"Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? Doesn't everyone?" Noel Coward
No 7 Sloane Square
London
SW1W 8EE
Nearest Tube: Sloane Square
Website
How to Get There
Starting this Blog has developed a very happy Sunday tradition of getting off my lazy ass and exploring London to find interesting places to eat Breakfast and meet up with old friends. Oh and, on the odd occasion, to throw in a small reason to celebrate with a bottle or two of champagne (like, in the words of Melissa, Beedub becoming an F Word).
Today the tradition continued with a celebration of the end of my life as the eternal bachelorette. I put Fee in charge of decision making and her unbeatable breakfast compass came up with The Botanist. So to Sloane Square we trekked, meeting up with other Iheartbreakfast veteran supporters Barbara P and Melissa plus old friend Tams. Truth be told, I might possibly have been slightly distracted by catching up on months of news and several glasses of Champagne, but The Botanist still managed to make an impression.
Apparently, it is best known for Friday evening drinks, but their breakfast menu is respectable with a good mix of predictables and a couple of eye catchers. Personally, I think any place where the Breakfast menu starts with Bucks Fizz and rolls gently past Bloody Mary's into the food options warrants a recommendation. I managed to concentrate long enough to order the Crepe Complete (tricky one to order after two glasses of champagne). When it arrived it turned out to be a winner - a very crafty combo of eggs, bacon and Gruyere cheese served in a crepe.
Some of the girls choices - pancakes with bacon and maple syrup; the iheartbreakfast regular Eggs Benedict and porridge. All of which got the thumbs up even from Fee who carries a PhD in Pancakes. Also worth mentioning, they serve real mint tea brewed with fresh mint leaves and their machiatos come with a stirring chocolate stick.
Price wise it's not bad - sans champagne it was £20 each. Almost in the home straight for a full house Beedub tick, the only hiccup was slightly sketchy service and the fact that breakfast service stops at 11.30am. Nevertheless, if like us, you order a few bottles of bubbly you won't even notice, so all in all this is a goodie. Try it.
Also, if you're not a Fulham/ Chelsea local, the Saatchi Gallery is just round the corner and is worth popping in at, even if you can't make head or tale of 'icecream headed man shags antelope'...
West Quay Road
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
Cape Town
South Africa
Website
How to Get There
So FINALLY I have added a few African entries. Pretty slack really considering I am a Saffa/ Zimbo hybrid, but better late than never.
It's been two years since I was last home and it's always amazing to see how Cape Town has changed. Thankfully some of my favourite things never change and nor does the fact that I miss living there on a daily basis. If you've never experienced the magic of Cape Town, do not pass go, move straight to add-this-to-you-list-of-get-there-as-soon-as-you-can places.
Almost our first stop off the plane was to visit my best mate Pooks at the Cape Grace Hotel. She was doing some freelance work there and tipped me off that the breakfast was definitely worth a look. After a marathon 5 flights in a week, we duly arrived at the 5 Star hotel entrance in grubby jeans and Converses. Potentially not a good start you'd think, but the staff there are brilliant and charmingly ignored our travel grunge and even extended the breakfast times for us. Retrospectively this could have been more about Pooks having the entire staff wrapped around her finger and less about our aura of respectability, but I choose to think they could see past my travel hair and recognise the breakfast connoisseur within.
So about the breakfast. It's served in the Signal Rrestaurant which overlooks the V&A Waterfront Basin and Table Mountain. Most definitely views you can eat to.
You can choose from a Full Breakfast or Continental Breakfast option, both of which give access to the buffet. Full Breakfast gives you additional hot choices. Breakfast buffets, specially hotel ones, can often be very samey, but the Cape Grace manages to sneak in a few special surprises. Like fresh Oysters on ice, which happen to go very well with the champagne. Or a fruit salad with fruit you can only find in Cape Town (Cape Gooseberries - so yummy). Plus all the other things you would want and expect at a 5 star hotel.
Iain had Eggs Benedict from the Hot Breakfast selection. I'm really getting concerned that I have indoctrinated into him into my EB cult, but in this case they really lived up to the hype and justified the choice although there were several other very tempting possibilities to choose from. By the way, I don't know if you have ever tried to make Eggs Benedict yourself, but unless you've had a crash cooking course with a Michelin Star chef, I highly recommend a pre-made hollandaise sauce unless you have the patience of Job and a foolproof stove (at the very least have it as a back up!).
We washed everything down with champagne, delicious berry smoothies and right at the point when I probably could have exploded I stupidly added a Latte as well. All beverages are included in the per head price - R99 for a continental and R120 for Full so all in all in pounds under £25 for 2 people.
There are free newspapers and an amazing library so if you want to end your breakfast in a leisurely manner you can move with your coffee and finish off there. But, if like me you can't say no to yummy things, beware the Sugar Buffet that lies in wait in the library...
On the Run Options...
Sumo
When I lived in Cape Town, I used to be a disciple of Kauai Juice which offered amazing, healthy, fresh food on the run. Sadly, the original surfer brothers and friends who owned it sold it, and with them went the original ethos and my all time ever favourite breakfast hangover remedy the Breakfast Riser. Devastation!
Happily, I discovered Sumo on this trip home and found to my delight all the same good things Kauai used to offer with some of its own fresh ideas. Everything there is freshly prepared using natural ingredients. Our holiday apartment was right next door to one of the branches - in a small shopping centre on the corner of Solomans and Main Road Seapoint. I believe there are other branches too but can't find a website so keep your eyes peeled for the Blue and White signage and make sure you pop in if you find one
The Breakfast Burrito is a winner...
Nice one Megan!
Vida e Caffe
Website and where to find em
Vida e Caffe is South Africa's unique take on coffee. You can't really compare it to anything else - it's a quintessentially Cape Town style place - super cool and quirky. It launched before I left, with one brilliant shop on Kloof Street, but seems to have grown massively with stores all over the country and now, I believe, even in London. I would still suggest starting with the one in Kloof Street, not least because it is a great little corner of Cape Town to explore.
The coffee is delicious and there are a small selection of Portguese inspired things to eat (muffins, rolls and pastries). For me personally, the Quattro is king - the most decadent four cheese, herby muffin concoction. Soooo good.
And the staff rock too - lots of ex Zimbos like me.
Oh and did I mention every cup of coffee comes with Lindt chocolate?
See the Molo Afrika section in the next few months for more picks from friends and family
Website (but you need an Austrian or German mate to translate)
How To Get There
Loosely translated Schneekarhutte means Cablecar Hut. Ok, so it might not be the most romantic name, but believe me, this is a once in a life time experience.
So... to best experience the Schneekarhutte:- take between 10 and 20 mates; skis/ snowboards/ or good books; headache tablets; clean unders and head for the Zillertal in Tirol, Austria for a weekend you will never forget (or struggle to remember depending on your tolerance for Schnapps).
For the past 2 years, I have been lucky enough to go there for our annual team Christmas Party. You can only reach the Schneekarhutte by ski lift and after 4.30 pm there is no way to get up and down is only by fun Black run (not advisable by night, although tempting to a few of my more mental friends).
By day, the hut is an amazing rest 'n refuel spot on Horberg, accessed by the Schneekar Chairlift (ah, now you get it). By night, its an overnight hut with a large communal room built into the Pyramid as well as individual rooms. Oh and incidentally, the-most-amazing food.
As the point of this Blog is Breakfast and not insane gourmet dinners, incredible wine collection, stupid bar Olympics, cigar smoking and voracious schnapps drinking, I will limit myself to what you can expect in the morning for Breakfast. That is if you manage to crawl out of your bunk or haven't died from hypothermia, finding yourself face down in the snow outside. These are things that may or may not have really happened to people I may or may not know...
So to breakfast...first point. The view in the breakfast room is spectacular. With or without paracetemol you'll already start the road to recovery as you walk in. Things get even better as you see the buffet and amazing charceuterie plate on each table. There are delicious fresh juices, Bircher Mueslie, fresh fruit salad and more on the buffet and you can order eggs anyway you like them. So so delicious. Oh and the coffee comes either Austrian strength espresso or beedub friendly cappucino or latte machiatto.
If like me, you get overtaken on the baby slopes by 1 foot tall tadpoles in helmets, I recommend taking a book and enjoying one of the leather sofas and Gluhwein for the rest of the day while your mates ski and snowboard.
For €99 per person for a 4 course dinner, bed in the communal Pyramid and breakfast (drinks excluded), this place really is insane and I should also mention has probably the coolest, hardest working staff in the World. Make sure you go there at least once in 2011...
PS if you have any friends who snore like tractors, you might want to gently direct them to one of the private rooms...
PPS Thanks CW Family, TDA's and Wally's for the amazing memories
"A dog's New Year's Resolution: I will not chase that stick unless I actually see it leave his hand!" ~Unknown
So according to my friend Bernd, my skills are better suited to cocktail critiques than breakfast. He could just be right and as it's New Years day and I'm feeling a bit fragile, here's my pick for the perfect New Year's day brunch...
Just have another Mojito...
(they have fruit in them so technically are pretty healthy)
This was taught to me by Alan Gage from Sweet 'n Chilli (sorry if this isn't strictly accurate Al ;0)
Ingredients (for about 6 to 8 people depending how thirsty)
Crushed ice (you need lots!)
1 bottle Bacardi Rum
limes cut into 8ths
Brown Sugar or Gom (professional bartender Sugar Syrup)
1 bottle Soda water
Bunch fresh mint
So, the thing with Mojitos is that they are quite personal so I suggest you make one first and then taste it. I like mine sweet and sour so this is based on my taste.
Line up your glasses. In each one, put 1.5 teaspoons brown sugar. Add 3 to 4 wedges of lime and 4 to 6 mint leaves. Now you need to 'muddle' these together. Translated this means take a Pestle and gently squish the limes and mint into the sugar to get everything to mix together. Don't over do it otherwise you lose the mintiness.
Next, add a handful of crushed ice. Use a spoon to drag the minty tangy goodness from the bottom of the glass through the ice. Then, add Rum. I like a good old free pour but again this is to taste.
Right, now you need to add another handful of crushed ice. Do another draggy motion to get everything to mix and pull through to the top.
Finally, add a dash of Soda, a squeeze of lime and a sprig of mint.
Voila! Easy.
Alternatively you could call Sweet n' Chilli and get them to send a bartender over to make them for you or fly to Cuba. All three work for me...
Happy New year!
Guest Writers: Jez Browning and Tanja Rai
I met Jez and Tan a few years ago when I joined my good friend Tams on a trip to her favourite holiday spot - Lagos in the Algarve in Portugal. Since then, I have been to Lagos myself 5 times and love it more each time, not least of which is because it is always great to see Jez and Tanja. They both love surfing and really appreciate the amazing lifestyle Lagos offers but I hasten to add they both work damn hard and so anytime they have to themselves is spent surfing and enjoying life there and around the globe wherever there is swell. In my book this makes them brekka experts...
Jez
Here are my breakfast choices for the surfer.
Starting at no 5 it has to be a Pao com Chaurico from the Cepsa garage, Lagos, whilst filling up the surf chariot.
no 4.... Tosta Mista at Arrifana Restaurant, Lagos whilst watching where to put yourself in the surf crowd out there.
no 3.... dirty microwaved hotdog and a packet of Scampy fries with a Lucozade sport from Captain Rickdogs Beach hut at Centre's, GuernseyNo.2 - Sitting in one of the many Warungs above Uluwatu, chowing down on what you think is a chicken pad thai (probably dog) or a fancy burger.
No.1 Gallo Pinto & Huevo Rancherrous in the dirtiest Soda Tica you can find in Costa Rica at 11 am, post surf nose bag breakfast / lunch. The perfect way to reload after your dawny surf. You only got out as it's too hot plus you've been surfing for nearly 5 hours. It's great as it even makes you sleepy for that mid afternoon kip, before you dip in the surf for that *LEGO session.
*LEGO meaning Late Evening Glass Off..... dude....
When are you visiting again to savour some of the greatest tosta mista breakkies in the world?! Have a real portuguese one and have a bica and brandy.... that will def do the tricks in the morning nad willget you tipsy enough to convince yourself that you already had a drink so why not have another one?!
Tan
Ok......
So being a German all i love about breakfast is the variety of foods you get in a german breakfast buffee.... you can find them nearly everywhere but if you are in Berlin go to the "Schwarzes Cafe" and indulge yourself at whatever time of the day , morning, evening or night! Start with a Latte Machiato, then variety of breads with eggs butter fruit salads a sortiment of meats and cheeses, Nutella, jams,tomatoes cucumbers, quark.......oh i could go on forever!!!!So whether you are redicuolesly hungover, meeting a friend for a long talk or just want to fill up your tummy....thats the one i love the most!!!
But living a life of leisure and enjoyment in Lagos Portugal, the simpiest and best way to start the day is with a good old fashioned tosta mista and a tasty Galao!!!You get that everywhere in any cafe or even restaurant at most times of the day. But if you can spend a few hours waiting and like the simple stuff decorated with olives, and a flower then "Bora Bora" in Lagos is your place! While you wait you can people-watch (as its right in town),fall asleep on the sofa, share your snoring with friends on fb or- if you are hung over, which is pretty likely if you are visiting Lagos- sit around and be silly with your friends!Hmmmmm..... its been a while!
About Costa Rica: its an amazing pure place where your breakfast of "gallo pinto" is so yummy it blows your mind. Freshly cooked rice, black beans, tomato salsa with chillies, guacamole and eggs or beacon will def set you up fopr a long day of surfing and travelling! Accompany with a freshly sqeezed succo de pina and a cafe con leche..................Pura vida!
Notes from Beedub:
Where to find...
Bora Cafe, Lagos: Rua Conselheiro Joaquin machado, 8600 Lagos
Schwarzes Cafe, Berlin: Kantstraße 148, 10623 Berlin, Germany Schwarzes Cafe Website
Costa Rica - look on a map!
Guernsey - follow a local
Bora Cafe is a major favourite of mine too. Also don't miss Rosko's cocktail bar to generate the much needed hangover to really get the maximum benefit from a Tosta Mista - the cocktails are genius and the bartender a honey ;0)
