The Accidental Guide To Enjoying Life While Unemployed – Part 2 – Eating & Drinking

Now that we’ve covered the basics of coping with unemployment, it’s time to move on to life’s visceral pleasures: eating & drinking. In this post, I’ve chosen to focus on cooking, dining out, coffee and wine, all of which I enjoy.

As I mentioned in Part 1, this isn’t intended to be a comprehensive guide to be followed step-by-step, and should be regarded as a supplement to help you enjoy life a little bit more than you may have been. An aide de vivre, if you will.

Feel free to spread the word to anyone whom you think would benefit from this. I’d also appreciate it if you would leave a comment, either sharing a tip or letting me know what you think.

Part 1 – The Essentials
Part 2 – Eating & Drinking
Part 3 – Keeping Fit
Part 4 – Expand Your Mind

Please note that I do not benefit from any of sites I have linked to unless explicitly stated.

Self-Praise

Wow, I can’t get over how many people have viewed my coffee shop Easter opening list. It’s registered over 300 views, and that’s quite a lot, even with repeat visits. Like, dude.

I mean, of course, I compiled it for people to use, and I’m happy it’d been publicised by some coffee stalwarts (*cough* one of the top baristas in the South East *cough*), and, been used by some coffee heavyweights (*cough* a former world barista champion *cough*). I’m also happy that some people have tweeted to thank me, but, honestly, just knowing that people were using it warmed my heart.

“Create freedom” - Tina, We Salute You

Coffee Shops - Easter Opening Times

Woo! A four-day weekend! However, if you, like me, cut down on coffee during Lent, and have no more coffee beans in the house, then you might be in search of an independent coffee shop or two over the Easter break. I've listed a few of those in Central and East London (i.e. the best bits) which have given out details of their opening times here for your benefit. I've had to make an educated guess for some of them as they simply said they'd be open their usual hours, but I somehow doubt they'd be opening at 7.30 am on Friday, so have erred on the side of caution. I have, however, indicated it in parentheses if I didn't have the exact details. I take no responsibility for being wrong.

Review: Healthy Stuff - London - E8

There's a silver lining in every dark cloud, so it's been said. Well, that particular lining in the case of my knee injury (which occurred just over two weeks ago) has been the discovery of Healthy Stuff, a gem of an organic food store-cum-cafe. I found it last week on the recommendation of the boyf, and, already, it's become one of my favourite places to hang out during the week, or, at the very least, to recover from my sports massage.

Healthy Stuff stocks sourdough bread from E5 Bakehouse, cakes from the wonderfully-named Exploding Bakery, and brownies and flapjacks from the Happy Kitchen. If you're after something more substantial, go for one of their sourdough sandwiches, which seem to be served throughout the day.

Argentina: Eating & Drinking

Seeing as a number of people have asked me for Argentina recommendations recently, I thought I would cut and paste my long list here for future reference. I'll be looking to add more detail over the next few days, but, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or e-mail.

Singapore's Best Coffee

The last time I was back, I had quite a few ridiculously good coffees in the land of kopi-o. I went to Oriole, Highlander, Kith Cafe, Papa Palheta, Black and Dimbulah.

The best one, in my personal opinion, is Oriole which had not just the best combination of really convenient location and great coffee, but had an incredibly delicious tasting coffee in the form of its World Barista Championship entry, Citrus Sin. I'm not the biggest fan of citrus; I don't like lemon meringues, I dislike Grand Marnier, and I think orange and chocolate as a combination, frankly, shouldn't work. The Citrus Sin, however, converted me. It's so damn yummy that I'm salivating now just thinking of it!

Since I was last here, several new cafes have opened up, all purporting to serve world-class coffee. Of course, given Singapore's proximity to Australia, this really shouldn't be a big surprise. The ones I've read the most about are Loysel's Toy (by the same guys behind Papa Palpeta, but in a more convenient location) and Forty Hands. And thanks to this very detailed blog entry, other cafes I haven't yet tried now include CuppaChoice at Temple Street, SoHo Coffee on Armenian Street, EspressoSoul at EFG Building on North Bridge Road, Joe & Dough, The Plain on Craig Road, and, of course 1-Caramel of Angry Birds Coffee fame!

Best Brownies in London

I have a major weakness when it comes to food, and that's baked goods. I love brownies, apple pies, cinnamon buns, bagels and freshly-baked bread. Suffice it to say that it's almost impossible for me to to go on a carb-free diet.

Over the past few years, I've been on the quest to find the perfect brownie. Well, on and off, as if I've been on it continually, my waistline would be much larger than it is today. As it is, I haven't escaped unscathed entirely, so... well, let's not go there, shall we?

Until yesterday, my top three brownies in London consisted of:

1. Konditor & Cook's Boston Brownie, 
2. Wild & Wood's brownie (sourced from Sally Clarke), and
3. Flour Power City 

Huzzah for western-style decadence...

Which, coincidentally, was the pick-up line my university boyfriend claimed I used on him.

In any case, Friday.

Where should I start? Should I begin with the hangover from the Qype party and pub quiz the night before? I know it's Lent and I've given up weekday drinking and all, but it apparently morphed into a "I've given up weekday drinking unless the drinks are free" kind of Lenten promise. Strangely enough, I've had a lot of free drinks this Lenten season.

Should I add that I met some very lovely, friendly and incredibly hilarious people at that party as well? They turned out to be just as cool in person, which is not something you really get these days.

And before I could even think about recovering on Friday, I had a rather decadent business lunch at a swanky restaurant which started off with a glass of kir royale before descending into several glasses of wine and a cup of coffee on the rooftop terrace before swishing back to the office with my manager two hours later.

This was then followed by several cups of coffee and a free espresso martini on the first day of the London Coffee Festival. At £6 a ticket (if you use the discount code), it was so incredibly worth it.

To the surprise of absolutely everyone given my public hatred of Starbucks, I was later found at the Starbucks Reserve counter (the counter where apparently ultra rare coffees were being served up for free, with the Coffee Masters giving tasting tips) sampling the wares, and, I'll admit, talking coffee with the very very cute and passionate Coffee Master Dave (or, as I called him, Coffee Jedi Dave, in whom the Force is strong) for 15 minutes.

Rawr.

He's engaged though.

No, I didn't ask. It was mentioned in passing. But, hey, it's not like I was going to hit on him or anything. I did tell him he was very cute as I was leaving though, as, in my opinion, everyone loves a compliment, yes?

Plus, he was very passionate about coffee, and, there's just something about listening to someone's passion - no matter how disinterested or ignorant I am about the subject - that captivates me.

I was later told it looked as if I was having a nice conversation engaging him about coffee, as opposed to the guys who couldn't keep their eyes off the female Coffee Master (Mistress?) as they weren't saying very much.

See? There's an art to flirting and ogling after all.

I then made my way back to my flat where I - for the fifth day in a row - passed out on my comfortable sofa before waking up at 3 am to put myself into bed.

Ah, such is life.

The perfect cup of coffee

"Black as the devil, Hot as hell, Pure as an angel, Sweet as love."
- summed up succinctly and eloquently by Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

(I must confess that I can't take my coffee without milk though.)

It's good to find out that a flat white and great conversation with the proprietors of Wild & Wood (first mentioned here) makes me feel as good - or even better than - when I engage in a spot of retail therapy.  My happy mood lasted for quite a while until the various aches I suffer from - a sore back which tends to kick in whenever my stomach hurts (and exacerbated by my attempting to clean very dried egg off my window - damn scamps) and the ankle which seems to be suffering either because I've thrown myself back into dance too quickly or because I have started to wear footwear heavier than flip-flops - kicked in, turning me into a still somewhat happy but very much in pain girl.

I do love London, warts and all. I'm so very happy to be back, and enjoying myself even though I managed to miss all the sunshine and returned to rain and cold. The only problem with having two homes is that I'm always a little homesick, missing the people I left behind, while doing my best to experience the life I have here.

I know some people don't understand why I can still get homesick, no matter how much London I have to offer. It's simple, really. I have a lot of good friends in Singapore. And while I'm the sort of person who can have a great conversation with almost anyone even if I haven't seen them in ages, I still do miss being able to see them and just hang out. And in the case of my parents, I will confess to this: they're growing older - as are we all - and I am always afraid that I may not see them again because that's just how life is.

Always as ever busy as a whole entire hive of bees whenever I return home. I touched down yesterday afternoon. Since then, I have gone to a colleague's farewell drinks, partaken of several favourite local dishes including ngoh hiang, prawn mee, bak chor mee and curry bee hoon (with some of those dishes being shared among others), had my usual iced Milo, had Singapore's no. 1 barista's coffee entry for the World Barista Championship (chili chocolate mocha at Oriole Cafe & Bar), purchased a skirt from local brand Saturday which I first saw on cate.com.sg just a couple of days ago, and consumed a scoop of Awfully Chocolate's hei ice-cream combined with a truffle. I've also seen the massive number of tanks which will be featuring in the National Day Parade, and tried out the Circle line.

I don't know how much more there is I can take of doing all of this, but, fortunately, I have loads of friends to catch up with, and I'm staying here for a longer time than usual, so, hopefully, this time, I'll manage to fit everything in for once!

It's good to be back.

Continuing the theme of how small London is, on Saturday, while on my way to Prufrock, Gwylim Davies’ new coffee venture, and, according to Time Out, London’s best place for coffee, I ended up walking down the wrong road. I’d intended to nip in behind Rich Mix and walk past LoungeLover as that would bring me closer to where Prufrock was on Shoreditch High Street, but, didn’t manage it, and ended up one street further down. I guess it was my good fortune then, as that brought me past the UK Barista Championship – South East Heat being conducted at Rich Mix. I continued right on down before I thought better of my decision and walked back to the centre. After all, if the UKBC was on, why would the 2009 World Barista Champion be at his shop? Wasn’t it a far better chance that he’d be here instead?

Now, it’s not that I’m all that fussy about who makes my coffee, but I’d missed Gwylim each and every time I’d been to any one of his stalls – twice at Pitch 42 at Whitecross St Market and another two times at his stall at Columbia Road Flower Market – and I’d be damned if this turned out to be another of those times.

So, in I went. And I ran straight into someone I’d met off CouchSurfing recently. “Hi!” I went, before recalling that he lived quite some distance away. “This isn’t a CouchSurfing event, by any chance?” And, of course, it was. So we chatted for a bit, and he encouraged me to ambush Gwylim who was giving out free flat whites while demonstrating how the Holy Grail of home/small bar machines worked. Needing no further encouragement (I am shameless, after all), I did so, and listened to Gwylim talk at length about coffee. He turned out to be really friendly and passionate in a laid-back kind of way. He spoke on how good coffee should be made (the coffee grounds should be evenly distributed through the rotation of the filter and the ‘faffing about’ at the end only distributes the coffee at the top of the thingamajig) and gave a couple of demonstrations on how to do latte art. He also said that if a barista’s workspace was untidy, then the quality of the coffee was not likely to be good either. Apparently, the machine should be stripped down every forty minutes or so, which is why, in my view, you should never pop into an independent coffee shop if you are in a hurry. Good coffee takes times, after all.

Interestingly enough, Gwylim views coffee as being very similar to wine. That’s why he doesn’t have a favourite when it comes to coffee (though quite a few people kept asking him about Square Mile). Different coffees have different tastes, and it really depends on one’s preferences, as well as the time of day, with some coffees being more suited to the morning, and others to the evening, and so on. He likes Kenya for coffee.

Now, the flat white I had was made from Union’s Rogue Espresso blend, not something Gwylim has tried before. I got the impression he hadn’t used Union before, and wasn’t given as much as information as he likes to have before making coffee (how long ago it was roasted, that sort of thing), but, in spite of that, he still turned out really good coffee. You could probably give him Missile brand coffee from back home and he’d still make it work.

I'm starting to think of Wild & Wood - possibly my favourite coffeehouse in London - as my Central Perk, a place where you can just go to and relax, or meet up with friends, and quite a few other people there know who you are. In short, the coffee shop equivalent of Cheers.

Case in point: I'd decided to go there because it's one of the best places I know of when it comes to just getting a great cup of coffee and catching up on reading. My arrival was greeted with both pleasure and surprise by owners Kit and Bozena. They were happy to see me as I hadn't been there in a month, but, at the same time, they were surprised as I'd just missed one of their regulars by about 15 minutes, namely, CG. Ah well, such is life, but I wasn't too sad. All I'd wanted was a cappuccino and a nice slice of cake (the lemon and poppy seed cake from Clarke's was wonderful, and I don't even like lemon, and the cappuccino was excellent, as usual) and to begin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (oh how I love my local library). Instead, I ended up having a nice chat with Kit and Bozena about how I'd been, how they'd been and all that kind of thing for about an hour and a half, when, lo and behold, who should appear but CG himself?

And it was nice to see him. It really was great to just catch up for a half hour or so, but, during that time, I was thinking, ah crap, how on earth does the mere appearance of this guy just make my heart beat that much quicker? I do fancy him, yes. I think I would mind telling him that, irrespective of the fact that I'm not a complete novice when it comes to dating. But I am trying my very hardest to write him off, because, rationally speaking, there are so many factors which just wouldn't work. And, unlike the naive fool that I was a year ago, I'm not exactly of the view that love conquers all anymore. In any case, it's not even remotely close to love, it's just a crush, albeit one that's hard to shake off.

So even though I met someone else later that day who ended up coming along with me as my guest to a friend's party that same night even though we'd only just met, and a someone else who isn't bad looking and has a great sense of humour and is older than I am (therefore, one would assume the issues inherent with dating someone younger ought not to be as prevalent), at the end of the night, on my night bus journey home alone, I found myself still thinking of CG.

Damn.

The ultimate in guilty pleasures...

Chilling out at Nordic Bakery, feasting on the best cinnamon roll ever baked (£2.00), and an incredibly welcome and delicious cup of rich, smooth hot chocolate (£2.20), on a weekday, catching up on reading (yes, that is the Gossip Girl novel you see), having taken the day off to explore an opportunity which may take me back into the industry I used to work in.

Sinful on all possible counts... while remaining fully clothed.

I was supposed to head to a Balboa workshop yesterday, but, thanks to the whimsies of fact (aka an affliction which is currently causing me pain whenever a certain area is pressed, and would certainly have been pressed in any partner dance), I ended up lying down on my sofa trying to get some sort of pain relief, when I thought, "F*** it. The weather's so nice, I might as well get out of the flat and explore some beautiful part of London."

And that's how I ended up making a 35 minute journey to Melrose & Morgan near Primrose Hill.

Melrose & Morgan is one of the coffee houses featured in Time Out's recently updated feature on where to drink coffee in London. It's also one of the few I hadn't yet tried, and adventurous creature that I am, I thought, "Why not?"

A beautiful day indeed

The only problem, as it turned out, is that Melrose & Morgan is located between Camden Town and Chalk Farm. In other words, it's near enough that I wouldn't be daunted by the thought of having to walk between ten and 15 minutes from either station, but not near enough for it to be incredibly convenient. Still, the walk was well worth it, maybe more so for me, given that this was my second visit to Primrose Hill, and my first during the day.

M&M is both a cafe and a deli, with beautiful pastries, salads and sandwiches all laid out a wooden table in the centre of the cafe. They also sell jams, honeys, cheeses and Monmouth coffee, all of which are laid out on shelves adorning the wall. Now, if you've ever been to The Albion Cafe in Shoreditch, you'll probably be struck by how similar the layout is, right down to the display of bread and the unfinished wooden furniture. That's exactly what I thought when I first walked in, thinking I'd somehow managed to teleport myself to East London without realising it.

There was one big difference between the Albion and M&M though; the latter didn't have too mnay places to sit. It wasn't a problem at 4.15 pm, but I can imagine it being packed during the lunch-time rush. There were around eight stools by the wooden counter along the glass facing Gloucester Avenue, something I was a little worried about as I had opted for a short cheerleader style outfit that day. Still, I managed to get myself up and perch myself comfortably without flashing anyone (I hope) and proceeded to order a chocolate & raspberry tart (£2.95) and a skinny cappuccino (£2) from the friendly chef.

The chocolate & raspberry tart came almost immediately, as expected, and I did my best not to eat any part of it while waiting for my coffee to be prepared. I couldn't resist, however, and I took one small bite and was rewarded by dark chocolate-y goodness nicely complemented by a slightly tart berry taste.

Yummy

The coffee was rather mild and smooth, which meant it was perfect for a lazy Saturday. If I had been in the office, however, I'd probaby prefer it stronger, but no quibbles from this so-called connoisseur was in a very lazy mood. My only quibble is that it came in a paper cup even though I was clearly eating in. I guess it's convenient because if I'd decided to go elsewhere, I could bring my drink with me, but I do prefer to drink out of less temporary devices when I'm staying in one place for a relatively long time.

Coffee o'clock (because this reminds me of a sun dial for some reason)

In spite of the few seats in the place, I managed to read comfortably for about half an hour or so without being disturbed, not even by staff clearing my dishes, something I'm not fussed about, as it tends to make me feel a little harried. During that 30 minutes, a couple and their son came in and chatted with one of the chefs or managers about their visit to the zoo. Clearly, they were regulars and it's always good to know a place has a bit of a neighbourly feel.

As I got up to pay, the same chef I'd ordered from asked if I was just visiting or living in London. The latter, I replied, but I'm not from this area. With a friendly smile, she said I should come a little earlier next time, and grab some food and go to the hill for a picnic. I'll do that, I said, and the next time, with a friend!

Melrose & Morgan
42 Gloucester Avenue
London NW1 8JD

Monday to Friday, 8am - 7pm
Saturday, 8am - 6pm
Sunday, 9am - 5pm

Redchurch Street is a little street just off Bethnal Green Road and is unexpectedly filled with the most adorable little shops. I wandered down it the other day looking for the Swanfield Pop-Up Boutique only to find that everything had finished by 6 pm. Tired and thirsty, and desperately trying not to ruin my freshly manicured nails, I popped into Franzè & Evans, a newly opened Italian deli near the boutique.

Franzè & Evans was set up by art lover Nicolas Franzè, lawyer Clare Evans and beauty therapist Theresa Lococo with the aim of serving up quality Italian home-cooked food. As their web site puts it, you'll find Theresa cooking in the kitchen, Nicolas at the counter, and Claire overseeing the cafe, doing the things the Italians can't or won't do.

What first drew me to the cafe was the display of Bialetti Moka Express espresso makers in their window. Also, the cafe was nice and bright, the perfect antidote to the dreary, grey rainy weather that East London had just experienced. And, there was a can of brightly-coloured tulips on every table, which was definitely a nice touch.

Check out the Moka display in the window

The stacks and stacks of Italian food on the shelves was also a major pull factor; I just love delis, even if I never buy anything from them, as I generally feel they're priced a little past the point of reasonableness. I didn't check the prices of these guys, so I can't comment on whether that's the case here.

Small cappuccino (£1.90) and biscotti (£0.25)

I ordered a skinny cappuccino and a biscotti; I wasn't very hungry, and as I mentioned earlier, I was incredibly tired - a nail session lasting over two hours will do that to you - and just wanted some place I could sit down before I caused further damage to my nails.

The cappuccino was decent. I don't think I paid too much attention to it, as I was very thirsty and I was also engrossed in reading Zoe Heller's short story in The Observer magazine.

And seeing as I've mentioned them twice already...

Freshly manicured nails

Freshly pedicured nails

All in all, Franzè & Evans was a good place to chill out and just luxuriate in the pretense of being a tai tai for a few minutes. It's located conveniently near Brick Lane (it's less than two minutes walk from where Bethnal Green Road meets Brick Lane), but just far enough away that it's not too noisy, it's large enough (unlike most coffee shops which don't have much space for more than five people to sit down), it was nice and bright and, best of all, it opens till late-ish. What more could you ask for on a lazy Sunday evening?

Franzè & Evans
101 Redchurch Street
London E2 7DL
Tel: 020 7033 1910
Open Mon to Sun from 8 am to 8 pm

After going through a financial planning session, I've decided to cut down on eating and drinking out for budgetary reasons. I guess it's good that I've got a backlog of posts (including the remainder of the posts from my trip to New York last year!) to catch up on!

That being said, I did find myself at Bea's of Bloomsbury yesterday, having just under three hours to kill after spending a relaxing afternoon in the park just chilling out with CG. As Bea's has now extended their operating hours - they now open until 7 pm or 8 pm during the week, and until 6 pm during the weekend - I thought it was a good place for me to just hole up and catch up on some reading before heading off to my next appointment. I also needed to take a photo of the shopfront, given that I didn't manage to do so the last time I was there as the cafe was closing up.

Bea's of Bloomsbury

My decadent choices for the day were: a chai latte (£2.60) and a brownie (£2.80).

All that one needs for a relaxing afternoon

The brownie was delicious, just the right combination of sticky and sweet. It reminded very strongly of the kladdkaka I had at the Scandinavian Kitchen a few weeks back, except not as sweet. I'd definitely rate this as one of the better brownies I've had in London, although my personal favourite is still Konditor & Cook's Boston brownie.

Brownie

The chai latte, as others have found out, was sensational. This smelt really nice and spicy, and tasted very much of my favourite Indian drink, masala tea. Though it was a latte, it wasn't overly milky, which is a great plus point for me; while I am not lactose-intolerant (I think), I am not overly fond of milk (although, strangely enough, P. is the other way around).

Chai latte

This time around, as I was sitting on the raised level (the same level as the kitchen), I got a better view of the photographs adorning the wall. I really liked the large photo of a city at night as seen from above. There's just something about the streak of lighting which depicts the hustle and bustle of any metropolis. I'm very much a city girl, and I love cities at night, so perhaps that's why this photo grabbed my attention.

Bea's of Bloomsbury (interior)

Don't let the photo fool you though. Bea's was fully occupied up until five minutes before closing time (which is when I took the photo, as I try not to take photos with people in them as not everyone's comfortable with that). It was definitely a heartening sight. More importantly, even thought I was a solo grazer sitting at a rather spacious corner table for up to three people - and a solo grazer reading a book at that - none of the waitstaff even tried to hurry me along.

I didn't see the Cookie Monster cupcakes this time around, so if you're hankering for one, I'd advise calling up and ordering them a day in advance. I've got some girlfriends who'd dearly love to try one, having tried and failed to bake them!

A tale of two hot cross buns

Hot cross buns are a big thing over here in the UK, for hot cross buns to be eaten during Easter. I think they used to be baked and eaten only on Good Friday, but, with the passage of time, they're now sold (and probably eaten) throughout Lent and Easter.

My first experience with hot cross buns was through the nursery rhyme (Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! / One ha' penny / two ha' penny / Hot cross buns!). Other than that, I don't recall ever having tried them before.

So, this Easter, I figured it was time for me to try one. Y'know. Like one of those things on my list of 100 things to do before I turn 30. Anyway, I thought I'd try one on Easter Sunday, but this proved to be a little more troublesome than expected. For one thing, there weren't too many places selling them at a reasonable price open on Sunday. For another, I didn't want to buy a bag of four or six or whatever as I didn't plan on eating that many. So, after walking through the Slow Food Market thrice, I settled on purchasing a freshly-baked organic maple pecan banana hot cross bun for £1.20 from the Manna Cakes stall. The nice English lady, upon learning that I'd not eaten one before, told me to keep it till I got home, slice it in half, toast it in the oven and spread butter (or margarine, but butter preferably) on it and eat it. This being close to 6 pm, I decided the hot cross bun tasting would only occur on Monday.

According to Slow Food, a good hot cross bun which has been baked in accordance with Slow Food principles should be:

round, 7 – 10cm in diameter, well-risen (not squarish and squashed) and highly glazed, with a cross on top (this is usually made with flour and water paste,
although strips of marzipan or cutting a cross are alternatives). The crumb
should be fairly pale, not too soft or sticky, and have a light flavour of sweet
spices and/or candied peel and dried fruit.

I'm happy to say that the Manna Cakes' hot cross bun seems to fulfill all the criteria. It tasted faintly of banana, and wasn't too sweet overall.

Round, at least 7 cm in diameter, and highly glazed

Well-risen, not too soft or sticky

Fairly pale crumb

Served just as the old lady told me, although I'm clearly still getting to grips with my rarely-used oven

After lunch, it was time to get out of the flat. My first choice neighbourhood coffee shop was closed, so I ended up at Market Coffee House, catching up on business news, and planning out the next couple of steps of my job search. The place being rather bustling, I decided to spring for a hot cross bun (£1.50) on top of my large skinny cappuccino (£2) so as to make up the "rental" for a table. It seemed the right thing to do, although perhaps not from the perspective of my waistline.

Four is my favourite number which is one of the reasons why I chose this table

The cappuccino was okay, not spectacular, but not bad either. The hot cross bun didn't seem to fulfill any of the criteria mentioned by Slow Food; it was flat, squarish, and didn't really taste of anything much other than sugar and butter.

Flat, squished, and square

While pouring over my various periodicals, I recalled why Market Coffee House wouldn't ever have been my preferred coffee hangout despite its proximity. It's just so noisy. I don't mean the chatter you get in every other food outlet. It's just that every barista just slams their coffee scoop on the counter before making a cup of coffee, so you get a constant stream of "BAM! BAM! BAM!" going on if you happen to be sitting near there. I haven't had the fortune of sitting on the other side just yet, but as those tables are for four or more, I don't think I'll ever get to see whether that side's any quieter than the side I was at.

It was fun to get into the spirit of things and try out these buns; I doubt I'll be indulging in these over the next few years though. I much prefer other kinds of confectionaries!

Last Thursday, as with the day before, I had an appointment in the City. As I was only 10 minutes away from Long Lane, and as I was hungry, I thought it would be an opportune time to check these places out.

I've heard that those living and working near Long Lane are supposed to be exceedingly fortunate because of their proximity to Austrian cafe Kipferl and coffee shop Dose, which are located right next to each other.

Dose
69 Long Lane
London EC1A 9EJ

I heard about Dose through bellaphon, who seems to discover all the great coffee places as and when they pop up.Lunch consisted of a sandwich (milano salami, goat cheese, sun blush tomato, basil and rocket on wholemeal, £3.50) and a misordered latte. I had ordered a flat white, but somewhere along the hustle and bustle, I was served a latte.

Latte art

I didn't realise that they had served me the wrong beverage, although I did find myself thinking that this was the milkiest flat white I had ever drunk, and wondered why everyone I'd read raved about their coffee. I did think it was a nice touch that I'd gotten a posh glass as opposed to the coffee cup I was used to.

Latte with incredibly delicious sandwich in background

Now, onto the sandwich. The sandwich was incredible. The ingredients complemented one another perfectly, and the bread, the bread! It was amazing, especially when toasted. This was most definitely one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten. The only other times I've had this reaction to sandwiches are when I've eaten Rootmaster's bread, LSE's paninis and Pret-a-Manger's Parmesan avocado sandwich (only available at the now-closed Singapore branch).

Dose's La Marcozzo


Incredibly cheerful menu

Rather innovative way of displaying the daily food menu

Talk about coffee table books

The main problem with Dose is that it's small, and there are no real tables. It may have free wi-fi, but I guarantee you that if you choose to stay in here for any period of time, with your laptop perched on your lap (the crates which make up the tables are the same height as the box-chairs), you will undoubtedly suffer from a pretty bad backache before long. I had originally come in here with the intention of reading Time Out, but, given the lack of space, pretty much ended up eating, drinking, taking some photos and then leaving, all in just about half an hour.

Still, I'll definitely return soon. Firstly, there's the flat white I have yet to try. Secondly, that sandwich was amazing!

Kipferl
70 Long Lane
London EC1A 9EJ

I'd first heard about Kipferl last year when I came across it was when it was nominated as one of London's best independent cafes by a member of The Guardian's reporting staff. Being a big fan of the now-closed Wiener Kaffehaus in Singapore, I decided that Kipferl definitely merited a visit, in spite of the distance from my office. Unfortunately, the day I visited, they had run out of apple strudel, the main reason why I decided to try this place out. Instead, I opted for a kaesekrainer (sausage with Emmental cheese) and bun, and sachertorte combination. The sausage was very good, but I didn't like the sachertorte. I'm sure it had nothing to do with Kipferl itself, as I don't generally like sachertortes anyway.

This time around, the apple strudel was still available. I opted for a takeaway, and promptly devoured it within five minutes. This wasn't because of its great taste. It had more to do with the fact that it was a small portion, probably as long as my hand, and about two inches wide. As far as strudels go, it was okay. I didn't like that it was cold (I prefer my pastries warm), but this wasn't Kipferl's fault.

Will I be returning to Kipferl any time soon? Probably not. At £2 per tiny slice, the strudel's a little on the expensive side. I would, however, return for a sausage lunch.

Taylor St Baristas
1a New Street
London EC2M 4TP

Off Bishopsgate, opposite Liverpool Street station

Taylor St Baristas is one of three places in the City which serves good coffee, the others being Manon Cafe on Copthall Avenue, but I may be biased here as you get a free piece of Leonidas chocolate with every purchase of coffee, and Mangiare, which initially grabbed my attention with a sign proclaiming they served "the best coffee on London Wall" with the fine print reading "as voted by regular customers". I'm inclined to think Taylor St Baristas serves the best coffee of the three, but, as with everything, this is all subjective.

The cafe, as with many cafes which serve good coffee in London, was opened up by a group of Australians. I'm not sure why Australians seem to have a monopoly on good coffee, at least in London, but, hey, I'm not complaining. I've drunk coffee from one of the best Australian coffee houses in the world, and I can assure you it was well worth the seven hour flight from Singapore and one hour journey from our hotel in King's Cross. Heck, it's well worth a 20 hour flight from New York. It's that good. 

Anyway, Taylor St Baristas, as you might have inferred from the 'a' in its address, is small. There are no tables to speak off, although there are three or four bar stools which you can perch on, provided there are no more than three people in the line. For that reason, although I've purchased coffee from this cafe a fair number of times prior to my deciding to cut down on spending, it hasn't featured on this site just yet. However, one fine Sunday afternoon, we decided to grab a coffee and discovered no one at all in here, so we decided to sit, enjoy a slice of lamington, and just chill for a couple of minutes or so. I suppose, in a fierce throwing down of the gauntlet of sorts, the view that you get from the bar is of the Starbucks right opposite it, which opened up a week or two after this cafe opened up.

A lamington (£2.50), we were told by Eastern European barista Michal, is a cake which has been dipped in chocolate and covered in dessicated coconut. Apparently, you can enhance the calorie content of this even further by choosing to eat it with jam for an extra 50 p. My friend had tried it before and liked it, so he decided to order it when Michal recommended this over the brownie. That, and he's a sugarholic. I don't like coconut so I didn't enjoy this very much. My friend ate my half without objecting.

Now, the coffee... the real reason why people go to Taylor St Baristas. I have not had a bad coffee at this place just yet, and this one was no different. Just as we entered, the customer exiting the cafe said that he'd read on some website that, of all the baristas at this cafe, Michal made the best flat whites. I guess we were fortunate in that the only other barista in the cafe stepped out to chat with that customer, because that meant Michal made both of ours, and while I don't have any basis for comparison, I certainly am not about to disagree with that guy's view!

although the reason why I hadn't been back there in three months prior to my Sunday visit was my decision to economise. Over here, a flat white will set you back £2.20, although I've just realised that with the loyalty card (buy five, get one free), a flat white costs £1.83 or so, which makes this the cheapest flat white around, I guess!

Still, given my spending spree of late (which I'd classify as normal if I were still working, but overboard if I'm not), I really shouldn't be going out and eating and drinking (coffee, not alcohol) the way I've been doing over the past few weeks! As a family member has noted, vintage clothing and coffee are my green kryptonites.