Food halls
Colbeh's chicken koobideh wrap was much better — neater presentation, minced chicken skewer still juicy off the grill, and a sauce that actually earned its place.
Ratings ⭐
Food: 3.75/5 – Colbeh's wrap was genuinely good; Chancer's waffle let the side down.
Service: 3.25/5 – 25+ minutes on a quiet afternoon, with several kitchens on a break.
Decor: 4/5 – Smart, well-maintained and streets ahead of Birmingham's older food courts.
Value: 3/5 – Premium pricing plus an ordering fee for food hall portions.
Overall: 3.5/5 – Worth it for the vibe and the choice, less so for the bill.
💰 Estimated cost per person: £18–£28
📍 Saint Paul's Market
Address: Mary Ann Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B3 1RL
are supposed to be the cheap option. Someone forgot to tell Saint Paul's Market.
A quick bit of background: it opened on 25 September 2025 on Mary Ann Street, just off St Paul's Square, in a converted Jewellery Quarter warehouse. It's a £1.5m team-up between the crew behind Liverpool's Baltic Market, Independent Birmingham and Buddha Belly — 10,000 sq ft, 500 seats over two floors, eight independent kitchens and two bars. Over 300,000 people have been through the doors in year one, so they're clearly doing something right.
A quick bit of background: it opened on 25 September 2025 on Mary Ann Street, just off St Paul's Square, in a converted Jewellery Quarter warehouse. It's a £1.5m team-up between the crew behind Liverpool's Baltic Market, Independent Birmingham and Buddha Belly — 10,000 sq ft, 500 seats over two floors, eight independent kitchens and two bars. Over 300,000 people have been through the doors in year one, so they're clearly doing something right.
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| Character building with modern industrial decor |
✨ Decor & Ambience
And this is where it shows. Compared to the Chinatown food courts, the management here is in a different league: smarter decor, properly maintained, and a genuinely good buzz. It's the kind of place that works when your group can't agree on anything.
🍽️ Food & Drinks
I went on a weekend late afternoon. Footfall was still healthy, but several kitchens were clearly on a lull — plenty of "sorry, not available" — and food took 25+ minutes. For a mid-afternoon food hall order, that's a lot.
Chancer's chicken and waffle was the weak link: small portion, just two little pieces of chicken, and the cream had already split — I'd bet it was whipped that morning.
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| Small portion and a very sad looking cream |
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| Nice chicken wrap |
💰 Value
Here's my gripe. Premium prices for decent-not-dazzling food, and there's an ordering/processing fee slapped on top. I thought the whole point of a food hall was undercutting sit-down restaurants?
Verdict: Great-looking, well-run food hall with a proper vibe — decent food, but you're paying restaurant money for it.
Ratings ⭐
Food: 3.75/5 – Colbeh's wrap was genuinely good; Chancer's waffle let the side down.
Service: 3.25/5 – 25+ minutes on a quiet afternoon, with several kitchens on a break.
Decor: 4/5 – Smart, well-maintained and streets ahead of Birmingham's older food courts.
Value: 3/5 – Premium pricing plus an ordering fee for food hall portions.
Overall: 3.5/5 – Worth it for the vibe and the choice, less so for the bill.
💰 Estimated cost per person: £18–£28
📍 Saint Paul's Market
Address: Mary Ann Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B3 1RL
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