As most of you know, I am currently residing in Birmingham. As I am studying at The University of Birmingham, I am situated close enough to Harborne High Street to enjoy everything they have to offer.
Honest opinion: when I first moved to Birmingham, I disliked the place. Having previously only lived in much smaller cities, Newcastle and Sheffield, I felt that Birmingham was much too big for me. I didn’t fit there. However, after checking out places I knew I would like in the city and suburbs (mostly involving food, or things I regard to be ‘cute’ e.g. nature parks), it really did grow on me.
Now, I’m all there for Harborne, my favourite Birmingham suburb. I’m going to highlight my favourites places to go on, or around, the high street.
Boo Boo Coffee
Boo Boo Coffee is situated just off the high street, on Lordswood Road. It’s a great independent cafe that really excels in coffee. As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m a self-confessed coffee snob. Well, Boo Boo, you have me hooked.
🍽 Flat white, chocolate brownie
📍 Boo Boo Coffee
They also have a great brunch menu and do really great smoothies (with extra added protein for those of you interested in that). I got the Harborne special and now I want to try everything else.
🍽 The Harborne – sourdough, scrambled egg, smoked salmon, avocado
📍 Boo Boo Coffee
Recently they teamed up with Orientee Bakery and started selling freshly basked Orientee products everyday. They do incredible bread and pastries and, my personal favourites, cronuts.
The Junction
The Junction is a great pub in Harborne with a great selection of drinks and food, dogs allowed and a great pub quiz every Monday at 8.30pm.
They have a separate seating area in the back just for food. When I went here, I was really impressed by the service and had a lovely chat with a couple of the waiting staff.
I enjoyed a lovely 2-course meal consisting on garlic mushrooms on sourdough and beef sirloin. Lovely food and would definitely recommend.
🍽 Garlic mushrooms on sourdough
📍 The Junction
Boston Tea Party
A small cafe chain, Boston Tea Party has it all. Great brunch, great coffee, friendly staff and the mindfulness to become environmentally friendly (they recently banned single use cups).
I tried the classic Eggs Benedict and found that it was full of flavour. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo, so I suppose you’ll just have to try them out yourselves.
Arco Lounge
Arco Lounge is a chilled bar that serves tapas, pub food, and brunch (of course). The coffee here wasn’t one of my favourites but the brunch won me over. The menu is a bit different , with the classic items having a twist. They do, however, also have everyone’s favourite classic brunches.
For example, I tried their new twist on the Eggs Benedict. English muffin, avocado, roasted red pepper, chorizo, poached egg and hollandaise sauce. The flavours went really well together and the roasted peppers were fabulous.
🍽 English muffin, avocado, roasted red pepper, chorizo, poached egg and hollandaise sauce
📍 Arco Lounge
The Plough
The Plough is probably the best-known pub is Harborne. And if you’ve been, you’ll know why. They have an amazing food menu with great offers on during the week. They also do surprisingly great coffee and cakes.
My personal favourite is their 2-for-1 pizzas on Mondays. These pizzas are not what you’d expect from a pub, but are proper wood-fired pizzas.
So there you have it: my top 5 places in Harborne. I haven’t tried everywhere and I’m looking forward to trying other places on the High Street, including Harborne Kitchen, Basement Cafe and Bakery, Harborne Tandoori and Buonissimo.
Got any other recommendations? Comment below or DM @dining_with_ali.