Canalside Café
35 Worcester Bar, Gas Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B1 2JT, UK
Tel:0121 248 7979
No website

The second delightfully positioned café I've visited in a week! (First was the Kettle Sings) This wonderful café and bar lies adjacent to Worcester Bar, the old stop lock in Gas Street Basin separating the Worcester & Birmingham Canal from the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, in a marvellously adapted canalside cottage. For fine weather there are tables outside on the towpath and in a raised level courtyard to the side, but for the rest of the time there is a cosy bar with open fire. There are several real ales available and local organic cider too, but we'd called in for a hot drink on a wet afternoon and were well satisfied with a real traditional pot of tea (me) or steaming hot chocolate. T even indulged in a luxury chocolate with whipped cream and a flake. Food available ranges from cooked breakfasts through baguettes, burgers and so on to various vegetarian options including hummus and salads. If the diners in the Chinese quarter weren't so good I'd probably make this a regular stop when in Birmingham.
July 2009