milk

i've heard a lot about m1lk recently - great reviews and massive queues. brunch in balham with amy allen seemed toogoodan opportunity not to see if we could squeeze in and get a table for 2, and luck being on our side we got to sit straight down!

i ordered the cornbread with honey, some kind of australian chai drink and a smoothie. the smoothie was fantastic, huge, and felt so healthy i could've cried. the cornbread, while tasty and surprisinglygoodvalue, was average and i couldn't help but wonder what all the fuss was about. however amy's glowing review of her food is clearly why this place is so popular, as i've never seen a girl so happy with eggs in a frying pan. 

worth checking out but not if you're gonna be queueing for half an hour, and definitely get a smoothie.

at the end of balham’s bustling hildreth street is milk. chances are you’ve heard of it: it’s serving the kind of brunch perfectly catered to the hip young professionals and insta-conscious yummy mummies that frequent the area. you know the deal, in-house baked bread, locally sourced produce and free-range eggs. i’m not hating – this place is legit, and the food actually tastes asgoodas it looks.

posted on march 14, 2015 by a spoonful of sugar i love brunch. there really is nothing better at the weekend than hanging out with your friends overgoodfood and a few bloody mary’s/proseccos.  my weekend brunches are probably my favourite meals of the week and i love looking for new places to go. recently, i was rather surprised when my friend cassie , who rarely travels south of the river, suggested we have brunch at m1lk in balham.  she had recently met a chef called dan ingram who worked there and had heard great things about it. i used to live in balham in what seems like another lifetime ago. back then there were no delis, there was no waitrose, there was nowhere nice to hang out except one little cafe but because it was the only place worth going at the weekends it was understandably impossible to get a table there. it’s a very different story now. i arrived at m1lk, which is at the end of hildreth street market, just a minute’s walk from balham tube station, at 10.30am on a very cold morning, and met cassie who was already standing in the queue holding a hot cup of coffee. obviously, as is the case with everywhere i seem to want to eat in, you can’t book. its a small place inside and they had put some seating outside but there was no way i was sitting in the freezing cold whilst eating my breakfast. so we queued until a table became available inside, catching up on the gossip whilst hopping from foot to foot, trying to stay warm. as soon as we were ushered inside, i got really excited. its very cosy and very buzzy. a neon pink ‘m1lk’ sign hangs on the white-washed, semi-stripped brick wall behind a counter adorned with incredible looking cakes and the odd doll’s head. framed butterflies, old photos, floor to ceiling windows, mis-matched furniture and crockery, an open kitchen in the corner…i loved it instantly. we sat down, ordered coffee and tea and were handed our menus. i wanted to eat everything. we kept seeing food coming out of the kitchen and being p

i went to this place for breakfast this morning and it was reallygoodfun. we arrived at 9.00 on a tuesday morning, we were informed there was a 15 minute wait (which was accurate), so we queued (seems to be the one thing in london at the moment) and in we went.

the first thing you'll notice is how friendly and attentive the staff. a great example to so many other restaurants in central that think they can be rude, just because of great location. they played some really fun tunes too.

i ate heuvos al benny (chorizo sausage, poached eggs, peppers and chilli); it looked spectacular and  tasted amazing! perfect poached eggs! my friend ordered pancakes with berries and cream and again, it was delightful. the staffs were only too happy to bring us extra maple syrup too! the place could maybe do with a lick of paint, it certainly isn't swanky, but the food was great and a wonderful start to the day! i'd recommend the coffees too.

i’ve heard all about the brunch service at m1lk - i’ve heard about the great coffee, quirky twists on classic dishes, and the legendary line that spills down the street. this all made me very curious and so on a lazy london sunday, a certain someone and i made the short trip to balham to quell my curiosity. from that excursion i can only confirm that the ridiculously long line spiralling down hildreth street is not stuff of legend, it most definitely exists and is fairly slow moving. so as people who don’t share the english’s love of queuing, we decided to give it a miss and i was still left wondering. that is until earlier this week when i had thegoodfortune to meet a friend for lunch, in balham, on a weekday- what are the odds?! as soon as you walk in you’re hit by the undeniably hipster decor, but also the size, no wonder the lines are out the door because this place is cosy! despite it being a miserably cold day, m1lk still had a steady flow of customers and we were lucky to nab a little table when we did. while the menu is pretty short, we did engage in a lot of umming and ahhing as a lot of it appealed but in the end we went for a hot chocolate and ‘sweet maria’, and a ‘lois’ smoothie and ‘young betty’. first up, the drinks were excellent- my hot chocolate was actually dark and rich, unlike so many pitifully milky ones i’ve had in london, and i was emphatically informed that the lois smoothie of blueberry, banana, and apple was amazing. we were however, less emphatically impressed by the food. the ‘sweet maria’, sweetcorn fritters, haloumi, avocado, kasundi and lime, was probably a little heavy handed on the kasundi. that tangy, tomato-based relish covered everything, and those poor limp little fritters had no chance, soon disintegrating into a bit of a battery mush. thank goodness they had thegoodsense to provide a generous dollop of smashed avo and that wedge of lime to cut through the rich oiliness. the ‘young betty’, poached eggs and drycured bacon on

as soon as you walk in you’re hit by the undeniably hipster decor, but also the size, no wonder the lines are out the door because this place is cosy! despite it being a miserably cold weekday, m1lk still had a steady flow of customers and we were lucky to nab a little table when we did. while the menu is pretty short, we did engage in a lot of umming and ahhing as a lot of it appealed but in the end we went for a hot chocolate and ‘sweet maria’, and a ‘lois’ smoothie and ‘young betty’.

first up, the drinks were excellent- my hot chocolate was actually dark and rich, unlike so many pitifully milky ones i’ve had in london, and i was emphatically informed that the lois smoothie of blueberry, banana, and apple was amazing. we were however, less emphatically impressed by the food. the ‘sweet maria’, sweetcorn fritters, haloumi, avocado, kasundi and lime, was probably a little heavy handed on the kasundi. that tangy, tomato-based relish covered everything, and those poor limp little fritters had no chance, soon disintegrating into a bit of a battery mush. thank goodness they had thegoodsense to provide a generous dollop of smashed avo and that wedge of lime to cut through the rich oiliness. the ‘young betty’, poached eggs and drycured bacon on grilled sourdough with burnt butter hollandaise, looked lovely when she arrived but really let down the team with overcooked eggs. bottom line, poached eggs need to have runny yolks, and these ones did not.

i really wanted to love m1lk but based on this experience, i was pretty underwhelmed... but perhaps they were having an off day?

read the full story over on the blog!

you always get agoodfeeling about a place that has the standard long queue of people waiting eagerly to get in there... almost wondering what all the fuss is about for having to stand around while your stomach is making those hideous grumbling sounds. no guesses as to how i was feeling.  

m1lk. located in a fantastic little pocket of south west london, not too far from the ever cool clapham and only a short train ride from fulham broadway, is certainly a trendy wee spot to hang out on a sunday.

the fact that this hipster cafe is run by australians is definitely double brownie points in my books. as they say there is nothing like a bit of home away from home and i do need to feel this connection every now and again. 

the sweet corn fritters caught my attention. with added lashes of bacon, a dollop of my favourite - avocado, grilled halloumi, drizzled with a dash of lime and some mild kasundi relish. my friend had the pouched eggs on sourdough toast which looked equally as good. decent sized servings especially if you have an appetite to fill. you must also try the juice blended fruit smoothies which come in pretty large milk bottles (seems to be the rage) i had the lauren which consisted of banana, strawberry and mango and looking around the room seemed to be a hit with almost everyone.  

if you are a lover of coffee - which i assume most are these days then you wont be disappointed with their antipodean style that they have on offer. did i also mention that they bake cakes? although i missed the opportunity to trial one i did eye up the huge sized lamington looking very edible. originating from australia as a famous dessert and made from sponge, chocolate sauce and coconut, im guessing they would be hard to find anywhere else around london so i recommend you do try one from here and let me know what you think! 

not surprised at all by the fact that this place is highly popular and always busy. a great place to meet up with a group of friends on the weekend with no fuss, casual surroundings but a word of warning - get their early unless you are happy to wait around....it will still be totally worth the wait.

coffee was amazing it's hard to find agoodsoy latte! eggs benedict was to die for meal wasn't too large seeing i am not a big eater.

this place is a small one and the atmosphere is always quite pleasing. the dã©cor is alsogoodand the staff is always very polite. the service is also a pretty standard one. when i went there, i decided to have eggs which were absolutely delicious. the coffee that we had was equallygoodand you must try this place some time.

i went there for brunch and the place didn't disappointed me. the music was quitegoodand the atmosphere was a relaxed one. the place was small and had cosy places. i had a nice coffee and also tried a few other things which i found to be quite good.

i went there for casual get togethers with friends, so basically for munchies and to my surprise it was wonderful. the food they serve is so delicious. their presentation is actually quite appealing. that can also be because of thegoodambiance they have which invokes a lot ofgoodvibes within.
i would suggest you to go for breakfast since their menu is something which is very different yet tasty.
and don't forget to order the coffee too, they serve superb coffee blended very well.

...i decided to up my game in london starting with highly-rated m1lk in balham, located on work-in-progress hildreth street. the "no reservations"  queue was in full flow by the time i arrived at 11.20, but their superb workshop coffee was available and the sun was shining - so far, so williamsburg.  the atmosphere was buzzing, and withgoodreason judging by the look of the food being brought out.  before too long we had a table for five indoors and were eyeing up the menu and the striking décor. view the menu and follow matt the list on zomato 3/4 pint of lois smoothie & pot of tea brunch isn't a meal for messing around sharing everything on the menu.  it's about getting a massive portion of something delicious (potentially with hangover cure benefits if necessary) and keeping it all to yourself. this led to three of us ordering the same wonderfully named convict muffin (did i mention m1lk is run by australians?)

after many a fine brunch in the states this summer, i decided to up my game in london starting with highly-rated m1lk in balham, located on work-in-progress hildreth street.

the "no reservations" queue was in full flow by the time i arrived at 11.20, but their superb workshop coffee was available and the sun was shining - so far, so williamsburg. the atmosphere was buzzing, and withgoodreason judging by the look of the food being brought out. before too long we had a table for five indoors and were eyeing up the menu and the striking décor.brunch isn't a meal for messing around sharing everything on the menu. it's about getting a massive portion of something delicious (potentially with hangover cure benefits if necessary) and keeping it all to yourself. this led to three of us ordering the same wonderfully named convict muffin (did i mention m1lk is run by australians?). it was a criminallygoodchoice - english muffin, drycure bacon, m.moens sausage, burford brown egg, poacher hash, hangover sauce - £7.90. i don't know what hangover sauce is, but i want it every sunday.

non-convicts went for billy the kid (red clover honeycomb, goat's cheese, sourdough, flowers - £6.90) and young betty (poached eggs on woodfired sourdough, drycure bacon, burnt butter hollandaise, with young spinach & chinese chive - £7.80 + supplement), both of which looked smashing. next time...
and brunch is as simple as that. no starters. no menu explanations. no small plates. isn't it great? i should write about it more, it's a lot quicker. m1lk stands up to the best that new york & co. have to offer, and i expect i will be back again very soon, not least because there is a brand new beer & homebrew store round the corner called we brought beer.

one place that might soon compete with m1lk for my affections is fields café, their sister joint which is currently taking shape in the building next to the skate park on clapham common. get a load of these potential dishes:

- coal-grilled sausage bao, kewpie, pickled shallot & iceberg
- peat-smoked mutton & beans, garden herb butter & sourdough
- smashed peas, hay-smoked goat’s curd, garden herbs & sourdough
- sticky rice pudding, apple, soured cream ice-cream & sake
- banana bread, nesquik mascarpone and salted panela

exciting. keep track of their progress on twitter.

n.b. m1lk is open 8am-5pm monday – saturday, and 9am-5pm sunday - so brunch isn't limited to the weekend! no reservations.

for breakfast the meal was prepared with well sourced ingredients, lovely bread and fantastic olive oil.
the coffee was amazing, with great flavors, properly made at the right temperature, and the selection of coffee beans was also lovely as it had a mild nuttiness to it.
it is a little pricey as every place like that is .the place is popular, trendy and providesgoodquality ingredient, so it is not such a burden.
what made the breakfast taste bitter then? well, we liked everything so much we asked for an extra slice of bread to mop up the plate,we were charged an extra â£1.25! now, as far as i know, wanting to mop up the plate is taken as a compliment and so charging an hefty extra for a compliment was discouraging and for a newly opened place,it felt both greedy and inappropriate.
i will not be tempted to go there for food again ,but i would still go there for coffee.

baked eggs with chorizo, spinach, labneh and turkish chilli flakes (£7.9): perfectly cooked eggs,goodquality chorizo and the spinach/yoghurt lended a nice balance...