I lived in Islington around 1974 and I had pie and mash most weeks. Proper good grub and no…read morebullshit. No pretentious arty farty types whanging on about "authenticity". Happy memories. I live in Scotland now so not much chance of a pie and mash supper.

If you are like me and enjoy travel because of the interesting things you get to see and put in…read moreyour belly, you will really like this place. It has all kinds of reasons for me to like it: Historic, check. A feel for real-life London, check. Local comfort food, check. Eel liquor, check...WTF?!? Yeah, that last one threw me when the counter-lady asked me if I'd ever had it before. I couldn't understand her at first because of her heavy English brogue but once I did, I thought she was offering me a shot at first like "snake-wine" in Asia. I quickly realized that is the term used for the parsley gravy ladled generously over your pie and mash. On my list for this London visit was a desire to try "pie, mash and eels". After researching all of the well-known shops, I chose this primarily because it was one that was easily accessible by the Underground (Angel stop). Rumors had it that it was also closing by the end of the year so I figured it would be great to visit while it was still around. I arrived at opening on a Monday (beware that on Monday they open at 11 am, every other day is 10 am) and was promptly told that they are no longer having to close at the end of the year so that is good news for all of you comfort food history buffs. One thing to beware of is that on Monday, no eels are available...very disappointing as I was really looking forward to trying them. The interior is awesome...like an old diner (and I mean really old) with straight backed wooden bench booths, flooring that looks like century old formica, and not a straight edge to be seen anywhere as the foundation and the furniture has clearly settled and been well-used over the decades. The counter lady was very kind to me as a pie and mash virgin...she talked me into a single pie, single mash selection which was good size, filling, and under 5 quid. Every culture has some sort of comfort food and this fits for the UK...savory, soft, inexpensive and good contrast if you add salt, pepper and vinegar from the table containers as recommended by the counter lady and it was a load of carbs that sits like a brick. Every culture has something along this line of comfort food and I can see why this is one of the national meals of the Brits. Really lovely from a down-home perspective and reminds me a lot of chicken fried steak in the US southwest or Loco Moco in the Hawaiian Islands. I know nothing about this food but I know I liked it when I ate it and judging by all of the locals I spoke with they do too. Definitely one for the bucket list.

What a hidden gem! I stumbled on Russell Square Cafe during my trip to London and honestly, it made…read moremy morning. As an American, I was thrilled to easily be able to order an iced coffee ( cold brew) with milk and it did not disappoint. I paired it with the eggs Benedict with regular bacon, which came out perfectly cooked and delicious. I grabbed a table outside and spent a leisurely morning people-watching, and the whole experience was just right. The staff kept the outdoor tables cleared quickly, and the service overall was excellent, everyone was warm and genuinely friendly. This spot is a must if you're in the area. I'll absolutely be back next time I'm in London!

The Cafe Tropea, is a great cafe right inside the park, has a wonderful selection of drinks from…read moreteas and coffee to beer and wine with a great menu of food. Nice place to sit back and relax.

I get the feeling some areas of South London are headed for gentrification very soon and I think…read moreNew Cross will be one of them. Why do I say that? This is a very student-friendly part of South London given that Goldsmiths, University of London is right here. There's also The Venue, where acts like Oasis, Pulp, Squeeze and Radiohead first played. Couple all of that with some great bookshops, under-the-rader hipsters walking along the streets, lots of community workshop posters on interesting topics, cheap local eateries, and great coffee shops like Out of the Brew and the writing is on the wall, I think. I was spending my last day in London in this part of town and happened to come in and ended up spending a few hours, just catching up on reading and email and stuff. The staff are super-friendly and the vibe is just casual and informal, verging on familial. The coffee and cakes here are great. There's an open art space downstairs which regularly hosts shows and some evenings there are talks and spoken word shows as well in the main cafe.

Four stars for the food, cute garden and decor. Dinking one star because initially the barista/till…read moregirl had a sour face and didn't acknowledge me at all. Might not return for that alone. Anyway I got for takeaway the grilled aubergine stuffed with broad beans, tomato, lemon and mint as per the lunch menu. It took a bit (which I was warned ahead of time) so meandered out to the lovely little garden in the back. Anyway the meal was lovely with plenty of beans and tomato and it wasn't overtly oily. Just wish I had ordered another!

Once you've been to one Pret, you've essentially been to them all. Pret seems to pride itself on…read moreconformity and consistency from one store to the next, so it is hard to identify any real discrepancies between branches of Pret. Pret a Manger is a convenient, yummy, reliable lunch place. They have a decent variety of sandwiches, soup, and sushi to choose from, but their selection almost never changes. If you find something you like there, you can be decently assured it'll be around for awhile, but if you, like me, enjoy checking out the new daily or weekly specials at places like Eat, you will be quite disappointed by the seldom-changing selection at Pret. The hot sandwiches, which each have something I don't like on them, haven't changed for the more-than-a-year that I've lived in London, so I gave up on Pret during the winter in favour of hot-lunch-places like Leon and Eat. This particular branch of Pret has a few quite-snippy employees ("Do you have any breakfast items with no tomatoes?" "No." "Oh, so the egg & cheese croissants have tomatoes in?" "We haven't had those for months. Read the menu." "Um, that is on the menu....." "Siiiiiiiigh"), but for the most part, is just like any other Pret. A-OK for sure.

Shiny happy people working Meet me in the queue…read moreCoffees, lattes Throw your love around Serve me serve me Bake it into town Happy happy Put juice in the bag Where the croissants live This is my go-to Pret, accept no substitutes. Staff are very sweet and friendly, 's all I want!

Yes, it hit the spot! Great local cafe, newly renovated with fresh baked good and great breakfast…read moreand lunch options. Highlights: Delicious food and baked goods, Ample quantity, Parking easy to find on the street, Decent dining area with an Open Kitchen and Reasonably priced. Can improve: The customer service is lacking, the wait staff is a little grumpy and not prompt at all. The layout is also hindering since they put a big wooden dining table right in front of the cash register so you bump into folks that que up. Benchmark: They are the best local cafe in the East Finchley N2 area. Last dined in March 2016 and will def. return.

I can't believe I'm the first to write about East Finchley's gem of an independent café. So…read moresuccessful has it become, over the years, that it's recently expanded with a second branch in nearby Muswell Hill. Apart from the reasonably priced hot and cold lunches - and more importantly, fine array of tasty pastries and tall hazlenut lattes - the café doubles as a gallery for local artists and photographers - some easily accessible and others rather more aspirational. And for anyone unimpressed by the art adorning the walls, newspapers are provided - and there's the all-important local notice-board by the door, to keep you in touch with the community - and help you find everything from a cleaner to a piano teacher. It's just a shame it closes at 6pm.

Great place to share a meal! We had a great time with the set menu as we could catch up and talk…read moreinstead of worry about what to order! The decor is awesome and a little funky; the staff was super friendly and welcoming; the food was delicious. Solid spot, highly recommend! Insta We in da (Brunswick) HOUUUUUSEEE Set Menu @brunswick_house Sharp modern cooking in a magnificent antique residence. Dinner Tues-Sat, Lunch Weds-Sun @jackson_boxer London, UK

Had lunch today at Brunswick House just south of the Thames. It's a large open building with…read moreseating in a nice courtyard in front and a big spacious inside room. I had the cheese appetizer - three nice British cheeses, the pork schnitzel which was nicely breaded with spicy broccolini. The food was delicious and space was nice and large and bright. The staff were all extremely friendly and courteous and helpful. Try it out.

I was taking a stroll looking to kill some time while waiting for my hotel check-in, and I stumbled…read moreupon Everbean! It's located in an adorable little alleyway with stone roads and made only for pedestrians. I took a seat by the window to people watch. There is a lovely baber shop across the street where you can watch the men work their magic while sipping a lovely cup of tea. Next time I'm in London, I will definitely stop back in! :)

I've never felt compelled to leave a review before but I my experience here was so poor. I visited…read moreon 24/10/2024. The positives were that the food and coffee were great- though not better than anywhere else in the area (and obviously you should also expect London prices). The cons, at least for my purposes and on that day, were that the wifi was so slow it was unusable. However, the biggest disappointment was how unbelievably rude the staff were. I've worked in customer service for many years and am ALWAYS inclined to give staff the benefit of the doubt because, frankly, I don't really mind if they're not giving A* customer service. I even get angry when people complain about 'bad' customer service because I think they probably just can't empathise with how hard it is. However, there were two blonde women working who literally looked me up and down like I was trash when I asked for the wifi password. They lazily pointed abstractly to the corner of the room without a word of explanation even when it was clear I couldn't see where they were pointing. Eventually, another girl also working in the cafe noticed and had to show me the wifi box and also explain to me that there was a QR code that I needed to scan. Later, I simply asked where the toilet was and again, the same blonde lady looked at me like I was asking whether I could shit where I was standing and said 'upstairs'. I actually laughed. It was horrendously poor service and I am still honestly less angry (because who the fuck really cares about a bad cafe experience) and more perplexed!

Nettle tea is really nice and I believe the coffee is very good. The desserts are exceedingly worth…read morechecking out. Italian by design. This restaurant and juice Bar of the beaten track of busy Covent Garden is a really nice cafe. For photo's and more information I have wrote a more in depth article over on Myspace: Robbwindow. http://lnk.ms/53bVq

This place just whoooosed right up to the top of my fvaourite cafes in Convent Garden list…read more Possibly on a par with Canela. Blimey. We popped in after a mammoth shopping trip today (really, read the rest of my reviews today). Coffee and cake were needed and Neal's Yard was the perfect place for sitting, chatting and looking at all of our purchases. We spied the cake on the way in and it looked yummy. Annoyingly it wasn't priced though - very sneaky, but actually, we didn't care and wanted to rest our shoppy feet. And my goodness we were rewarded with the best banana cake ever. Well, i was, my friend had a rather lovely carrot cake. The cake came with cream, and toffee sauce, which turned my banana cake rather nicely into banoffee cake. Very happy me. The latte was yum too. Served large as standard for £2.50. Yes please! More of that! The cake was £3.75 a slice and worth every penny. I'll be back, and if you're in the area you really should pop in and try that cake.