Penny Blood's Black Book » Breakfast

Pogo Cafe

Penny Blood — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:58:27 +0000

Now Pogo Café is a full on no frills vegan cafe and is where I come when I don’t want to feel like I’m in London. It’s the sort of cafe you’d find somewhere uber-liberal like Eugene, Oregon. On the other hand you could find it extremely irritating if you were the type to take all that anti-establishment crap seriously. They go to town with the shredded carrot, but it’s all so satisfyingly healthy and cheap. You’re unlikely to stumble across it unless of course you are unfortunate enough to live near by or you’re a street level drug dealer or one of 5 kids to a white trash single mom. What I’m saying is, this is a dodgy street, where delinquents walk down the middle of the road refusing to move for cars and where kids half my size look like they’re gonna kill me just because I don’t wear jewellery from Argos.

www.pogocafe.co.uk

76 Clarence Road, London E5 8HB
020 8533 1214
Wednesday – Saturday 12.30pm – 9pm Sunday 11am – 9pm

The Premises

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:42:42 +0000

A great breakfast spot, attached to the side of the music studios, the walls at The Premises are covered with pictures of the people who have recorded here. This makes keeping eye contact with the person you are with difficult as I find my eye wandering over the pictures of Nina Simone and Lily Allen. Having said that if you are facing the other way you will be easily distracted by the groups of hung-over indie-kids eating giant fry-ups. Premises is the best place to come for a good English breakfast where you can pick and choose how to make up your own: whether its scrambled or poached eggs; baked beans, tomato or both; eggs benedict with sausage and mushrooms… it’s all covered. It’s a small space, bustling and noisy, and it’s usually packed which gives it a great atmosphere.

http://www.premisesstudios.com/PremisesCafe.html

209 Hackney Road, London E2 8JL
0207 684 2230
Breakfasts from 8am through to Dinner (5pm-11pm)

Fifteen (Jamie Oliver)

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:42:05 +0000

Drage caused a huge fuss here about not getting enough attention from the staff since Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt were there and hogging it all. He dealt with it by shouting at the waiter and promptly getting kicked out. His secretary called up the next day to apologise and explain that there must have been some misunderstanding but was quickly informed that he was already ‘flagged’ since the last time he came he got so drunk he fell asleep at the table.

The first time I came I had the taster menu not realising how many courses (15). I ate everything that came at me with such gusto that by the end of it I was feeling so full I had to throw up in the bathroom. Having said all this, breakfast here is delightful. Quite a difference experience from having an evening meal as it’s in the brasserie upstairs rather than the posh dining room downstairs. It’s laid back and everything is thought out with care without charging the earth (and the staff are very friendly despite the fact it’s known as a smart restaurant). The exposed brick walls and honest British fare (as much toast as you want) make it quite possibly my favourite spot for breakfast. It’s very popular so on a weekend you may have to queue but the turn over is quick enough and you can watch the chefs making pasta while you wait. It’s very social so not somewhere I’d come alone, well not at the weekend anyway.

http://www.fifteen.net/restaurants/fifteenlondon/Pages/default.aspx

15 Westland Place, London, N1 7LP
0871 330 1515
(Breakfast) Monday to Saturday: 7.30am – 11.00am Sunday: 8.00am – 11.00am
(Lunch) Monday to Saturday: midday – 3.00pm Sunday: midday – 3.30pm
(Dinner) Monday to Saturday: 6.00pm – 10.00pm Sunday: 6.00pm – 9.30pm

Tom’s Deli

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:41:35 +0000

The son of Sir Terence Conran and half brother to Jasper Conran, Tom Conran followed in his father’s footsteps and came up with four of my favourite restaurants including Tom’s Deli, Lucky 7, The Cow and Crazy Homies. Tom’s Deli was the first deli in a now heaving deli area but it is still the best. Mainly because it doesn’t resemble a deli, (the deli part is tucked away downstairs out of sight, but it is first rate by the way). It’s going for a ye olde English shoppe / American diner look, which miraculously seems deliberate but totally uncontrived. I feel that he is giving two fingers to his father’s posh snooty restaurants by creating the exact opposite.

Tom’s is small and has a nice atmosphere. It seems to maintain its ‘look’ without really trying, probably because it’s frequented by the same people on a daily basis. It does get a bit of the eurotrash overspill from yummy mummy HQ 202 next door (a place so heinous that it actually put my sister’s boyfriend off living in Notting Hill altogether). Tom’s is Notting Hill prices though, I’m sad to say – a small latte cost £2.70 but it is worth it as there is nowhere like it.

http://www.tomsdelilondon.co.uk

226 Westbourne Grove, London, W11 2RH
020 7221 8818
Monday – Friday 08:00-20:00 Saturday 08:00-18:00 Sunday 10:00-16:00

Breads Etcetera

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:41:06 +0000

I know I said I wouldn’t give staff a hard time but this place is so badly run, it’s like work in progress. It could potentially be really great. The idea is that for £2.50 you can have as much bread as you like and toast it at your table where industrial Dualit toasters are handily provided. There is also a large selection of bread and different jams and spreads. However the problem is, there aren’t enough toasters, they don’t keep the bread selection restocked enough and you are meant to help yourself to jams which means all the Tiptree ones get taken and you’re left with jam-flavoured gelatine Hartley – uggh not happy.

They also do all kinds of breakfasts so essentially I would recommend it food-wise – it’s just not a particularly relaxing experience as I find myself running around the place looking to exchange seedless raspberry for Victoria plum. On a weekend the queue extends out of the door and getting up and down to wait in line to choose more bread can be a pain… but then again for £2.50 I’m not really complaining: great value for money and more fun getting to cut and choose your own.

127 Clapham High Street, London, SW4 7SS
020 7720 3601
Monday 10am-2pm Tuesday – Thursday, Sunday 10am-6pm Friday – Saturday 10am-10pm

Rosie’s Café

The Breakfast Club

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:40:41 +0000

You can’t really go wrong with the Breakfast Club: it does what it says on the packet. It does good lunch too – sandwiches, toasties, baked potatoes, salads and smoothies. It has a country kitchen feel, although somewhere hot and mental, like Brazil and it’s unpretentious and relaxed. If you don’t want to make a big deal of it, it’s a good place to get coffee, breakfast or lunch whether on your own or in a group, a bit like your own living room. I have a tendency to cancel on friends if I can’t think of somewhere exciting to go, it’s THAT important to me but the Breakfast Club has enough charm to fit the bill most of the time.

http://www.thebreakfastclubsoho.com/

2-4 Rufus Street, London, N1 6PE
020 7729 5252
Monday – Wednesday 8am-11pm Thursday – Friday 8am-Midnight Saturday 9am-Midnight Sunday 9am-10pm

St John Bread and Wine

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:39:49 +0000

Eccles cakes are hard to come by these days, they are so quintessentially British. I came here recently with Carmen and she had three Eccles cakes….THREE. I’ve done some strange things in my time but I’ve always found two to be quite ample. I can’t put my finger on what it is about this place – maybe it’s the fact that all the food tastes ever so slightly of charcoal. I always order toast and honey with Earl Grey tea – the bread is delicious and toasted just right with the butter and honey on the side, just how I like it. The honey has that perfect smoky flavour and they do great bacon sandwiches. It has a proper British feel, but like a posh dairy with no frills, just effortlessly chic. It’s very simple with little wooden tables, all very neat and orderly yet far from dull. Great for any meal of the day, it is quite pricey; but then again, it’s also very classy and that’s more important.

http://www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk/

94-96 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LZ
020 7251 0848
(Breakfast) Monday – Friday 9am-11pm Saturday – Sunday 10am-11am
(General opening hours) Monday to Friday from 9.00 am until 11.00 pm
On Saturdays from 10.00 am until 11.00 pm and on Sundays from 10.00 am until 10.30 pm. The Kitchen closes between 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm on Saturday and Sunday
The kitchens close at 10.30 pm Monday through Saturday and at 9.00 pm on Sundays

Verde & Co. (and A. Gold)

Bistrotheque

Penny Blood — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:38:27 +0000

The first time I came here was to see ‘tranny lip-synching’. The MC was this tall lanky transvestite wearing nothing but a black spandex catsuit and an epic silver Helmut Lang belt. It had a profound effect on me. Bistrotheque is a bar, a club and a restaurant with a very Paris-meets-Shoreditch style. It’s up an industrial-looking side street and you would never know it was there unless you knew it was there. It’s spacious and airy, half antiqu- looking half ultra-chic east London hang out. They have a great menu with everything from pancakes with caramelised banana, walnuts and chocolate sauce to croque monsieur and bircher muesli. And it’s full of people who choose to live in east London rather than those that have to.

http://www.bistrotheque.com

23-27 Wadeson Street, London, E2 9DR
020 8983 7900
(Brunch) Saturday – Sunday 11am-4pm
(Dinner) Sunday – Thursday 6.30pm – 10.30pm Friday – Saturday 6.30 – 11.00pm

The Wolseley

Penny Blood — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:11:07 +0000

The Wolseley is like Chanel. This place is pure indulgence and grandeur with a slick colour scheme of black, white and gold and a ceiling that reaches to the heavens. The bathrooms are like that of a plush Las Vegas casino. There is a fair number of tourists here but then again there is a fair number of EVERYONE here. It’s the new Ritz, it’s where people come for the novelty or for a special occasion. The staff have more the air of children of Italian aristocrats than waiters. Anything you order here will be delicious, whether it’s the eggs benedict, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and toasted brioche or buttered crumpets with jam. You can turn up without a booking but expect to wait an hour or so. Otherwise, unless you are happy to eat before 8.30am, be prepared to book weeks in advance.

http://www.thewolseley.com

160 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9EB
020 7499 6996
Monday – Friday 7am – midnight Saturday 8am-midnight Sunday 8am – 11pm

Portobello Road / Golbourne Road