Chance & Counters - Board Game Café

What a great character.

I had seen the frontage of Chance & Counters on my travels to the Custard Factory in the past. It didn’t fit my narrow interests of a Coffee Shop or Restaurant, so in the past I didn’t explore any further. On entering, straight away the surroundings felt comfortable. At lunch time it felt like a huge Coffee Shop. I could see that it cared about coffee. The espresso machine set up, San Remo and Vittoria Arduino, are classy equipment. The shelves behind the bar displayed bags of craft coffee. There was one person serving at the bar. A young enthusiastic bloke, he did well to multitask and attend to my questions about coffee. On paying, I was surprised when I was told to take a seat at an assigned table number. I’m sure it’s associated with the board game concept. I ordered, took a seat and took in my surroundings. Chance & Counters is massive. Its styling befits the sophisticated graffiti that represents Digbeth. The styling though is more geometry than street art. There are bookcases of board games stacked to the roof at the back of the café. There are no end of tables, accompanied by comfy seating. Most are out of view from the entrance way. As I appreciated walked around Fu Manchu was playing at the perfect volume, channelled through the cool looking hi-fi amp that was placed neatly on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. My Flat white with Oat Milk arrived swiftly. I smiled as I looked it, it was crafted beautifully. I mentioned, “I was happy to see the beautiful latte art, if it tastes good, that’s an added bonus”. Indeed it did go down well.

A cool space to relax with a splendid coffee and enjoy a board game or 100.