BLC 2010

Restaurant Guide for BLC 2010

You won't go hungry during BLC'10 --- The Etap Hotel is next to several entertainment centres in the City Centre and plenty of restaurants are within easy walking distance. The following is just some small selection.

Arcadian area

This is the area near the Birmingham Hippodrome, where The Green Room is located. To get there, cross the Bristol Road via the pedestrian tunnel, turn left along Bristol Road (towards the City Centre) and take a right turn after about 150m into Inge Street. You are now walking directly towards The Green Room and a pub, called The Old Fox.

The Arcadian is Birmingham's very own China Town with a number of quite authentic places. Our Chinese colleagues tell us that
  • Chung Ying Garden, 17 Thorp Street, 0121 666 6622
is the best of them all. It tends to be quite busy so phoning first could be an idea but then, there are so many other places nearby that you can be sure to find something. If you are on a small budget then try
  • Big Wok, 5 Wrottesley St, 0121 666 6800
The Arcadian Centre, which gives the area its name, is a conglomerate of eateries and bars, which are very popular with young people (particularly on weekends). The
  • Festival Balti, 70 Hurst St, 0121 622 6289
is a very civilized place and offers traditional Birmingham Asian fare.

The Mailbox

This is the former Royal Mail sorting office and now houses Birmingham's poshest shops. It is just 400m along Bristol Road towards the City on your left hand side. However, because of the Holloway Circus roundabout, I recommend that you take the underpass to the other side of the road, go towards the Arcadian, (eg by taking Thorp Street), then turn left onto Hurst Street and walk all the way up to Navigation St. There take a left turn again and you will be led underneath the busy Queensway (the continuation of Bristol Road) directly towards the Mailbox. The restaurants are at the far end of the building and we have found them all quite agreeable, but pricier than what you have around the Arcadian.

Brindley Place

This is a mostly upmarket area for eating out. Colourful, busy, and offering great choice of styles. To get there, follow the instructions for the Mailbox but cross Navigation Street up the hill towards Victoria Square (which is where the Town Hall is). Follow the stream of people between Old Town Hall and the new one towards the Central Library, which you can walk through towards Centenary Square and the ICC/Symphony Hall beyond. Pass through the ICC and as you leave at the western end you are facing the Brindley Place area. Take your pick. We can recommend all of the following:
  • Bank, 4 Brindley Place, 0121 633 4466
  • Thai Edge, 7 Oozells Square, 0121 643 3993
  • Tin Tin Brindley Place, 0121 633 0888
but there are many more. Although you are not very far from your hotel, it is probably easiest to take a taxi home because the busy inner ring road cuts off the most natural routes back to the Etap.

Near the University

As you leave the campus along Grange Road towards Bristol Road you will actually come to a quite decent Italian place on the Bristol Road. It's the
  • Rimini, 523--525 Bristol Road, 0121 472 4423
Also note that there is a Tesco Express a little further along Bristol Road towards the city. It is quite well stocked with groceries etc.