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    Damascena

    4.1 (21 reviews)
    InexpensiveCoffee & Tea, Delis, Arabic
    Closed 9:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Damascena Photos

    DAMASCENA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - Damascena

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    Reviews With Photos

    Morrocan mint tea
    Vicky O.

    I have found a little slice of heaven in Moseley and it's name is Damascena. I spotted this place once it had opened on one of my many summer jaunts into the area and had it picked out as a place I had to pop into. Time went by and the time never really presented itself... A lunch with Yelp Elite Mohamade provided the perfect excuse to head down and check it out. This Syrian themed gem isn't huge, but the warm welcome will make you feel like the most important customer of the day. I popped in and initially grabbed a table by the big glass windows and ordered a Moroccan Mint Tea whilst I waited for my lunch partner to arrive. As you can see from my photos, this was something really special. Packed full of fresh mint leaves and served with a sugar stirrer, I felt whisked away to a land of hot, dusty streets and endless sunshine. After I had finished, I moved to the snug at the back of the venue to get a bit of work done. This area provides sofa style seating and big squishy pillows, perfect to chill out in of a day or an evening (the venue is open until 8pm most days). Once Mo had arrived, we moved to a larger table area back out the front and ordered more drinks and some food. I opted for the Damascena tea (a black tea, this time) and three Tahini lamb pastries, alongside a lamb soup. I couldn't get over the prices. The soup was around £2.15 and the pastries were 95p each (although there was a deal to buy three). All the food was tasty, warming and fresh; perfect to chase the cold wintry chill away. I ended up spending a good 4 hours in this venue and never once felt ill at ease or rushed. This place would be great for a catch up with friends, a date or a lunch in the week. I WILL be back, it's just a matter of how soon I can make it... Highly recommended.

    Turkish coffee

    Nice dish, and strong coffee. For a first-time drinker of Turkish coffee, it has a really heavy taste. Coffee grounds can tell fortune, interesting.

    The Eastern theme runs throughout. These are the tiles in the loo!
    Ben C.

    Sat on the crossroads in Moseley Village, Damascena is the newest coffee shop and eatery to open its doors in the area. Described as 'your local, far-away coffee house', with Middle Eastern stylings, food and drink, they offer an unique café experience. As well as the familiar range of coffee drinks made using espresso as a base, smiling and welcoming staff will serve you to speciality hot drinks too, like Walnut and Cinnamon Tea and Moroccan Mint Tea, the latter made with a handful of fresh and zingy mint, which fills the air with sweet aromas. There's a naturally well-lit main seating area at the front and in the back is a more dimly-lit, cosy snug area with low level tables. Damascena serve good, fresh wholesome food at amazing prices in the form of salads, mezes and sandwiches. If you want to send your calorie intake through the roof, (and why not, you need them, it's cold outside), then treat yourself to Afternoon Tea. Choose between different freshly-baked meat, fish or cheese Fatayers, (Arabian pastries), served with pickled chillies, olives and houmous, and a choice of baklava and drinks. Sat sipping authentically-served Turkish coffee in the lantern-lit back area in a cloud of e-cig vapour, we feel a thousand miles away from the Midlands Winter. Talking of lanterns, Big Tent and the Gypsy Lantern were in there on the same day that we went. If it's good enough for a world-class folk band, then it's good enough for me. Take the road to Damascena yourself sometime soon.

    Ciel D.

    Stopped in for a quick bite, and discovered one of the nicest cafes I've been to in years. It's cozy, with cute seating. Everything is pretty and tastefully decorated in keeping with the Middle Eastern vibe. I had a tahini lamb pastry, and it was some of the best food I've had! I can't rave enough in one review. The meat pastries are cooked to order, not microwaved or served cold out of the case. The whole cafe smells of herbs and strong coffee. I will be back to try one of everything on the menu!

    Soo good
    Mo A.

    I just want thank Vicky for suggesting this place. I loovee this little cafe. I always see it when on bus to town or home and never gone in to try. I was meeting Vicky for brunch and this was the Point of interest. Good excuse for both of us to try this place as had opened for months now and never been. Interior is really cool and middle eastern influences ( atleast from thoughts of my small mind) they had arabic music in background playing and the stuff were pretty good. I wanted to order everythig on menu. We were pretty hungry so we went for more than one thing. Had chicken shawarma and Lamb Pastry. And a Morrocan Mint Tea ( weirdest tea I seen, but very cool looking) I love the sugar-stick you get with hot drinks. I want to know how they did that. Anyway...tea was really nice. The food was AMAZING. Chicken shawarma was juicy and delicious, lamb pastry was also very tasty. I wanted to keep eating but I knew I was full. Will be back for the other stuff and the cakes me and Vicky resisted Highly recommend Damascena to all. Great to have a variety of cafés from the Starbucks and the Costas.

    The most interesting Mint Tea I've ever enjoyed!
    Richard T.

    Lovely Coffee shop in the heart of Moseley. A Middle Eastern theme, with traditional tea and coffee as well as Hummus, wraps and a wide selection of tasty cakes! Free Wi-Fi throughout the cafe, as well as outdoor seating. Try the Mint Tea! :-)

    Caroline C.

    I spotted this place a while ago but not living in the area it has taken a while to get here-luckily I got a living social voucher which made the afternoon tea even better;) It's a great little cafe situated right on the cross roads, so easy to get to and was easy to spot. There is outdoor seating, but the large windows mean it's quite light and airy inside-apart from the cosy snug area at the back:) We were first given a selection of Mediterranean savoury pastries, which included lamb, pumpkin, feta cheese and mint-they were light and fresh and would make a great snack! They were polished off very quickly;) There was a huge drinks selection. My friend had a chocolate milkshake, whereas I had a lime, mint and honey drink-which was so zingy and thirst quenching-yum:) I made a good choice, but next time I might go for the cinnamon tea. After this our plates and drinks were cleared away and although we'd enjoyed it, we were disappointed not to try the tantalising desserts. Just as we were about to leave the waitress asked what we thought of them -lucky she did! A few minutes later a tray if baklavas and other traditional sweet pastries were brought out-I absolutely love these! If you like honey and pistachios then these are for you!! Definitely had our money's worth! There was a small deli section for Mediterranean spices, teas and coffees to take away, which was a nice touch. I like the fact it's open until 8pm during the week and even 6pm on a Sunday! I think Saturday is the busiest day so you may not get a seat. We went on Sunday as it was almost full at 3.30, but by 5pm it was nearly empty. Definitely recommend a visit to anyone!

    Flatbread, falafel and hummus

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    5 years ago

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    9 years ago

    Food very nice, but the kitchen forgot our order so we ended up waiting 40 minutes for our lunch.

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    10 years ago

    The restaurant has now expanded into the building at the rear. Far more covers, far more comfortable. Lovely food at very affordable prices.

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    10 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Love this cafe. Great selection of teas, delicious food and friendly staff. A bit different to your usual cafes and I like it

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    10 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Terrible customer service. Staff were very rude and couldn't answer simple questions with regard to my dietary requirements.

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    Faculty - An hourglass to tell you when the tea is finished brewing. How quaint!

    Faculty

    4.4(43 reviews)
    2.3 miCity Core
    £

    We stumbled across this place while escaping the rain at the Christmas market and it was such a…read moregreat find. A small flat white and small cappuccino for £6 total is a rare find these days and we both loved our drinks. So much flavour and nice, strong coffee. My only reason for giving 4 stars is that the layout was a bit cramped and it was slightly lacking in customer service. If you're just popping in for a takeaway coffee though, this is a fab spot.

    I never normally do this anymore but I'm so in awe of this place that I'm writing the review before…read moreI've even finished eating/drinking. I knew I'd love this place as when I walked in, the smell of roasting coffee flew into my nostrils, Faculty literally had me at hello. So more about this love affair, the coffee is brilliant, the cakes taste fantastic and the tea is a relaxing and soothing as the cute little tea pot suggests. The staff working were friendly and happy to offer advice (to me and another customer who had 21 questions about the origin of the coffee) - credit where credits due, the young chap answering knew the answer to every question! They are also linked to next door, a sandwich shop which is perfect for lunch and you can even order from one side and go and sit in the other or vice versa. Owned by the same husband & wife partnership and matched with the same awesome decor. It's not often I'm in Birmingham but one thing for sure is this fling is sure to continue every time I venture in!

    Photos
    Faculty - Vegan avo on toast and flat white

    Vegan avo on toast and flat white

    Faculty - Absolutely love this interior

    Absolutely love this interior

    Faculty - Listening Intently

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    Listening Intently

    Quarter Horse Coffee - Really love these lights

    Quarter Horse Coffee

    4.5(22 reviews)
    1.8 miSouthside
    £

    Great experience, delicious coffee, made to perfection will come again. Great service as wellread more

    This little corner of Bristol Road is currently under a surge or new businesses and Quarter Horse…read moreCoffee seemingly has come out of nowhere to add to this strip, just a stones throw away from the Pagoda. Quarter Horse is based from Oxford and the Birmingham branch is it's sister shop. The space here is vast with huge ceilings and windows at the front and back of the shop coupled with minimalist furniture, there is plenty of seating and will be very exciting to see all these full once the name of Quarter Horse name gets out to Birmingham. I enjoyed a silky latte this morning which was excellent in taste and kept me warm from the wet weather outside. QH are using Round Hill coffee beans at the moment which is a welcome change from the many other fine coffee shops in Birmingham. At the moment, QH is limited to hot drinks (they opened 2 days ago) so it will be interesting to see what food and other additions QH will provide over the coming weeks and really develop into a place with its own identity. But what is extremely exciting for coffee buffs is that on one side of the shop, a new roaster is going to be installed within the next 2 weeks! First in Birmingham! I'm sure I am not the only person who is thrilled at this prospect and cannot wait to see this in action. I have been to many coffee shops in London where this set up works very effectively so this will certainly be something Brummies can be proud of.

    Photos
    Quarter Horse Coffee - Loving the airy interior.

    Loving the airy interior.

    Quarter Horse Coffee - Serious machinery here.

    Serious machinery here.

    Quarter Horse Coffee

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    Coffee Roaster

    Coffee Roaster

    5.0(2 reviews)
    3.4 mi

    This was a little gem on the high street of Shirley I came across while looking for scones! They…read moreroast their own coffee beans and the place just smelt divine! The owner was super nice and loved my kinda American accent even though he thought I was Australian at first..lol.. I asked if they had scones and he said yes! With clotted cream and jam and fresh strawberries he asked....yes ! I said. Perfect mid morning snack in England. It looked amazing and boy have I missed these . I also got a nice cappuccino made with their mild roast and it was so perfectly brewed. I should be having tea with a scone but I could pass up the freshness of the coffee The scone was delicious, the cream was nice and rich and the jam was not jelly! I loved the fresh strawberries on top too. Ate every bit of this up. The Brit's do scones the best. The cafe was a lovely local place with a nice breakfast menu with basics and some other desserts. Just a lovely place to get a strong brew and a traditional scone! Just what I was looking for.

    The Coffee Roaster in Shirley is my stand out place for a late cooked breakfast on the weekend…read more The food is always excellent and although it looks small from the outside it is a bit of a tardis once you get in so you won't struggle to find a table. It is pretty cosy inside but that adds to the charm. As the name suggests the coffee is wonderful as well. I've visited for afternoon tea and cake too which were great value. The business also provides a tea and coffee emporium stocking everything for the caffeine lover. The extra friendly and knowledgeable staff will help you decide on the perfect coffee bean for you and then grind to take away. They also have a car park to the rear which is extremely helpful when driving to Shirely.

    Photos
    Coffee Roaster
    Coffee Roaster - Inside ...roasting area and retail

    Inside ...roasting area and retail

    Coffee Roaster

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    Damascena - coffee - Updated July 2026

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