Is Birmingham a dump?

[i kne albert davy]

One of my best mates moved to Dukinfield in 1984 from Tipton and the family never went back...If 80s Duky is better than your home town your name better be Stig

Sounds like a proper wise fella, moving to Gods own.

 

[roman totale]

Used to go there quite a bit with work, entertaining customers, in the early to mid 90s and it was a shithole with almost nothing to do, considering the size of the place. About 4-5 years ago I was on a business trip to the UK and our flight back to Newark from BHX got cancelled, meaning me and a handful of American colleagues had to spend the night there. I didn’t know WTF to do, but had heard the city centre was much improved, so we went out in the Jewellery Quarter. We had a great Indian meal, hit up some great pubs and had a fantastic night. It was almost unrecognizable from the place I’d remembered.

 

[pee dubya]

Was there for the first time earlier this year. Quite liked it to be honest, enjoyed the lack of tourists, multicultural vibe and just general authenticity of a city going about its business without any pretensions.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Michelin stars are a nonsense tbf, plenty of restaraunts don't have them but are top class for the food offer and ambience.

That may be true but at the top end Birmingham is discernibly better than Manchester for restaurants although Manchester has a far more vibrant and interesting middle market.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Yes

 

[crublue1]

That may be true but at the top end Birmingham is discernibly better than Manchester for restaurants although Manchester has a far more vibrant and interesting middle market.

Having spent a few years there, I'd doubt that.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Having spent a few years there, I'd doubt that.

Which part?

 

[urban genie]

That may be true but at the top end Birmingham is discernibly better than Manchester for restaurants although Manchester has a far more vibrant and interesting middle market.

Depends on what you define as top end, a tiny thimble of fermented potato soup at £25 or a fry up in the koffee pot for a tenner, for me the latter is top end the other a con job idiots fawn over.

And I am saying this a an previous hotelolypia team silver medal winner who has previously worked on banquets for such as he who is now the king and other top end customers in my younger days, these awards are guff, any eatery that sends away happy well fed customers is what counts and the measure of how good it is, a local chippy that does that is just as good as any posh place imho.

 

[DiscoSteve]

Do they call buns muffins or barms? Big question.

 

[The Colonel]

Lived in Hamstead, Acocks Green and Erdington in the mid to late nineties. City centre then was pretty dead and tiny for the “second city” but the Brindley Place area was just taking off. Beer was crap, Brew 11 being the worst. So bad that I used to drink Carling although fond memories of the Trocadero in the centre watching sport. A great night with the Dutch during Euro ‘96 there.
Even an undeveloped Manchester then had better ‘village‘ areas in the suburbs, although as people have said, the locals were generally friendly apart from a noticeable NF element. As a city, like Leeds, it has struggled with an identity but that seems to be changing recently.