Top Choice Pub in Birmingham
Jekyll & Hyde
Potent cocktails (or rather 'elixirs, concoctions and potions') at this trippy spot are served in sweets jars, watering cans, teapots and miniature bathtubs – even a wash bag (with rum-mint toothpaste and Kaffir lim…
Top Choice Library in Birmingham
Library of Birmingham
Resembling a glittering stack of gift-wrapped presents, the Francine Houben–designed Library of Birmingham is an architectural triumph. Opened in 2013, it features a subterranean amphitheatre, spiralling interior, v…
Top Choice Coffee in Birmingham
Jake's Coffee Box
A classic red British telephone box on a pedestrian laneway has been ingeniously repurposed as a tiny coffee bar, where Jake brews espressos, flat whites, Americanos, cappuccinos and lattes using Birmingham-roasted …
Top Choice Gallery in Birmingham
Barber Institute of Fine Arts
At the University of Birmingham, 3 miles south of the centre, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts has an astonishing collection of Renaissance masterpieces; European masters such as Rubens and Van Dyck; British greats…
Top Choice Modern British in Birmingham
Simpsons
It's worth the 2.5-mile journey southwest of the centre to this gorgeous Georgian mansion in leafy Edgbaston for sensational Michelin-starred menus (kids and vegetarians catered for). You can also stay in one of fou…
Gastropub in Birmingham
Purecraft Bar & Kitchen
Fabulous dishes created in the open kitchen of this craft-beer-lover's paradise come with suggested beer pairings. The menu changes monthly but might include Lawless Lager–battered fish and chips (with Veltins Pilsn…
Indian in Birmingham
Praza
The runaway success of Indian restaurant/cocktail bar Pushkar led the owners to open this sister restaurant in Edgbaston, with its own signature dishes (Nilgiri – slow-cooked chicken in fragrant herb curry) and cock…
Gastropub in Birmingham
Bureau
While this gleaming marble ex-office building dating from 1902 serves stupendous cocktails (such as hickory-smoked Bloody Marys), it's above all worth visiting for its food. Winning dishes include a duck Scotch egg …
Bar in Birmingham
Lost & Found
Fictitious Victorian-era explorer/professor Hettie G Watson is the inspiration for the botanical-library theme of this bar in an 1869-built former bank. Inside the domed entrance, elevated seating is surrounded by p…
Modern British in Birmingham
Adam's
Michelin-starred restaurant Adam's has proved such a success story that it recently located to larger, ritzier premises and still wows with intricately prepared and presented flavour combinations such as venison wit…