The Hive Cafe and Bakery - Birmingham

Jess

Very strange place.

Have had this place on my list for a long time so finally decided to stray away from the usual to try it out. Although the staff were very friendly, the vibe was non existent and felt very awkward and canteen like. It began as awkward quietness and then became packed with rowdy people.

Food was mid although price was arguably decent

Would come back to look at the art exhibit even though they’ve placed art right outside of the toilet?

Rebecca Steiner

This place is amazing. Not only because Argent College do such incredible work and it is great to support that. But also the food here is so so delicious. Dom is a creative genius in the kitchen, the plates are always beautifully presented and it is nice that so many of the ingredients are sourced from the rooftop garden above the building. The dishes are so colourful and full of flavour. I recommend the hash brown scotch egg and the Korean sausage roll (both veggie). I should have taken a photo but I’m afraid I devoured it too quickly!
Lots to see here too, with exhibitions celebrating the jewellery quarter and the building itself shares jewellery making heritage. A wonderful place 🙂

SAL

Don't believe the buzz over the The Hive Cafe and Bakery! Food is almost inedible, prices are high for the amount and quality you receive, decor is depressing, and customer service is lacking. It's baffling why this place has so many positive reviews, and I hope sharing my negative experience here can spare another from it.

Both my friend and I love supporting small businesses that promote house-made, organic, farm-to-table food, so yesterday my friend and I went for lunch at The Hive Cafe and Bakery. The items described on their menu sounded delectable, but they were out of nearly every option. As a vegan with a dairy allergy, my choices are already limited, so I was delighted to hear their "Vegan Salad Mix" was still available. However, the man taking my order told me they were out of vegan butter and asked if they could replace it with real dairy butter. After telling him no and that I would prefer no butter with my salad in that case, he told me he HAD to give me butter with my order. My friend and I were perplexed by this. Why was butter such an integral part of a vegan dish?

We eventually agreed because there was no other options and went to sit down at a table while we waited a long time for our food to be brought out. The decor is rather sparse and void of color with stock images of farms and vegetables on the wall, along with dead plants and random trinkets clustered in corners. No music was playing and their wooden chairs were uncomfortable too, but we hoped the money they saved on creating an atmosphere was invested into quality ingredients. We were sorely disappointed by what the server set down in front of us.

Turns out the butter is just a tiny side component for the bread served with the vegan salad mix. There was no excuse why it couldn't be excluded from my order! The salad itself was barely the size of my fist and made predominantly of dry arugula and olives with a little hummus on the side. My friend, who after being told they were out of sandwiches, went with the staff-recommended corn on the cob, but her salad was identical to mine and even smaller in size while the corn was old and flavorless. We weren't given forks or even told by the server where to get them. Each plate was £8 each! We were still so hungry afterwards that we went to another cafe.

Maybe The Hive and Bakery Cafe is a popular place for the older crowd who don't mind pricey, bland food with butter on the side, but this place needs serious improvements to be worthy of the praise and ranking it has here.

EDIT: Thank you to the owner for taking time to reply and give more details. We applaud you and your mission but perhaps signage up front such as "Proud to employ students" could better set customer expectations walking in. Hopefully the experience and impression I've shared can provide more perspective to help The Hive and Bakery Cafe find success and continue to improve.

Matthew Cross

Only discovered the Hive today, and we'll definitely make it a regular lunch spot. Food was delicious - we had the African flatbread and the Korean sausage roll, and both were tasty and beautifully presented, with obvious pride. The place is light and airy and the staff are very friendly and helpful. Recommended!

Laurence Braithwaite

Absolutely blown away by the quality of food and service we experienced last Friday. We chose the German tofu sausage roll with sauerkraut, mustard and ale soaked pickles. £5.75 for really generous portions. Gorgeous cakes too. Only open when students are in so morning and early afternoon weekday servings, Monday - Friday. Well worth it and you're benefitting the community too ?

Matthew Cross

Just discovered the Hive and found it an uplifting, nutritious and tasty expereince. I've no idea what was upsetting "Sal" so much, but I think we can see what kind of person she is from her nonsensical comments about the "older crowd" preferring "bland, overpriced food with butter"....... We've eaten food from all over the world for decades and we found the food at the Hive interesting and prepared with pride. We loved that the place has a mission and we felt that the students were serious about their work and succeeding in making a unique venue for people to try out their interpretations of world dishes. We will definitely be back and I would advise anyone else to give it a go, enjoy the food, and feel the love and positivity there. Ignore people like Sal - it's about as far from depressing as you can get.

nicola drinkwater

Seasonal food was beautifully prepared and presented. Staff warm, friendly and knowledgeable about their produce. Great choice of dishes and drinks. We ordered 4 small plates to share between 2 and left nicely full 🙂

Alex

A lovely spacious café with a creative menu and delicious food. The coffee was great too, and at a very good price. Friendly staff and a calming atmosphere. I would recommend!