Joe Allen – WC2

We found ourselves in Covent Garden on a frosty Sunday having popped into the Apple Store for a very shiny new device. After a brief and unsatisfactory stop at another establishment we found ourselves at Joe Allen.

The sort of the place you have to know about, a green awning over a small door down the otherwise uninviting Exeter Street. Joe Allen is an underground restaurant/bar ideally situation for the pre and post theatre trade. To our delight they had eggs Benedict on the menu and were still serving it.

At the front of the restaurant there was a table covered with the Sunday papers, which is one of my favourite things in a brunch venue.

I ordered my cappuccino and Eggs Benedict, IMM went for orange juice and scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The portions were very generous, the scrambled eggs must have been at least 6 eggs. The eggs Benedict, which is always more than enough when it comes to breakfast, was served with potatoes, lovely potatoes but I always think the addition is unnecessary.

The eggs were cooked until their yokes were solid, but tasted great (plus I’ve come dread the undercooked egg so much it is almost a relief). The muffins were toasted, but after being uncovered one was a bit burnt, the ham and hollandaise were very nice.

Although there were a few faults, I really enjoyed it. It was tasty, just the execution wasn’t quite right. I very much liked Joe Allen’s the services was very good and it is a great place for a quite, relaxed Sunday morning breakfast.

Foxcroft and Ginger – W1

With IMM away for the week, things have been very quiet, this meant I was up bright and early on Sunday morning for an adventure. Breakfast and the British Museum.

Sunday mornings in London are magically, the only time when you can get that ’28 days later’ feeling. I headed into the West End and wandered through Soho, eventually finding Foxcroft and Ginger (Damn the Soho Triangle! Even after 10 years in London, I still get lost).

Foxcroft and Ginger doesn’t really look like a café or bar from the outside, with its large glass window and neon lighting. Inside it has that rather fashionable metallic fronted high bar, exposed ducting and metro tiles. I ordered a cappuccino and an Eggs Benedict ‘to go’ and settled into the rather comfortable cushioned seating.

The Eggs Benedict consisted of a beautifully toasted and buttered muffin, scrambled eggs and some fantastic think ham. My only problem was that the scrambled eggs had been cooked with chives, which were a bit over powering for me.

I know that I can be a hard line Eggs Benedict purest and this isn’t really an Eggs Benedict. However, it was a very nice breakfast and if I worked nearby this would definitely be my first port of call in the event of a hangover. It is also, far and away the best ‘to go’ Benedict I’ve had, with previous sorties into this arena being far less pleasing.

With a similar feeling to Fernandez and Wells, Foxcroft and Ginger also holds some promise for a good location for an early evening glass of wine, in the otherwise packed out Soho.

4* for the venue

3* In the new category of ‘to go’ Eggs Benedict.

Harrison’s – SW12

  We planned a golf lesson in Wandsworth this rainy Sunday with a couple of friends, but first a well deserved brunch at Harrison’s Restaurant and Bar near Balham Station.

This is exactly the sort of place I wish I lived near (still waiting for Stockwell to finally up and come). A relaxed weekend space with a good selection of Sunday papers and plenty of space so you can have a relaxing brunch without being rushed.

They have a good breakfast menu, but I was eager to get started with a handover soothing cola and a quick look through the papers while I waited for everyone to arrive.

Once we were all in place I ordered my Eggs Benedict and cappuccino, my friends going for Kedgeree and Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs on Brioche.

At first sight I was disappointed, the hollandaise looked wrong, very wrong. My usual rule of with hollandaise is – if it is touching the plate, there is too much. But that didn’t apply as it was so think that it was piled up on the eggs and it wasn’t going anywhere.  However, from here things got better.

I removed the majority of the hollandaise and the rest of the dish was really good, eggs were perfect and the muffin was delicious. Ham wasn’t much to write home about, but overall it was pretty good and I very much enjoyed.

A shame that the lovely morning, great company and a good breakfast couldn’t improve our golf.

(Photos to follow! Currently homeless and unable to download anything – update – photo provided (and flat finished) finally!)

Smiths of Smithfield – EC1

It has been a while! Having just got back from a wonderful holiday in Cuba, we decided to easy ourselves back into reality with a nice Sunday morning Eggs Benedict.

We headed to Smiths of Smithfield, a four floor restaurant opposite Smithfield Market. It is a great looking building with pleasing open front and outdoor seating, with the venture headed up by John ‘Masterchief’ Torode.

My first impressions were that it was pretty busy for a weekend in the city of London, the rest of the area is all shut up on the weekends, but this was buzzing. My second impression was that the music was on too loud, Sunday mornings to me are about relaxing with the papers and trying to find the right combination of coffee and cola to easy the hangover, the loud music detracts from the both these.

The ground floor is a trendy take on the greasy spoon and the clientèle seemed to be a mix of Hoxton types and builders. Exposed ventilation and brick (trendy), full English with doorstep bread (builders).

As always I ordered my cappuccino, it looked fantastic and in keeping with the caf theme it was served in a mug. (i’ve been in Cuba for two weeks and i’m still finding a good cup of coffee something very very special, this is due to the Cuban coffee shortage).

The Eggs Benedict was served with some good bacon, the muffin and hollandaise were both good. However the eggs were both woefully undercooked, the egg white was a transparent mess. We were asked the ubiquitous ‘how was your food?’ however it seemed that they hadn’t prepared for a negative response. I mentioned that the eggs were ‘a little bit undercooked’ and she mumbled something and walked off.

Slightly disappointing and a pretty pricey Eggs Benedict at ‘9½ pounds’.

Nice place 3

Flawed Benedict 2

Westin Hotel – Washington DC