Medicine Bar, 69a New Street, B2 4DU
At the top of New Street, just before it spreads itself out into the curves of Victoria Square, there is a doorway on the right. On the left, breads – sourdough, rye, crusty, delicious – are stacked invitingly, and on the right, an A frame lets you know the Ikon gallery has a show inside. Despite these things, you could easily bypass Medicine Bar and continue on your way without realising what a treat lies inside.
The stairs are an undeniable barrier – there is no way in if you are carting a pram or using a wheelchair – but if you can get inside, a lovely cafe experience awaits. At the top of the stairs, a small anteroom at the front is stuffed with delicious looking cakes and the service counter; keep going, and you find yourself in the spacious main room. Designed originally as gallery space for the RBSA, art from the Ikon now hangs on crisp white walls. In the grand tradition of the Ikon, this means sometimes it is excellent and interesting (for example, I loved the protest banners made by female prisoners which recently hung there) and sometimes confusing and shallow (such as the current exhibition). But also in the grand tradition of the Ikon, I’m sure others will disagree with those judgements; debate is always going to be provoked.
Cool white light from the enormous skylights reflects back off the bleached white wood tables, vast bowls of clean white orchids dominate the tables, and the whole effect is very Scandi chic. Without music, it is slightly cavernous and quiet, but maybe you can interpret that as peaceful and calm.
The menu is filled with classic breakfast options. The full English comes with sourdough toast and really delicious, non-greasy mushrooms. The egg was 30 second overdone, and poached eggs are the only option here, so it’s slightly disappointing when they aren’t perfectly cooked. It looks pretty and the ingredients are all high quality.
The eggs Benedict looks beautiful. The ham is lovely, and the eggs were Goldilocks: one was too hard, but one was just right. Maybe I am over sourdough toast. Actually, it isn’t as nice as normal toast. It’s a hipster scam: it’s tough and a bit too chewy. And as a whole this dish didn’t have enough hollandaise sauce: one egg/ham combo had essentially none.
The halloumi sandwhich – also on sourdough, but with the option of a brioche, or vegan brioche bun – was enormous. It must have contained almost a whole supermarket-sized block of halloumi and an entire avocado.
You can pop in for take away cake and coffee as well, but twice this weekend this has resulted in sitting in a very frustrating queue: they don’t have their service optimised yet to deal with take away and table service simultaneously. It shouldn’t take ten minutes to get a take-away cappuccino, but it did on Saturday and the again on Sunday. Once served, the coffee is really good.
I forgot to check out the toilets, caught up in my eternity of a wait for coffee, but I’ll definitely be back, lured by lust for cake, the chance of decent art, and the promise of a delicious coffee…eventually.
In summary:
Price: pricey – £9 classic Benedict, £11 Classic breakfast, £7 halloumi sandwich
Atmosphere and design: Scandi-chic art gallery blank white space. Slightly too quiet without the benefit of any background music, so you feel you must stay reverentially hushed art-gallery style
Food: classic breakfast dishes, quality ingredients, heavy on the sourdough touches. No fried eggs available, and the poached eggs vary in quality
Enjoyment: certainly a bit different, and worth the experiment
brumbreakfast 