The Breakfast Club, Soho: Cafe of the Week

The Breakfast Club London, photo copyright The Breakfast Club

Think back, if you dare, to 2005. Dark days, café fans. Dark days. The city was awash with chains. Monmouth Coffee was practically a lone warrior in the fight against bad coffee. Brunch was something those crazy New Yorkers did.

It may have only been 7 years ago, but ask most Londoners in 2005 what a flat white was, and they'd probably tell you it was a Farrow and Ball paint shade rather than the addictive fusion of espresso and velvety steamed milk we know and love today.

Thankfully, Flat White opened on Berwick Street, Soho in September 2005, helping to usher in a new age of drinkable coffee and stylish, Southern Hemisphere-influenced cafés. But Flat White wasn't the only great café to open in 2005. Just round the corner in D'Arblay Street, the doors were flung open to an egg-yolk yellow caff with an 80s theme, smiley staff and some indecently big fry ups: The Breakfast Club.

Seven years later, I'm standing outside the Breakfast Club on a soggy Thursday morning in January.
There is a line. There is always a line; populated by the hip, the hungover, the hungry. They queue outside its 3 younger-sister cafés in Angel, Hoxton, and Spitalfields too, out the doors and around the blocks. Why do these tired and huddled masses wait patiently every morning? One word: breakfast.

The Breakfast Club arguably changed the London café scene for the better just as much as Flat White, but with half the hype. But is it still any cop?

On the menu you'll find all the classics, done well: the full English, eggs Benedict, huevos Rancheros. But it's worth veering off into signature favourites like the chorizo hash browns we've ordered this morning...

Chorizo hash browns, The Breakfast Club Soho

They're a permanent fixture on the menu, providing delicious ballast for hangovers since 2005. These are not your average hash browns: no oil-soaked, greasy patties here.  A traditional hash of rough-cut, golden-edged potatoes and silky onions is topped with a free-range fried egg with a glistening, amber yolk ready to pierce and run over the sweet red peppers, plump portobello mushrooms and portly, crisp chorizo sausages. It's not especially complicated stuff, but it's a faultless assembly of quality ingredients. The very model of a modern fry up.

Avocado and poached egg on toast, The Breakfast Club Soho

Significantly less artery-troubling is the avocado on toast, topped with a poached egg. Another dish that's commonplace in London 2012, but was practically unheard of in 2005. The egg is wonderfully wobbly with an unctuous, gooey yolk and the creamy avocado is lifted with a liberal squeeze of lime and just enough chilli to tickle the tongue.


A Blue Monday smoothie with blueberry, strawberry and apple and a bolshy flat white help keep our hangover demons at bay. There's not anything particularly interesting to say about them: it's a smoothie and a coffee after all, but here's a picture...

Blue Monday smoothie and flat white, The Breakfast Club Soho

The 80s theme at this original branch of The Breakfast Club is subtler than at some of the other branches. Look closely and you'll find witty period details - there's a couple of Bruce Willis' 7inch singles hidden among the fairy lights, drawings and Polaroids that cover the exposed brick walls. It's scruffier too (they planning to do up the rather grotty loos in 2012, apparently).

Blondie and Madonna jangle on the stereo. Affable waiters dodge and dive their way through tangles of limbs and shopping bags piled in around mismatched wooden and enamel vintage tables. It's a happy little place, the Breakfast Club. And while great cafés and brunch spots might be a dime a dozen in 2012 (and amen to that), it's still one of the best.

Browns of Brockley, SE4: Cafe of the Week

Halloumi and rocket bagel, Browns of Brockley

Every neighbourhood should have a cafe like Browns of Brockley. One visit to this laid-back coffee shop in SE4 and I was on the Rightmove app, checking out house prices in the area. The coffee's that good.

Browns of Brockley isn't trying to do anything flashy or ground-breaking. It's the kind of simple, white-walls-and-wooden-tables outfit you see all over the place in Sydney or Melbourne, for example. Smiley baristas ferry Square Mile coffees around the room: to locals perched  at the communal table, dogs sleeping at their feet; to Goldsmiths students sat in the window absorbed in their laptops; and to commuters about to hop on the London Overground at Brockley Station, just yards from the cafe.

Square Mile mocha, Browns of Brockley

The coffee is flawless. Square Mile espresso and a brand-new La Marzocco machine is a winning combination, but you still need baristas who know what they're doing. Owner Ross Brown trained as a barista in the US and has obviously passed his know-how onto the friendly staff - the flat white had good oomph without being sharp or overpowering, and a mocha had a rich, chocolatey body topped with a light, airy foam.

A small but enticing selection of cakes and bready treats (custard tarts, brownies, bagels) in the window beckons in passers by. The toasted bagel with Halloumi, red pepper, rocket and a sweet, tangy onion jam pictured above was delicious - though admittedly it's hard to go wrong with grilled Halloumi. Oh, squeaky, salty wonder cheese.

A retro lemon slice had a crumbly bottom juxtaposed with a thick, creamy lemon curd and a pleasing bit of crackle on the top. It was sugary enough to drill holes in the molars though, and a slice split between the two of us was plenty.

Lemon slice, Browns of Brockley

Browns of Brockley has a really warm, community-driven feel about it. Everyone is greeted like a regular and there's a small noticeboard of flyers advertising the local farmer's market and other initiatives by the till. There's even a screen behind the counter displaying live departures for the station. Dogs are welcome and Ross's pooch, Ludd the pug, is both a regular fixture and the cafe's mascot, appearing on the menu and the loyalty cards.

Browns of Brockley, SE4

On Thursday nights the cafe is open late for 'Pizza Thursdays' with wood-fired Homeslice pizzas and craft beers from the Magic Rock Brewing Company. Pizza, dogs, friendly faces and excellent coffee: the residents of Brockley are lucky indeed.


Browns of Brockley, 5 Coulgate Street SE4 2RW.
Follow Browns of Brockley on Twitter.

Friday Find: Amy Walters' handmade foodie cards and prints for Valentine's Day

Get Kettle on Love greetings card, Amy Walters

On my latest furtive Etsy.com-trawl, I came across these charming food-centric greetings cards from London-based illustrator, Amy Walters. The dreaded V Day is coming up and if you're looking for something a little cooler than your average cuddly bear card, Amy's fun designs work perfectly.

The 'get the kettle on love' postcard (£1) is also available as a print (£12.63), and the 'I love you more than a giant burrito' card (£2.33) is spot on if you or your paramour is addicted to Burrito Bros/Benito's Hat/Poncho No.8/[insert latest London burrito outfit here]...

Giant Burrito card, Amy Walters

This 'retro kitchen' postcard (£1) is less obviously suitable for Valentine's Day but I've included it here as it makes a lovely card for any bakers you know, especially those welded to their KitchenAid or dreaming of owning one. It's also available as a print for the bargain price of £12.63...

'Retro kitchen' print, Amy Walters

Amy Walters also designs bespoke prints of your favourite building. I love this one of my favourite London cinema, The Ritzy in Brixton...

Ritzy Cinema, Brixton print byAmy Walters

If your Valentine has a favourite cafe, restaurant or local building that's special to the two of you, Amy can design a print (from around £83). Chaps - this sort of personalised gift is lady catnip. Trust me, I speak as someone who once received an 'I Wuv U' cuddly devil from the Esso garage (rrp £2.99).

Visit Amy's Etsy shop.

Lavish Habit, Balham: Cafe of the Week

Lavish Habit, Balham

In the Current Economic Climate TM, it seems a lot of clever cafe owners are opening hybrid caffs. London is now home to cycle repair shop-cafes (Look Mum No Hands on Old St, Lock 7 in Hackney), music shop-cafes (Notes in Covent Garden, Brill in Exmouth Market) and florist-cafes ( You Don't Bring Me Flowers in Hither Green) to name a few. It's a clever idea: by serving two different markets you hopefully provide two layers of insulation against the economic chill.

One of my favourite hybrid caffs is the charming Lavish Habit in Balham. Sisters Nicola and Vanessa Karan opened their dream cafe and vintage shop in 2011 (opposite that Balham landmark, The Bedford) and it's proved a huge hit with locals. Midnight blue/black walls, gold Moroccan lamps and dark turquoise metro tiles keep the decor the right side of twee. Around the edges of the cafe are rails of clothes, candles, and curios including the brilliant Quail creature egg cups and china. Downstairs in the basement there's a vintage furniture showroom selling everything from restored Ercol chairs and 60s sideboards to papier mache busts of Henry VIII (not sure I'll be finding room for that last one at Casa Salty, but I admire the creativity.)

Flat white, Lavish Habit Balham

Upstairs, everyone jumbles in together around communal wooden tables and stools. It's a popular place and you have to perch where you can. Lavish Habit serves Monmouth coffee - a rare commodity in this part of town.  On our last visit, the potent flat whites were strong without being bitter - I was still twitching several hours later.

There is a small selection of savouries: homemade soups, red pepper tortilla, big fat sarnies. But I must confess, we come to Lavish Habit for the cake. To whit, this excellent carrot cake. Look at that creamy mascarpone frosting studded with walnuts. Behold the soft crumb...

Carrot cake, Lavish Habit Balham

All the cakes are lined up on the counter, beckoning at you from slate slab and under glass dome. They thankfully lean towards rustic rather than frou frou: I don't remember seeing a cupcake at Lavish Habit for example. My personal favourite is the coconut toast. It's subtly rather than cloyingly sweet, with a dusting of icing sugar and a seriously thick crust. It's served warm with a pot of salted butter, which sinks straight into the crumb like a jungle explorer into quicksand. It also comes with a little jug of runny maple syrup to pour over the top, but I find it doesn't need the extra saccharine. Get there early in the afternoon if you want a slice though, word of the wonderous coconut toast seems to have spread through SW12 and there's often none left.

Coconut toast, Lavish Habit Balham

Lavish Habit is a warm, friendly and creative place and I wish the Karan sisters every success with it - their vision has clearly paid off. Yes, this is Balham so if you're allergic to buggies and babies you'll need to stay clear. But really, just look at that coconut toast - if you do, you're missing out.

My only word of warning is to leave the credit card in a drawer at home. Otherwise you might pop in for a coffee and a bit of cake, and leave with a scented candle, a bag of Monmouth espresso beans, and a 1960s sideboard...

Lavish Habit, 75 Bedford Hill, London SW12.
Lavish Habit's Facebook page

Ginger and White, Hampstead: Cafe of the Week

Ginger and White cafe, Hampstead NW3

‘We don’t do grande,’ declares a print on the wall of Ginger and White. In a city saturated with Starbucks it’s a clear statement of intent, inscribed on top of a turquoise, brown and orange Union Jack. Ginger and White is British to its bootstraps.

The counter of this small Hampstead cafe groans with Eccles cakes, home-baked scones and Chelsea buns (of which, more later) lined up on slate slabs. 

At the oak communal table that dominates the little room, local mothers gossip over Square Mile coffees while the kids get their spoons stuck into soft-boiled eggs with Marmite soldiers.

Outside in the courtyard, a well-behaved child plays chess on his iPad and strokes the family greyhound while dad sips a flat white; at the window counter, a young woman finishes her Le Carre and departs, leaving only crumbs and a lipstick trace on her floral tea cup. Recession-proof NW3 might be full of delis and chain cafes but Ginger and White has a big band of loyalists, and there’s a queue running out of the door to prove it. 

Ginger and White flat white

Coffee is a serious business at Ginger and White: flat whites, ristrettos and cortados made with seasonal Square Mile espresso blends (Ginger and White might be proudly British, but it’s not jingoistic – these are Italian and Aussie-style coffees made with London’s best beans). Our flat whites are note-perfect: rich and smooth, without a hint of bitterness.

After queueing for about 10 minutes, during which time we are kept updated on our minutes-to-table by a cheery waiter, we squeeze into the only available space: two stools perched in the window. The brunch menu proves tricky to choose from - how can you not love a place that encourages you to eat Eccles cakes for breakfast? Nothing costs over £5.95, which surprises me. This is Hampstead. 

Homemade baked beans, Ginger and White

Roasted Bath Pig chorizo with avocado and rocket on toasted ciabatta is everything you'd hope for in a mid-morning pig dish. The sausages are firm and slightly sweet, while a squeeze of lime cuts through the rich meat and buttery avocado. It's not complex stuff, but it's executed well, with A-grade ingredients. Ginger and White name-checks its British producers on the menu, but doesn't go overboard. Just a few names scattered about to remind you there's some quality produce on your plate.

Home-braised beans are dark and smoky, but the beans are a bit tough, verging on pellets. They probably needed more time to soak. An optional scattering of pancetta or chorizo would add interest - I couldn't finish the generous serving of beans without some variety, though the sourdough toast it was served with was gorgeous.

Chelsea bun, Ginger and White

Having a little room left proved a blessing in disguise, as we were able to split the last Chelsea bun from the counter. Squishy, fudgy, fragrant, with plump currants and a soft crumb, this bun is still on my mind weeks later. Put it this way, I live at the other end of the Northern Line to NW3, but I'd get up early on a Saturday and ride that rail just to get my hands on one of Ginger and White's Chelsea buns. If there's any left, that is...

4a-5a Perrins Court, Hampstead NW3.

Gingerandwhite.com

The Long Table and London's night markets

Big Apple hot dogs @ The Long Table: condiments a-go go

Happy 2012 everyone! It's good to be back on the blog after a festive break for mince pie-baking, baby nephew-cuddling and committed Quality Street-snarfing.

First up this year? I've written a piece for Futurespace about London's budding night market scene, featuring The Long Table in Dalston, The StockMKT in Bermondsey and Ms Marmite Lover's brilliant Underground Night Market in her Kilburn back garden. I'm going to stick my neck out and call this one as a big trend for 2012. Skip on over here to have a read of the article.

Have you been to any of London's night markets yet? Were you impressed?