Borough Market - London's best?

I class myself incredibly lucky to live just two tube stops or a 20 minute walk away from arguably London's best market food market. Since moving to London in September, visiting Borough Market has became a little bit of an obsession of mine.

Truly it's an experience you can relate to when you visit. The atmosphere, the smells, the hustle and bustle of the whole place is captivating. Street food is has a place in my heart, after travelling Thailand and America I have a new found love for food you can eat with your hands and get stuck in to.

Borough Market is well known to Londoners and tourists alike attracting thousands of visitors each month. Aside from being a market that sells everything from fresh flowers, cheeses and bread it also has a huge selection of food stalls and restaurants to grab a bite to eat.

Some of my favourite spots include:
Bread Ahead - Selling freshly baked bread and pastries but most famous for their doughnuts which are up there with some of the best in London.
Pie Minister - This stall is amazing if you fancy something comforting. Specialising in gourmet pie's with flavoursome fillings, served with mash and gravy - you can't beat it!
Monmouth Coffee - Monmouth have been supplying Londoner's with coffee for quite some time now. However, their spot just outside the main market has people queuing all day round. Well worth a visit for all those coffee fiends out there.
Gujarati Rasoi - Serving potentially some of the best vegetarian indian food I have ever tried. They offer snacks like 'Samosas' and boxes with an array of fillings, a must visit!

If you have never been to Borough Market I would highly recommend a visit. Even if you have already had food or have no intentions of buying anything, it's still well worth it!

Thank you so much for reading, 

Luke. 

Exmouth Market Grind Brunch.

Sundays. In my opinion they can be spent one of two ways. Either not waking up till noon, lounging around in comfy clothes; eating your body weight in food and binge watching Netflix series. Or...popping out for some breakfast to kickstart a productive day. I chose the latter and went to try the new kid on the block of Grind's ever growing spots in London.

After seeing on Instagram that a new site was launching this week 'Exmouth Market Grind' near Angel I was more than keen to pop along. They had what's known in the trade as a 'soft' open, where the restaurant opens it's doors to the public but monitors the amount of covers to get the staff used to service etc. This week was also 50% off food and drink which was an added bonus!

Waking up Sunday morning ready for my caffeine fix along with a craving for eggs in any form I couldn't wait to get stuck in.

The restaurant/cafe is located a corner of the famous Exmouth Market, in Clerkenwell. It's hard to miss with it's bright interior and instantly recognisable pink neon inside. Since visiting Clerkenwell Grind in Shoreditch, the interior keeps the same theme running with marble tables, airy spaces and soft comfortable furnishings.

All of the staff are so friendly, which has became a thing to expect from Grind. I ordered a coffee to start whilst I looked through the menu.

The 'Baked eggs, ndjuga, peppers, whipped feta' immediately caught my eye. As did the porridge with roast apple, blood orange and streusel. I thought I may as well order both as it would set me up for the day. 

Usually I go for some kind of juice to have with breakfast however seeing their cocktail list, I picked out the non-alcoholic apple style mojito. It was so refreshing, perfect to drink along side a strong coffee.

The food was honestly incredible. The baked eggs were runny, had a lovely spice to them and were served with some rustic crusty bread. The porridge too was delicious. I know some people would say porridge is porridge but this was next level. The apple and streusel topping was fantastic. 

This breakfast is up there with one of my top picks in London. Purely based on the level of flavour the dishes had, the service and just generally the overall experience. 

Grind has became a dependable spot for breakfast where you know you are going to leave satisfied whether that be for a quick coffee or a full dining experience.

Here is a link to their website which has a list of their locations along with their weekday and weekend menus. http://grind.co.uk/

Thank you so much for reading,

Luke. 

Breakfast at London Bridge.

Surprise surprise, I am back with another breakfast post. This comes at somewhat of an obvious choice however, if any of you have ever been to The Breakfast Club, you will know exactly why it deserves a mention. I was around London bridge area on Thursday morning as part of a university project we were working on for Borough Market. I will be writing a post soon all about the joys that is Borough Market so keep a look out for that.

Never one to turn down the chance of a quick bite to eat, I thought I'd fit in a visit to one of my favourite places to get brunch in London. I have been a fan of The Breakfast Club for a few years now. Ever since I first went back in July 2014, I can say that it has become my 'go to' choice for a bite to eat in the morning. The thing that makes The Breakfast Club amazing aside from it's food, coffee music...pretty much everything really is it's decor. They have a certain quirkiness to each and every site, it is completely un-pretentious and you feel like you've been transported back to the 80's!

I have never visited the restaurant near London Bridge as I have always opted for either Soho or Spitalfields. As some of you may know, it is popular for a reason...and with popularity come queues. However, as we approached the lunch time rush, we got seated in roughly ten minutes, which is excellent.

Now to the serious business. The Breakfast Club's menu is extensive to say the least, with plenty of hot and cold drinks to choose from. There are the usual tea's, coffee's and juices along with some rather exciting shakes and even fizz if you feel that little bit fancy.

Pancakes are an absolute must if you ever have the chance to visit. They are truly some of the best in London. Adorning a five stack of these fluffy pillows is a generous portion of cream, strawberries and a good pool of syrup. God bless America.

My friend went for a classic 'Vegetarian Full English' or in this case the 'Reggie the Veggie' which came with; Veggie sausage, homestyle fried potatoes, eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomato, beans & toasted multigrain bloomer. It was huge, they certainly don't let you go hungry. 

They also have a lunch and dinner menu which I am yet to try however I caught a glimpse of a table's food on the way out and it looked mouthwatering. 

There is something so satisfying about grabbing some breakfast and coffee with a friend. The Breakfast club offers that perfect balance between an amazing menu and a perfect spot to relax and enjoy.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Jacket & Scarf: H&M
Jeans: River Island
Boots: Belstaff
Watch: Armani
Bag: Herschel

Here is the link to their site which has a full list of locations, their menu and contact details. 

https://www.thebreakfastclubcafes.com/

Thank you so much for reading,

Luke. 

Oreo and Nutella Fudge Brownies

Yes. The baking blog posts are back. Spending a lazy Sunday ill inside has resulted in me doing one thing...baking. Brownies are the ultimate comfort food, and this recipe is honestly amazing. It is from a book called 'Baking Made Easy' by Lorraine Pascale. I can take no credit for how faultless it is. I have made one optional addition however and that is a few teaspoons of Nutella marbled through the batter. You don't have to include this however it makes it that extra bit indulgent. Peanut butter would work well too.

Ingredients: 

• 
  
• 165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped
• 3 free-range eggs
• 2 free-range egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds only (or alternatively 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits, such as Oreos, broken into quarters
• 3 tbsp Hazelnut Spread (Nutella) optional. 
• icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.
2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.
3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
4. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Add the optional Nutella and marble through the batter.
5. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.
6. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar and serve. 

Thank you so much for reading,

Luke.