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!

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!

The food is consistently good, but the service today was awful. I wish I could rate the two…read moreseparately! Service: We arrived first, placed our order, and while we waited several others placed orders. However, the girl at the register made us wait while she rang up the people in line behind us, despite standing there at the till with our tray. It was strange and rude. We'll try another cafe next time we're in the Bullring.

I hadn't been to Druckers for a while as I don't really like the coffee or the atmosphere…read more Anyway, as my bank account gives includes the offer of a free Druckers hot drink a day, I decided to try the tea today instead of coffee. Sadly I was disappointed and have to say, despite giving plenty of time for the tea (bag) to brew, and giving it a massive stir, the tea was completely devoid of flavour. (I am not exaggerating here): so bad that I didn't drink more than a few sips. Needless to say I won't be drinking tea in Druckers again. Note to Druckers, please improve the quality of your drinks. The staff seemed OK but not particularly friendly. The atmosphere was standard Druckers - very dated, hence I give a very rare low score!

I got so excited when I found out that English Rose Bakery had come to Selfridges. They make…read moreParisian style macaroons, which are notoriously difficult to find outside of London. Once in the Selfridges food hall, head towards to back and you'll see the cake counter (the cupcakes always look delicious!). English Rose is situated at the left end of the counter. You'll see piles of delicate pastel coloured macaroons in all sorts of delicious flavours. I highly recommend the salted caramel and rose. You can get a box of 6 for £5.00 - that is really good value as macaroon prices go! The first time I visited, the sales assistant asked me the colour order I wanted my macaroons arranged in. It was a nice touch, though they didn't ask on my second visit. The macaroons are really good. They have mastered the balance between chewy and crispy and the fillings are rich, creamy and flavoursome. My only criticism would be that some of the macaroons aren't 100% perfect appearance wise - I've had a couple of cracked ones.

Bubble tea part II...came here earlier this week and had the best bubble tea I have had to date. Ok…read moreI have only had it once before but this one was definitely my favourite. I went for the almond tea....it was amazing but be warned it's pretty filling. If you are in Arcadian this place is worth a visit...also if you are a cake lover I would also say stop by here. The cakes looked amazing...but i'm Glastonbury diet so decided to pass.

Cafe chino is a small cafe serving both Chinese baked goods, cakes, various bubble teas and general…read moreconfectionary. It's quite the picturesque place with its sleek clean white furnishing and boutique ornaments. The staff are very friendly and the variety of cakes and tea is great! On this occasion I had a coconut bubbletea. For those of you who don't know what bubble tea is its a milky tea drink with tapioca balls in. The tapioca balls are sucked up using a thick straw and chewed while you drink simultaneously. These drinks are quite filling! They have a lot of flavours available including matcha tea! They are made up to take away with a sealed top on so later consumption is always a option! The opening times are quite late till 8-9 pm and the prices for bubble tea are around the £3 mark. If your looking for a quick fix after a night out at the Arcadian or near by I would recommend this place!

They huge a large array of vegan or veganizable breakfast, brunch and lunch items, so we decided to…read moretry them out for brunch one morning. My wife got the Hearty Vegan (£8), a full English breakfast vegan-style. And I got the Vegan Hash (£9). My wife loved her breakfast, remarking that the vegan sausages in particular were a highlight. I enjoyed my hash -- it came on a bed of fried potatoes, with tofu scramble, guac, wilted spinach, marinated red peppers, and onion. It was almost entirely unseasoned, so I had to add plenty of salt, pepper and hot sauce. Huge portion and very filling. Not the most culinarily exciting dish but it was very solid. Super friendly service and the food came out in under 10 minutes. Recommended spot.

Arriving quite early into Birmingham city centre on a wet Thursday morning, I needed something to…read moreeat to get me through the day. I asked some Twitter friends for recommendations and came away with three; York's Bakery, Urban Cafe and Cherry Reds. I had a quick look at the menus and locations and decided on Cherry Reds. I'd been before but it was a long time ago and I'd only had coffee the last time. I met my mom and one of my sisters outside the cafe. We went inside and were greeted by a loud and smiley young lady behind the counter. I had a quick look at the menu and went for a bacon sandwich and a latte. My sister also had a bacon sandwich and my mum had scrambled egg on toast. I have one gripe with bacon sandwiches when I eat out; they rarely have enough bacon. I think for a decent bacon sandwich you should have at least 3 rashers of bacon. Cherry Red's bacon was very tasty. It was thick and cooked just enough. The bread was thick cut and lightly toasted. There were only 2 rashers of bacon, though. I know it adds to the cost of things but for 3 quid you'd expect 3 rashers! That was my only problem with the experience. The coffee was very nice also. Probably the best part of the visit was the server. As mentioned she was loud and smiley, in a way only Brummies seem to manage. It was refreshingly personal for someone used to the detachment of a lot of London establishments.

These hot pretzels are the best that I have ever had, and now I fear that I am hooked…read more Located on the ground floor of the Bullring, they have a good selection of flavours that you can choose from. I looked over the counter, and saw the staff rolling out the fresh dough and making the pretzels by hand. I tried the cinnamon with sugar pretzel, with a drink for a total sum of £4.00. It instantly melts in your mouth, smells and tastes divine, the aroma is just beautiful, quite filling as a snack, and you even get a loyalty card with a stamp. (buy 9 and your 10th pretzel is free). Expect a queue as these tasty delights are proving quite popular. You take them away so can eat on the go, or take advantage of the seating that's available right behind the store. Overall pleasant and great healthy food, I'll be going back.

In NYC I developed a dangerous obsession with pretzels. Hard salted chocolated pretzels, soft…read morebuttery airy cinnamon pretzels, pretzels in the knot shape, bite-sized pretzels, everything pretzel. Whilst it's reasonably easy to find the hard salty snack pretzels in multipacks in supermarkets, there's not many places that offer the soft fluffy pretzels I fell in love with - until Mr. Pretzels opened in the Bullring. I was dubious at first - but following the trend of dishing out samples (as so many of the food stalls in the Bullring seem to do) they caught me with their free samples of the cinammon sugar offerings. Buttery, soft, and *delicious* - worryingly for my waitline, I feel these will help tide my cravings over until I can get back overseas. YUM!

Chances are, if you haven't come across the name, you may well have already succumbed to the…read moreachingly, gorgeous cake crumbs of To Bizzy 2 Bake. Gavin, the baker behind the Birmingham legend that is Guinness cake, has been feeding the hungry for some time via various outlets in the city. In my case, my regular fix is obtained from Six Eight Kafé on Temple Row where not only do I run workshops where everyone is treated to a slice of their choice (that only seems right!), I also have regular coffee & cake afternoons there with a gaggle of girl friends. To Bizzy 2 Bake is the sure fire way to win anyone's heart. Apart from Guinness, which has over the last couple of years become my official birthday cake, Gavin also makes one of my all time favourites, the lush Red Velvet cake. For someone who is not a huge fan of chocolate cake, both of these have chocolate bases and yet I still adore them. Otherwise, Gavin also bakes an amazing carrot cake which for some reason always sounds healthier for those more health conscious than me. Apart from supplying some great coffee shops around the region, Gavin now also has a stall at both New Street and Brindleyplace food markets so his brilliance can reach more cake addicts. Gavin bakes his cakes for all your special occasions too (or just because) and if you love cake, I guarantee you will love To Bizzy 2 Bake.