Poppy Red

If your drinking around the Arcadian, poppy reds is a must. It feels much more relaxed than most of the other bars in chinatown. Nice ambient lighting and dj means you can have fun getting down to some grooves. Although music wasnt my thing after a few Havanas its fine!

Ronal Reagan, Vinnie Jones, Jordan, Rebecca Romero. I should really like these people (okay, maybe not Jordan), but I don’t. Whereas others may see them as inspirational role models, I see them as a kick in the teeth for The Every Man. We spend our lives trying to be competent in one area, whilst these Demigods get to the pinnacle of their profession before quitting for another, which they duly get to the top of. Call it jealously at their drive and obvious talent if you may, but I still don’t like it. It makes me sick. The pesky show-​offs.
For this reason I should have disliked Poppy Red. Not happy with being the best bar in Birmingham’s Arcadian Centre, Poppy Red have decided that they are going to start taking grub seriously, plumping well above the heights that any bar nearby deserves to. It would hard not be cynical, this is the sort of thing that all bars try once in their life, but nearly all fail. It makes you wish they’d stick to doing what they do best, which is making drunk people dance.
But they’re cleverer than most, this lot. They’ve succeeded where others have failed by never losing sight of the customer, whilst always remembering that prime ingredients are the key to great tasting food. A winter salad containing dense, earthy black pudding was enhanced by a lightly poached egg with an almost red yolk that only the freest of free range hens could muster, whilst the braised red cabbage that accompanied the slow cooked pork belly was bursting with vivid flavours. The stilton sauce that came with the button mushrooms was declared dreamy by my herbivorous girlfriend, a comment not once directed at her long serving partner. Typical. Four of us came to eat, eight dishes in total, and not one mutter of disapproval amongst us.
Fine dining it is not, but the cooking here is honest and without pretence, and deserves support. The flavours are big and hearty, the service friendly and efficient, and it’s still a very affordable place to eat. You really have to admire them for what is coming out of the pass. It would be easy to lie back during the day and just rely on the evenings bar takings, but Poppy Red want more than that. I never thought I liked a show-​off, but this one has won me right over.

Whenever I’ve been to Poppy Red, it’s been a stopover or place for meeting up with friends for a drink before moving on to somewhere else. All the same, it’s a tidy little venue in the Arcadian, with a pleasant décor and great selection of drinks. The seating is very comfortable, and the prices are pretty good for the centre of town.
Every time I visit, I’m always very impressed by how friendly the bar staff are. I can highly recommend the place for lunchtime refreshment, or as somewhere to enjoy a few drinks before a night out, for example at the nearby Glee Club.

Poppy Red deserves four stars for being a mainstream bar/​restaurant in the middle of corporate Birmingham, yet still offering an eclectic, interesting range of DJs and music.
Their website puts it succinctly: «Music is a strange beast. It’s too loud when you want a civilised chat… and too chilled out when you feel the need to embarass yourself on the dance floor.»
Poppy Red seems to get the mix just right. I’ve been there for a friend’s birthday party, and we all had a blast. We went for dinner elsewhere, and just had a few nibbles at Poppy Red after, so I can’t comment informedly on the main meals. The bar bites were typical pub grub, with no twists or flair — definitely nothing to write home about.
The drinks are on the expensive side for a bar, but the bar servers all seemed to know how to mix a great cocktail, even when asked to kick the vermouth with a pair of steel-​toed boots («I love you, Ron Burgundy!»).
The music was GREAT. I mean great. I’ve been there three times, and never been upset with the offerings. The first time we went, the female DJ, who seemed to have a gaggle of similarly-​gorgeous girls as an entourage, mixed Gladys Knight with Dizzy Rascal. Happiness is.
The dance floor is spacious enough, but doesn’t take over the whole bar. However, it is not a dance floor to be trifled with. Situated just to the left of the front door, all guests have to walk near it to get to the bar. So if you’re funkying your chicken with aplomb, you’d better be confident in your waggle.
The lighting is very low — nearly too low, but if you’re single, it makes David Walliams look like David Hasselhoff — surely no bad thing.
The seating arrangement is good, with plenty of low benches and armchairs arranged in artsy, tasteful patterns.
The crowd (presumably because of the drink prices) tends to consist of clientele wearing slightly more clothes than the typical Broad Street backcombed tweens. Lots of Robert Pattinson types and their sailor-​striped mooning girlfriends.
The bouncers aren’t too overwhelming — nothing worse than feeling like Wrestlemania has started early when you just want to get drunk on buckets of gin and get your dance on.
True to its name, the décor inside is poppy red, with a nice mural on the bar and some music videos projected onto a screen behind the DJ.
All very couth, dahhling.

I really like this place, it’s quite trendy and laid back. The music they play there is a real mix of different things, but always enjoyable.
The people that go there are all really cool it’s easy enough to get chatting to someone and the staff are friendly.
The drinks are a pretty average price, not cheap and the toilets are always clean, although can get a little crowded when it’s busy.

Quite a nice venue situated in The Arcadian, although have had trouble getting in before due to someone wearing trainers.
Inside the atmosphere is lively, but I find the layout of the bar is a little odd, not leaving much room for dancing, and its a nighmare if you cant get a seat.
There is a smoking area outside with cover, which is great if its raining, but in the summer its really nice to go for a ciggie out there.
price wise, its not ludicrous, but its not as good as some of the others situated in The Arcadian, such as Arca Bar or So Bar.

Nice bar, good music, friendly and fun staff.
It is trendy and classy and you can spend the whole night. Not the best fot those who want to dance but for a chilled fun night out where chatting is on the agenda this is perfect.

Nice bar on the Arcadian, plays a variety of music and brings in a good crowd of people. Outside area is nice too with heaters so good for the smokers and people wanting fresh air in the winter. Staff are friendly too. Drinks prices are a bit expensive but more or less the same as any bar in birmingham.

I’ve been to Poppy Red a few times on Fridays and Saturdays but went again last Thursday with some friends from work. It was just as good on a Thursday as it is at weekends. There’s always a good atmosphere there and everyone looks good without looking like they’re trying too hard. The music is the best — there’s a live DJ playing a good mixture of old school classics and modern dance music.

I’ve been to Poppy Red a few times over the last year, it’s very trendy and definitely the place to be seen always buzzing on the weekends. They have a DJ on the busiest nights who plays a variety of different tunes but all pretty much up to date stuff, they’ve got an outside area too which has the patio heaters so even in the winter there’s plenty of space to have a jig, it’s an ideal place to meet up, it tends to be busiest early on in my experience. It’s got comfy sofa’s too!!!