So I've spend a lot of time (and too much £) at Sixteen's neighbour/sister Faculty and yet never…read moremanaged to make it here for a meal. I decided to remedy that after drinking a Faculty coffee here, using the cafe as overflow seating during a particularly busy time. I was entranced by the variety and looks of the food, and have eaten lunch there three times this week to ensure that their awesomeness is consistent. I'm happy to report that Sixteen Kitchen & Bakery is one of the most delicious and affordable sandwich shops in the city centre. Sixteen is the brainchild of the owners of Faculty, and supplies the coffee shop with their delectable desserts. The shop is joined with Faculty by an open wall, so you can easily order something from one or both and sit in either location. Whereas Faculty uses a bar and two seater table arrangement, Sixteen's seating is entirely on two long tables. This is perfect for large groups or office team lunches (I've seen a lot of work being done here) but can get cramped otherwise. In addition to making desserts for Faculty, the kitchen & bakery serves breakfast and lunch until the late afternoon. I haven't made it to Piccadilly Arcade early enough for breakfast (stops at 11AM), but lunch is good enough to make it a regular mid-day stop. I've ordered the kimchi and cheddar toastie, as well as the basil, pesto, tomato, and mozzarella ciabatta, and most recently the vegemite and avocado sandwich. The kimchi is homemade of course and has a nice balance between heat and actually enjoying the flavours of it. Good luck finding kimchi that tastes this good elsewhere in Birmingham! The ciabatta was done up right and while not blowing away my tastebuds, hit all the right notes. The vegemite and avocado with tomato and mature cheddar was pretty much what you would expect. Like marmite, you either love it or hate it! All of the sandwiches are made fresh daily and packaged on the counter for hygiene. Upon selection, they are placed in a press for finishing. The menu is not set, changing every few days depending on bread (from Peel & Stone) and produce (from the Bullring Open Market). Sandwiches hover around the £4 mark and are a great value especially for the larger ones. For an extra £1 you can add salad to your meal as a side. My only complaint at this point is the lack of beverages. Sixteen makes fresh pressed juices for £3.50 and that's it. If you want anything else, you'll have to head next door to Faculty (although tap water is free). They could do with adding some flavoured/sparkling waters or other canned/bottled drinks. Overall Sixteen is a wonderful addition to the independent businesses of Piccadilly Arcade and contender for best sandwich shop in Brum.

Sixteen kitchen is tucked away in the classy Piccadilly Arcade. It's less than a minute from grand…read morecentral and next to its sister store faculty coffee. The store does have limited seating due to its small confines. The menus changes every day and are put up on the wall behind the counter using a sharpie and ripped up sheets of paper. They generally specialise in sandwiches and soups but also sell cakes or pastry to compliment. If you wanted a coffee to match their is a door leading through to faculty from the store side. On this occasion is purchased a toasted sandwich which was halloumi, pesto and basil on sour dough. It tasted absolutely great, the sandwich was toasted perfectly. The correct portioning meant flavours were great and not overpowering. It cost £4 which I think is very reasonable considering quality. If your waiting for a train or just need a quick lunch sandwich I would recommend sixteen kitchen!

As a coeliac you may question why I'm writing a review for a bakery, and sadly it's not because…read morethey are making amazing Gluten Free alternatives of their delicious looking cakes. I have a major sweet tooth, and whilst I can't eat their delicious cakes I can buy them for other people. So whilst I'm buying Danishes and tarts for the other half, I'm buying myself the freshly made monster meringues. Worth treating yourself to some freshly baked classics and great bread as opposed to a cupcake every now and again. It's always nice to find a good local supplier that means you can bypass the supermarket and grab something freshly and locally made with good quality ingredients. They are superbly located for the commuters from Snow Hill Station, you just need to remember its there on the corner of Great Western Arcade.

The Bread Collection located on the corner of Birmingham's Great Western Arcade has a very unique…read morefeel and a sense of it's own character! They offer fresh bread, cakes, pasties, sandwiches and a great alternative for a nice lunch. Although the interior is quite small and there are only a few seats I'd recommend the food here to anyone. You can also buy their items for home use. I bought a whole bread loaf!! Although you pay a little more, the better tastier food, an alternative to the big supermarkets, and you know that your supporting a local grocer's using local sourced ingredients, its a win win all round. Pay them a visit!

This place is superb and a hugely welcome addition to Harborne. The cakes are amazing, and now they…read moredo (albeit limited) lunch it makes it even better. But the best aspect is the downstairs bar area. Still smells a bit of paint as it's so new, but this is easy to get past. Stripped back and exposed brick, it's very cool. Obviously not somewhere to go on a sunny summers day, as there's no natural light! Decent selection of craft beer and spirits. Tuesdays are at the time of writing flatbread and 2 halves of beer for £10 which is great value. This will become a very regular haunt of mine, right on the doorstep. And it can definitely be included as part of the Harborne Run, if that's your jam...

The cakes look too good to eat...but somehow I manage!…read more My experiences with Character Cakes has been nothing but outstanding and delicious. My very first cake was a cleverly crafted cartoon cake of me collecting my GCSE results. My mom had popped down a couple of weeks before my results were due and had ordered it. For my 18th birthday party I knew we were going to be using Character Cakes again except this time I could have whatever I wanted. I took a picture of my new devil tattoo and took it down to see whether they could do an enlarged version of it. She admitted it could be tricky but she would give it a go. It was amazing! I didn't want to cut it up! Every time we order a new cake our requests get more detailed, yet they always manage to deliver an amazing piece which not only looks incredible but tastes good too. I cannot give them a higher recommendation. I've got a whole year to decide what to have for my 30th birthday cake, any suggestions?

Having heard about this place a few months ago and as a huge fan of all things sweet, I've been…read morelooking forward to visiting - and I wasn't disappointed. This is a small bakery/cafe and serves pattesserie and cakes but also savouries with a Venezuelan twist as this is where the owner is from. We started off with a kind of bake that was a light brioche type dough on the outside and stuffed with ham and chorizo. Served warm, it was surprisingly light and tasty. We then moved onto the sweet stuff- a raspberry Italian buttercream sponge and a 'mother-in-laws tongue' (light pastry dipped in chocolate at each end, caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream). Both were fantastic! £2.50 each as well, which I thought was a good price for something fresh and handmade. The service felt a little prickly, but then this is a one woman operation and bakers work looooong hours so I thought this was an understandable compromise for delicious food.

What a lovely little place. Once we got parked ! Lovely couple from Venezuela. (As they supply the…read morepub opposite with bread, their customers can use the 'Maggies' car park ) Small menu but nice selection with specialist meals at the weekend with Venezuelan foods. We had wholemeal baps filled with Chicken and salad with freshly made coffee and fruit juice followed by Venezuelan three milk cake. We shared one as quite rich.Have driven past many times and so pleased at last to visit today. We love our food and can highly recommend this smart and welcoming little place. Well done

Dream Cakes are a lovely little independent business that makes everything themselves, from the…read morecakes to the icing, the staff are highly talented and creative. They make amazing little characters and people look-a-likes out of icing to suit every occasion. The shop is full of photographs of previous creations, revealing exactly how the store owners can capture people's imaginations. I've been in there to get a cake made from my Grandad's 90th Birthday, and they developed an amazing little figure of my Grandad doing his gardening. Additionally, you can choose exactly what type of cake you want, so you don't have to stick to the typical sponge. I bought fruitcake for my Grandad, which was then decorated accordingly. By the time it's decorated, you really feel bad eating this piece of artwork, but obviously, the freshness and flavour tastes as good as it looks. By far the greatest cake makers in Birmingham, Dream Cakes are well worth a visit, especially if you want to make someone's birthday that little bit more special.

This place is absolutely wonderful! The cake tasted as amazing as it looked!! Definitely recommend!…read moreX

The best source for all your bread cakes!…read more I adore Gayton's bread and if I cannot find any in my local shops I always visit the bakery shop where the staff are always cheerful, happy to see you and tempt me into buying some of their excellent cakes!

I have travelled all over the world and yet Gayton's have the best bread I have ever tasted. Their…read moreGranary Loaf is to die for. If you haven't tried their products yet you haven't lived. Well worth a drive up to the Bakery as the staff are always welcoming and cheerful. Although you always leave with more than you had planned. lol.

Finally LS has a bakery! an awesome bakery with sourdough bread, lots sorts, and cakes!read more

We just moved here and are so glad to have found such a great bakery. We've come almost daily and…read morehave tried the variety of breads on offer. All feature crisp crusts and great solid texture unlike the mushy industrial breads at the supermarkets. Their lunch sandwiches are a treat as well. And beyond the breads the pastries and cakes are great as well. Even the pizzas offered Thursday evenings are excellent. The staff are friendly as well, but it can get very busy so a wait can be expected. The bread is a bit pricier than average at about £3 each, but you get what you pay for. They even offer half loaves as well. Also by afternoon you'll have only a choice of what's left, but we've never been disappointed. If you love great bread this is the place for you.

Are you decorating a cake or do you have a cake disaster? If so, you HAVE to come here!…read more I enjoy cake decorating but I'm no expert. I think my rookie creations get compliments from my husband just because he doesn't want to upset me and he wants to eat the cake. When I first visited this shop the smell of sweet icing hit me, lifted me up and floated me through the door. I felt like a big kid in a sweety shop and I didn't know what to look at first. The walls are full of everything cakey! Iced butterflies, cake wire, piping heads, piping bags, cake toppers... I could keep going. My cake decorating collection is only small yet had a massive boost after I'd left as the prices here were better than reasonable! I've always known that cake decorating is an art form but to see the weirdly shaped utensils and fun looking gadgets used, brought on severe cake making urges I didn't know I had. The entire shop oozes cake decorating inspirations and ideas. I've always been creative and arty but even I know it's not just about having the tools, it's about knowing how to use them. I'd noticed a sugarcraft class poster in the window so I spoke to Lorna - the manageress - and she told me they offer 10 week sugarcraft courses in which you learn skills such as flower making, covering cakes and piping for £150! Each class lasts 2 hours and all the equipment is there for you to use. The Sugarcraft Box specialises in last minute cakes. I asked Lorna how last minute was last minute and she told me she had made a cake during the day for a party taking place that night!!! So if your cake is dropped or your delivery doesn't turn up get yourself down here asap. If you are more of a cake eater rather than a cake decorator this shop is still worth a visit, you never know you may get a new hobby.

Simply amazing pizza. The best Neapolitan style pizza I've had in this country. Wood burning brick…read moreoven, imported mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and a passionate owner/maitre de and pizzaiola. Even the waiter was well informed and very hospitable. I was with my little brothers and didn't have the room to eat anything else off the simple but outstanding menu; but will definitely be going back to try one of everything else. The pizza was the best i can remember having in The UK. A very unassuming front deli and bakery eventually breaks into a lovely restaurant and bar area with the oven on display for all who know it's tasty glory to bask and revel. Can't wait to update the review the next time I go back, which may very well be tomorrow ;-)

Shades of red and pink swirl through the crispy meringues in the shop window of this bakery. They…read moreare as big as medicine balls and they are all piled atop each other in a slightly chaotic way like they have fallen freely from a kind of Charlie's Chocolate Factory in the sky. There is a surreal touch as the table they are sat on looks like it is close to buckling with the weight of these light and airy fancies. Some two dozen traditional English, Mediterranean and artisan breads are baked at the simply named Bread Collection. There is also a delicatessen counter with pickles, chutneys, and a good selection of continental cheeses, including Comte, a kissing cousin of Gruyere. I eat this strong and slightly sweet cheese on its own, a cracker seemingly superfluous, and unnecessary. The foodies dream is made complete with a sit-down coffee shop selling sandwiches, hot drinks, light lunches, and those psychedelic meringues from earlier. In addition to monging fine foods to eat in and eat at home, Bread Collection is a delightful place in which to spend time.