London Breakfast

I've been reviewing breakfasts around this enclave of central London for long enough that I now find myself going back to the same site, but under a new name. The surprise is that more greasy spoons haven't closed in this time, but they seem to stick around, fairly stable in their business as the on-trend cafes and restaurants open/close every other year. Well finally Sky Cafe 2 succumbed (like the original Sky Cafe), and has been replaced by this place, whose name calls to my mind a bijou little suburban eatery popular amongst media types, and certainly there's no shortage of the latter around these parts, though we're in the centre of London. I don't know why I get that impression, really. This is still just a caff, albeit with good solid wooden furniture and nicely-designed clean looking menus which I appreciate. The chalkboard above the counter also proudly lists the vegetarian breakfast as an option, so that's what I go for.



It was a pleasingly colourful plate that came to me, with a range of colours represented, including the rarely-spotted (in this country; it was all over breakfast plates in New Zealand) spinach, lightly-grilled fresh red tomatoes and a lovely yellow fried egg. Baked beans were fine, and I continue to enjoy hash browns (whatever others may think of their inclusion on the breakfast plate), whether cooked fresh or from a packet. Maybe I even sneakingly prefer packet-sourced versions... Bread was sufficiently pliable to mop up juices, but it was delivered un-buttered and I had to ask for more than the single poxy little packet of butter they provided.

The disappointment, if it can be called that, was the mushrooms, though really they were fine, a bit oily but far more edible than some whole mushrooms I've been presented with over the years by cafes around here.

So on the whole, yes, I can definitely recommend the Fitzrovia Kitchen for breakfasts. I shall have to pop back for lunch sometime, to see what they have there. Maybe I'll do that now.

Address: The Fitzrovia Kitchen, 29 Hanson Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 6TS.

I try not to go around reviewing chain sites, but I did Pod recently, and Abokado is another fledgling little chain focusing on "healthy" food, things like sushi and wraps, but who also do breakfasts. It's a similar model to Pret and the other big sandwich shop chains: I can't really tell a huge amount of difference between them, but there you go. There's a market obviously.



I don't really know how healthy this is, per se. It's a toasted bagel stuffed with scrambled eggs and roasted tomato. They keep them in a warm display unit (actually rather hot indeed), and it seemed freshly prepared, so I grabbed it and returned to my office which is very close by. In so far as there's much to really say about such a simple breakfast, I liked it. It was a good bagel, warm and therefore quite soft, with a tasty filling. The roast tomato was particularly nice, so I recommend this (admittedly grab-and-go) breakfast.

Address: Abokado, 105 New Cavendish Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 6XH.

As a concession to the loyal readership and fellow contributors, many of whom disdain of this meat nonsense, I have consumed an vegetarian breakfast, just like ye olden days!



So here it is. I can't pretend my heart wasn't just a wee bit disappointed when this was presented, as I have deeply-held opinions about combining hot food and cold salad food on the breakfast plate. As I see it, hot scrambled eggs just don't *go* with lettuce and artichokes. Actually, now I think about it, scrambled eggs would probably go fine with sundried tomatoes, but some of it was just an odd combination. I ended up eating each side largely separately, and as two separate components of the same meal, it was a good breakfast. It just lacked that balance that I, er, have not really mentioned is an important part of the breakfast-making craft. But I feel like it must exist in some kind of 'theory of dining' context.

Anyway, let's move on to the food. The salad was tasty, and did not scrimp on the chunks of tasty mozzarella, the artichoke and sundried tomatoes on a bed of clearly fresh lettuce and tomato. Having had some disappointing salads in my time (and surely we've all had those 'salads' put on the edge of a meal plate for no other reason than to fill some space, and clearly not intended to be eaten), it's always nice to get one made with some care and respect.

As for the scrambled eggs, they're not the match of those I make at home (if I do say so...), but they were good, vastly superior to most excuses for scrambled eggs you get in cafes, with some slight creaminess to them while still being largely solid. What was particularly good about this breakfast is not even pictured, which is the freshly-baked, warm and buttered crusty bread that was placed down just after I took the photo. It was delightful. Some of the best bread I've had, and I could have happily eaten the whole loaf.

Coffee was charged separately (and was good), but this breakfast came to under £5, which I think represents good value.

Address: Italia Uno, 91 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 4PX.

Another week, another Fitzrovian full English, and apologies but this one features EVEN MORE meat.



So yes, they have a regular version listed, but the specials board suggested one with black pudding, and it's been a while. The BP was fine, slightly dry but not too much. Good bacon and sausage too. If the mushrooms were above average for your typical greasy spoon, that's not exactly saying they were as good as ones I could make at home, but at least I could eat them happily enough.

Fried egg was also decent, fried on both sides, but with a runny yolk, perfectly contained, spilling on to the soft white toast. The menu specifies fried slice, but apparently you have to ask for this specifically. Presumably it's not so popular these days. Certainly I don't tend to order it, not that the FE experience isn't already unhealthy enough, so maybe it doesn't really make much difference.

Anyway, my point is, John's is pretty good. The Full English includes a fine coffee (or tea, if that's your preference) and toast on the side, and comes to under £4 (extra 50p for the black puddingses).

Address: John's, 36a Mortimer Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 3LY.

Hello again, a bit of a run of full Englishes and here's another one coming up.



Here's another cafe along this stretch of Goodge/Mortimer Street, and another with a fairly short breakfast menu, so once again I lapsed into type and plumped for a full English. Once again, I have few complaints. If it's the kind of thing you're into, then this FE will hit the spot. The beans are Heinz; I know because there was a huge stack of catering-size cans of Heinz beans in the window. You can almost tell from the slightly sticky consistency (rather than the runny ones of my next breakfast review). I can understand why not everyone likes baked beans. I mean, they're sweet and sort of unappealing at a basic food level, but I've got to this point where I just really enjoy the FE experience and the flavours of yr quality greasy spoon offering.

In other ingredients news, the bacon was good, crisped around the edges and none too greasy. There was a hash brown (h8rs to the left), clearly sourced from a packet as per tradition, and a couple of eggs fried on both sides but with a runny centre. And a sausage. No mushrooms.

And the table was decorated with a full size sticker advertisement for... something. All I can report in retrospect is what I can see: it looks like grass. But it's a corner cafe, there's lots of light coming in, and there are worse places to sit and eat yr FE in Fitzrovia.

Address: Café Téo, 49 Newman Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 3DZ.

Breakfast in a pub usually means a depressing Wetherspoons £2.99 affair, where everything, including the scrambled egg, is deep fried in a vat of oil that's been in use since 2003. But The Big Chill House's breaky were recommended by Londonist. We chose the full veggie:


and the potato rosti:



The veggie breakfast (£7.50) comprised eggs, muffins, beans (cooked with onions and parsley - yums), tomatoes cooked with rosemary, mushrooms (including some fancy ones) and some random vegetables (green beans, roasted pepper, artichoke hearts) which my partner deemed 'delicious'. A latte was an extra £1.95.

The potato rosti (£5.25) was potatoes, onions and mushrooms, fried and topped with an egg (and a small saucer of ketchup): it was jolly nice. I had an orange juice as well which was about £1.50, although I got a cheeky student 10% discount. There was tap water flavoured with oranges and apples available for free at the bar. If I had a complaint it was that the rosti was a little salty, but that might be personal taste. The service was smiley, the music was unobtrusive and the toilets were nice! Wetherspoons it aint.

The Big Chill House, 257-259 Pentonville Road N1 9NL

I feel like I'm coming into the home straight for Fitzrovia now, and am finding myself in more poky greasy spoons which lack clear menus and don't have many choices. I daresay this place for example may have offered a vegetarian option, but they had absolutely nothing listing their breakfast options that I could see, so I had to ask. And so I went for the full English.



This is pretty much your standard array of ingredients, minus the (sometimes controversial) potato "requirement". Toast is soft and pliable, good for mopping. Grilled tomato isn't bad, and there's a sea of what I presume is Heinz (they tasted fine). Egg is cooked both sides, but with a runny yolk which makes me happy, and there are two sausages, which almost amounts to extravagance. They're decent too, as is the bacon, crisped up nicely. I can't really complain: it was a nice enough place.

Address: Café Bebek, 168 New Cavendish Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 6YX.

I ate a big breakfast this morning, so I'm not even hungry right now. Let me tell you about that breakfast. Once again, I've been weak and just gone for the first (meaty) option on the breakfast list, but I should say that Sweetspot -- so new that they don't even appear on Google searches*, and so new that they were offering 50% discount on food this week -- specialises in pancakes and crepes, most of which are fruity. In fact, I think what I had is the only meat option on the menu, so you can chastise me duly for my lapse and move on to the review...



It may not look it, but that's a big plate of food. More to the point, it's those pancakes; they fill you up, pancakes do, so three was probably more than enough. The chap at the counter said I was the first person to order this breakfast option, and asked if maybe it was too big? I said that I thought it was, but we were unsure what precisely to cut down on. Frankly, I think half of everything would be a fine breakfast to set a person up for lunch. But what I ate was a fine breakfast to set me up for the rest of the day. Maybe I'll have a snack this evening though.

Anyway, the cafe was quite pleasant to sit in: lots of light from the front windows, comfortable seats, solid-looking tables. I sat at the counter by the window, which was wide enough for a plate and book, and the stool was solid enough to take my weight, so I approve. They also had a few (slightly old) newspapers and supplementary magazines, and I browsed a G. Coren review in the Times weekend magazine while I ate.

I do not however pretend to achieve any of Mr Coren's reviewing skills (whatever you may think of him as a person, he has a good way of writing a review). I will say this about Sweetspot, though (returning to the subject at hand), their pancakes are fantastic, and that's a good thing to start with, as that's their speciality. They are light and just dissolve away in your mouth, but don't seem insubstantial. Three of them was a lot, but I ate them all.

I suppose the main obstacle that Sweetspot have for the breakfast crowd (the meat only appears on the breakfast add-ons section) is a rather British disdain for combining sweet and savoury on the same plate. Once I'd got over that -- the pancakes were dusted with icing sugar, after all -- the sweet and salty flavours complemented one another rather nicely. I think the best combination was the sausage, but bacon and eggs certainly aren't a bad match either.

So, yes, I think you should definitely go and try their pancakes, and maybe a trad option with blueberries would be sensible. I don't imagine I'll be able to return for the full breakfast option until they figure out a way of making it less enormous, but it was excellent, so full marks. Also, quality coffee too, so tick vg for that as well.

Address: Sweetspot, 60 Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1W 7QF.

* except for my photos no doubt

First of all, apologies if you'd tried to post to this community and not managed it. Apparently it was set to 'moderated'. Anyway, I've changed that and already a post from the past has popped up.

As for my own breakfast travails, I must be getting near the end of Fitzrovia. However, one that I missed in the north side is this one, Cafe Le Midi, which isn't much to look at from the outside, but turns out to have friendly service, though the chap behind the counter did initially present as being rather gruff, it turned out he was very friendly. Clearly this place also has its regulars, which is understandable. Because the food is really quite nice: hits all the right greasy spoon notes.



I mean, it doesn't look special I suppose -- and maybe, strictly speaking, it isn't special -- but just being a tasty breakfast meal is enough to elevate it in my opinion. I mean, the fried eggs have broken, and there's a single stubby sausage sliced lengthways, and the mushrooms were a bit rubbery and disappointing. But it all added up to something tasty.

I didn't check if they had a vegetarian option, but didn't see anything listed. I'm sure they'd probably do you something, but this place seems rather trad.

Address: Café Le Midi, 23 Warren Street, Fitzrovia, London, W1T 5LX.

What do Royal London Hospital Workers do for breakfast post-nights?

a) Go to the canteen, where you will be greeted by sullen staff and dessicated fry-up components sold at overpriced rates?
b) Attend one of the many reasonably-priced, made-to order establishments that populate the area? Bonus points if the breakfast comes from where the owner originates from.

I took option B and ended up in Feast and Mishti. Flagrant advertising of NHS discounts may well have influenced me. I ended up choosing a Bengali Breakfast. This consisted of a moist paratha (flaky flatbread), aloo chaat (matchstick potatoes stir-fried with onions and mild spices), a spicy omlette (one egg, has onion, green chilli and garam masala) and a cup of very sweet strong tea. Three pounds eighty this cost me, I'd rate it seven out of ten and believe me, I'll be back again. The potato dish is on rotation with various dhals and other vegetable dishes so I am keen to see what's on offer.

Apologies for the lack of pictures; lighting was poor so I didn't stand a chance of taking a decent one.

Hope to see you there sometime: Feast and Mishti, 254-257 Whitechapel Road, London E1.