The best brunch in Birmingham
Fried chicken French toast in a Victorian gallery on New Street, a bacon naan roll on Chamberlain Square, shakshouka in Moseley and brunch in a Piccadilly Arcade coffee shop. Birmingham's best weekend mornings, with prices.
By Only Birmingham Editorial
The best brunch in Birmingham is at Medicine on New Street, up a flight of stairs in a former Victorian gallery, every day from 8.30am. Close behind: Dishoom's naan rolls on Chamberlain Square, shakshouka at Damascena in Moseley or the Quarter, and the weekend menu at Faculty in Piccadilly Arcade. Here is where to go, what to order and what it costs.
Medicine, New Street
Medicine started as a bakery and the counter still shows it: cruffins, pain au pistachio, cinnamon buns and almond croissants stacked up as you walk in. The New Street cafe at 69a sits on the first floor of a listed Victorian gallery, high-ceilinged and full of light. Order the fried chicken French toast, vanilla brioche with honey butter, hot sauce and maple, at £15.50. The Turkish eggs, with herb labneh and harissa burnt butter, are £12.50; the full Medicine, sausage, bacon, homemade beans and miso mushrooms, is £16. A flat white is £4 and a Bloody Mary £9. The chicken is halal and turkey bacon is offered in place of pork. Dogs on leads are welcome. It is not wheelchair accessible; the Mailbox branch is.
Medicine, the Mailbox and the Ikon
Five minutes down the hill, Medicine at the Mailbox serves brunch, lunch and cocktails until 4pm, with a smash burger, a Korean fried chicken sandwich and jalapeno cornbread on top of the French toast. It is step-free, but leave the dog at home. The newest site is at the Ikon Gallery, with a terrace under the cherry trees, open until 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Dogs are allowed on the terrace. Strawberry French toast, a salmon tartine and a chicken Caesar with fries are the ones to know.
Dishoom, Chamberlain Square
Dishoom does the best early breakfast in the city centre, from 8am on weekdays and 9am at the weekend, until 11.45am. The bacon naan roll is the order: naan baked to order in the tandoor, a smear of cream cheese, tomato-chilli jam and fresh coriander. If you are hungrier, The Big Bombay piles on akuri, smoked streaky bacon, Shropshire pork sausages and masala beans. Akuri on its own, three spiced scrambled eggs with home-made buns, is the lighter Irani cafe classic. Drink the House Chai. Book if you are coming at 10am on a Saturday; groups of ten or more can order the Breakfast Feast.
Damascena, five neighbourhoods
Damascena is a Middle Eastern coffee house with branches on Temple Row West, on Warstone Lane in the Quarter, on Alcester Road in Moseley, on Harborne High Street and on Hagley Road. It is the best value brunch in this guide. The menu runs from a breakfast falafel bowl at £6.85 and an avocado sourdough smash at £6.75 to shakshouka and juz-muz baked eggs at £9.65 each. Add a flatbread for 20p. Doors open at 9am Monday to Saturday and 10am on Sunday. Tables of four or more can book; everyone else walks in and waits for the host.
Faculty Coffee, Piccadilly Arcade
Faculty has been pulling shots in the arcade off New Street since 2013, with a guest coffee that changes every fortnight and food from its own bakery kitchen. Brunch runs Thursday to Sunday, from opening until 2.30pm. It is small, so go early, and have a V60 while you are there.
Brunch for a crowd
For a birthday or a team breakfast, Dishoom's Breakfast Feast is built for groups of ten or more and served daily until 11.45am. Everyone starts with a hot drink, a fresh juice and a bowl of fruit and yoghurt, dairy or coconut, then picks their own cooked breakfast. Medicine's Mailbox site has private rooms and can be hired outright for bigger parties.
What to order where
- Something sweet: strawberry French toast with whipped ricotta at Medicine, £15.
- Something spicy: shakshouka at Damascena, £9.65, or the bacon naan roll at Dishoom.
- Something green: the Vegan Medicine, falafel, tofu, avocado and miso mushrooms, £15.
- Under a tenner: sourdough and eggs at Medicine, £8.50, or the falafel bowl at Damascena, £6.85.
Know before you go
Weekend brunch in the city centre is busy from about 10am, and Medicine's kitchen will not change dishes during the rush. Book Medicine New Street, the Mailbox or Dishoom if your time is fixed; Damascena and Faculty are walk-in. Medicine adds an optional service charge, and Dishoom an optional 12.5%, all of which goes to the team. If you are coming in by train, New Street station puts Medicine, Faculty and Damascena on Temple Row all within a ten-minute walk, and Dishoom just beyond on Chamberlain Square.
