Library of Birmingham Cafe

The Library Café based on broad street, on the ground floor serves a range of quality eat in and takeaway food. Also have another floor upstairs where you can see outside window with a decent view.

I had a latte with a shot of amaretto flavouring syrup and it was very nice. The café itself doesn’t really have any atmosphere and I won’t rush to visit it again unless I am in the library and am really thirsty or have craving for coffee! There’s nothing wrong with the café but it’s not worthy of any letters written home either.

It’s… A OK. It’s certainly nothing special. If you follow my check in’s or spot my previous review (
) you will know that I’m a big fan of the new Library. Yes, I know some people hate it — but I love this grand, open, modern space as a place to nest and do my work of a morning.
As I take my own flask of water and coffee to accompany my morning workings, I don’t tend to use the café here. I’ve got nothing against it, it can just get rather expensive to eat and drink out every morning… So, anyway, the moment arose when I was asked to attend a meeting to discuss some future events for Unilocal Birmingham. As the time was set for 11am, I felt it would be easiest to just stay where I was and grab a cup of tea in the café for the meeting.
Now, I would have thought it would be more grand (for a start). It seems a shame that such a high quality «wow factor» building has just a bland looking café. I mean, it’s perfectly serviceable and the offerings (especially the cake) look lovely — it just lacks character and personality.
Me and my meeting buddy (the ever lovely Chris), ordered a couple of cups of tea (which were served in paper cups — even though we weren’t taking away) and took a seat. The table still had crumbs on it from the last visitor, but it wasn’t a bother as I imagine they have a high volume of visitors coming and going. The tea was Tea Pigs, so they at least get a star for that (although I don’t see why it wasn’t served in a cup).
You can grab a coffee/​tea and a cake for £4 as a special offer, so it’s not terribly pricey for a snack. The sandwiches/​lunch offerings looked a little over priced though, so I would recommend this place to grab a sweet treat and a cuppa — but maybe not a lunch.
It’s totally fine… but there are probably better offerings just a mere few minutes walk away.