Hong Kong inspired eatery and arts space, Blow Water finds permanent Kings Heath home

A Hong Kong inspired eatery and arts space has secured a permanent space in the heart of Kings Heath.

Blow Water Cafe is a female-led enterprise that aims to build a cultural bridge and introduce people to the spirit of Hong Kong.

Founded in 2019 by owner Sabrina, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, she aims to introduce people to authentic cuisine and creative events.

The cafe ran throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, where Sabrina ran home deliveries and also supported her community with free meals for NHS staff.

Although there are many Hong Kong immigrants in England, Sabrina believes that her cafe will improve social cohesion in the community.

The new space will be the home for dumpling classes and offer a space for cultural exchange through storytelling, education and experiences.

Sabrina and her small team are now in the exciting position to open their first permanent home in Kings Heath which was named as one of the best places to live in Birmingham by the Sunday Times in 2022.

The Sunday Times praised Kings Heath for its independent shops, two parks and the plans for a new train station.

The space, just off of Kings Heath High Street, needs a lot of work to transform it into the required space and owner Sabrina has started a crowdfunding campaign to help open the space and bring Hong Kong culture to Birmingham.

The cafe has built up its funds for the initial costs to get into the space but will use the crowdfunding money to fit the interior and buy furniture and equipment.

The aim is to build a casual eatery space that creates a cosy and intimate environment for friends to meet and eat.

Sabrina also plans to use the space to hold arts and music events within Blow Water Cafe.

Blow Water Cafe will have a minimalistic and botanical theme that will use the original features of the building, whilst also creating the atmosphere of an East Asian cafe.

After moving to England in 2013 to study her undergraduate degree, Sabrina followed her passion for culture and moved to Birmingham to study her masters degree at Birmingham City University.

“I have made a home for myself here, I love the multicultural and community feel of Birmingham and I have met many friends so I am excited to open our first permanent space in Kings Heath,” she explained on her crowdfunding page.

Sabrina found that holding dinner parties for friends and sharing her Hong Kong heritage and generational family recipes made her want to share her experiences and knowledge with the wider community.

She saw that there was a gap in the local food scene in Birmingham for healthy and authentic East Asian food and wanted to raise awareness of her culture.

Due to unsettled societal problems in Hong Kong in 2019, Sabrina felt that Blow Water could raise awareness for the culture through community food and arts events.

With just £200, Sabrina started Blow Water and then was later awarded seed funding from GirlDreamer which supports young women of colour.

Since 2019, Sabrina has grown the space with the support of her customers from all over Birmingham - especially in the Kings Heath area.

The cafe started out by hosting Hong Kong Supper clubs with “a western twist”, where customers were encouraged to collaborate with creatives and celebrate social diversity.

Sabrina has also had residencies in The Juke and Kingsway and Borough & Fox pubs where she sold her food.

The cafe has also been able to work at events all over Birmingham.

Th space has also had the opportunity to collaborate with South London-based jazz musician Kamaal Williams to run a supper club and music event in Peckham.