Breakfast is practical.
Lunch is sensible.
Brunch is neither, and that’s exactly why we love it.
The rise of brunch has given Birmingham an entirely legitimate reason to order pancakes at noon, drink coffee by the gallon and spend two hours doing something that could technically be completed with toast in ten minutes.
We’re not complaining.
The city is full of places capable of turning the first meal of the day into an event.
Grand Central Kitchen is a popular city-centre option for breakfast and brunch, particularly useful when your day involves shopping, trains or exploring central Birmingham.
Elsewhere, Birmingham’s neighbourhood cafés offer an altogether slower experience.
Areas such as Moseley, Harborne and the Jewellery Quarter lend themselves perfectly to weekend brunching because the meal can become part of a wider morning: coffee, independent shops, a walk and perhaps another coffee because weekends have different rules.
And what should you order?
There are two schools of thought.
The traditionalist wants eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and enough carbohydrates to remove the need for another meal until evening.
The modern brunch enthusiast is looking for avocado, poached eggs, sourdough, pancakes, granola, French toast and something involving chilli.
Fortunately Birmingham refuses to choose sides.
The city’s multicultural food identity also means brunch is becoming much more interesting than a standard cooked breakfast. Middle Eastern, Indian and international influences increasingly appear on daytime menus, expanding what a Birmingham breakfast can look like.
Dishoom Birmingham, for example, demonstrates how Indian flavours can transform the idea of breakfast entirely.
What makes brunch particularly suited to Birmingham, however, is geography.
This is a city of distinct neighbourhoods.
Rather than compiling a list and racing around trying to tick off every fashionable café, choose an area and explore it.
Brunch in the Jewellery Quarter and wander its streets afterwards. Eat in the centre before spending an afternoon shopping. Make Moseley the starting point for a slower Sunday.
There is also something refreshingly democratic about brunch.
You can spend generously if you want to, but a great breakfast doesn’t require a tasting-menu budget.
Good coffee, well-cooked eggs and somewhere comfortable to sit are sometimes all the luxury required.
Perhaps that explains why brunch survived the point at which we all thought it might be a passing trend.
It isn’t really about avocado or pancakes.
It’s permission to slow the weekend down.
And Birmingham, thankfully, provides plenty of places to do exactly that.
