All posts filed under: Restaurants

Kaffeine

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Stepping off Oxford Street into Fitzrovia is like stepping off a packed tube train in rush hour – you immediately feel relieved. Far less busy, with virtually no lingering tourists, Fitzrovia is fast turning into a foodies paradise. It is also home to one of my favourite London cafes, Kaffeine. Yet another Australian / New Zealand owned London café, Kaffeine means business when it comes to the coffee and food that they serve. Freshly baked cakes, pastries, homemade granola, muffins for breakfast and a range of salads and sandwiches for lunch provide an excellent choice and the coffee is lovingly prepared and sourced from Square Mile. They use top quality equipment to get the best out of the beans – a Synesso Cyncra espresso machine and (for the more geeky coffee lovers out there) a Robus E 110v doserless grinder. They even pay attention to the size of the coffee cups in order to get the best possible taste out of the coffee. Each cup comes with a double shot as standard (that would explain …

Bill’s Covent Garden

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I have wanted to go for breakfast at Bill’s in Covent Garden for a while. Last week I finally made it down and had a delicious breakfast with Helen. Bill, for those who don’t know, is a man with a true passion for fruit and veg. He started off in a shed donated to him by his father and eventually set up his first café in his hometown of Lewes on the South Coast. There are now five Bill’s cafés dotted around the UK, including the London venue in St Martin’s Courtyard, Covent Garden. Walk into the deli and be wowed by the vibrant colours. Fresh and seasonal vegetables hang from baskets and carefully sourced deli products span from floor to ceiling and include brands such as Brindisa. Olive oil, Ortiz anchovies, paella rice, cakes, you name it. The breakfast menu features dishes such as full English, a veggie version along with sweet offerings such as waffles, eggs any way you want them and even bubble and squeak. Yum. I opted for the full English …

Caravan Exmouth Market – brunch

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If you haven’t been for brunch at Caravan yet, I suggest you do. I have reviewed the coffee at Caravan before but this is the time for brunch, finally! Based on the corner of Exmouth Market, Caravan produces the finest coffee and excellent brunch dishes. I visited a few weeks ago, when it was still warm enough to sit outside and enjoyed a leisurely brunch before heading to visit a few of the Design Week exhibitions. Firstly I ordered an orange juice, which I pretty much never do because I don’t trust most places to bring me something freshly squeezed and not five times the price it should be. But I knew Caravan would be different. And it was. The bright orange, bitty, tangy and sweet at the same time was a delight to start with whilst we patiently waited for a table outside. The table came and we sat down. I ordered a flat white and tried to choose my food order carefully. I had a hard time deciding, everything looked good! I had …

Senkai express lunch menu

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I adore Japanese cuisine and I love to spend lots of money on it at restaurants but sadly, due to a lack of Japanese culinary knowledge, I very rarely attempt cooking it at home. There was a time in my life when I was addicted to and obsessed with salmon sashimi. I’d buy a pack on my way to work and again at lunchtime so that I could satisfy my weird craving. I’d even have dreams about it – should I be admitting that?! So I jumped at the chance to sample the express menu at the newly opened Senkai on Regent Street. Housed in the old Cocoon, Senkai is a vast space with low ceilings and subtle touches of Japanese influences in the design. The lunch, with a host of other bloggers / journalists was a lovely and light way to end the working week. And I say light with a reason. The express menu has four options, SEAFOOD, VEGETARIAN, RAW and RAW AND ROBATA. I opted for the RAW (£25) as it consisted …

Bread Street Kitchen

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Last week I was invited to try out Bread Street Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay’s newest venture. Now, that name might ring a few bells. Yes, he’s the one that shouts and swears a lot on the tele and you may have seen him on programmes such as Hell’s Kitchen. Yes, you all know who he is don’t you. Already having some very fine establishments under his belt, although I have never visited myself, including Maze, Claridges, Petrus and Plane Food, Gordon has decided to go all East London on us. Earlier in the year I visited Pollen Street Social, Jason Atherton’s (ex Maze) first solo venture, which has a sociable fine dining theme. It was his breakaway from prim and proper fine dining and it allows diners to eat food of fine dining standard but in a more sociable environment. I went in the first week and it was fantastic. Although Gordon has gone a similar route with Bread Street Kitchen, the end result differs completely. I love the name Bread Street Kitchen, it conjures up …