closer to work, a bit more posh: fancier interior, more dressed-up people (in contrast to casual-Friday-me) and more expensive drinks.
– Handmade Burger Co: Lunch meeting with our team and this place was proposed by almost a third of the team. Not too crowded during lunch, quick service and I made the mistake of thinking that the burger alone would not suffice and that I needed chips with it. Lesson learned: split chips with someone else next time. What I do not like is that you have to order (and pay) everything separately, which give you the false idea of a not-too-expensive burger but add some sauce and chips and a drink to it and there you go.
– The Lord Clifden: “This is where we will hang out in summer!” is what we thought when we discovered the Lord Cliften’s beergarden. Massive space, barbeque, table football tables – yeah baby!
The Lord Cliften’s beergarden – approved!
– Après: One of the slightly weirder bars we ended up in. The interior was erotic red almost, but then with massive TV screens showing different sports games. They did have Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime cider, so I was happy.
– Popworld: We live a stone’s throw from Broad Street, so it is surprising we only ended up there once last month. That one time however was Corentin’s birthday and so we wanted to party hard. In the end the girls got their choice and we went to Popworld – the culmination of 90’s shamelessness. And we danced.
Other discoveries in April / Andere ontdekkingen in april:
– Where the fuck should I go for drinks
– Lip Sync Battle with Emma Stone
Bits of Brum 