A Gyaru Guide to Birmingham, England


I can’t tell you how excited I am for the Gyaru Jubilee event. The Paris meet is still fresh in my mind and I can’t wait for the partying, photos, and para para! In the lead up to the event I decided to put together a post on the gyaru guide to everything Birmingham for those who are planning on staying longer than a weekend (and for those that are, there are plenty of lush hotels in Birmingham for you to stay in). Birmingham rivals London in my eyes for it’s wide range of activities, and it’s only getting better and better.

Disclaimer: spending money was gifted by Hotels but all views are my own.

A Gyaru Guide to Birmingham by hellolizziebee

Birmingham Centre

All of the below are things within Birmingham city centre or within a 2-5 minute walk away.

Bullring

Forever21

Gals love shopping and the Bullring + Grand Central is the best place for it! I always start at Grand Central and then slowly make my way to the Bullring via Link Street, and my spending begins at Debenhams’ beauty section. There’s also a Forever21 there which is a long-time favourite of the UK gals, as well as Claires Accessories and Superdrug. You can spend hours in here walking around, so I suggest taking some comfortable flats with you.

Tokyo Toys – Anime + Manga Store

31 Corporation Street, B2 4LS

Tokyo Toys manga and gaming store in Birmingham by hellolizziebee

There aren’t many Japanese shops around in Birmingham so I get my fill at Tokyo Toys where they sell, well, lots of toys! They sell a lot of anime merchandise, collectable items as well as Pocky, and gosh I could spend all day in there trying to decide which plushies to buy. The staff are really friendly there, too!

Buffalo + Rye

11 Bennetts Hill, B2 5RS

Buffalo and Rye Americano restaurant

One of my favourite things about Birmingham is the food, and boy I love Buffalo + Rye. It wasn’t up until recently that I tried their food as I usually just have a drink there but the burgers are amazing! There’s a really friendly atmosphere there but I would definitely recommend booking as it gets really busy, really quickly.

Be At One

Piccadilly Arcade, B2 4BJ

Be at One cocktail bar in Birmingham

What can I say? (Most) gyaru love to party, and Birmingham has so many cocktail bars to offer but Be At One is one of my favourites. It’s in a super convenient area located just opposite New Street Station and the music there is brilliant as they always have some 80s music (and sometimes 90s) playing. They do the occasional ‘new’ song but I do love it when Whitney Houston blasts through the speakers.

Lane7

The Cube, Lane7 Level 6, Wharfside St, Birmingham B1 1RN

I went to Lane7 with work last year and had an amazing time there! They have bowling alleys and an arcade where you can play ping pong and air hockey! They also do some wonderful cocktails (parma violet is my favourite). It is located in The Cube which is quite close to New Street Station.

Aluna

128-130, The Mailbox, Wharfside St, Birmingham B1 1RQ

This is by far one of my favourite cocktails places – I just love how spooky it is, and the cauldron cocktails are my favourite! This place is located in the Mailbox which is full of wonderful places to eat, so you can always have dinner in one place and then hop next door for cocktails at Aluna.

Chinatown

The below are places located in Chinatown/the Chinese Quarter, which is around a 6 minute walk from Birmingham New Street Station.

Caffe Chino

Unit B107, Arcadian Centre, 70 Hurst Street, B5 4TD

A few bubble tea cafes have been cropping up in Birmingham, but none can replace Caffe Chino in my heart. It’s quite hidden in Chinatown but does get rather busy as it’s so well-known in the area, so I always try to go there after lunchtime when the crowd has died down. They do delicious bubble waffles there too which have become a fast favourite of mine.

Ming Moon

16 Hurst St, Birmingham B5 4BN

Ming Moon's 'KPop' karaoke room by hellolizziebee

KARAOKE AND CHINESE BUFFETS, Y’ALL! Ming Moon is the best karaoke place I’ve ever been too because not only is it, dare I say it, super instagrammable but you can also have a buffet while you’re doing your thang on karaoke. Oh, and cocktails! A gal meet in Brum feels weird without a karaoke session, and it’s an old favourite of ours (we went there for our previous gyaru meet).

Further Away from the Centre

The below are places further away from the centre, where they’re either more than a 10 minute walk or places you have to get a taxi to.

Dolce Lounge Desserts

203 Corporation Street, B4 6SE

Dolce Dessert Lounge's pancake topped with strawberries, brownies and nutella

Dolce lounge is located a bit far from the centre (well, about a 10-15 minutes walk from New Street Station) but it’s well worth it. It is a small dessert cafe and the pancakes are absolutely mouth-watering. They have cookie dough and other sundaes there too!

Mr Mulligan’s

Broadway Plaza, 220 Ladywood Middleway, Birmingham B16 8LP

Mr Mulligan crazy golf course

Ran Kotobuki would be pleased with this place because not only can you play crazy golf, but they have lots of food there, too. Next to Mr Mulligan’s is a bowling alley, Hollywood Bowl, and there’s also an Odeon cinema directly opposite, a Frankie and Benny’s restaurant, as well as a casino… Plenty of places a gal could have fun! All of these places are located at Broadway Plaza, so I would recommend getting an uber if you’re travelling from the centre (it should cost no more than £6 to get there).

 

I hope you have enjoyed this gyaru guide to Birmingham and have discovered all of the amazing things that Brum (as locals call it)  has to offer. There were plenty more activities that I wanted to include, so there might be a part 2 coming up in future (because who knows, maybe some new places would open!)

If you have any questions, please let me know.

In the meantime… Have any of you been to Birmingham before? What places would you recommend?

Love,
Lizzie xx


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26 Comments
  • Amber Janko
    March 4, 2019

    Ooh if you do a part 2, you should feature that cocktail place by the Mailbox, their Japanese-inspired dishes are really good! Plus the bar is just really stylish.

    • hellolizziebee
      March 4, 2019

      Oooh yes, Aluna! I absolutely love that place! Will definitely pop them in. Thanks so much cutie <3

  • Tonyalee
    March 5, 2019

    Oh, all the food looks delish!

  • Jenny in Neverland
    March 5, 2019

    I want to come to Birmingham and have a day out with you! So many amazing sounding places here. My boyfriend is originally from Birmingham but I’ve still never been!

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

    • hellolizziebee
      March 5, 2019

      Awh that would be lovely! There’s just so much to do there, I could’ve written so much more for this post!

  • Ellen Penelo
    March 6, 2019

    I’ve not really ever had too much chance to explore Birmingham since I’ve only been for gigs and trade shows, but I do really love Natural Kitchen! It’s a really lovely buffet style vegan restaurant where you pay by the weight of your food, they also have a nice shop inside too. Also I don’t drink, but as far as bars/pubs go Cherry Red’s is cool! We used it to escape the rain one night and just had a nice chill atmosphere and played some good music! Reminded me a bit of our favourite pub in Brighton~ Also I like Selfridges in the Bull Ring just because it’s so huge and there’s so much stuff! Not that I could afford anything haha

    • hellolizziebee
      March 6, 2019

      Oooh I haven’t heard of those places before! I want to try out more vegan options so will have to pop into natural kitchen when I next go to Birmingham! Thank you so much for the recommendations xx

  • Deborah Wyatt
    March 7, 2019

    It’s weird I’m so local yet barely been around Birmingham, we often go to raves (techno nights) around there. But looking at some of these places to eat, I’m thinking we should set off earlier and eat out x

    • hellolizziebee
      March 7, 2019

      Ooh I’ve never been to a rave before but I’ve heard that Birmingham is really good for it! And you so should… There’s just so many amazing food places there!

  • Boxnip
    March 7, 2019

    I live not far from Birmingham but haven’t been there in, gosh, maybe 25 years! O_O The only place that I know of is Ming Moon! So many fun places though. 😀

    Sarah ? || Boxnip

    • hellolizziebee
      March 7, 2019

      Wow, 25 years is a very long time! I’m happy to hear that Ming Moon is still around since you last went, because I absolutely love that place

  • Philippa Claire
    March 7, 2019

    I live not too far from Birmingham now, in Cheltenham, and have never been! I definitely need to now though!

    • hellolizziebee
      March 7, 2019

      Ooh yes you should! It’s an ever-growing city and I can’t wait for more things to pop up!

  • Karalee Shotola
    March 8, 2019

    I have never been to Birmingham, but I would love to visit England one day! The bubble waffles look delicious & Mr Mulligan’s looks like fun place to visit!

    Karalee
    https://talesofbelle.com/

    • hellolizziebee
      March 9, 2019

      Tbh I love Birmingham so I’m a bit biased, but it’s growing every year! Thank you so much

  • Jull
    March 8, 2019

    I recently moved to the Uk so I haven’t had that much time to explore but after reading this post I definitely wanna visit Birmingham now! The karaoke place sounds so like so much fun!

  • Kieli
    March 13, 2019

    These places look so fun! I think we have some places like that but they’re spread out pretty far lol. Do you have any places to get Japanese curry? Do you like curry?

    • hellolizziebee
      March 14, 2019

      Yes there’s a really nice Japanese place I go to and I’m going to do a blog post about it in the future! Thank you so much

  • Nat
    March 23, 2019

    I love everywhere on this list so much! 😀 My place of choice for lunch is always Cafe Chino! I love their bubble teas and waffles, as well as the cakes and pastries. 😀 I’m actually going to order my boyfriends 30th birthday cake from there soon! 😀

    Tokyo Toys is always somewhere I venture to if I have the time to have a nose at what kawaii goodies they have in store! They do stock some fake wares but the Nendoroid figures they have are legit, which I’m a sucker for buying. 😛

    I LOVE Ming Moon! I went there for my birthday this year and enjoyed it so much. ^_^ I noticed only recently that they have the karaoke there and now I really want to go! I might try to organise it for friends. 😛

    https://theremightbecoffee.wordpress.com/

    • hellolizziebee
      March 23, 2019

      Oooh yes their cakes are so lovely and fluffy, and he’s a lucky man to get a birthday cake from there! And you should totally try out the karaoke – all of the rooms are beautiful and have different themes!

  • Stephen Gough
    April 16, 2019

    Another great post

  • ×t s u k i.-
    May 29, 2019

    I can’t wait to go to Caffe Chino and Ming Moon with you gals ❤ Thank you so much for doing this post! I pinned everything down on google maps ?

    • hellolizziebee
      June 1, 2019

      Omg me too! We must take lots and lots of photos. I can’t wait to meet you!