The Best Full English Breakfasts In Birmingham: 9 Fry Ups in Brum
The best full English breakfasts in Birmingham is a matter close to my heart. I spend most of my time (when I’m not working as a circle measurer) adventuring and exploring Birmingham’s food and drink scene. As a local Birmingham Blogger, I like to try those places nobody else has thought about.
Sometimes it can even get hairy. The things I do for you lot. 🙂 This time, I went out finding some of the best meals also known as the ‘full English breakfast’, the ‘fry up’, the ‘cooked breakfast’, the ‘full Monty’, the ‘all day breakfast’, or the ‘pork and two hedge’. Ok, I may have made that last one up.
Before I start, in case you are after brunch recommendations instead of fry-ups, check my Best Birmingham brunch Spots. So, where was I….?
The breakfast café scene in any village, town or city is always one to behold. If you follow my thoughts on ‘caffs’ on social media, then you’ll know that I have very strong opinions on the derogatorily named ‘greasy spoon’. All things to all people, and whether you go to be involved in the salt of the earth conversations, to people watch or just to get a cheap feed, the experience is always honest and straight forward. This is what makes the list below some of the best full English breakfasts in Birmingham. The caff.
Some are rough round the edges, some are so slick that they dazzle, and some are so middle of the road that you’d hardly notice that they are there, but whichever bracket they land in, they are all important community assets. You could rock up as leader of the free world, or just released after a 10 stretch and you’d be treated the same. A budget friendly leveller, and grass roots dining.
I went for something fairly meat heavy everywhere I went, but there are vegetarian items on the menu of all of them, if you are feeling the need for a meat free day.
Cafes constantly rise and fall on everyone’s own leader board, and everyone has their fave. If your favourite isn’t on the list, it’s either that I’ve not been, or that I prefer the ones on the list below at the moment. Feel free to add yours in the comments at the bottom.
9 of Birmingham’s Best Full English Breakfasts
The Clock, Northfield
A staple of the area for years. Probably the only café that gets so busy, and staff so bothered that they sometimes get close to running between tables and the counter. Family friendly, and serving breakfasts, baked potatoes, dinners and more. When I went there with my current wife, she was taking a paracetamol, and without saying anything they popped a glass of water on the table.
The Clock Cafe looks small from the front, but is a warren of spaces. Breakfasts come with tea or coffee, and there are clocks all over. Obvs.
Bournville (Lane) Cafe, Stirchley
In all of the current hyperbole surrounding Stirchley, there will always be the original members of the band that were there back in the day. This is that. In Only Fools and Horses Trigger’s broom terms, it’s had a few new handles and a few new heads, but it’s the same broom. Spitting distance from Bournville train station, it’s also easy to get to if you aren’t local persons. Just remember that it’s actually called Bournville Cafe, which is confusing, as it’s in Stirchley. Hence my messing around with the name above.
About as classic as cafes (caffs) get. Ageing, varnished wooden panelling, menu chalkboards and a flat cap guy nursing a tea for 2 hours, it’s both a feast for the belly and a feast for the eyes.
Bournville (Lane) Cafe website
Jane’s Cafe, Castle Bromwich
Jane’s Café doesn’t look like much. From the outside, there’s a bit of a timber deck that gets in the way a bit. However, step inside and the breakfasts pack a punch harder than most fry-ups you’ll find. Aside from other items on the menu, the breakfasts are split down into small medium and large. And the large ones are super good.
For £10 for the big one (including tea), you’ll struggle to find a better caff feed. The list of things you get with it starts with two eggs and three sausages, and ends with tea or coffee. Easily one of the best I’ve had in the area. It’s JUST outside Birmingham I believe, but don’t let that stop you.
Silly Sausage, Stechford
This place is set back from the road, and has around 15 parking spaces outside, which is good, because people seem to go here from far and wide. With an interesting setting, and a very mixed clientele, the Silly Sausage is set in an industrial unit. Dads taking kids out, full families out for a treat, mates having a feed.
I went for the ‘He Man’ breakfast, and it had more things on it than I can say in one breath. Including a tea. You may have noticed, I love a breakfast that comes with a built in tea. It seems so right. And this is another one of those, and anyone that disagrees with me is a silly sausage. (soz)
Coffee Diner, City Centre
Coffee Diner is the only caff on the list that’s actually in town. Located by the Pagoda Island, where the two Queensways meet, Suffolk Street and Smallbrook.
Walking in, this place seems to be currently benefiting from the large number of building sites in Birmingham City Centre. Builders in hi-vis clothes make up the majority of custom, but surely that’s a good thing. If you serve a builder a bad brekky, they won’t be back. But they return. There’s a clue.
And when you get served at the counter, you’ll probably get reminded to take your ‘tools’ with you. In case it throws you, they mean your knife and fork. So as this is the only city centre caff on the list, it’s a great place to know about for full English breakfasts in Birmingham City Centre.
Hylton Cafe, JQ
Hylton Café is a lovely mixture of old and new. Old school fry ups, with a hint of the new wave of brunch life, with specials on the board, and food that is plated way better than just sausage egg and beans. It’s been around for years, and is set in an old Victorian terrace, along with a long line of jewellery shops, just near the JQ train station. There’s even a bit of an astro-turf garden out the back, and you’ll see the ‘business end’ of local Victorian architecture. Really nicely kept.
Anyway, the food here is great, and always surprises me. I often go on my own and see the totally random people that come in for food, being in a very touristy part of Birmingham. The last time I was there, turns out that some of the punters used to live in the same village as the owner. Let the chat commence! Classic caff banter.
Broad Lane Cafe, Kings Heath
Another one that’s been here for years (see the theme here?), and they have absolutely kept up with the modern needs of a caff punter. A fancy coffee machine, the option of an Irish brekky, and some high stooled tables, this place has plenty of seating. A huge menu on the wall, and parking for the neighbouring shops outside, this place has quite a few wins.
The branded plates and mugs add a touch of consideration, and it all helps you want to go back.
I had a belly buster breakfast, which comes with a tea or (instant) coffee, and while it didn’t bust my belly, it did go some way to stopping me needing to eat again until much later. I have a tremendous appetite for most things, and this finished me off until early evening.
Billsedge, Yardley Wood
This keeps coming up on lists of the best cafes and therefore best breakfasts in Birmingham, and I can see why. Definitely one of the top places for full English breakfasts in Birmingham. Strip everything down to its naked caff-ness. unclasp the teal, fun seating, peel away the friendly service for a moment, and you are left with a café that makes an excellent breakfast.
Everything was as nigh on perfect as it could have been. I had to add a hash brown and black pudding to the largest breakfast that they do, but it was very good indeed.
The name of the place is a combo of the area that the owner lives, along with the surname of the owner. I had to ask. I was food hungry AND fact hungry that morning.
An example of how nice they are there – when I was there, there was a crash outside. The lady serving apologised for the disruption!
Tyseley Corner Cafe
So when I started publicising that I was on a hunt for good caffs, a few people told me about this place. They had some very (very) good things to say about it. Now I’ve been, I can see why. What a great little place. All the things I love about caffs in one well formed package. Affordable, check. Friendly, check. Lovely locals, check. Banter, check. Feel so full when I left that i just wanted to lie down, check. I mean…I did add black and white pudding as extras, but it was certainly a feast, and I do love a feast. 😉
The chap serving was great too, having fun with the kids that came in (he had a fake tomato sauce bottle with red wool that made them think they were about to be covered in sauce). He was very good. And the food was out in not much longer than a heartbeat. Maybe 4 minutes.
A well served community hub. I love caffs like this.
Final thoughts about full English in Birmingham
And there you have it. If I’m honest, I thought that all of these places would end up reading the same. Great breakfast, lovely people. And yeah, it is a bit like that, but each one has a character and a ‘thing’ of their own. I really hope that comes out.
The Great British fry-up is a staple as basic as it gets. That said, if done badly, it can ruin your day. If done well, you won’t need to eat for hours and hours. There are caffs everywhere. You only have to look. And this isn’t a cuisine that usually oozes sex appeal. This is food for when you feel rubbish after a big night out, or if you have a big day ahead, and this is the same UK wide. The difference is, caffs slot in to the list of places to get full English breakfasts in Birmingham naturally, and are all unassuming.
The Great British Cafe is a thing of beauty. People meet there, people laugh there and people feel at home there. The caff. The fry up. The community. Everyone will have a favourite, and it’s likely that yours isn’t on this list. Let me know if it’s not. I’d love to know.
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as you will enjoy the fry-ups! If you want to read more, explore the B Town Social website and find new independent places and pubs in Birmingham to visit and support!
All of the Birmingham independent based places and pubs I write about in my blogs or on social media can be found on my interactive map so you can easily find them for yourselves and support local. Everywhere on the list above is on the map too. Happy exploring!
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