Birdhouse, Battersea SW11: Cafe of the Week

Birdhouse, Battersea SW11

South west London is blessed with many things - green spaces, strapping rowers, pretty Victorian houses worth farcical sums of money...but good coffee shops is not one of them. With a few notable exceptions (including Grind in Putney, Roastery on Wandsworth Road and Lavish Habit in Balham), the area lags behind central, east and south east London when it comes to independent cafes.

So it's not surprising that south-westerly cafe lovers have fallen hard for Birdhouse. You can't miss this charming cafe on St Johns Hill between Battersea and Wandsworth - just look for the canary yellow sign...

Birdhouse, St John's Hill SW11

Birdhouse is run by two former graphic designers - Aussie Cameron and Cuban Alexi. They've put a lot of thought into the look of the place - the gunmetal grey and bright yellow colour scheme makes a fun change from the exposed brick walls and minimalist aesthetic prevalent among new indie caffs. There are just the right amount of yellow highlights to lift the room - the coffee cups, the menus, serving tongs and little footstools to sit outside on a sunny day (one day, one day the sun will return to London. We will sit outside. And it will be good.)

Birdhouse - lots of cheering yellow

We grabbed some stools around a tall dark-wood table at the back of the room and a smiley waitress brought over a brown medicine bottle of tap water. The menu was split 50:50 between breakfasts: homemade granola, banana bread, baked eggs with chorizo and mushroom; and bocaditos - small Spanish-style sandwiches served here in army mess tins lined with greaseproof paper.

Cinnamon French toast with vanilla apple compote

My cinnamon French toast was a hefty serve - two thick slices of toast blanketed with icing sugar and served with a tangy vanilla apple compote. J and E both made the right kind of mmm sounds as they tucked into their bocaditos - serrano ham, oven roasted tomato and Iberico cheese for J, and marinated pork loin for E. I swiped both sarnies for a quick bite (purely for Cafe of the Week research purposes) and both were delicious.

Bocadito, Birdhouse

The coffee is from Climpsons and Sons in east London -  flat whites and a long black with Bonsoy were all excellent - strong enough to blast away the cobwebs but without a hint of bitterness. The queue for takeaway coffees was about 10-deep at one point, and this was Sunday lunchtime, not prime latte-to-go time. Clearly word has spread about Birdhouse - if you're anywhere in south West London and in need of  a coffee fix, it's worth making a special trip to this excellent little cafe.

Friday Find: Scrabble cafe espresso cup set

Scrabble cafe espresso cup set

It's been far too long since I did a Friday Find. But, like coloured jeans and Arrested Development, Friday Find is back from the grave my friends! I spotted this Scrabble Cafe Espresso Set at Space, an excellent gift shop on Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell and it practically shouted from the shelves to be a Friday Find.

There's so much birthday present potential here - for Scrabble nerds, caffeine heads AND cafe lovers (or hybrids of all three). The ceramic espresso set is made by Wild and Wolf and each cup has a double word, triple letter or triple word score tile icon inside it.

Scrabble Cafe Espresso Set, around £25 and widely available, including from Amazon.

Stylist's Top 20 food heroines

Stylist has compiled a list of its top 20 food heroines. The list includes icons like Delia, Lorraine Pascale, The Berry, and...er...me. I spent a good deal of last week squeaking and squealing about this, before eventually peeling off of the kitchen ceiling. Apologies for the trumpet blowing but I'm humbled and honoured to be included on a list by one of my favourite mags, alongside so many of my own personal heroines like Donna Hay and Nigella Lawson. I'm also thrilled to see fellow blogger Liberty London Girl and my friend Ravinder Bhogal make the list. If you're new here after reading the article on Stylist.co.uk and Emerald Street, welcome!

Click here for Stylist's Top 20 Food Heroines

Cafe Moka, Harringay N4: Cafe of the Week

Cafe Moka, Harringay N4

Now that I've been doing Cafe of the Week for a while, I'm getting lots of suggestions from my friends - keen to shout about little gems from their respective pockets of London. Cafe Moka in Harringay is a recommendation from my friend A, who lured me up the Piccadilly Line to N4 with talk of brownies. Excellent brownies. How could I resist?

Cafe Moka, photo copyright Harringay online

Cafe Moka is owned by Mauritian cook, Kevin Vanthem. The name has an interesting pedigree, being both a tribute to a town in Mauritius and a reference to Moka Bar, one of London's best-known espresso bars in the 1950s. Kevin runs the cafe, ably assisted by his mum and partner. It's only been open a few months, but A is already a regular and gets a warm greeting from Kevin as we walk in.

It's a lovely room - the exposed brick walls and Don Drapery 60s armchairs are stylish if nothing new, but there are individual, thoughtful touches too, like the shelf of books and toys, and a box of blankets for customers braving the early spring chill in Cafe Moka's small courtyard.

Brownie with ginger, Cafe Moka Harringay

A's big talk about the brownies meant I was duty bound to try them and report back to you, dear readers. Cafe Moka's brownie passed with two gold stars and a merit - dense, rich, fudgy in the centre and spiked with ginger. A slice of coffee and walnut cake, covered in slick frosting was equally delicious. Cafe Moka gets bonus points for stocking my favourite (and inexplicably hard to find) chocolate flake tea by Teapigs. Try it - it's malty, chocolatey and a bit amazing. The cafe does breakfasts and lunches too, and sells bread from a local artisan baker to take away.

Coffee and walnut cake, Cafe Moka Harringay

Cafe Moka hosts occasional Mauritian evenings, and is also planning regular art and Scrabble nights.  It's charming, friendly and serves delicious brownies - what more could you ask for in a neighbourhood cafe? Thanks A.


Cafe Moka, 5 Wightman Road, Harringay N4 1RQ (no website)

The Table, Southwark SE1: Cafe of the Week

The Table, Southwark SE1

Find yourself desperate for a coffee in Southwark but without a spare 2 hours to queue outside Monmouth Coffee? Head down Southwark Street to The Table and order a coffee (Monmouth beans, La Marzocco machine) without the epic wait.

La Marzocco espresso machine, The Table SE1

The Table makes one of the best cups of coffee in SE1. It also serves up unfailingly delicious food from breakfast to well past sundown. In the year and a half I spent working in Southwark, The Table became my go-to spot for a hangover cure (bacon sandwich on sourdough), morning snack (giant dark chocolate and raspberry muffins), tea with PRs, or a cardboard box of delights from the salad counter. In the evenings church candles flicker, jazz quartets play, and the menu morphs from salads and sandwiches to seasonal dishes like slow-braised guinea fowl with wilted spinach.

The Table is on the ground floor of an architect's office and is co-owned by several partners from the firm. It shows. Everything is clean, modern and spirit-level-straight lines. The glass windows run from floor to ceiling, seating is at communal oak benches or stools at the counter. Giant glass vases filled with lilies are the only decoration.

The menus are constantly changing but there are some hardy annuals:

The char-grilled bacon baguette (salvation of many a hungover SE1 worker bee)

Sweet, crunchy granola made with Regent's Park honey and topped with luscious yogurt

The Midnight Cuban - a floury bun stuffed with pulled pork, ham, pickles, Swiss cheese and mustard...

The Midnight Cuban, The Table SE1

Special mention must also go to the cakes - there's always a rustic beauty perched on the cake stand by the till to tempt you - think lemon drizzle layer cake, dark chocolate and berry torte or apple and date olive oil cake...

Apple and date cake, The Table SE1

The Table isn't cheap. A takeaway box of quiche and salad will set you back £8 or £9 and a bacon sarnie is currently £4. But while it's pricey, justify it thus - for a few £s more than at the Pret opposite you can transform your lunch from 'feh' to fantastic.

I've just left my job at The Ministry of Magazines TM in Southwark to become a freelance writer. And while this is very exciting, and the fulfilment of a lifelong dream - I don't half miss The Table. If you happen to be passing, you couldn't pop in and grab me a Midnight Cuban and a latte, could you?

The Table cafe, 83 Southwark Street, London SE1 0HX
Thetablecafe.com