19 Birmingham Brunches You Must Try Before You Die

Expect eggs. Muchos, muchos eggs.

1. Steak and Eggs at the Lord Clifden

Lord Clifden / Via Facebook: TheLordClifden

One of only two places in the entire city that serves steak and eggs, The Lord Clifden's take on the US classic is absolutely immense. You can also work off the calories on their glorious beer garden-based ping pong table.

2. Full Breakfast at Bistro, Hotel Du Vin

Hotel Du Vin / Via hotelduvin.com

Ah the classic full breakfast – pork sausage, cured back bacon, black pudding, grilled tomato, mushroom and eggs cooked as you like, but (and this is very important) NO BEANS. Satan's legume.

3. Scotch Pancakes with smoked bacon and maple syrup at Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party / Via bostonteaparty.co.uk

Get thee to Boston Tea Party's Harborne branch (it's better than the city centre outpost, we think) for crazy good breakfast options. We've been known to arrive, order their pancakes, read a paper until 1pm before ordering one of the superb burgers for lunch. Kick back with a pint of Wiper and True's Amber Ale and ponder staying for dinner.

4. Mini Brekkie at Urban Coffee Company

Urban Coffee Company / Via Facebook: urbancoffee

The Jewellery Quarter branch of Urban is our favourite of their three Brum locations but their Mini Brekkie is a storming dish at all and any of them. Grease-free (go for poached eggs – they might be the best in town) this meal is a genuinely light cooked brekkie, meaning you won't feel the size of a humpback whale on your way out. (And look, no beans)

5. Super Food Breakfast at Boo Boo Coffee

Boo Boo Coffee / Via Facebook: 1391245511137351

If you're not looking for carb-laden, fried heaven then this is the place for you. Boo Boo is the best healthy breakfast joint in Brum. Hands down.

6. Shrimp and grits at Peel & Stone

Jack Spicer Adams / Via jackspiceradams.com

The foodie geniuses at Peel & Stone are definitely doing the most exciting brunches in Brum. The foodie geniuses at Peel & Stone are definitely doing the most exciting brunches in Brum. They take place irregularly at The Church Inn, in the Jewellery Quarter,so keep your eyes on their Twitter feed. The shrimp and grits is spellbinding, but the entire menu, which only features envelope-pushing options, is a joy. Go visit.

7. Pancakes with maple syrup at The New Inn

Jack Spicer Adams / Via jackspiceradams.com

Simplistically beautiful the New Inn's pancakes are fluffier than a rabbit-shaped cloud. Drizzle that syrup all over and dive in. Not literally. You'll ruin your nice top. Bonus points for a brilliant beer garden.

8. Poached haddock brulee at Bar Opus

Bar Opus

Bar Opus is currently Birmingham's most talked about bar, with their burgers garnering bonkers acclaim. The breakfasts and brunches are less well known but no less beautiful. The haddock brûlée is a perfect example of how passionate the Opus lot are about using fresh fish this far from the sea. Within 24 hours the very finest seafood landed at Brixham market is cooked to perfection on their premises.

9. French toast with fried banana at The Plough

The Plough / Via Facebook: plough.harborne

One of Birmingham's best pubs is also a breakfast and brunch hit, which is why it's super hard to get a table at weekends. Look out for 2-4-1 brekkies in mid-week and in the school holidays, which they usually only advertise on their blackboard rather than splashing it all over social media. Their new brunch menu is only recently finalised and pick of the bunch might just be the French toast with fried banana, yoghurt, maple syrup and cinnamon.

10. Arabian Buttered Eggs at Yorks Bakery Cafe

Yorks / Via Facebook: YorksBakeryCafe

For any Brummie, walking into Yorks and not immediately spotting at least one person you know is a sign that you don't get out enough. That's not the cafes only purpose, of course, it's also one of our best coffee houses and a truly first rate breakfasteria. The Arabian buttered eggs are legendary.

11. Sourdough Eggy Bread with Smoked Bacon & Avocado at Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party / Via bostonteaparty.co.uk

Any breakfast on which staff strongly recommend tabasco sauce be slathered has our interest piqued, and this is a bona fide cracker. Plus the avocado and tomatoes mean you can quite easily kid yourself that what you've just eaten is incredibly good for you. Keep telling yourself. Never stop.

12. The Biggest Sunday Lunch in Town at Malmaison

Malmaison / Via malmaison.com

Hungry? For £19.95, Malmaison serve unlimited hors d'oeuvres and endless visits to the chef's "cook station" for a choice of eggs, omelettes, waffles and pancakes. There's also hand-carved serrano ham, salads, patés, terrines, and soup of the day. You can then choose one of the brunch "classics", followed by one of their signature desserts. There’s also an option to upgrade to traditional meals, so Sunday roast, steak frites etc etc. Don't make dinner plans.

13. Smoked salmon and chive pancake at the Butchers Social

@ButchersSocial / Via Twitter: @ButchersSocial

Pop-up superstars the Butchers Social have found a permanent home at the former Walter Smith Butchers, in Harborne, and they've just started making beautiful baby steps into brunch: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 3pm. If there's a better deal in town than £4 for their smoked salmon and chive pancake with herb crème fraîche, then we're yet to find it.

14. Potato and onion hash, topped with bacon and poached egg at Cherry Reds

Cherry Reds / Via Facebook: 154179917960412

Hands down Kings Heath's finest breakfast, we suspect if Cherry Reds ever decided up sticks and leave the south Brum suburb then half the locals would be tempted to follow. They really love this place down there, and with good reason. You'll need to bring your own worthy newspapers, mind you.

15. Salt beef and drippy cheese with Hall Green fries at Peel & Stone

Jack Spicer Adams / Via jackspiceradams.com

In the words of spacetime leaping scientist Dr. Sam Beckett, "OH BOY!" The fries are seasoned with a BBQ sprinkle known only as Hall Green rub, an ingredient used often at their permanent Water Street bakery. The recipe is one of those niggling "they could tell you but then they'd have to kill you" kind of deals. So don't ask.

16. Bubble and squeak cake and fried egg at Café Opus

Cafe Opus

When it comes to people watching over brekkie nothing trumps Café Opus's sun trap terrace. Grab a paper, cancel all plans and sit for hours watching Brummies spill about the Japanese cherry blossom-laden Brindley Place. The bubble and squeak cake is flavour packed sensation that marries magnificently with the runny yolk.

17. Okra and sweet potato hash with paprika and poached egg at The Plough

The Plough / Via theploughharborne.co.uk

The best vegetarian breakfast Brum has to offer, in our humble opinion. Try and bag a spot in the Plough's stunning beer garden, but perhaps wait until the sun is over the yardarm before you do the "beer" part. Coffee will suffice in the mean time, particularly as The Plough is one of only three places in the UK that own a Slayer coffee machine. Staff train for 10 weeks to be able to use it.

18. Eggs Benedict at Marmalade

Marmalade / Via marmaladebirmingham.co.uk

New to the Birmingham scene Marmalade's breakfasts are really good value with the standout Eggs Benedict costing £4.95. Their cinnamon French toast is also really rather wonderful.

19. Old Spot sausages, smokey bacon jam, watercress, crispy shallots, toasted ciabatta from Ye Olde Saracens Head

Ye Olde Saracens Head / Via saracensheadbalsallcommon.com

A 25 minute drive from central Birmingham at Balsall Common, lies a truly delightful countryside pub that doesn't technically do breakfast or brunch, but that's the sort of maverick, rule-breaking writers we are. Not only do they have a genuinely stunning beer garden but they boast one of only four josper ovens in the West Midlands – so the sausages are stupendous. Go. Make a day of it.

Tom Cullen is editor of I CHOOSE Birmingham, a free weekly guide to the best things to do (and eat) in Brum, emailed direct to your inbox. Subscribe free here.