Cafe Opus

Great location, nice simple menu well executed and not very expensive!
Perfect place for a cup of tea when visiting the Ikon gallery or for a chat with with mates! And if the weather is clement enough, sit outside! It’s a nice view and very charming spot in Brum.

Very warm and helpful members of staff who cater to all needs. I tried the new smoothie — carrot, ginger and orange and it was lovely. The place is lovely for a relaxing read or a therapeutic writing session after a trip around the gallery.

Popped in here for a surprise birthday brunch on a Saturday with a group of friends. It was very busy and for a good reason. The space is very bright and unpretentious, and attached to a fantastic art gallery (Ikon, which is also well worth a visit!).
Café Opus has a nice short and ‘to the point’ brunch menu, and really delicious coffee. The ‘eggs royale’ with smoked salmon were perfection, and several others at my table raved about the pancakes, which were fluffy and smothered in maple syrup.
It is in a perfect location at the edge of Brindley Place tucked right off of Broad Street and manages to remain free of the crowds that can clog the areas near the canals. The café has large windows looking out into Oozells Square, and in spring you can sit and watch the square’s Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom.
Really reasonably priced menu that was perfect for a group of people who were on a bit of a budget. I recommend booking in advance if you plan to visit over the weekend!

Nice café, free wifi, good tea and lovely pancakes!

Café Opus is located just inside the Ikon Gallery. Go in through the main door, turn right and you are there!
The café is light, bright and contemporary. The tables and chairs are modern and stylish but they haven’t added too much more to what is a lovely space.
We were greeted as we walked in and we found our own seats. It was empty at this point but lots of tables had reserved signs on for later– good to know you can do that.
We were given a few moments to settle down and look at the drinks list before a staff member approached us. We both went for flat whites. These were decent enough, a pleasant drink for breakfast but nothing to blow you away.
The food menu is full of tasty and fresh day time treats. I like that they do an all day brunch menu, it’s nice to eat around 11 on a weekend! They have a full English as well as egg dishes (e.g. Benedict, Royale…) and the one that caught my eye… pancakes!
The pancakes are ‘Buckwheat’. I haven’t tried this before so I was unsure what to expect. I had mine with maple syrup and bacon which is one of my favourite ever breakfast dishes. The pancakes did have a different texture to usual pancakes, they were softer and fell apart more easily. I really liked them– they soaked up the syrup beautifully and were a perfect match with the bacon. I believe you can also have fruit and pancakes.
I have to talk about the bacon as it’s definitely some of the best bacon I’ve tried. It was deliciously thick but not over the top. Edd had a full English and his meal featured that wonderful bacon too. He was pleased to spot that the sausages were from Tamworth pigs too!
As we ate, the place started to fill up with young families, couples and mum and daughter pairs. There are lots of delicious looking cakes available and the main meals look fabulous too.
Service was polite and relaxed. The prices are slightly above average but the great quality ingredients justify them. Overall I can’t fault it and can’t wait to revisit for lunch.

BrindleyPlace is a particular part of the city that I need to explored more, If possible with your camera in hands. I like the idea of having so many different types of restaurants, bars and cafes around. In a nice quarter like that.
Café Opus is one of those establishments that adds some refinement to the area. It’s the «baby» of the Opus family, which has its main restaurant at Cornwall Street and Bar Opus.
This inquisitive restaurant has received several awards and good reviews since its opening. As part of the charming Ikon Gallery, it wouldn’t be surprise me to imagine that Café Opus is a modern British café. And I love every bit of it.
I was looking for the perfect coffee latte in town and I think Café Opus nailed it. It’s reasonably cheap as well, only £ 2.00.
And if the idea is adding a bit more flavour to your hot drink, 25p more is what you need to get some syrup sloth on it. Caramel, vanilla or hazelnuts are the options at Café Opus. I got hazelnut and didn’t regret any drop of it. It was delicious!
The posters of art and magazines to remind us there is a spectacular art gallery above made the scenery even better.
it was quiet enough to even take some photos of the place without looking like I was disrespecting the privacy of other customers. But that moment didn’t last too long and 10 minutes later the other tables weren’t empty anymore.
I love the atmosphere at Opus. With just one staff member serving all the customers, I have to say he was doing a very good job. Friendly and very attentive. And It’s not a surprise Café Opus at Ikon is a very busy establishment.
Ready for asking for some food, I noticed a meat free Monday menu written in a huge black board placed in the wall in front my table. Sorted! I chose the Lightly spiced chickpea burger with lettuce, tomato, chilli and coriander mayonnaise (£8.25).
For my surprise, this meal is served with a delicious piece of Italian bread. No soggy burgers buns at Café Opus. And to be honest, I was quite pleased with this option. It was a small portion that really filled me up because sometimes less is really more.
Café Opus at Ikon is for those who want a complete indulgence in a modern English cuisine experience. It’s pure refinement.

After visiting Opus for the first time in July (
) it seemed madness that I hadn’t been to it’s more casual sister, Café Opus, situated in the Ikon gallery. A lunch meeting with a contact seemed the best way to remedy this situation and give me a chance to see what all the fuss was about.
Situated on Brindley Place, the Ikon Gallery is a great area for this restaurant/​café to be. With a nice outdoor area to allow punters to sit outside and enjoy a meal or a nice glass of wine in the sunshine, it offers a great alternative to the many chain coffee shops and bars around this area.
We sat inside for our meeting (as the day wasn’t as warm as it had been). Inside is OK. The chairs are very chic in a bright yellow showcasing Ikon’s fashionable design style and the atmosphere is very chilled out, it just didn’t hit the heady heights of Opus on Cornwall Street for me. The table we sat at had some coffee stains and crumbs on it too, which definitely wasn’t in-​keeping with the «Opus» ethos.
In terms of food, I got one of their «Meat Free Monday» Specials (a bulgar wheat and autumn veg salad) for around £6, which I thought was very reasonable. The dish was a delight! Colourful and flavourful; it was a real lunchtime treat.
The service at this venue was friendly and chirpy, but quite slow. Considering there were only around 5 people in the café, I had to wait around 20 minutes for my salad and around 10 for a coffee.
I think evening service and weekend service would be a totally different ballgame. It probably didn’t help that they were getting their coffee machine serviced when I was in there, so that probably hindered service time. The food definitely warrants a revisit in my book. I probably won’t pop in for another weekday lunch, but I would give it another try at a weekend or on an evening.

The bright and lively Café Opus at Ikon Gallery is an excellent addition to the Brindleyplace area — perfect for a lazy weekend brunch, lunch or even an evening meal.
I’ve been to Café Opus several times now, usually at the weekends for a late breakfast or lunch (always accompanied by a wander around the excellent Ikon, of course). It is usually very bright, with light pouring in through the massive windows, and has a really cool and relaxed atmosphere.
The menu at Café Opus is straightforward and unfussy, and the food is consistently very good. I’ve tried several dishes before, including spatchcock chicken with couscous, braised lamb belly and Eton mess, all were delicious. On my last visit I had a juicy pork sausage ‘hot dog’, which came in a bun with caramelised onions, chunky cut chips and a refreshing apple compote. Adam S. had one of the specials, Hake (fish of the day) with crushed potatoes and a Nicoise dressing. There is always a mouthwatering mound of fresh cakes on display should you go for desert.
Like the food menu, the wine list is refreshingly straightforward, with several reds, whites and a couple of rose and sparkling options to choose from. Adam S. and I have had the 50cl carafe (house wines only) option before, which is about half the price of a bottle, at £8.50, and yields more than a glass each.
Café Opus is also a wonderful place to meet up for an evening drink during the week, especially in the summer. The outdoor area places you right in the heart of the pretty Oozells Square, and is fully kitted out with bright and quirky chairs, heaters and even blankets. On a recent Friday night visit Adam S. and I were surprised to find a singer/​musician outside, serenading the diners. He was excellent and the atmosphere was great. I’ve since learnt that Café Opus have regular ‘Steak Night Fridays with live music’, as well as ‘Meat Free Mondays’, which I’ll definitely be heading back for.
I’m not sure whether Café Opus is available for hire for events but occasionally I have attended private views and lunches at Ikon Gallery, with food served at Café Opus and seating set out in an adjoining marquee in the square, a set up that works very well.

Opus is a nice little café in the equally cool Ikon Art Gallery, situated in the Brindleyplace area, so it comes with a great atmosphere too.
It has a good, though not especially cheap, lunch menu, with a good selection of platters etc. Service has always been very good here and its fresh and bright décor works well with the gallery’s look.
There’s a fair amount of seating outside, too, which is brilliant for any of the festivals which spill out into Brindleyplace.
A great place to kick back and feel a bit cultured. Then you can go to the gallery shop.

Since the previous reviews Café Ikon has been taken over by Opus to become, very originally — Café Opus!
Gone with the tired tapas and in with the deconstructed salads, risottos and hearty soups. A decent vegetarian selection. I chose the creamy mushrooms on toast with tarragon — very nice. Luckily, also gone are those horrible leaky glass (apparently designer) teapots but I do miss the selection of teas Café Ikon had. The peppermint tea wasn’t the best I have ever had. What’s with the ratty crocheted table mats with the teapot though? They clash with the otherwise clean décor. Did grandmother give them as a present and you feel obligated to put them out?
Service was erm… so so. Staff are very green and need a bit more training. I would have expected them to be on top of their game by now. The café has been open at least a month. One lacked finesse in serving and customer service. When we wanted to pay by card she pulled a horrible face, said to us she didn’t know how to use the card machine yet and shouted a colleague over. Said colleague gushed that it ‘had been an absolute pleasure in serving us today’…retch retch retch. Horrible American style platitudes that are guaranteed to get people’s backs up. Stop it.

Café Ikon is really the only independent ‘coffee shop’ in the Brindleyplace area so of course it’s my go-​to place here. However, it’s not so much a coffee house but a café so whilst coffee & dessert after the cinema trip is great, it’s best for its tapas. I’ve found myself here twice over the recent Birmingham Jazz Festival period & the service is great on a busy Saturday lunchtime as it is mid week early evening. The tapas (small plates) — pick-​a-​mix as I call it gives you an opportunity to try out a number of dishes starting at just £2.50 or a big platter of hummus & lovely bread. I tried the Courgette frito with cheese sauce at $ 5.50 (excellent) and there are always everyone’s favourite, fried potatoes.
There’s an extensive drinks list if you just wanted to pop in for a drink or indeed make a meal of it. Oh and there’s now free WiFi.

Wonderful!
This café is understated. They have a very good lunch and dinner menu. Try the homemade hummus with bread for only £2.50, and for afters a lemon tart at £4.25, simply delicious.
Free Wifi is available and the café is part of the larger Ikon gallery, so if you have time to spare, local exhibitions, workshops, events and a small gift shop are close-​by. (hint, all profits support charitable artistic and educational programmes). Wheelchair access to the café is also a bonus.
There is good seating space inside and is usually quieter in the day. Very busy after 5pm, and heaving on a Saturday, closed on Mondays. A regular haunt of mine, and a place I love socialising in.

Café Ikon is classy. Simple as. Walls are white, service is great, wine is flowing and the food… OMG, so good.
It’s more of a restaurant than a café to be honest and is very impressive for a first date. Hint hint boys!
Tapas range from £2-£5.75, which I think is reasonable considering the quality of the food.
Larger plates range from £7.50-£8.50 with paella and sharing platters for around £12/£13.
Perfect for coffee and cake in the day or for a date /​after work meal in the evening (it’s close to the cinema too!)
Café Ikon offers fixed price menus priced £18.95 and £22.50 per person for groups of 8 and over.
Opening times are:
Tuesday — Saturday 11am-​10pm (food served 12−3pm and 5−10pm Tues-​Fri and 12−10pm Sat)
Sunday 11am — 6pm (food served 12−4pm)
Closed Mondays except Bank holidays.
It is advisable to book in advance — 0121 248 3226

This is a gallery café and fine dining restaurant all in one. You can pop in for a cuppa and slice of cake after soaking up the Ikon Gallery’s cultural delights or get dolled up for a delightful evening meal.
The lunch and dinner menu primarily features tapas-​style small plates. You can order large sharing platters of fish and cured meats that make ideal shared starters or light snacks.
The food is a cut-​above most of the other tapas joints in the city. This means that prices are slightly higher than elsewhere (about £5.00 per plate). They offer fixed price menus for groups of eight or more (£18.95-£22.50 per person). Excellent service, thick white table linen and the great wine list make a meal here feel like a real treat.

If you like tapas then you definitely have to visit the Ikon Café — it does fantastic, authentic tapas which as i type this, makes me wish i was tucking into the melting chicken livers dish they do — yummy!
they do a wide selection of nibbles too like breads, olives and nuts to accompany the menu of tapas as well as mains. if you want paella you sometimes have to order it (think this is the case for the seafood one, not had it for a while so not 100% sure).
It’s lovely in the summer as there are seats outside and you can watch the world go by. Inside seating is not the most comfortable in the world but you soon forget once you tuck into the great grub!
suggest you book as they can get busy and there arent that many covers.
the owners do catering and if you are a large party it’s worth asking about the set meals they can do which per head is very reasonable and you get lots of food.
highly recommend

Café Ikon is one of my favourite Birmingham haunts. Located in the hyper trendy Ikon Gallery, it is a small and friendly tapas/​Spanish restaurant usually full of arty types. The menu is varied — tapas including the traditional patatas bravas, spanish omelettes, fish dishes — they also do paella but you may have to give notice if you want that. The price is reasonable and they have always been friendly when I’ve gone in with my kids (both under 5) who love the patatas here. My favourites on the menu are cod in lentils, monkfish, green beans with pine nuts and the I join my childrens love of potatoes too! I also love coming here with girl friends — it is cosy and good for girly chats.
The setting is great, and if we ever had sun in the summer, sitting outside the café in Brindleyplace with tapas and a glass of wine can’t be beaten.