We came on a Thursday lunchtime and upon entering two things were immediately noticeable. Firstly it was very busy and we had the only available table left, secondly it did not smell of the ubiquitous fried food like some cafes do. The menus are on little clipboards and easy to navigate.
A quick walk through the menu starts with breakfasts up until 11am. A full brekkie including coffee and juice comes in at £5.80 which I think is good value considering the locally sourced ingredients. Other breakfast options include veggie breakfast, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs and the usual buttys at £3 each. There are also beans on toast and creamed mushrooms on toast.
The next page is a variety of melts, omlettes, welsh rarebit. I won't list them all but by now my mouth was watering. So the next page really got me going. Their quirky tin plate meals have a sort of post war feel about them coming served in a white enamalled tin bowl and wrapped in grease proof paper. My GF went for the chicken and chorizo with brown rice and coleslaw. This was priced at £5.50. She loved it and it was soon gone.
Also on this page is the Ramen bowls giving an option of chicken,tofu, duck or all three in the eatme Ramen, which is what I went for. I have only ever eaten Ramen in Soho so was anxious to see how this turned out. It was delicious. My only criticism would be that the waitress gave me some crushed dried chilli to sprinkle on top when I would have much prefered chopped fresh chilli. This was £6.50.
Did not have desserts but the cakes they had on display looked fantastic. They have a different menu on an evening which changes every two weeks. Check out their website for details.
To drink I had an espresso and gf had a latte. This is where my other criticism lies. Some establishments routinely serve you a glass of iced water with your espresso to cleanse your palate afterwards. I wasn't given one, which I have no problem with, so I asked for one. The waitress explained they didn't have ice, which again was no problem, so I asked for a glass of water. She pointed at some bottles of tap water on the side and said I could help myself. Quite why she couldn't bring me one over I do not know as she was a lot nearer than I and surely service is her job ?
They have no drinks licence so it's BYO but for a corkage of £1 which I think is a bit of a cheek considering one is spending money on their food. Decor is modern. No cards accepted for payment. I love the fact that they champion local produce and have a quirky approach to presentation. I shall be back very soon. This business has now opened up a deli just down the road in their former premises. read more