Christopher emailed me and suggested this place, and I'm very glad he did. It's fantastic. A proper working cafe with a high proportion of cabbies and high-viz jackets, but also bright, clean and airy.
Some ebcbs are all about boundaries, there are clear lines of demarkation between the different food groups. And some ebcbs are all about co-mingling, about the blending of the flavours and colours. This is one of those. The chips are golden and delicious, the egg is somehow simultaneously fluffy and soggy, which makes it marvelous, the beans are aligned like iron filings to a magnet and the bacon's comforting arms hold the whole thing together.
The infinite variety of cafe ordering systems always appeal to me. There's a fairly straightforward ticketing approach here. I'm always tempted to keep these things, start a collection, but they sit in my pocket for a few weeks and then get thrown out.
You can't beat those dayglo yellow starburst things for writing menu items on. I bought a pack from a catering shop once because I thought I could use them to lend a sense of urgency to my todo list. But I've not got around to todoing it yet.
Every cafe now seems to come with some copies of The Metro. It's one of the things I love about cafes, that sense of communal property, someone brings a paper, everyone gets to read it. It's like a socialist utopia. Well, not quite. But it's still a good thing.
The picnic benches outside the cafe ... great!
Posted by: P. Hogan | March 09, 2006 at 02:39 PM
How about always commenting on the quality of the Cuppa T too?
Posted by: Stu Savory, Germany | March 09, 2006 at 03:02 PM
Hi, I discovered your blog through the BBC's Blooker Prize article and wanted to congratulate you for its awesomeness.
There's nothing like a good fry up, and to be frank, they were the only time my college canteen saw me before lunchtime...
Posted by: Ren | March 09, 2006 at 11:12 PM
Thank you for giving this place the credit it deserves. I even had eggs chips and beans today to see what it was like. Obviously missed you.
I would like to add my personal thanks to cilla for serving me my fry ups over the past 4 years and frankie the chef for cooking them. T is good and they make it strong on request.
Posted by: Chris | March 09, 2006 at 11:38 PM
i used to live opposite this cafe. wonderful place. bit disappointing they only had the Metro out, in my day they'd have the whole array of tabloids! recently went back for a bite to eat after 2 years and astonishingly they recognised me, though the lady who was once a member of staff now owns the place.
Posted by: johnny | August 28, 2006 at 02:58 AM
btw, the tea there is pretty rancid. best option is £3 meal: egg, bacon, sausage, chips, beans. add mushrooms & black pudding onto that and you're set for the day.
Posted by: johnny | August 28, 2006 at 03:01 AM
Hi I live at the other end of the street & eat there quite alot, not too fat as somedays we use the salad bar. But as for lunch the sweet & sour is for me & my freind. they have alot of Chinese staff & we are told there is going to be a Chinese down stairs soon! But we are told the man next dooe with the GUN STORAGE/SHOP has slowed this down will send report later.Ready for a full breakfast. Tarqin
Posted by: Kenneth Pollard | February 24, 2007 at 10:16 PM