All posts tagged: cafe

A Lazy Lunch at La Belle, Constantia – ZA

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What Lunch at La Belle Where La Belle, Alphen Hotel, Constantia Cape Town 7848 Experience On Thursday we headed for lunch at La Belle, part of the Alphen Hotel in Constantia. Despite staying fairly nearby in Observatory, we hadn’t been to Constantia before and we were pleasantly surprised by how lovely it was. This side of Table Mountain is much lusher, and the drive down oak-lined streets took us past several stately homes and long driveways. We weren’t surprised to learn that Constantia is the home of old money in Cape Town. Accordingly, the Alphen Hotel is steeped in history. Originally part of Groote Constantia wine estate, one of the first wineries in the region, guests have apparently included Captain James Cook and Mark Twain. Now that is old. The property is incredibly beautiful, with classic green and white Cape Dutch buildings nestled beneath enormous old Oak Trees and, unsurprisingly, was very busy.  We were there for a mid week lunch and it was absolutely packed with other diners sipping on large glasses of local wine. The …

Beany Green – Bringing the Lunch Box to Life

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Where Beany Green, London What Beany Green has opened a flagship cafe in the new Broadgate Circus development tucked behind Liverpool Street Station. Experience Australian born Prue Freeman and her English partner Tom Onions gave it all up to bring hand crafted coffees to the City in 2012. Now launching their filth venue, Beany Green offers a larger city venue with tables located around the open-aired terrace of Broadway Circus, prefect for people watching. Forget those soggy sandwiches and boring packaged salads. Beany Green is on a mission to revolutionise the diet of the average city worker with their bold, healthy food offerings and perfectly roasted coffee. Order a Beany Green Salad Box packed full of your choice of three freshly prepared, daily-changing salads devised by Ottolenghi-trained Executive Chef Tricia Jadoonanan – yummy! Beany Green screams ‘upbeat Melbourne cool’ without being pretentious. OH – and it has a trick up its sleeve. It’s open in the evening to stir and shake the most incredible cocktails. The Espresso Martini is made with freshly poured coffee house …

Foxcroft & Ginger – Whitechapel

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Where Foxcroft & Ginger, Whitechapel What Foxcroft & Ginger is an artisan café-cum-bakery offering brunch dishes, home-made cakes and baked goods, sour dough pizzas with ingredients all freshly made in-house. They pride themselves on their exquisite coffee as well as offering a range of craft beers and cocktails. Experience On a hungover Sunday morning, it took me and Sara an inexcusable amount of time to track down our seemingly elusive brunch destination. Sara is new to London, so not only was she no help, but she also had no idea what brunch was. Ideally located right on Mile End Road with, helpfully, ‘Foxcroft & Ginger’ written in big lights on the front, this glass fronted East London version of its Soho sister sits in the iconic old building that once housed the ‘Harrods of the east’. Fancy that! It couldn’t have been easier. Finally inside and the place was packed! Despite this, the helpful waitress seated us almost instantly in a great little spot by the window where we ordered two large Bloody Mary’s to …

Commune at Goodhood – Brett Redman of Elliot’s Partners with Goodhood

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Where Commune at Goodhood, Shoreditch What Commune at Goodhood is a partnership between Brett Redman (Elliot’s Cafe, Borough Market) and Goodhood co-founders Jo Sindle and Kyle Stewart. It’s located on the lower floor of the 3,000 square Goodhood store in Shoreditch, a plaec both men and women can find the best of a globally curated selection of womenswear, menswear, accessories, kidswear, beauty & grooming products and homeware. The experience Shoreditch has featured heavily in my London life. Nine years ago I was frequenting the Vice pub and slumming it in 333. In those days, the only clothing store I was aware of was American Apparel on Curtain Road. This was back when Redchurch Street was nothing but graffiti and the odd passer by. Shoreditch has changed a lot in that time, definitely for the better, and it’s not surprising that it has become one of London’s best shopping districts, full of independent boutiques, restaurants and cafes. I was invited to lunch at Commune at Goodhood this week, a partnership that intrigued me. I had a …

L’Eto, King’s Road

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Jet lag is horrible. But I have come to learn that the only way to deal with it is to plough through. I may have taken it a little too far last weekend though when I decided to cycle all the way to Chelsea for brunch. It was an interesting journey there for sure but my return was much better. I cycled through Green Park and all the way along the embankment past a fair few iconic London landmarks. I do love London. I was in Chelsea to visit L’Eto for lunch with my friend. We arrived at 1pm and were seated in the basement, which was packed full. We enjoyed a fresh juice before we ordered our food and I really liked that they offered a choice of a range of fruit and vegetables. For starter I had the crab and avocado salad with soy and lime dressing and seared sesame tuna with vegetables and oyster mushrooms for main. My friend had the same starter and plumped for the honey walnut butternut squash ravioli …