Higher Ground

Higher Ground opened on Tariff Street and immediately became one of those places with a queue down the pavement every Saturday morning. Japanese-influenced brunch in a beautifully designed space – high ceilings, natural light, the kind of interior that was built for Instagram but also genuinely pleasant to sit in.

The menu borrows from Japanese breakfast traditions and smashes them into a Western brunch format. Miso butter on sourdough. Tamago sando. Rice bowls with pickled everything. The flavours are bolder than your standard eggs benedict place. Coffee is excellent – they take it seriously here.

Evening service runs a different menu leaning more into small plates and sharing. The okonomiyaki is good. So is whatever they’re doing with seasonal vegetables that week. Cocktails are well-made and lean Japanese – yuzu, sake, shochu.

Prices are Northern Quarter brunch prices – twelve to sixteen quid for a main plate. Not cheap for breakfast, but the portions justify it and the quality is there.

The space seats about sixty. They take some bookings but walk-ins fill most of the tables. Weekday mornings are quieter. Weekend brunch between 10 and 1 is a write-off unless you get there early.

Tariff Street is at the Piccadilly end of the NQ, two minutes from the station. One of the best brunch options in the city.