Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London » Eat and Drink

Pizza East

Penny Blood — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:30:01 +0000

The thing I find with pizza is, I can never find exactly the one I want on the menu. I usually buy a frozen pizza from the store, a nice thin crust margarita pizza and pile on all sorts of ingredients, peppers, onions, mushrooms maybe extra cheese, that’s how I like my pizza. Pizza East does do nice pizza using imaginative ingredients to come up with old favourites though. I mean most of us know what prosciutto and pancetta are, but soppressata, burrata, puzzone, san daniele and scamorza? Good thing I looked this all up before hand, it’s basically all cheese, salami or ham. The menu ranges from pretty weird such as Veal meatballs, prosciutto and cream to good old margarita and three cheese pizza (provolone, tomato, stracchino and caprino fresco to them of course). It’s not just pizza though, you can also order the likes of baked salmon and steak so unless you’re a vegan there’s something for everyone. Despite being booked up every night of the week it’s very relaxed and informal, with an industrial look complete with exposed brick walls, concrete pillers and ventilation pipes running across the ceiling which I’m not sure are fake or not, anyway it looks good and it’s cosy despite being so big.

www.pizzaeast.com

PIzza East, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JJ
020 7729 1888
Monday-Wednesday 12pm-12am , Thursday 12pm-1am, Friday 12pm-2am,
Saturday: 10am – 2am, Sunday: 10am – 12am (Kitchen open until 1 hour before close)

Ante

Penny Blood — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:38:17 +0000

Discovered totally by accident as the front part of the shop sells some pretty interesting looking clothes, I wandered in to discover a brilliant café right at the back with a stylish Japanese woman talking animatedly on her phone. It has all the things I love, space, quiet, framed portraits of Victorians, antique furniture, a lone fashion person. There are quite a few of these shop/cafes popping up around East London, quite a good idea really as it doesn’t take too much to make a cup of coffee or a cup of tea but could potentially mean that if one fails the other might succeed and it’s always good to have a good choice of places to go.

Ante, 222 Brick Lane, London, E1 6SA
11am-7.30pm

Wilton Way Cafe

Les Trois Garcons

Penny Blood — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:39:35 +0000

Run by the same people who own Lounge Lover, Les Trois Garcons is equally impressive, serving very good, very sophisticated French food, with lovely attentive service. As a refurbished old Victorian pub it has most of the original features, an old heavy wooden bar, painted glass mirrors and tall ceilings, several stuffed birds and other animals including a stuffed bull dog with wings, it’s on every best London interior list. All sorts come here, city workers, a guy in a hoodie slouched over the table with his girlfriend and me, looking like one of those girls who never goes anywhere expensive so has dressed up like I’m going to a ball, in other words totally overdressed. I agreed to go on a date and for some ungodly reason agreed to wear a dress, I mean who says “I’ll take you out as long as you wear a dress” and then turns up wearing a t-shirt from Gap. I cringe when I write this, anyway I got my choice a bit wrong, I don’t own many dresses so decided to borrow one from a glamorous friend who makes Persian princess look casual and was wearing heels too big thus struggling to keep them on, giving myself cramp while I did it. Anyway my dreadful date for the night was one of those awful types who tastes the wine mulling over it like he has a clue what he’s doing. I imagine he probably knew the difference between wine and beer but that’s about it. Over the course of the evening, not wanting to get too drunk as I kept reaching for my glass to get me through the night, I would top up my wine with water. Near the end of the evening having finished the bottle of wine, he reached for my glass as it was nearly full (I know classy right, it’s still my wine) I winced, although after drinking half the glass he didn’t even notice, what a pro. The food though made it worth it, it’s not cheap but on that occasion I wish it had been more expensive. Afterwards we went to Lounge Lover where he asked me to buy him a drink. Don’t worry I didn’t see him again.

http://www.loungelover.co.uk/

Les Trois Garcons, 1 Club Row, London, E1 6JX
020 7613 1924

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Lounge Lover

Penny Blood — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:36:51 +0000

Lounge Lover is the sort of place you might wander into thinking what the hell is this? You probably wouldn’t nip in here to get a quiet drink, it’s too spectacular for that. It’s a menagerie of stuff, taxidermy, giant champagne glasses holding exotic flowers, weird and wonderful furniture, strange paintings and mirrors covering every inch of the walls, antique birdcages, chandeliers, red tinted windows and neon signs. It’s a stately home crossed with a burlesque ballroom, crossed with a Japanese spa, complete with wooden decked bathrooms, pebble water fountains and bamboo. They have a lengthy list of cocktails all of which are pretty reasonable for cocktails and they’re good too, lots of sweet and interesting ones. I’ve been here a few times, each time bringing someone I thought might love it, Lounge Lover never fails to impress that’s for sure and if the person you’re with is really boring (the last time I came here was with a spectacularly boring person) there are enough weird features about the place to talk about. You will get many different accounts of Lounge Lover, some are that there are too many hen do and city types, some that there is too much superfluous service, some that there are too many rules on where you can sit, what you can book and so on. I’m not really all that fussed though as I just think it’s great a place like this exists, even if the clientele doesn’t reflect the creativity and style of the place.

www.loungelover.co.uk

Lounge Lover, 1 Whitby Street, London, E2 7DP
020 7012 1234
Monday–Thursday 6pm-12am, Friday 5.30pm-1am, Saturday 6pm-1am, Sunday 6pm-12am

Story

Penny Blood — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:59:05 +0000

It looks like a page out of Vogue, old mirrors piled against the wall are covered in torn out pages of photographs from fashion magazines, white painted floor boards, enormous country wooden tables and reinforced cardboard stools show how little it can take to make a place look great, it’s a wonder why so many places get it so wrong. The menu is basically pizza, it’s expensive pizza but it’s great pizza and they do a wonderful salad too. The pizza’s are so thin that they bubble up and are drizzled with olive oil and pilled with delicious and fresh ingredients. It’s really too expensive for me to come as often as I’d like but the owner is very welcoming insisting that it’s absolutely fine just to have a cup of tea. There are two large tables inviting communal sharing downstairs, which I’m a big fan of and an upstairs area which looks like a dining room in a palace with additional seating.

www.storydeli.com

Story, 3 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DJ
07918 197 352
Monday – Sunday 12pm-10:30pm

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Full Stop

Penny Blood — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:54:01 +0000

What was once a really good little antique shop is now an even better café. Full stop has gone right to the top of my list of favourites. I like it because it’s been designed to look like a sitting room from another decade, complete with 1960’s kitchen cupboards, blue Formica table tops, couches, wall lamps and old photographs. They keep it simple serving a few pastries and cakes to go with your coffee and in the evening stay open late serving alcohol, a treat in London where a café rarely stays open past 6pm. I like cafes that lack that air of professionalism where getting a flat white right is a matter of life or death, which as I’m not actually a big coffee drinker is lost on me. What I like is somewhere were the furniture has all been hand picked, as if the owner was decorating their own house and where the menu is simple but good. It’s a good spot for working as the back area doesn’t get much natural light so good for working on a computer but as an antidote there is a nice little window spot up front to watch the world go by.

www.facebook.com/pages/full-stop/130525277050160?ref=ts&sk=wall

Full Stop, 202, Brick Lane, London, E1 6SA
Monday-Friday 8am-11pm, Saturday-Sunday 9am-12.30pm

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Allpress

Penny Blood — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:46:46 +0000

Allpress is very very busy. I don’t think I have ever seen it not busy, it must come down to the fact that this really is a no fuss no frills coffee shop. There are no old mirrors or framed pictures of Victorian people or anything whatsoever that doesn’t need to be here. One of the Chapman Brothers is here though, that’s exciting. I used to have a studio nearby the Chapman Brothers in Hackney Wick, they would take all their staff to the local Wick greasy spoon for lunch everyday. I used to go there all the time as my studio was so freaking cold. Apart from the Wick there didn’t used to be anything else in Hackney Wick, now it’s like Shoreditch. Anyway the food and drinks at Allpress are excellent, I can see why they do such a roaring trade. The people here know what they’re doing, it’s not all about the ‘look’. The toasted sandwiches are great and it’s very buzzy and lively and American, very much the kind of place you’d find in New York and LA. It’s nice inside with long wooden tables, stools and chairs, definitely attracting the ‘freelance crowd’.

http://uk.allpressespresso.com/#

Allpress, 58 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London E2 7DP
020 7749 1780
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday 9am-5pm

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Wapping Project (and Prospect of Whitby)

Penny Blood — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:27:15 +0000

The Wapping Project is a restaurant and exhibition space in a converted hydraulic power station of which you’re unlikely to find a more magnificent setting for a restaurant if you tried. It’s somewhere I had been meaning to go for ages as it’s definitely on the ‘places to a have a coffee list’ but it’s in Wapping, an out of the way area with not too much going on. As most of the buildings in Wapping were damaged and destroyed during the Blitz, warehouses were abandoned and the area fell into disrepair. However it has since been redeveloped, with most of the buildings being turned into luxury flats. It’s a peaceful area with cobbled streets and the Wapping Project, a brilliant place for any meal or coffee with top-notch food. They also do exhibitions which I’ve heard can be pretty good as they make good use of the space and the bookshop is definitely a brilliant addition housed in a little outdoor greenhouse.

If after lunch you’re in need of proper drink then there is nowhere better to go than the prospect of Whitby, formerly known as the Devil’s tavern, the oldest riverside pub in London, dating back to 1520 (although all that remains is the 400 year old stone floor). In former times it was the meeting place for smugglers, sailors and thieves and it still retains this kind of atmosphere being low lit with portholes for windows and dark wood panelled walls. All in all I decided that Wapping is well worth the trip.

http://thewappingprojectbookshop.com

www.thewappingproject.com

Wapping Project, Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Wall, London, E1W 3SG
020 7680 2080
Monday-Friday lunch 12pm-3.30pm, Dinner 6.30pm-11pm
Saturday Brunch 10am-12.30pm, Lunch 1pm-4pm, Dinner 7pm-11pm
Sunday Brunch 10am-12.30pm, Lunch 1pm-4pm, Dinner Closed

The Prospect of Whitby, 57 Wapping Wall, London, E1W 3SH
020 7481 1095
Monday – Thursday 12pm – 11pm, Friday – Saturday 12pm-12am, Sun 12am – 10:30pm

Albion

Penny Blood — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:04:55 +0000

I was the ‘maid of honour’ at my friends wedding the other day. It was the best wedding I’ve ever been to. No unnecessary fuss or ugly floral decorations. There were 3 guests in total, one of which was the photographer. It was at Hackney Town hall and on entering we were ushered into the wedding room but we had to stop and point out that it wasn’t me and her getting married, the groom was on his way, “oh you get all sorts here, if you want variety, come to Hackney was the response we got”. Afterwards the groom took us to the Albion for drinks and dinner. It’s not usually the sort of place I go as it’s a bit expensive but I have to say the price is reflected in the service and quality of the food. The caff as it calls itself does traditional British ‘caff’ food, caff food Michelin chef style equals really very good. And despite being in the slightly higher price bracket it has a very unpretentious atmosphere, anyone is welcome to walk in. Up front is a little deli section with local products and ingredients you would see on the kitchen shelves of a 1940′s housewife. They have lots of delicious cakes, pies and pastries to takeaway and they serve excellent breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.

www.albioncaff.co.uk

Albion, 2-4 Boundary Street, London E2 7DD
020 7729 1051
Monday – Sunday 8am – 11:30pm

Long White Cloud

Cafeand

Penny Blood — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:14:23 +0000

It’s truly hard to keep up with East London. Something creative and brilliant pops up everyday it seems. Cafeand is one of my best finds, it looks like an expensive and minimalist furniture shop from the outside looking in but don’t be deterred if this kind of thing intimidates you as it’s actually just a very nice café with delicious food, I had watermelon pie. It’s very Japanese / Scandinavian in design with a clean white interior and a few seemingly random although I’m sure quite deliberately picked out things for sale, notably different coloured Perspex boxes and highly designed fashion and graphics magazines. It’s a great idea really to sell things that furnish the shop and entertain the customers. It’s wonderfully zen and clutter free and easily my favourite place in the area to kill time.

www.cafeand.co.uk

Cafeand, 77 Redchurch Street, London, UK, E2 7DJ
02034870980
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 7pm, Sunday 11am-6pm

Ante