Goodbye to a good restaurant

It's happened again. The curse of Jenny's favourite restaurants has, sadly but inevitably, struck.

I discovered Bar Battu a couple of months ago - a cutesy little French bar and bistro near the Guildhall in London. I was charmed by its simple menu, reasonably-priced delicious food, great wine list and comforting interior. An old-fashioned place, this - proper tables and chairs, old-world wine, things on matching plates, courteous serving staff. Y'know - a restaurant.

But we already know this story has a sad ending. Bar Battu has ceased trading, and again I feel unaccountably guilty. It's going to be replaced by a bland, ten-a-penny chain wine bar (yawn) which I won't be visiting.

Perhaps it was too old-fashioned or even too cheap. Perhaps the city crowd just didn't notice its shy, classy front window. Perhaps it didn't move with the times. Because 'the times' demand a gimmick, it seems. For every decent, old-style, 'normal' restaurant that closes down, it feels as if two 'on trend' places open up.

You know the ones - they only sell hot dogs, or everything is liquidised, or you have to eat in the dark, or there's one big vat and you all share. I'm not really into all that stuff. I'm a little tired of magazines telling me that 'stuffy' dining is out, and I won't enjoy myself until I'm sitting in a replica Mini with mis-matched crockery eating a Venezuelan-street-food-inspired sharing platter with my fingers. They've got a brilliant 'vibe' apparently, and the food is unpretentious (really?). No more starched tablecloths or silver service for us - food is better spilled all over the place as we reach in front of each other's faces to dip into the sharing dish.

Meanwhile, those of us who like to sit upright with our well-cooked food on our well-polished plates sigh wistfully as our favourites close down. It's a hard life being off trend.

A Carluccio's convert

I've been sitting on the fence about Carluccio's for quite some time.

Sure, it's a good idea - decent Italian food for a reasonable price with not so many frills. Antonio Carluccio is a fantastic ambassador and I like the idea of being able to shop for ingredients in the restaruant too. On the other hand, national chains always make me feel as if I'm eating in an airport or shopping centre. And I'd prefer them to change the menu more with the seasons.

But recently the branch near my office has started a takeaway lunch bar. Right inside the door there's a bubbling vat of soup, tempting salads, fresh bread and heaps of pretty cakes. Just behind there's hearty hot dishes - freshly-made pizza, risotto and smells-to-heaven lasagne. And, in the grand scheme of Smithfield eateries, it's not at all badly priced.

The cauliflower soup with parmesan and black pepper is wonderfully comforting on a cold day. Mozzarella and tomato salad is bursting with spring-like freshness. Focaccia crunches with chunky salt.

I'm a convert - can you tell?

Sake it to them

I'm back: stop talking about me.

So, you'll be glad to hear that I found out what Honami is doing (remember, she was the wonderful sommelier at Cocoon).


She's now the wonderful sommelier at NOPI, Ottolenghi's latest place. I haven't been yet, but the menus and wine list look perritty good, so it's surely just a matter of time, eh?

New favourite restaurants

My favourite restaurant - Cocoon - has closed down. But what can replace it?

I haven't yet had a chance to try out Senkai, the Japanese restaurant opened in Cocoon's place by the same team. I'm sure I'll love it, but I don't think it'll hit the top spot.

So step up to the plate good old Gordy! Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's bobbles on the horizon as the epitome of a swanky, luxury restaurant in London. Celebrity chef influence, plush hotel, good location, classic food ... and a hell of a reputation to live up to. But it does, with an almost irritating amount of ease!

Then there's kooky old Joel Robuchon. We ate at the first floor, La Cuisine, rather than at the well-known ground floor L'Atelier. But it's the same fantastic, brave food with eye-popping presentation and great wine. A slight lack of atmosphere and some rowdy fellow diners mean it isn't my favourite, but it's close.

Incidentally, this is the time of year when our friends, family and loved ones all seem to celebrate birthdays. And either of these excellent restaurants would be a prime celebration location, even though they come at a hefty old price. You'll need to sell a major organ for an a la carte dinner with wine and a well-deserved tip. But I'm here to tell you it's worth the money - so start dusting off that Wurlitzer and book now!

And have happy birthdays.

Alive and well and eating

I'm sorry - I haven't been in touch. I've been an erratic blogger. I said I'd be here with news, dear reader, and I wasn't. I didn't even tell you more about Madrid!

But I'm alive and awfully well. And I'm discovering the eating delights of Smithfield. If I were the kind to use the phrase foodie heaven (which I'm not), I'd use it to describe the Smithfield area. It's a gastronomic delight, and no mistaking.

Never mind the fact that every famous, modern lunch chain has a branch right on my doorstep. And never mind the fact that there's a plethora of beautiful traditional old pubs to hand. I'm not even counting those things.

A short walk away I've discovered The Modern Pantry - a cutesy, wholesome restaurant with a fantastic choice of takeaway options for lunch. If you haven't tasted their aubergine quiche and soba noodle salad you don't know real happiness.

Then there's Farm, home of the fish finger bap. There's lesser known chain Benugo, with their excellent Parisian panini. There's Abokado for wonderful sushi.

When evening rolls on, you can choose from Hix Oyster and Chop House (also a good lunch venue, for small snacks at the bar), posh old Club Gascon, and any number of swanky bistros and brasseries.

I might be some time.

Another one bites the dust

Remember when I listed my favourite restaurants earlier this year? Remember how there were three I added at the bottom - ones that would have been at the top of the list but had closed down?

Well, it would appear to be a curse.

Cocoon, my number one choice, has now closed. A modern Japanese restaurant is opening in its place this month, but that's not the same. Really, it's not the same.

Cocoon - I salute you. We had many a happy evening with you and you opened our eyes to Wagyu beef, black cod and (most importantly) good sake. Boo hoo.

PS: If anyone knows what's happened to Honami (used to be Cocoon's sommelier) please do let me know.

A slice of Madrid at home

So you knew it was just a matter of time, right? Before I got ideas above my station? And felt the need to recreate the Estado Puro tapas at home? Don't you hate always being right?

I didn't feel adventurous enough to try the tortilla in a glass. But I did try out the cute little patatas bravas with a swirl (or in my case, dollop) of sauce.

I consulted the Book of Tapas - otherwise known in my house as the 'big yellow book of chomps' - for a standard salsa brava recipe and followed it to begin. It's a bit of white wine vinegar, a dash of worcestershire sauce, some crushed garlic, chilli flakes and a whole load of paprika mixed together. But it wasn't thick or rich enough, so I took drastic steps.

First I added one teaspoon-full of salmorejo mixture, which I was making at the same time. Salsa brava doesn't traditionally contain tomato, but it feels as if it should! To thicken the sauce I heated it intensively, stirring constantly until it made a deep red paste. A quick taste - similar enough to the restaurant's original. I selected same-size, neatly shaped small potatoes (I can't remember which kind, but ones suitable for baking, not boiling). Once the potatoes had baked in their skins for about 40 minutes I took a scoop out of the top of each and plopped in some sauce. Another five minutes in the oven unites potato and sauce nicely, and they're ready to serve.

Also on my twee plate (pictured above): a small ramekin of salmorejo, asparagus spears, slices of tortilla, jamon iberico and onion-stuffed mushrooms. Yum, eh?

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The best tapas in town

I could say so much about Madrid. And I will, I promise! But just while I have a moment, there's one place that deserves a mention before everything else.

Of course one expects tapas. And of course one expects some places with a touristy pictures-on-a-board menu and others full of locals. A mixture of basic, sophisticated, over-priced, cheap as chips, over-Spanish, traditional, understated and hidden gems. But I still wasn't expecting Estado Puro (by the way, watch out - the website plays music!).

Plonked on the edge of a roundabout just opposite the Prado, it's slap-bang in tourist territory. Despite the busy road running by, it has a tourist-trap outdoor terrace. It's just down the road from McDonalds. Yet it's the classiest place I saw in the whole of Madrid.

Sit at a high table just inside, facing the window. It's quiet but affords a great view of the bustle outside. The menu is printed on a little pouch housing cutlery and a napkin. At first glance it lists traditional tapas - patatas bravas, jamon, ensaladilla rusa, tortilla. But look again: it's tortilla siglo XXI (21st century). And ensaladilla rusa with pear mayonnaise. Little twists on a standard tapas menu.

And when the food arrives you'll be bowled over at how different it is. The tortilla is an egg foam in a glass, punctuated by the sweet taste of caramelised onion. The Russian salad is smooth, creamy and rich in taste. Patatas bravas arrive on a long slab - six tiny baked potatoes with a deep, flavoursome swirl of spicy sauce. The ham's unpolluted, excellent ham, but it's brutally cut and arranged in sharp-edged squares.

Add sophisticated decor, good wine, smart service and reasonable prices and you'll have a brilliant, relaxing but speedy lunch. This is a classy surprise and well worth a visit if you've been to one of the galleries, or have a bit of time waiting near Atocha station. It's like Spain, but on a great day.

My favourite restaurants

We don't have much spare time where I work. But everyone needs a bit of down-tools, water-cooler time on a Friday afternoon. In ours just lately we've been talking trivia and making lists - top ten films, books, etc. A colleague suggested we listed our top ten restaurants, and some eyes glazed over slightly. Not mine, of course - that's a list right up my strada (as Gregg Wallace would say).

So here it is - my favourite ten restaurants. Not the greatest, highest-ranking restaurants or any kind of a recommendation - just places where I've had a great experience. And ones where I remember specifically what I ate.

1. Cocoon (near Piccadilly, London) - pretty tables, the best beef in town, great dim sum and an amazing sake list. The sommelier, Honami, is wonderful.

2. La Sacristia (Tarifa, Spain) - attractive, good service and interesting food with a Japanese influence.

3. Texture (Portman St, London) - too cool for school Scandinavian style place with the most exciting ice cream I've ever been served, and bacon-flavoured popcorn.

4. 21212 (Royal Terrace, Edinburgh) - a cutesy, cosy, Michelin-starred place that serves imaginative and complicated five-course meals.

5. Lemon Tree (Bishops Stortford, Herts) - comfy and reliable restaurant with great puddings and locally-sourced ingredients.

6. Cinnamon Club (Westminster, London) - refined Indian dining in a beautiful old building with delicious cocktails and a constant buzz.

7. Busaba Eathai (several branches in London) - essentially a chain, but I love their decor, welcoming incense smell, fresh food and tempting soft drinks.

8. Rhodes 24 (Tower 42, London) - fantastic location and comfortingly simple food from good old Gary.

9. Delicatessen (Tarifa, Spain) - a lovely outdoor restaurant with great salmorejo, ham, cakes and cava.

10. Marine Ices (Camden, London) - strangely genteel amid the piercing parlours, this Italian place has an impressive history, huge range of pasta dishes and fantastic ice cream.

Special mentions to the Albannach and The Chancery in London, the Village Inn and The Dogs in Scotland and Ma Salle a Manger and Les Fous de l'Ile in Paris.

Sadly, three restaurants that'd be right at the top of my list have closed down. RIP St Alban (Piccadilly, London), Brian Turner's place in the Millenium Hotel, London and 1893 (in Stansted). You're missed.

Pig-adilly

I started my evening at The Athenaeum at Picadilly by learning that Michael Winner had recently hated it and slated it. Strangely comforted and encouraged by this news, I looked forward to great things!

The evening began in the hotel bar, a plush, tucked-away little affair covered in mirrors. We were served plenty of canapes and nibbles with our cocktails. The cocktail I chose was amazing; in fact I had a second one to double-check and it's definitely delicious.

My first thought as we moved onto the restaurant was 'gosh, how tiny'. The small, rectangular room is strangely laid out, with American style banquettes and booths in the middle. It doesn't generate much atmosphere but ensures a quiet, private meal.

And what of the food? Well, my starter of chicken liver parfait with brioche toast was excellent, as was my husband's chilled beetroot soup. The amuse bouche and bread was also great. the wine list was pretty interesting and the service prompt, friendly and knowledgeable. But. The main course was average, bordering on forgettable. I ate sea bream with courgette mousse and something else which obviously traversed the border of forgetability! It was all ok, but could have been any fish, any mousse, any restaurant.

This is surprisingly common: restaurants with fantastic, showy trimmings and sub-standard mains. I won't hold it against the Athenaeum (7 out of 10 overall). On the other hand, it probably won't leap to the front of my mind next time I'm booking dinner.

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Cous cous I said so

Since I got back from Morocco, the question I've been asked most is "how was the food?" People ask it in an envious, anticipatory way as if I'm going to tell them tales of world-class cuisine. I'd expect such hushed reverence if I said I'd returned from, say, Paris or rural Italy. But Morocco?

Many of my holidays are based around food experiences: you've probably noticed by now I'm quite partial to food! But when I booked the trip to Morocco I wasn't expecting world-beating cuisine. It turns out I was astute in my expectations.

Ok - Moroccan cuisine has the potential to be fantastic. The country grows fantastic fresh produce and makes use of a wonderful array of spices. There's a few well-known national dishes - tagine, cous cous, pastille, kefta, harira - and they're often cooked very well indeed. But ... it's all a bit....well, samey.

We travelled quite extensively around the country, from the west coast across to the Sahara in the east, across the Atlas and back over to the southern west coast. We experienced busy modern towns, old medinas, small villages, tiny outposts and touristy ports. We ate in fancy restaurants, family-run riads, remote service stations, small cafes full of locals, tourist traps and mock-European places. And my overriding food memory of the country can be summed up in one word: tagine.

There's a few exceptions. The 'Berber pizza' is worth a try, and reminded me of a lamb pasty. Some of the traditional Moroccan salads presented as appetisers in all the typical riad restaurants are delicious. The seafood in places like Essaouira makes a real change and is perfectly cooked. But these things stick in my mind primarily because they're exceptions. Most lunchtimes, wherever we'd just arrived, the menu choices were tagine, cous cous or kefta. Always in the same order, too - "tagine, cous cous, kefta" - like a menu mantra!

I did have one outstanding tagine: spiced chicken pieces with onion and tomato topped with a fried egg. It made a change from the standard chicken and lemon, lamb or meatball ones. Of course, I can't for the life of me remember the name of it! Anyone?

During our stay we found a leaflet listing the top restaurants in Morocco. I don't know who did the choosing! We were fortunate enough to visit three of them during our stay. One was completely overrated, one was pretty good and one - Le Patio in Essaouira - was outstanding. I ate fish with an olive cream followed by a delicious apple tart. The food was a fusion of traditional Moroccan and European; it still made use of excellent local ingredients but broke away from the menu-mantra. I feel a bit sad that my favourite food experiences in the country were the non-authentic ones, but that's the way it was.

Before I went, I asked someone on Twitter how he'd enjoyed the same tour a few years ago. He said it was excellent but "there's only so many tagines you can eat". My sentiments precisely.

Things to do in Stansted when you're grounded

I always knew the time would come when hundreds of people would need my 'Stansted and surrounding area' restaurant reviews. And here it is: flights are still grounded across London because a volcano erupted in Iceland.

If you're stuck in the Stansted area with some time to spare and a rumbling stomach, try out some of these places I've written about in the past, all within easy reach of the airport by train, bus or cab.

Kim's Coffee House in Saffron Walden has a fantastic selection of tea and some great lunchtime snacks.

The Lemon Tree in Bishop's Stortford - a classy yet comfy restaurant with a traditional menu of well-cooked locally sourced delights.

The Cricketers in Clavering is a gastropub famous for giving birth to Jamie Oliver, or something.

Sandyford is a local vineyard, in Great Sampford where you'll always get a friendly welcome, a glass of good wine and some pretty views of the countryside.

Audley End House - an English Heritage stately home with lovely grounds and a good cafe. I can't promise apple-based food at this time of year, though.

Finally, there's a fantastic place called the Farmhouse Delicatessen in Stansted Mountfitchet. I've written about it many times but I can't find a post in which it's the nub and gist. It started solely as a deli, then added a few tables for lunchtime dining. It's now a fully-fledged cafe with a deli counter, and serves evening meals on Fridays and Saturdays (I think). The service is friendly and I'm never disappointed by the freshly-prepared local food.

Hope the skies clear soon ...

All good things

Sadly, St Alban restaurant ceased trading over Christmas. This is a shame for me, because I really enjoyed it, and a shame for this blog because I never did get around to reviewing it!

It's also sad as a general fact. If a top-class, comfy, imaginative, well-run restaurant can't make a decent business in London, what's going on? Ok, it was a little expensive but you certainly got what you paid for. I'd be hard-pressed to think of anywhere in London with better service, a more satisfying wine list or better ham. Even the toilets were an exciting experience.

All good things must come to an end, I suppose. I'm just glad I managed to fit in a last trip before it closed to perfect that imam bayildi recipe!

Middle eastern delight

I spotted a dish I didn't recognise on the tapas menu in a restaurant recently. I'm quite nosy and inquisitive when it comes to food (well, when it comes to most things!) so it's unusual for me not to have at least some clue what's in a recipe. But in this case, I hadn't.

'Imam bayildi with Greek yoghurt and flatbread', it said - nothing more. So I asked what it was and the head waiter was sent over to explain. He described 'a middle eastern dish of aubergine cooked down with spices and dried fruit'. Well, that was good enough for me - put me down for one of your finest, good sir!

His description turned out to be accurate but he forgot to say it would be amazingly delicious and a teensy bit addictive! The next day I was online searching for imam bayildi recipes (of which there are many and varied) and it has now found its way into my repertoire. So here's my version, for your delight.

First chop a smallish aubergine into inch-sized cubes and place them in a colander sprinkled with a little bit of salt. Leave it for a while, then cook it over a high heat on a griddle pan for 5 minutes, with a tiny bit of oil.

At the same time, toast some cumin seeds in a large dry frying pan. Once the smell of the cumin starts to waft, add some olive oil and a very finely chopped red onion. Add a splodge of tomato puree, some sultanas, a shake of ground coriander, a pinch of ground cinnamon and the griddled aubergine. Pour over half a cupful of water and leave the whole thing over a low heat (covered if possible) for half an hour or so. It really can't cook down enough, so you can get away with leaving it for longer as long as it doesn't 'catch' on the bottom of the pan.

When you're ready, add the juice of half a lemon and serve it with flatbread and sour cream.

*The restaurant was St Alban, near Picadilly, and is always fantastic.

Spanish highs

I wasn't disappointed by Spain, you'll be glad to know!

The food adventure started with a visit to the Delicatessen in Tarifa, which serves pretty good jamon iberico by the racion (sort of medium-sized portion). They also make a fantastic salad of asparagus on a bed of salmorejo (a sort of tomato sauce/soup) and delicious Cava. It's in a lovely location, perfect for sitting in the shade for hours with a book.

Next we ventured to Jimena de la Frontera and found a small, typical Spanish bar on a noisy hill (Jimena is a very steep town, so almost everything is on a hill!). We ate fantastically good ham, a tortilla de patatas and some asparagus. As I was saying before, almost any bar in Spain will have some tapas available and it's usually pretty good no matter how basic the place looks!

We also had a couple of picnics with food bought from Eroski, the Tesco-style supermarket. Even fairly inexpensive supermarket-bought ham is good in Spain, so you just need to buy some bread and cheese to go with it.

Some parts of Spain now have fancy 'fusion' restaurants - one of the best we tried was Posada La Sacristia in Tarifa, although the one in hotel Escondite del Viento was pretty good too. I ate local fish with tabbouleh, salmon and tuna sashimi, a tuna thing with rice, banana fritter and a salad with guacamole - all very delicious.

But I can probably eat that stuff anywhere and it isn't why I go to Spain. It's all about the ham!!

Hurry up with the jamon

In fact I couldn't wait! I went to Meson Los Barilles in Spitalfields to start the Spanish food experience a bit early.

In my experience the food, presentation, decor and service in this place feels fairly authentic. It feels, smells and tastes like many restaurants I've been to in Spain, particularly in the south. A few of the tapas seem a bit 'fancy' but all the staples are there and it's a comfy place to sit and eat for an hour or two.

The ham wasn't great, though (only bog-standard serrano, not 'the good stuff') and I'm hoping to find better in Spain.

Thai curry again and again!

Y'know, there's been talk. I haven't been talking, but there has been talk* concerning my fantastic new green Thai curry recipe.

One of the best things about the Taste of London festival was the free brochure, featuring recipes from some of the attending restaurants. I've been interested in learning how to make a good green curry for a while (because I like it but find restaurant versions too hot for my preference). So I was pleased to see that the Blue Elephant had published their recipe in the brochure.

Of course, I shamefully adapted it and took a few ideas from delicious magazine's 'freeze ahead' version too. This recipe should make enough for four modest portions, so if you're cooking for two you can freeze one batch and easily heat it in the microwave later.

I make mine with chicken, so my first step is to cut two large breasts (no comment) into chunks and fry it over a low-ish heat in a big wok, with a bit of vegetable oil. Once it's starting to look a bit cooked, I add three tablespoons (45ml) of green curry paste. This is the only cheaty bit of the recipe: I use ready-made paste, to save all the effort of grinding and blending! The quality of shop-bought pastes varies quite a bit, as does the amount of chilli they use, so shop around until you find one you like.

Anyway - once the paste and chicken starts sizzling happily I add four or five chopped spring onions, half a chopped red onion and one stalk (stem?) of lemongrass cut very finely. You can also add some aubergine or other appropriate vegetables at this stage. After another couple of minutes, add a 400g tin of coconut milk and let the whole thing simmer for 5-10 minutes.

At this stage, add the juice of a whole lime, one torn kaffir lime leaf, a handful of basil leaves and a pinch of fresh coriander. Give it a stir - at this point it should be rather thin. My 'freeze ahead' addition here is to add 100g of ground almonds to thicken and make it go further, but this is a bit calorie-tastic! Without the almonds it may only make two portions rather than four, but it won't be as fattening. If it looks a bit gloopy once you've added the almonds, stir in a few splashes of water until it looks about the right consistency.

And that's you done: serve it with some steamed rice and Thai crackers.

*A bun for anyone who recognises the film reference and isn't ashamed to admit it!

Best possible taste

Sometimes we ask someone's opinion because we suspect they'll think the same as we do, and just want our own opinion verified. It's just nice to have some agreement and do that smug nodding.

Such was my attitude towards this year's Taste of London festival. I wanted to go along and confirm my opinion of certain restaurants. I checked the list of restaurants attending beforehand, read their menus and made a list of what I wanted to eat. Then I'd be able to go, "yes, just as I thought - Busaba Eathai does serve great chicken satay. Boy, do I know resrtaurants!"

Fortunately I left my list at home. Also some of the queues were a bit too long to handle and some dishes didn't look as nice as they had sounded. So I wandered blindly, checking the menu at each stall as I went and tasting a variety of different things from places I didn't know very well. In other words, got the best from the festival.

My highlights were sizzling wagyu beef on hot rocks from Cocoon, tunapica from Asia de Cuba, lemon tart with strawberries from Rhodes 24 and prawn pomelo with peanut from Busaba Eathai (ok, so a couple of old favourites sneaked in, and I was right ...).

The highlight of the festival overall, though, wasn't food-based. Cocoon restaurant also offered a sake tasting. We were led through six or seven types of sake by a very friendly and knowledgeable sommelier. Unfortunately it was over-popular, cramped and noisy (just in front of the food counter); it definitely merits its own stand or masterclass next year.

Next time you're in the Maldives

Ok, so this is a bit self-indulgent. Even if you are about to go on holiday to the Maldives it's unlikely you'd go to the same resort as I did. And it's not the sort of place where you can pop over to another island for dinner! Nevertheless, I was pleased enough with my Maldives restaurant experience to write about it.

The resort we visited (Komandoo island) has an a la carte restaurant called Aqua, which opened fairly recently. It gives the chef a chance to be a little bit more experimental and extravagant with food than he would in the 'all-inclusive' restaurant. Generally food for holiday-makers in the Maldives tends to be good, but unimpressive. It's healthy, well-cooked and often delicious but unmistakeably mass-produced and calculated to please all. So I was delighted to be offered an alternative, and I was very impressed and pleasantly surprised by what we found.

I ate an amazing seafood and pasta dish with tomato sauce, a lobster bisque, lemongrass and curry soup, reef fish served with potatoes and salsa, plus too many amuse bouches to mention. This is on several occasions, of course, rather than at one huge blow-out ...! The food has Maldivian, Indian and pan-Asian influences, with distinctly European presentation. I think I'd even give it one of my highest accolades: it's London restaurant standard!

So, if you are ever passing ...! Actually, I just noticed on the island's website that Aqua is "designed to offer our guests a culinary art beyond their expectation", which is more or less what I just said, but shorter!

Tea is better than coffee

In the world of tea rooms, an honourable mention must go to Kim's Coffee House in Saffron Walden.

Firstly, it has the most amazing selection of tea, all loose leaf. It's served in great teapots which don't lose the heat immediately and is of a great quality. Ask to see the 'full' tea list and try the Sikkim - somewhere between an Assam and a Darjeeling.

Secondly, the food is pretty good. One expects a nice selection of cakes from a tea room, but this cafe serves a good range of sandwiches, salads, breakfast options and homemade cakes. I had a delicious open bagel with mounds of smoked salmon, presented with a huge lemon wedge and some black pepper.

Thirdly, it's in a good location and has a nice garden at the back.

My only complaint is that it isn't open on Sundays!