Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt12

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): Costermongers 5 Dalton Way (0121) 2363791 Costers is a dinosaur of a rock pub and one of the last in Birmingham that makes up for its unwelcoming atmosphere by having a very loyal set of regulars. It is underground in both the musical and very physical sense of the word but is one of the few pubs not to benefit by the smoking ban because now you can see the shoddy vandalized décor and smell decades of stale beer. Costers is also home of the most uncomfortable seats and ugliest toilets in Birmingham. Treat this place like a historical theme park. Mon – Wed, 12noon – 11pm Thu, 12noon – 12mn Fri – Sat, 12noon – 1am Sun, 5pm – 10.30pm The Black Horse 22 Jennens Road, Aston, Birmingham, B7 4EH Tel, 01213597108 Kurt Cobain delivered the lethal blow to Heavy Metal in the early nineties; by all accounts it was a mercy killing. Just over a decade later every city harbours the refugees in little die...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt11

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): Devils Kitchen Hurst Street, outside the Nightingale It’s not so much an actual kitchen as a burger van in the gay quarter of town, but “the devils mobile catering unit” hasn’t really got the same ring. It’s not especially cheap, and the staff are not especially friendly and the choice isn’t what you would call expansive but the portions are large, the food is good and let’s face it if your buying food from a burger van your taste buds have probably been drowned in raw vodka and are now dead anyway. 10pm – 3am Double burger with cheese £3.00 Sunday Car Boot Sale Wholesale Markets Precinct Pershore Street (0121) 303 0300 or (0121) 303 0250 Perfect for early hungover Sunday mornings or very late Saturday nights. Most car boot sales are just open air charity shops, but recently, with the influx of dodgy but cheap consumer electronics and pirated software this one looks more like a scene from Bladerunner. So if being jostled...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt10

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): Q Club 212 Corporation St Birmingham B4 6QB Tel: 0121 212 1212 With a cavernous main room and labyrinthine corridors that turn even the most mundane club night into a drug fuelled weird fairytale adventure this has to be one of the most surreal clubbing experiences in Birmingham. There can be anything up to 10 rooms and 6 bars open at once which means that there is always something to discover and you will lose your friends in seconds flat. The venue has everything from kickboxing matches to Cream, art exhibitions to Dancehall soundsystems so you really don’t have an excuse for not going. www.queclub.co.uk for details Baguette Du Monde Various locations in the city centre “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?” W. H. Davies. Stop and stare?! Lets face it most of us don’t even have a chance to sit and eat, let alone stop and bloody stare. Luckily cheap food on the...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt9

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): The Goose @ The OVT 561 Bristol Road, Selly Oak Birmingham B29 6AF Tel: 01214723186 In the heart of student country (Selly Oak) there is a bastion of ignorance, a place where the ill informed and the badly dressed can come and mix with the flat broke and shouting drunk. Cheap enough to attract the occasional brave student but normally frequented by the usual Wetherspoons crowd, last time I was there we invented a game called “Mad or Drunk” where participants have to discern whether the most vocal of the inhabitants were mentally challenged or merely inebriated. Unfortunately the game was short lived as the answer was almost always “Both”. Mon-Sun, 11am-12am The Zen shop Brindley Place  Broad street  Birmingham Tel: 0121 643 3933 Pretentious crap sold by exploiting beautiful Eastern concept. Tat Mon–Thu & Sun 10am–10.30pm, Fri 10am–11pm, Sat 10am–11.30pm Check out The Shouting Gypsy – Danny’s ‘wordcast’

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt8

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): International stock 1a Silver Street, Kings Heath Birmingham. B14 7QX  Tel: 0121 443 3232 King heaths best kept secret but not in a good way, secret in the sense of the deformed half brother kept in the loft as not to embarrass the family. Depressive tat emporium that sells stock from bankrupt, fire damaged or flooded shops, frequented by haggard old ladies, pinch-faced wives and bored men listening to the football scores over the music system, the chances of getting a bargain here are slim, but it does happen. Visiting here will instil such a large hatred of dull commercialism that Al-Qaeda should set up a recruiting stall in the car park. Mon-Fri, 9am-5.30pm; Sat, 9am-6pm The Manic Organic Café 45 Poplar Road, Kings Heath  Birmingham B14 7AG  Tel: 0121 441 3802 Charmingly eclectic vegetarian organic café just of the high street, a cosy little place that feels like a friendly hippy’s living room, but clean. Made all the more welcoming by free WiFi access...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt7

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): The Wellington 37 Bennetts Hill Birmingham B2 5SN Tel: 0121 200 3115 No music, a huge range of ales, friendly staff and traditional décor, make this a perfect “Dad crèche” while you go shopping, where his bored sighs and niggling comments about your overdraft could distract you from buying that perfect pair of trainers. They don’t serve food – unless you count Pork Scratchings, which I certainly do – but you are welcome to bring your own in and use their plates and cutlery, which is a nice touch. Bonus points for spotting their cat “Welly” who some times prowls around wondering why there are so many ooomans in her house. Open Mon-Sun, 10am-12midnight http://www.thewellingtonrealale.co.uk Lickey Hills The Visitor Centre Warren Lane Rednal Birmingham B45 8ER Telephone/Fax 0121 447 7106 Arrrrgh where’s all the buildings gone? What’s that green stuff? What am supposed to do here? Why do those trees look different? There are how many different types? Why? I need litter or neon...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt6

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): Subside Fletchers Walk, Paradise Place, Birmingham, B3 3HJ. Tel: 0121 212 0211 The alternative “alternative” bar to Costers with a generally younger crowd, good if you like your music loud and shouty or want to take your parents for a drink in place they are guaranteed to feel uncomfortable. Decorated like a cheap gentleman’s rub club because it actually was a cheap gentleman’s rub club. The fairly cheap drinks, super late closing times, large number of event nights and convenient location make this a handy boozer to know. Sun – Tues and Thurs; 5pm – Midnight, Weds Fri and Sat; 5pm – 6am Maison Mayci Poplar road Kings heath Tel (That sound is me writing this while straining to avoid the easy French stereotype gags) French owned and themed café right in the heart of Kings Heath, purveyors of good coffee, semi-decent tea and tiny cakes that are so cute they’re guaranteed to make a woman’s voice raise several octaves to a pitch that...

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt5

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): Kitchen Garden Café The Kitchen Garden Cafe 17 York Road Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7SA Tel: 0121 443 4725 Schizophrenic oasis of calm tucked away behind kings heath high street, is it a garden shop? Is it a licensed café? A deli? Or Restaurant? Is it a gig venue? Well, all of the above really, whatever it is the prices are a little high, but seems to go down very well with the touchy-feely-organic-knit-your-own-yogurt crowd. The food is of a good quality plus the nice atmosphere, unusual layout and free Wi-Fi all make this a good place to take the laptop and get some work done. Homemade Fish-Finger Sandwich £3.95 from the daytime menu Opening hours: Mon–Wed, 9.30am–5pm; Thurs–Sat, 9.30am-11pm; Sun, 10am-3.30pm The Crown Corporation St, Birmingham, B4 6QB Tel: 0121 214 5021 The once overlooked old man dive, given new lease of life by painting it white and adding a modern Italian theme, which strangely fits with the traditional layout and plaster moldings....

Danny Smith’s Guide to 2008 Pt4

Danny Smith was writing lots of guides to Brum for the Itchy guide, last year. It never happened, so we present his guide to the past in a number of parts (see all the parts): The Rectory Bar and Restaurant 50-54 St Paul’s Square, The Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B3 1QS +44 (0)121 605 1001 “Can we have some bread while we decide?” “We don’t do bread” “You don’t do bread” Confused “No?” walks away,10 minutes later “Yeah we do have bread but you have to pay for it” Fixed Dinner – £17 (2 courses) to £20 (3 courses) Mon – Fri, 12pm–2.30pm, 5pm–10pm; Sat, 12pm–10pm; Sun, 1pm – 8pm Revolution Vodka bar Five Ways Broad Street Birmingham B1 2HF Tel: 0121 665 6508 Fax: 0121 665 6507 When Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels sat down in the 19th century and thrashed out The Communist Manifesto as a way of inspiring future generations I’m willing to bet neither of them imaged that nearly 200 hundred years later what they have actually inspired was a series of failed totalitarian regimes and a chain of vodka bars, Where the proletariat go after a hard week of work and be sick on each other. It’s a shame that this place is generally full of the usual Broad...

Page 1 of 2

1 2 »

Recent Comments

Archives

Is Brum Happy?

Birmingham's emotional wellbeing* on Saturday 11th of February 2012 23:50: 58.8 % (average)