Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London

Coffee@Bricklane

Penny Blood — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:10:28 +0000

Coffee@Bricklane was one of the first of this type of cafe, I mean the homey, cluttered type which encourages people to read magazines and stay for hours. A home away from home so to speak, an idea which is so popular these days. I remember when I was at art college years ago I loved this place because along with Cafe 1001 it was the only one of it’s kind really. It’s still a great cafe but unfortunately the area has gone downhill as Brick Lane is home to a scummy street market with an abundance of sellers selling disgusting old office furniture and other rubbish. Being where it is, it’s very popular with market people and a number of passers-by so on a weekend I would give it a miss. Aside from that it stays open until 8pm which makes it a great place to kill time before meeting people for dinner and it’s still one of the original cafes of it’s kind with a proud Britannia theme I approve of.

Coffee @ Bricklane, 157A Brick Lane, London E1 6SB
020 7729 2667
Monday-Sunday 7am-8pm

Market Cafe

Penny Blood — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:54:31 +0000

I like everything about Market Cafe except for the type of food. It’s not bad, in fact the asparagus risotto I had was delicious. It’s just that I find it over-complicated, every option seemed well, a bit risky. I went with my mother who is pretty well versed in meat and she ordered pork chops which were cooked on the rare side. Apparently this is how they were meant to be cooked but she was finding it a bit unnerving and this isn’t what you want when you nip around the corner for some dinner. I think for a local restaurant and it is a local restaurant, as let’s face it, no one is going to travel far to eat here, I wish they stuck to comfort food – the sort of thing people want when they can’t be bothered to cook. That’s why the Italian place Bella Vita serving pizza and pasta is full every night. I love the space itself and they have done a great job decorating it. It’s a nice mixture of modern and retro, a look of which I’m a big fan. The food is Anglo-Italian themed with a changing menu of interesting dishes. The food probably is reasonably priced (they get their ingredients from excellent local suppliers such as the Ginger Pig butcher and the e5 Bakehouse), although I would probably go there every week if it was cheaper simpler food. It’s particularly popular as a bar and for breakfast as it’s got a great atmosphere with big windows letting in lots of light. So it has its good points and bad points. I thought the service was very good and they are very friendly but I’m not sure I would have dinner there again although I would definitely go for drinks and breakfast.

Market Cafe, 2 Broadway Market, London E8 4QG
020 7249 9070
Monday–Wednesday 5pm–11pm, Thursday 12pm–11pm, Friday 12pm–12am
Saturday 9am–12am, Sunday & Bank Holidays 10am–11pm
Brunch is served on Saturdays from 9am-6pm and on Sundays from 10am – 12.30pm.
Sunday lunch menu is from 12.30pm until 11pm

Chase & Sorensen

Penny Blood — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:38:03 +0000

Chase & Sorensen is as stylish a cafe as you’ll find anywhere. It’s my friend Jane’s favourite which made it a must visit for me and I was suitable impressed. I absolutely love Scandinavian furniture, I love its simplicity, retro look and how comfortable it is and Chase & Sorensen sell lots of it, all imported from Denmark. Being a combination of both furniture shop and cafe, you can get a feeling for what everything might look like in situ, which I think is a great idea. It’s dangerously inspiring, as unlike most furniture shops it feels very accessible as they allow food and drink within 10 ft of the furniture. It all puts thoughts in my head that I need to restyle my flat, not a good idea when you don’t have any money. I love how it’s in an out of the way spot and I feel like they have made a genius decision incorporating a cafe. Along with nice cakes from Violet they serve very good Nordic style sandwiches and salads.

www.chaseandsorensen.com

Chase & Sorensen, 238-B Dalston Lane, London, E8 1LQ
0208 533 5523
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, Saturday 8am-6pm, Sunday 10am-5pm

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Arcola Theatre Bar

Penny Blood — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:34:54 +0000

So since it was a nice sunny Saturday we thought that we would go for a drink in Dalston or De Beauvoir Town then maybe get some dinner. Could we hell. These days don’t even bother going out on a Saturday night around these parts unless you have made a reservation. We tried to get into one pub and actually got turned away, everywhere was so insanely busy. We couldn’t even find a place to stand let alone get a seat. We tried about 5 different pubs! So what was meant to be a nice relaxed evening out was turning into a giant waste of time. Well thank god for the Cafe Arcola Theatre bar. What a nice little haven of tranquility. When we turned up it was curiously empty. That we discovered was the key, get there during performances as in the intervals it turns into the most happening spot around where you can barely move. So it all turned out quite well as for some of the time we were there it was fun and busy then when the production resumed we would have some quiet respite on a comfy sofa.

www.arcolatheatre.com

Arcola Theatre Bar, 24 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL
020 7503 1646
Monday-Saturday 10am-11pm

The Hemingway

Penny Blood — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:00:44 +0000

I think it would be hard to find a better pub than the Hemingway. First and foremost they totally understand the concept of background music. They generally play 1920′s jazz – it’s perfect, totally atmospheric but not intrusive. They have taken a beautiful old building and given it a very stylish hunter’s lodge theme, literally covering every wall with taxidermy. The good thing is, despite the resurgence of taxidermy these days, they have managed to bypass looking ‘trendy’ and have decided on a much more traditional theme, more Scottish Highlands than Shoreditch. The food is excellent – creative gastro pub stuff, not too expensive – and the bar is well stocked with plenty for the connoisseur. The guys who own the Hemingway have worked in upmarket bars for years and have a great reputation among their peers. If you need somewhere to read the paper, have a pint, have dinner with your mother or a group of friends or a place for New Year there isn’t a better place and you’ll love the bathrooms…

www.thehemingway.co.uk

The Hemingway, 82 Victoria Park Road, London, E9 7JL
0208 510 0215
Monday-Thursday 12pm-12am, Friday-Saturday 12pm-1am, Sunday 12pm-11.30pm

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Zealand Road Coffee

Penny Blood — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:28:52 +0000

I discovered Zealand Road Coffee when I was looking through a magazine sticking post-it notes on all the pages of articles I must read later when I came across something on Zealand Road Coffee. ‘Zealand Road’ jumped out at me because it has just such an awesome name. I figured it was because the owners were from New Zealand but the name actually comes from the fact that it’s on Zealand Road, nice. It’s in a great location and by that I mean it’s totally out of the way, a great locals spot and you know how much I like local favourite spots. It’s right up there on my list because their cakes are great, it’s nice and simple, not fussy or pretentious, the staff are lovely and they have lots of magazines to read, a massive YES in my book. A good way up the Roman Road, it’s a part of the East End which is seriously taking its time to join the gentrification bandwagon, suffice to say it’s pie and mash, fish and chip shop territory, very authentic.

Zealand Road Cafe, 391 Roman Road, London, E3 5QS
07940 235493
Monday-Saturday 8am-5pm, Sunday 9pm-5pm

Dalston Superstore

Penny Blood — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:23:11 +0000

There is one thing that London lacks and that’s dive bars. That’s the only thing I would say New York has over London, dive bars. Dalston Superstore is dive-bar-esque in style at least, with exposed brick, cement and steel, graffiti on the walls and random stuff hanging above the bar. They run all kinds of events and club nights with awesome names like “White Leather Viper Club”. Hip to a fault, it’s a name often dropped, “what are you up to tonight? My friend is DJing at Dalston Superstore”, I’ve heard that a few times. Whoever made that ‘Being a Dickhead’s cool’ video was probably a regular here. Dalston Superstore is the next best thing to what you might find in the Lower East Side, somewhere you can get equally good cocktails and brunch. They do good comfort food all day, you can expect to find hearty hamburgers, sandwiches and delicious cakes on the menu, all my kind of food, definitely one of my favourite spots.

http://dalstonsuperstore.com/

Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
0207 254 2273
Monday – Friday 10.00pm – Late (Monday open 12pm)
Saturday – Sunday 10.00am – 2.00am
Food served 10pm – 4pm, 6pm – 10.00pm daily (12pm Monday) Check their website though.