Third independent restaurant on Harborne High Street in Birmingham closes down

The hospitality business can be a ruthless one, especially in the current financial crisis in the UK. With a high cost of living and reduced spending power, dining out has gone down the list of priorities for people across the country, including in Birmingham.

Even venues at upscale neighbourhoods like Harborne are feeling the brunt of it. The latest restaurant to close down in Harborne was trending on OpenTable just a few months ago. It is among the 100 businesses that closed down in Birmingham in June 2023 and the third hospitality venue on Harborne High Street to shut doors this year.

It is also the second restaurant at the The School Yard - where The Boston Tea Party is also located - to go bust. Earlier this year, the independent restaurant Holy Moly Macaroni at Unit 1 shut its doors. The third indepdent restaurant to close was Estado da India, although that has reopened as Raja Monkey and is run by the same company.

And, now Hengata, located on Unit 4 of the School Yard, was told to “wind up”, according to the Gazette. The Gazette is the UK’s official public record which also publishes insolvency notices. The restaurant offered coffee, brunch and evening dinner using a skillfully executed menu - along with big tunes, cocktails, natural wine and good beer.

According to the Gazette, Hengata was given a notice following resolutions passed on June 22, 2023. It was found “the company cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business and that it is advisable to wind up the same and accordingly, that the company be wound up voluntarily”. A liquidator was also appointed for the “purposes of such winding-up.”

On Hengata’s website, it says that it is “currently closed”. Not only could people dine there but also hire it for big events and take part in intimate cook and dine evenings. Diners could work with the talented chefs and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Chefs would guide diners during this interesting experience. However, on Google, Hengata has been marked as permanently closed.

However, it’s not all bad news for Harborne High Street, which has had several new openings and is expecting more. Independent pizzeria Rudy’s is opening on July 8th while Raja Monkey opened this month, O’Neill’s last month and the Bun & Barrell earlier this year.