it is always really annoying when one of your favourite brunch spots, also happens to be everyone else’s.
granger and co is undoubtedly notting hills best brunch spot. sorry to all the others, but it is true! simple food, with a creative twist, it is a restaurant with scrambled eggs so good, it is worth the hour queue for. no egg-zaggeration!
you can imagine my delight when i discovered that they were opening a sister restaurant too. unfortunately for me, it is in clerkenwell, a good 45 minute trek from my west london pad. anyway, it just so happened i was in town and took the chance to pop over before the locals cotton on and the queues ensue.
armed with a parent and the papers, i headed on over to check it out and see i it was as good as its notting hill sister. it was also a great excuse to whack out my new favourite toga pulla booties. just look at those beauties
it had taken us so long to get across town (we might have stopped off on the way for a cheeky peek at the amazing new anselm keifer exhibition at the royal academy) that we missed breakfast and had to order from the lunch menu. i was not egg-static to be missing out on a side of scrambled and smushed avocado, as i was anticipating but it turned out to be a blessing. i had not tried the lunch menu before and was in a pleasant surprise…
what we ordered: for starters we went for the zucchini (courgette) chips, which had been dusted in cornflower and fried to crisp perfection. finished with a light smattering of black sesame seeds and served alongside a hefty dollop of tahini yoghurt and a wedge of lime. a lovely balance of creamy, rich and fresh.
mains i went for tea-poached salmon, samphire with green soba and and a side of avocado. dad couldn’t decide between the sweetcorn fritters with smoked bacon and tomatoes, or the calimari with chilli dipping sauce and shaved courgette salad, so we got both and shared the sweetcorn fritters. the salmon was beautiful and flakey but a little underwhelming. having been poached in tea i was hoping for a little earthiness and more flavour but the result was a little plain. i would have gone for a lapsang (smokey tea) instead of earl grey to poach the fish in, had it been me. the noodles and samphire has a nice sesame dressing and worked really well the enhance the flavour of the salmon.
the sweetcorn fritters were sublime. the batter had a good pinch of earthy spices to bringout the sweetness of the corn and make the dish a little more exciting. the bacon was generously thick cut, righteously smokey and the tomato ripe and popping with sweetness. an overall a+ dish, i would certainly order again! dad calimari looked good, but unsurprisingly my mitts weren’t allowed anywhere near. not that i minded… just look at those fritters just waiting to be busted open! the only thing i wouldn’t have minded was a few shakes of that delish tahini yoghurt to drizzle over and a squeeze of lime
the vibe : the overall feel of theplacewas very much chic new york airy loft meets, sleek aussie laid back. sleek white surfaces, big floor to ceiling windows all creating an open bright space. a clever perforated wooden ceiling, preventing any echoey noise reverberation around the room. the service was speedy, the witnesses helpful, warm and very knowledgable. from beginning to the end of our lunch theplacewas packed and i have no questions why. granger and co have a formula and clearly they are sticking to it. i don’t doubt that in no time there will be a queue around the corner for thisplacetoo, so find an excuse to get their pronto and don;t worry if you miss breakfast, as im sure you can tell, i was pretty happy with lunch too.
…now, excuse me whist i get back to this weeks sunday time style. there was a piece this week on fashion staples by pandora sykes and i just love her style!