Sayo's All-time Bests

One of the main reasons I decided to study in Birmingham was the entertainment. Seriously, there are enough bars and clubs and restaurants to keep your social live buzzing for as long as you're in the city. If you're anything like me and aren't one to do the whole club scene 7 days a week then there's several places to get a drink or a bite to eat.

Now, the best place for pre-drinking before a night out is...your flat. Trust me, its much cheaper. But a close second is the Revolution Vodka bar aka Revs. There are loads of them around the country but surprisingly enough none in my sleepy ol' town of Boston. Anyway, a lot of my great alcohol discoveries have happened there. Like my first chilli vodka shot.

My flatmates dared me to do one because they know I always put this extra hot chilli sauce on everything. Anyway, I think they were expecting me to throw up everywhere or something; they just stared at me when I told them it was nice. And it was. Honestly. I wouldn't necessarily do it again but trust me I've had worse in my time e.g. Double whisky and coke at Snobs. One word: nasty. Snobs is an indie club just off the end of Broad Street where, on Wednesdays, there are always cheap drinks and lots of very amusing drama.

Yeah, so I mostly go into Revs when I'm in mood for a cocktail or four, which is quite often. Birmingham's great for cocktails. Apres bar does the best Tequila Sunrise I have ever tasted. And because it's next to Mechu (more of a club than a bar, with great music), they both do their student night at the same time. And student night = cheap drinks = good times.

Me and some friends from my course fell in love with the Apres/Mechu combo on one of our department's many bar crawls and it was a great night. We had quite a few pitchers between us and got hit on by one of the table guys.

Oh and Jamhouse is amazing. It's run by Jools Holland and there is only one other in the entire country. My flatmates and I crashed a SportEx social and got 2 for 1 cocktails all night and a really cool ska/reggae band. Totally recommend it. Not the crashing part, but going to Jamhouse. You'll discover at any university in a big city, but especially Birmingham, that student nights are gold. You will learn very quickly to plan your nights out around the various clubs/bars student nights until eventually your ... financial situations might force you to cut back. But in the first couple of weeks, as you're still adjusting to being a student, you'll probably try to venture out on a night that isn't Student Night, like say, a Saturday night in Birmingham. Then you realise at approximately 10 o'clock that the £20 that would have been more than enough on the amazing Student Night has vanished. Been there, done that.

But alcohol, you may be shocked to know, is not the only way to have a good time in Birmingham, especially for a student.  Since coming to study at Birmingham uni I've eaten out more times than in my whole life. Now, that might sound dramatic but remember sleepy ol' Boston? Now, I checked this, and apparently there are enough restaurants in Birmingham for you to be able to eat at a different nationality for nearly a month! 27 days to be exact. Its sounds a lot but it's really not surprising if you know Birmingham is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.

But enough of the stats, its time for one of 'Sayo's All-time Bests' and today kids, it's the Best Places to Stuff Your Face:

10) The Oriental Tree - My flatmates and I ate here on our first day in Birmingham and, aside from the quietly played but annoyingly constant Chinese pop music playing, the food was actually really good.

9) Zizzi's - Some of the guys that lived above me this year invited our groups of friends for a last meal before we all moved out for the summer. Here's a free tip; don't get the pasta if you're hungry as you get all of about five shells covered in tons of rocket leaves. The calzones, however, are massive here. I mean huge, even for me and that's saying something.

8) Royal Bengal - recently discovered as the best Indian delivery place by Danny, my flatmate, and me in a bid to avoid cooking last weekend. There are loads of other great takeaways we've found; we have about 30 different menus, so Number 8 is dedicated to all of them. My first year simply wouldn't have been the same without them.

7) Madam Zenia's - Going on the whole fast food theme, I am ashamed to say I'm one of the many students who has kebab-after-a-night-out problem. I'm trying to cut down but I can never seem to walk past Madam Zenia's after a long night. Just can't pass up the best chicken kebab this side of the county. Just can't do it - I need help.

6) The Handmade Burger Company - Massive burgers (in case you hadn't guessed I'm a big fan of big food). And you get 25% off with studentbeans.com (I'll go into this essential student tool soon). This fact was one of the first things one of my best friends mentioned when we met this year. She's slightly obsessed with this joint but in Tash's defence they have been voted Birmingham's Best Burger.

5) Selly Sausage - Now, this cute little place isn't in the city centre but in a suburb next to Edgbaston called Selly Oak, which is pretty much 90% students. Anyway, here you'll find the best pancakes in the world. Slight exaggeration, but I would seriously consider selling my soul for a slice of the Mixed Fruit. That's just me.

4) Urban Pie - The only one in the UK and I could eat their chicken and gammon pie all day. I don't because not only would my heart explode, but the absolute best thing about Urban Pie is that after 5pm any day, any pie is half price. Amazing.

3) Wagamamas - I'll try not to go on too much as odds are you already know how good the food is (unless you're from Boston, that is). In case you don't, then find your nearest branch, order a 'yaki udon', and maybe the chocolate and wasabi cake, then judge for yourself.

2) Jimmy Spices - the RA (residents association) for my halls had a load of money left over so a couple of weeks ago they organised a free dinner at this buffet place plus £12 behind the bar - each. And there were 58 of us. But it was awesome - it's kind of a weird mix of Italian, Indian, Thai and Chinese food but it totally works. Great cocktails too - not that I drink those often or anything.

1) This prestigious top spot is reserved for the great Chinese buffet restaurant known as Dragon BBQ. Not only is the food fantastic, not only can you get lunch for £5 and not only is it placed conveniently in front of AMC cinema, so great for a film/buffet type day, BUT you can also get 10% off the final bill with www.studentbeans.com; a website with tons of discount vouchers for bars, cinemas and restaurants in all major 'university cities'. It's the best invention ever - by a Birmingham uni graduate might I shamelessly add - and better yet, it's free! It's definitely saved me a pretty penny this year.

Well, that's basically all the going out I've been doing recently. You may have noticed that quite a large chunk of it is dedicated to alcohol and food. What's a girl to do when she's in the city with most students in the UK apart from London, the youngest population in all of Europe, and the birthplace of the Balti? Enough said - can't wait for next year.