 Looks great - the food tastes better 
The Best Breakfast In Brum
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Recommendation added: 14/10/2006 21:29
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +816)dewberry has been thanked 11 times for this contribution
"If you're staying in one of the wonderful hotels in Birmingham City Centre, for breakfast try to head to the Victoria Square Café. They do, of course, have an all day menu which includes main meals, starters, desserts etc… but the breakfasts are what I go for.
The café itself is quite loud looking from the outside; beautifully painted in a host of bright colours it really beckons you to enter for the simple reason that the building stands out so well compared to all the drab grey buildings surrounding it. Inside it's a very traditional looking café; tastefully decorated and quite upmarket looking.
Let's talk about food. At the Victoria Square Café they have a standard set breakfast for £3 which is possibly the best I've tasted in Birmingham. For this miniscule price you'll get 2 sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, fried egg, beans or tomatoes, a hash brown (or sometimes two, depending on who's serving!), fried bread, bread & butter and a cup of coffee or tea. The food is always cooked to perfection. I'm a bit awkward when it comes to breakfasts; I like my bacon crispy to the point of near cremation and my egg with a solid white and slightly runny yolk. I also like my fried bread to be very lightly browned and can't stand tomatoes mixed in with my beans – which is how a lot of City Centre cafes have started to serve them. Even with all these 'special requests' my breakfast is without fail cooked to my exact requirements.
Let me describe this wonderful plate of food which I regularly drive five miles to sample. The sausages are of brilliant quality; thick, meaty sausages which are never pink in the middle and have a wonderful slightly spicy tang to them. The bacon is generally rindless and, again, of very good quality – the bacon isn't overly salty or gristly and the thick slices are absolutely wonderful when dipped into the rich egg yolk. It's a delicious meal from start to finish – especially when drenched in ketchup, the staple accompaniment to a great English fry-up.
And the meal is a fry-up. It's not your namby pamby mixed grill, rest assured everything on your plate is fried – well, apart from the beans of course but you get my drift! Despite this fact, theirs is very little grease or fat deposited on my plate and the food itself is obviously fried in good quality clean oil as the taste is so fresh and tasty.
For an extra £1 you can add mushrooms, black pudding and extra hash browns and for an absolute bargain £2.50 a vegetarian breakfast is available which consists of several fried eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns and beans. The vegetarian selection is cooked in a separate area which means there's no meat cross contamination of your food.
The lunch menu is very good. There are your usual café options (lasagne, fish & chips, jacket potatoes etc.) along with some more interesting choices such as Steak & Ale pie, Cheesy Chicken Melt and various pasta dishes. Everything I've eaten in the Victoria Square Café has been delicious, fresh and good value for money. Main meals start at around the £4 mark with little on the menu which costs more that £6 – and that would be for one of the more specialised dishes available.
The coffee available in this café would definitely rival Starbucks. A good selection of fresh filter coffee is available for around £1.25 a cup and it's wonderful; the Java coffee is definitely my favourite as it wires me up sufficiently to tackle the rugby scrum that is Birmingham City Centre shopping area!
The atmosphere in the café is fantastic. There tends to be a lot of business people stopping for breakfast which means that it has quite a sophisticated feel when you sit down to eat. It's very personal though, nothing like the trendier cafes which are springing up seemingly by the day in Brum where the atmosphere is clinical and impersonal. Everyone seems to take time to enjoy their meal rather than sitting and scoffing their faces in a rush to get out.
Seating arrangements are good. There are tables for two and larger tables for up to six; each table has a clean and modern looking tablecloth as well as a small vase of flowers and condiments. The chairs are very comfortable and there's plenty of leg room underneath the tables. The wide spaces between tables and lack of steps means the Victoria Square Café is ideal for disabled visitors and families with pushchairs. During my latest visit a lady in an electric wheelchair came in and staff were brilliantly helpful, moving chairs around to accommodate her and finding the most appropriate table in relation to her mobility problems.
Staff are excellent in this café. I could tell they genuinely enjoy working there; all were friendly and helpful, also knowledgeable about the menu choices which is always important. The lively Salsa music playing in the background is possibly the reason they all look so energetic – along with the fact that each member of staff seems to drink three cups of coffee an hour!
Whether you decide to eat breakfast or lunch in the Victoria Square Café, it'll probably cost you under a tenner for two people. I tend to meet my mum before she goes to work for brekkie and this will cost £8 for two fry-ups and a coffee each. Two main meals and a drink will come to around £11, which is brilliant value considering the quality and freshness of the food.
Pinfold Street is located in the heart of Birmingham City Centre. This area is largely pedestrianised, so it's a place you need to either walk to or grab a taxi. It's literally a five minute stroll from the main New Street Train Station. Simply turn right as you leave the station car park, turn right again at the main set of traffic lights and walk along Hill Street. At the traffic lights turn onto Navigation Street and Pinfold Street is a few hundred yards away on your left. Easy peasy. A cab will probably cost you around a fiver so have a walk for yourself!
Victoria Square Café
50 Pinfold Street
Birmingham
B2 4AY
Tel: 0121 6431467
Opening Hours: Monday – Saturday 8am – 6pm and Sunday 9.30am – 4.30pm"
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