As well as eating my own body weight in cheese and turkey over the festive break in Birmingham, I’ve also visited lots of local places for drinks and food. Instead of a weekly roundup I’m starting 2019 with a quick post about the independent highlights between Christmas and New Year.

Laghi’s Deli (Five Ways)

My husband and I can’t get enough of the pizza at Laghi’s Deli, and helpfully it’s just 10 minutes walk from our apartment. The crust is to die for – especially if you dip them in the homemade chilli olive oil they have available. Many of the pizzas are under a tenner too, so great value as well as excellent quality.

The Butcher’s Social (Henley-in-Arden)

We escaped Birmingham one afternoon for the quiet of Henley-in-Arden, stopping off at The Butcher’s Social for a few ales and some bar food. I’ll pop a proper post up about this at some point but let’s just say the chicken wings are definitely worth the hype.

The Wellington (City Centre)

In my opinion this is one of the most underrated pubs in the city centre. It’s a total old man pub and probably could benefit from someone washing the carpets, but there’s a cracking selection of beers and ales available. I got my porter fix here before NYE.

Digbeth Dining Club (Digbeth)

Having not been to my beloved DDC for a month or so it was inevitable we’d end up popping in over the Christmas holidays. Big love to some of my favourites from the Brum street food scene, including Flying Cows and Fat Snags (pictured), as well as the lovely guys behind Goody Gujarati who were a pleasure to meet and eat with.

El Borracho de Oro (Edgbaston)

For New Year’s Eve we sacked off a big night out in favour of a low key dinner at El Borracho de Oro in Edgbaston. We over ordered all the Spanish style tapas and gulped enough red wine to sink a ship. This places continues to offer lovely food and warm service – it’s still one of my favourites, for sure.

Digbeth Works (Digbeth)

The latest bar to open up in Digbeth, this place is big on gin and helpfully located next to the O2 for pre-gig drinks. Thankfully the unwashed wankers from The Kerryman up the road don’t seem to have discovered this bar yet and the crowd was quite young when we popped in for a drink.

Wayland’s Yard (City Centre)

We popped into this cafe by Snow Hill for coffee one morning. I love the oat milk lattes here, and the staff are just lovely. They’re also currently running a pay it forward scheme where you can buy an extra coffee or bacon bap and leave it for someone less fortunate. Bonus nice human points.

The Anchor (Digbeth)

Lovely old school boozer with a well worn pool table and plenty of ales and gins to choose from. I like this place as a pre-pub before Digbeth Dining Club, and in winter it’s always hotter than an OAP care home.

Happy New Year – wishing you all a smashing 2019.

Disclosure: I paid for everything in this post. All words and photos are mine.