Bad Egg, 7th December

Bad Egg has been on the List for quite some time, and I finally made it down. I have to say, it was a little disappointing for me but I wouldn’t write it off completely. We all chose from the burger/sandwich menu. My veggie friend got the mac and cheese burger, my other friend had the chicken burger, and I got the buffalo ribwich.

My sandwich was ridiculous. A huge, square slab of pork belly, breadcrumbed and plopped in a burger bun with buffalo sauce and (somewhere) blue cheese mayo. A delicate leaf of lettuce was almost comical in its pointlessness. I couldn’t taste the blue cheese mayo at all, against the intense tanginess of the buffalo sauce. The pork belly, though tender once you managed to get into it, was a bit tough to crack at first bite and I didn’t think it worked with the sauce at all. I wish it had been paired with a more Asian flavouring like kimchi. My friend and I both ordered fries. Would have appreciated being told that one dish was enough for two.

The mac and cheese burger, however, was pretty brilliant. A circular formation of the cheese carby stuff, it was deep fried giving the edges a crispiness much needed inside a bun.

The chicken burger, too looked great – definitely thigh meat, it had quacamole and a fried egg in it. Apparently the egg made it a bit too squishy and hard to eat but it was finished pretty quickly so I think it can’t have been too bad!

Also pretty enjoyable was this rice krispie ice cream sandwich with salted caramel ice cram and a caramel sauce. I shared with my friend as we were both stuffed but it was so good I probably could have made room for the whole thing. It could easily be too sickly for some but I could handle it. 

This was a post-Alcoholic Architecture treat, Bompass and Parr’s room filled with Gin and Tonic mist. As with all Bompass and Parr things, it sounded better than it really was but I did enjoy it. You have to don ponchos so you all look ridiculous standing in what is quite a small room, while gin and tonic vapour swirls around you and you try to inhale as much as you can in the 45 minutes you have. Apparently you can get 2 to 3 shots worth inside you (and as you absorb it, no calories!) and my friends thought they could feel an effect but I remained unconvinced. 

Morning Gloryville and Electric Diner, 20th June

Morning Gloryville is not on my List and would never have been put on my List because I would never realistically get up at 6 am just to go raving. Before work. I barely like getting up that early to go on holiday, let alone something I do most weekends.

But, they decided to launch a weekend version, which – provided I didn’t go out to all hours the night before – I thought wouldn’t entail getting up too unreasonably early for me. Of course, me being me, I didn’t end up going to sleep until around 3 am anyway on Friday night, but I was up at 9 the next day and at the venue just after 10. (Why oh why when it is normally held at Oval Space, within walking distance of my flat, did it have to be all the way over in West London?!)

Anyway, I went and I had an amazing time. I danced from the moment I got there to the moment they finished. At first I was worried. I had been concerned it would be a bit too hippiefied for me and the song playing when I arrived was something ‘uplifting’ which is not my thing. I like bass and I like it dutty. But soon they were playing all sorts, especially a lot of drum n bass and I didn’t want to stop dancing. Right at the end it all got a bit too spiritual for me, with everyone participating in a ‘grounding’ but overall I really loved it.

And what was especially good about it was that after three hours of solid dancing, I felt I could treat myself to a brunch at the Electric Diner, a short walk away. I went for a slightly healthier option as I fancied getting a milkshake too, so I had avocado on toast with a poached egg. The place was pretty buzzing but they managed to squeeze me in at the bar, which is perfect for solo dining.

I have to say I didn’t love it. It just wasn’t hot enough! A less than lukewarm poached egg is not optimum and the toast could have been… toastier. The avocado was nice enough but the chilli did not have a big enough hit. My Oreo milkshake was pretty good. It was certainly thick and creamy and had actual ice cream in it. The only thing I would say about that is I had to ask for a spoon because all the oreo collected at the bottom and it’s a bit odd they didn’t provide one with it straight away. All in all, it didn’t leave me with a desire to rush back and try everything else on the menu. 

The Breakfast Club, 30th December

I had twice tried to go to the Breakfast Club so far and twice been foiled in my efforts by a queue that was far too long when taking into consideration mine and my companions' hunger. The first time we ended up in Lo Profile, a place that lets you build your own burgers on weekends and does amazing nachos and alcoholic milkshakes. The second time I ended up in Diner. Third time we were lucky as we went on one of those hinterland days between Christmas and New Year when everyone seems to be hibernating/recovering.

I am very happy that we tried again at the Liverpool Street branch. Stephen was again with me, and once again showing his perversity by deciding what he really fancied was a burrito. I put it to him that probably the thing to do, when going to a new place that specialises in breakfasts, was to try something from the breakfast menu, in order to be guaranteed a good meal. Luckily, they did huevos rancheros which satisfied his Mexican craving while also falling into the breakfast category. After careful deliberation I went for the French Toast with apples and cinnamon.

Not the prettiest plate but looks aren't everything

I think it is possibly the best French toast I have ever eaten. Three big slices of it, absolutely covered in apples. At first, I was a little worried about the amount of maple syrup. That was, until I delved to the bottom layer and discovered it was absolutely sodden with maple syrup and so everything around the edges was more than enough for the top two slices. The apples were great - a bit soft but not turned to mush. The french toast was wonderfully thick and, even better, around the edges there were bits of pure fried egg. I appreciated this because I am always torn between eggs for breakfast or pancakes/waffles/french toast and the residue round the edges made me feel I was getting a bit of both. Especially when Stephen gave me a slice of his chorizo.

Huevos rancheros con sour cream

Stephen's huevos rancheros came with two fat, ridiculously juice/greasy chorizo sausages, two fried eggs on tortillas, some quacamole, salsa and refried beans. It looked very tasty and Stephen said that it was, only he thought there needed to be some extra crunch amongst all the softness - some tortilla chips perhaps would have been a welcome addition.

To put an extra smile on your face, I thought the prices were very reasonable. I think my dish was around £6 and Stephen's wasn't much more than that. Totally filling, totally delicious. I will certainly make this place where I go to get my french toast fix.

However, I think if I am certain I fancy something more savoury involving eggs, I'd probably head to the Diner instead. The egg selection at The Breakfast Club was a little more traditional - eggs benedict in various guises - than I tend to go for when getting brunch out.

The Diner, 20th November

Ok, so I know this is beginning to look suspiciously like a food blog. And the next few posts are not going to do anything to dissuade you of that notion. But bear with me - I will have non-food related posts very soon. I'm working to a backlog so this is not an empty promise - I have something in mind I will write up very soon.

Right. On to the topic in question - The Diner. For brunch. 

I've actually been to the Diner once before years ago, but I didn't have anything to eat. My companion had a burrito. This same companion was with me when we went back the other weekend for brunch. We had first tried the Breakfast Club in Liverpool Street but there was a pretty big queue so we had to find somewhere else. The Diner in Shoreditch also had a bit of a wait, but only about 15 minutes. I didn't remember what the menu was like before, but the Diner had been popping up in recommendations for brunch in stuff like Secret London and Yelp so I wanted to give it a try.

The menu for the breakfast type stuff was extensive. It was quite a task to decide. I thought I was in the mood for pancakes but after careful perusal the western eggs seemed to be calling me. Western eggs - scrambled eggs with onions, peppers and cheese. Stephen, for some strange reason decided to go for the burrito again. I didn't think this was really in the spirit of brunch but he seemed to recall the burrito being good and couldn't be convinced to order otherwise.

I also ordered a side of toast and some hash browns.

This was a mistake. A slightly embarrassing mistake. I did not realise that the portion of eggs would be phenomenal and that they would also come with a side of home fries with onions. I looked like a total greedy pig. I forgot to take a picture and I deeply regret it. The food looked delicious when it arrived and it tasted even better with my mouth than it had with my eyes. The toast and hash browns were completely superfluous, though I did my best to get through them.

As it happens, it was quite fortuitous that I ordered the sides - not for me, but for Stephen.

His steak burrito was a disappointment. He gave me some precise adjectives to use to describe it but I can't remember them now.* It didn't live up to his memory of it and I think the problem was this: he had last eaten the burrito before the proliferation of all the very good burrito places over here. He had nothing to really compare it to at the time. But now he did and it was found sadly lacking. As I said before, I had over-ordered and this was lucky because he made up for the lack in both quality and size of the burrito by finishing off my hash browns. They were tasty.

So, to conclude - I shall be going back to The Diner. There are many more breakfast items that I have faith they do very well that I wish to sample. But I will probably stay away from any of the other things on the menu... apart from the hard shakes. I bet they're good.
*I consulted stephen about his burrito and he wishes me to say that there wasn't enough rice, not enough steak which was dry anyway, and too much of that crappy American cheese.