No, this is not me eating by a mirror. This is two ebcb's on one table. Marvelous. A good egg - very white and very yellow. Deep, rich beans. Loads of chips, some of them very small, almost nano-chips. Super soggy bacon with a hint of carbonisation. And my companion pronounced the ebcb excellent.
And it's a fantastic place. Great signage and the loveliest people. And those lace curtains are special. Give it a 50s homeliness you can't resist. More and better pictures here.
The colours inside are fantastic. Glowing with imperial optimism.
The curtains again. They make you feel like all's right with the world. Like the Old King will go on forever and the British will be first on the moon.
And the condiments are textbook. Look at the size of that salt cellar. There's probably Dickensian salt in there.
I was referred to this site through a long, complicated, absurd, and frankly uninteresting series of events. (Much like nearly every connection on the internet). Well, my sister-in-law found a circa 1970's knitting pattern for a purse in the shape of a fry-up (does fry-up get its own article? fry-up or a fry-up? forgive my American ignorance) You can find the pattern here http://www.cult45.fsbusiness.co.uk/featuresjackie.html. She ran across this site while researching fry-ups.
I must say, this site is, perhaps, the most incredible blog I have come across. We have similar cafe's here in the states, lovingly referred to as greasey spoons. The fare differs a little, the bacon is different, and we have hashbrowns rather than chips. I never saw any hashbrowns on my visit to the UK. Do you have hashbrowns? Unfortunately, few Americans will experience the glory of beans for breakfast. I have been inspired to search for a place I can get a decent fry-up here.
One question, I was a little surprised by the ubiquity of ketchup in these cafes. I was under the impression that ketchup was primarily an American obession. Can't stand the stuff myself. Is ketchup used a lot in England?
Posted by: Drew Boone | February 01, 2005 at 06:24 PM
Try the nearby "Zippy Grill", on the other side of Goldhawk Road, for that late 60's/early 70's Wimpy time-warp experience.
Hopefully it hasn't been altered since my last visit in November.
Posted by: Patrick | February 01, 2005 at 06:59 PM
There is a cafe at 188 Grange Road, SE1 that purports to be one of the oldest cafes in England. At least I believe it did, but then we used to frequent the place after one too many shandys the morning after the night before.
It is worthy of mention at least for the quality of its formica and the quality of the bubble and squeak (not part of EBCB, but a good sign of a true greasy spoon in my eyes).
Have you been to this grand-daddy of greasy spoons or do you have any plans to visit?
Yours, a humble EBB and bubble&squeak advocate, Andrew
Posted by: Andrew | February 14, 2005 at 03:00 PM
I thought I'd posted a comment here before saying that I intended to go... but maybe not. I made it, anyway, and it was magnificent. My pictures were (bad), but the food left me aching all day. Thank you. I now have somewhere near my house that I can actually look forward to going to.
Posted by: Rupert | October 21, 2007 at 09:31 PM