I'm afraid I won't really be getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We fly to Buenos Aires on Christmas day and we have to be moved out of our flat before then. Our weekends in December will be spent getting packed up and ready to go instead of shopping for Christmas presents (I'm not complaining that much). Last weekend we sorted through all our crap stuff and filled three big rubbish bags with clothes and spare electrical cables (thanks Sky), which we donated to the Hospice charity shop. We did manage to squeeze in brunch with my friend from Dublin at the Riding House Cafe (and chocolate tasting and a walk in Hampstead Heath. Hm, maybe it wasn't such a bad weekend after all). It's just not the weekend without brunch.
I'd been to the Riding House Cafe once before for dinner. It was a really fun night, and after reading this review I was pretty keen to try the brunch menu. The Riding House Cafe is buzzy but relaxed, and the service is great. I love the atmosphere they've created with the reclaimed wooden furniture, exposed brick, industrial lighting and the colourful shots of aqua everywhere. I started with a loose leave breakfast tea (real tea is surprisingly hard to find in England) and the PB & J(!) smoothie served in a glass milk bottle with a straw. I was delighted.
Because our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, we ordered two breakfasts each. Not excessive at all. We started with sweet and moved onto savoury. I couldn't go past the Strawberries and Poached Pear with granola and Greek yoghurt. It was my ideal breakfast, and look at how pretty it was! For my second breakfast I had a perfectly poached egg on toast. S had the Chorizo Hash Browns, which he felt could have done with some more time on a hot frying pan. My Dublin friend had the Eggs Benedict, which tasted as good as it looks. We left with our stomach's bursting, feeling totally satisfied and ready to tackle the task of filling bags for charity. Brunch really is the best way to kick off the weekend.
HI Sarah
ReplyDeleteMy favourite thing about this place is how they've covered the dyson air blade in metal to make it look antique! We ate there and whilst I LOVE the interior and the service was great, I didn't think the food was anything more than 'ok' and very expensive for what it was. However your brunch looks yummy so you've inspired me to give it another go :)
oh yeah i forgot how cool the toilets are! i read a lot of reviews saying that the food was only average. i remember thinking our dinner was only ok. i did love the brunch though, and it's much cheaper than dinner!
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