Crumbs and Doilies, 18th January

Having a sweet tooth, I have tried a fair few bakeries around London, and I have come away with some firm favourites. For brownies – Konditor & Cook or Bad Brownie. For ice cream, Gelupo or La Gelateria. Rinkoffs are the place to go for Croughdoughs. For cake, I pretty much turn to Hummingbird Bakery time and again though Lola’s and Flavourtown Bakery deserve a mention for their cupcakes.

But I think there is somewhere else to add to my list of old reliables.  It’s a shame they’re owned by that annoying Jemma girl on London Live but early signs are that they’re good enough to overlook this minor flaw. One Sunday I went for a leisurely stroll from my place in Bethnal Green to Carnaby Street. A mere hour and 20 minutes later I was inside Crumbs & Doilies. I had already perused their many cakes online and I was a little disappointed they didn’t have such a big selection to choose from. There was one type of cake only, and about 6 cupcake flavours. However, they rotate their flavours daily so if they don’t have anything you fancy one day (unlikely), they probably will the next.

I could only eat so much so perhaps it was best that it made choosing much easier. I had particularly liked the looks of the cakes online, and the one in the shop sounded right up my street – chocolate and coffee – so I had a slice of that. I also got a mini banoffee cupcake so I could taste a range. It’s not cheap but it’s about the same price as the other bakeries I’ve mentioned. 

I was impressed with what I had. The slice of cake was light and not dry. I really liked the icing and the crunchy chocolate crumb on the top, though the dark chocolate icing was a little plasticky. A minor quibble. It was good enough for me to know this wouldn’t be my last visit.

I saved the mini cupcake for a dessert bite later on. For such a small cupcake it had a lot going on – a layer of toffee cake at the bottom, then a later of banana flavoured cake, with some fairly decent icing on top – not too thick and sickly, though not quite the American frosting that I favour. Good enough to tempt me back and see what they do with other flavours. They had your typical red velvet but also mint chocolate chip, cherry bakewell and peanut butter and jelly when I went, and when fellow bloggers Fresh and Fearless and Dancing in High Heels went they had a caramel pretzel cake, and offerings including rolo, coconut and raspberry and earl grey for their cupcakes! How am I going to resist going back almost immediately?

Princi, 29th March

Third time's the charm as they so, and so it was with my day of indulgence on Thursday when I ate at Princi.

I've walked by Princi on many occasions, my eyes wide at the baked goods on show, though I had not yet been inside. This time, I was meeting a friend there and so entered to see the full array of Italian confections on show. I can imagine my eyes growing round as saucers as I looked at the array before me. 

I was a little early though, so I grabbed a couple of seats towards the back. It had been a very hot day, and Princi was quite warm, no doubt because of the number of people creating body heat, and the wood fire they have at the back, presumably for baking their bread and pizzas. At the back, there was a sort of water feature, which I thought might keep us a little cool.

Princi was lively when I arrived and positively bustled the whole time we were in there. It is, in all honesty, a little bit confusing. Waiters zip around all over the place and when I sat down, one of them came to take my order. I just ordered a diet coke while I was waiting, thinking I'd eat when my friend got there. So you would think that, should you wish, you could order food from your waiter. Especially when they keep the tab open for you to add to it later. But this is not how Princi works - the waiters deal with drinks only. If you want food it's counter service and you have to go up to order and take your food. 

Princi does savoury food as well, but as you might have guessed, I wasn't very interested in that today. After having eaten a whole pizza and some ice cream, I didn't think I should eat a full meal as well, or another pizza. Princi offers pizza and focaccias with things on them, as well as some pasta dishes and soups if that's what you fancy. But the real star of the show has to be the sweet treats that you can enjoy in there, or take away. 

Lots of people take advantage of this takeaway option. Unfortunately for me, everyone in the queue ahead of me seemed to be ordering copious numbers of cakes to take back to their Italian families (or maybe themselves). Yes, quite a lot of Italians were in there, and it's an Italian place, so that can't be a bad thing. Eventually I forced myself to make a decision and opted for the deliciosa al mascarpone, but I also got a couple of cannoncini to take away. 

The deliciosa did exactly what it said - it was delicious. Basically a cream cake made with mascarpone, so verging on cheesecake, heavier than a normal cream cake, with some candied orange, which hinted at the flavours of panetonne, but without raisins and sultanas, which I don't like, and instead a layer of chocolate on the top. Yum. This was a main event and a little bit pricey at about £4.50.

The cannoncini, which I shared with Stephen when I got home were only £1.10 a pop and also delicious. These are sweet flaky pastry horns, filled with custard cream, with sugary crunch sprinkled on them. They're very good and there will definitely be more of them in my future.

What I also liked about Princi, though, was the fact that even though it was pretty busy, we were able to linger in there for the whole evening. I'd ordered only a diet coke and one cake, my friend had ordered a coffee (and a canonncini) and yet it was three hours before they asked if we would like another drink (a polite way I think of saying we ought to get something, or get out). 

I'd like to say I'll come back to try out the pizza/pasta on offer, but with cakes like pistachio and peach; toffee, lemon and chocolate; and ricotta cheesecake, I think I will find it very difficult to walk past the desserts to the kitchen at the back.

Are You Sitting Comfortably? 28th January

Continuing the storytelling trend I set by going to Spark London, we decided to go to Are You Sitting Comfortably, another storytelling night, this time stories submitted in advance, again that had to adhere to a theme, but unlike before, decidedly fiction. 

Cornflake cakes

I invited a few friends along, and after a quick drink in the Commercial Tavern up the road, we went down to Toynbee studios, where it was taking place. The website had said it started at 7:30, but I didn’t know if that meant doors opened then, or the show started then. We got there at about 7:25. I had also never been to Toynbee studios before so other than knowing it took place in their Arts Bar and Café, I didn’t know what to expect. We collected our tickets and walked in. Clearly doors opened before 7:30 as almost all the places were filled and there was a lot of hustle and bustle as extra chairs were being brought out to ensure everyone had a seat. This was in additon to the toing and froing as people arriving and sitting were hastily asked if they required a chip butty and these were ordered and brought to wherever you had found a seat. Seating was not, as I had imagine, in a theatre or auditorium format, but in fact lots of tables replete with red and white checkered table cloths, with various literary and hipster types chattering in them with their bottles of red wine. Each table had some complimentary sweets in teacups and also some very delicious cornflake cakes, which had the best chocolate to cornflake ratio I’ve ever encountered. We ended up crowded round the front of a table, barely a footstep away from where the stories were being read, tucking into our chip butties, and popping sweets into our mouths. 

The spooky stage

The theme this night was Ghost stories, our hosts were Gareth and Bernadette, who run White Rabbit and are writers themselves. They write a story each for the night, and then from the 70 or so submissions they receive from amateur short story writers, they pick seven to read aloud to the audience. The little stage was set up to reflect the theme of the night, and Bernadette had bedecked herself in a bit of a spooky costume (Gareth had stuck to a suit) and there was also a screen showing creepy, ghostly images while the stories were being read. 

After all the chip butties had been served (they were complimentary, as were the little treats) and everyone had settled, they began the first story. The take on the theme of Ghost stories was quite varied (and I suppose that is why they chose the stories they did). There was one story that I thought was quite chilling, about a woman who discovers the grave of a clown, and who may or may not have ended up trapped and killed by him in the end. There were a couple of stories with the ghosts being the narrator – one an evil lady haunting her manor, surprised when the ghosts of her own children she murdered come back to haunt her, and another with a man telling us what he has got up to since he died (voyeurism mostly), and what life after death is like. One ghost story was almost a love story, and quite moving. Both Bernadette and Gareth’s stories were very entertaining, and you could tell that they were accomplished yarn-spinners. I will never think of Croydon the same way again, not that I thought of it much at all before. They each took turns telling all the stories, with one guest speaker (as there were 9 stories in all, this keeps it fair I guess). 


At the end of the evening, it was time for a few little competitions. On the tables in front of us had been pages from a book. We were now invited to guess at what that book was, and whoever did, won a prize. Reading the page I had, I didn’t feel I recognized the text, and yet something within me made me think of The Magus. It turns out it was that book, but I know this because someone else shouted it out, not because I was brave enough to make a punt at it. Then, there was a bit of a general quiz about ghoulish things, you had to raise your hand or shout out the answer to win a prize. And finally, all through the evening we had been invited to write down what we were most afraid of, and the top 5 were picked at the end of the night. I didn’t enter, as I felt writing something like ‘dying alone’ wouldn’t really suit the mood of the evening, and the winners were indeed people with far wittier phobias than mine.

The evening finished at about 10 and we went home. It was a very different night to Spark – you were almost guaranteed the stories would be good, and perhaps even better, that the people telling them knew what they were doing. You were safe with them. It was almost a strange experience – actually being read to. I can’t think of the last time it really happened. It made me wonder whether I ought to give audio books a try. But for some reason, I know they’d really annoy me. Best just stick to Are You Sitting Comfortably. 

DrinkShopDo x 2, 13th January

It so happened that the first time I went to Drink Shop Do, I went twice in one day. I had already organised to go for drinks with some friends there on the evening, and then my colleagues decided to lunch there. As Drink Shop Do is a café/shop by day and bar by night, I thought it would be good to see it in both its guises. 

Everything in Drink Shop Do is for sale – there is a little shop of craft type stuff at the front, including some wry cards that I particularly found amusing, and then you go into the back where they serve the food and drinks. They also hold different arts and crafts type evenings. Hence the name. They have some specials on every day and we asked the waitress to tell us what they were. We all ended up ordering one of them. I had the spinach and ricotta quiche, which I asked to be warmed. It was very nice and came with an assortment of salad which I wasn’t expecting. However, I must admit I had food envy when I saw what the others had ordered. The soup special was thai coconut and sweet potato, with a bit of chili, which I didn’t go for because I don’t like coconut. To my chagrin I was informed that it didn’t taste coconutty at all, and also came with some lovely crusty tiger bread and a clump of butter. The other order making me see green was the special of beef and ale stew. This too came with some bread and butter and was served in a cute stew pot from which you could see the great hunks of beef and veggies poking out. It looked delicious and I am told it was. And all very reasonably priced. They have a selection of home made cakes on the shelf which looked amazing, but as no one else was indulging, I wasn’t tempted to. Not this time round anyway.

At the end of the working day back I went to DrinkShopDo. While it wasn’t exactly transformed, the ambience was definitely different. There seemed to be more tables and the lights had been dimmed. The cakes had been removed from the bar, and though I think you may still have been able to order them, by the time I got into drinking, the tasty bar snacks of vegetable crisps and chilli wasabi peas and cashews they serve seemed more appropriate. They have a selection of cocktails, as well as wine, beer and cider. The prices are fairly average for London. A cocktail will set you back £7.50, which is actually less than what I have been paying at other cocktail-oriented places. I must highly recommend the Gorgy Porgy. If you have a sweet tooth, this is the drink to go for, like liquid creme brulee.

I was at the venue by 5:45 and the place was already quite busy. I’d say by 6:30 there wasn’t a free table. But luckily, for anyone arriving later, there is a downstairs area with a bar, playing music. You would be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t, as the sign advertises a toilet down the stairs and nothing else, but if you do go to the loo you will discover it. It used to be part of the sex shop next door, which explains the multicoloured streamers at the entrance.

Downstairs is a bit livelier. Upstairs is perfect for having a catch up with a few close friends. When we went in the daytime there was an assortment of board games at the bigger tables, and it was still commonplace to find people getting them out and settling down for a game with their pint.

I think this place is delightful and will definitely be going back for lunch and cake. I tend to go to places that are a little more upbeat in the evenings, but when I’m looking for somewhere friendly, where it’s important to be able to talk without straining your voice or ears, then this would be the place to go.

ChocStar Van, 21st October

It was pure coincidence that I was able to cross another thing off my list today. Stephen and I bought tickets to the Experimental Food Society’s exhibition at the Truman Brewery. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I thought some food may be on offer, but I knew it was more about showcasing the different things you could do with food, rather than eating it. They were hosting some kind of feast on the Saturday night where clearly eating would be the main aim but that was £60 – a little out of my price range. The exhibition was a fiver – much more like it. We walked up to the first entrance and were directed to the building where we could get our hands stamped (the exhibition was across three close together sites). I think the exhibition made a bit of a schoolboy/girl error in the set up. The place where you got your stamp was also, by far the best room. It was filled with cake, chocolate and sugar. This in itself is normally good enough to get my seal of approval but even better was what it all looked like. There were actual structures, sculptures and models made out of the stuff. The first thing to greet you was an Eiffel Tower made out of Curly Wurlies and raspberries, then The Flying Scotsman made out of a variety of candy bars, and a candy cottage made out of penny sweets. Giving only a brief glance at the gluten free veggie cakes and brownies (the only thing there offering any samples) the next thing you came to was a magnificent dodo made out of cake. I was mightily impressed with it from my first impressions. This was elevated when I realised that all the delicate little feathers that I thought the baker had taken time to stick in, were in fact made out of sugar. Stupendous! There were also grand owls made entirely out of sugar, and a house and head sculpted out of chocolate. Appropriately awestruck we were looking forward to what was in store in the next two buildings. But first, we needed food. We decided to get a salt beef bagel from The Beigel Bakery as we were pretty much on Brick Lane and as we walked up Dray walk to get there, we passed the ChocStar Van.

The ChocStar Van is on my list. It serves up chocolatey treats, from a van and as it is a mobile establishment, it turns up here and there. You can look up online where it is likely to be on a given day, something I have been meaning to do for over a year now, so I was very pleased when I found it without even looking for it. But we hadn’t even had lunch yet so we couldn’t have dessert and went up to get our bagels. I’m sure everyone knows about the Brick Lane Bagel places. We always go to the Beigel Bakery for our salt beef as I think they’re a tad more generous, but I think they’re run by the same people so they’re both much of the same high quality. And amazingly cheap. They were offering chicken bagels for £1.50 when we went in. We scarfed our bagels down (with just the right amount of mustard for me – just a touch) and eagerly went back to the Exhibition.

Where we were a little let down. The second building we went into was massive but had only a few things in it. One being the only place in the exhibition to sell food. Food I had no interest in eating. They were snackboxes prepared by Stefan Gates, author of The Extraordinary Cookbook and you could sit down and listen to him give a bit of a talk and explain to you what was in the snackboxes and why, as you ate them. Considering the snackboxes contained things like mealworms and cochineal bugs, I was not interested. 

Otherwise, in that room, were some tea infusion things, and some coffee, and the little area where talks etc were being given. On to the next one.

The next one was marginally better than the second but nowhere near as impressive as the first. There was an artist there who does ‘foodscapes’ and I really enjoyed them. There were also a couple of people with samples tucked into dim little corners – one person showcasing unusually flavoured marshmallows, and another with unusually flavoured liquers that also glowed in the dark. We had one of those and it was a bit sweet for me.

There was also some camel milk chocolate you could sample and I had some of that as well. To be honest, thought it tasted like that cheap chocolate you get at Easter or Christmas. And then, finally, there was some edible clothing on show, which was impressive because of the idea behind it and what it was made of, rather than the actual appearance of it.

It was now about 3:00 and we went back to building number 2 to see what was termed half talk half gameshow, presented by some woman’s new incarnation of Miss Mertle or something like that. She was supposed to be a 50s housewife character with upper class pretensions – throwing the odd word in a French accent out there every now and then. I thought she was amusing enough. The format was strange – she got two people out of the audience to be contestants and their job was to dress a scantily clad woman with food that could be found in the fridge and see who made the better outfit. It was surprisingly entertaining. After that was done we went back to the first room for one final look round – people had been hanging up a deconstructed cake on wires that I wanted to see the final result of. It wasn’t yet finished but still looked quite good. And then, what I had been waiting for… ChocStar!

It was pretty cold so we were put off the ice cream sundaes and my boyfriend was with me so I was also put off prevented from ordering lots of different things. He even vetoed my idea of buying a chocolate truffle in addition to the brownie – that we shared. As far as brownies go, though, this was one of the best I’ve had in a good long while. Dense and chewy, but with the delicious crusty top and sides that I think make a proper brownie. I’m not exactly making a list of best brownies, but if anyone were to ask I would recommend this one, the one that can be found in the Hull Library café, and the caramel one from Konditor & Cook.

I really want a brownie now.