Restaurant review: LANTANA (Fitzrovia)

I’ve trialled lots of cuisines in my experience sampling London’s restaurants, but one country’s dishes which I haven’t had enough exposure to is Australian food, and I sought to rectify this by sampling the food of Lantana, which I had heard good things about.

I had the big bubble (Bubble ‘n’ squeak with cumberland sausage, poached egg, black pudding, muhammara and sautéed spinach), pictured below.

I absolutely loved it. The poached egg was one of the finest I’ve had, and the tomatoes had been roasted exquisitely. The tomatoes’ soft texture complemented the rest of the meal, which was quite solid.

I’ve historically found that sausages tend to be the weakest part of breakfast menus, because they tend to cost the most, and profit-driven cafes and restaurants would rather opt for the value brand instead of the Taste the Difference.

The best part about staying in a Premier Inn?

That would be the breakfast buffet!

Monday's breakfast

Wednesday's breakfast

I didn't bother taking a photo on Tuesday, seeing as I tend to get the same items every day (as you may have surmised from the two photos, which basically play like a food version of Spot the Difference).

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Something I sampled this week that I wasn't so keen, on the other hand, was strawberry beer:

I needed a beverage to consume whilst I watched Chelsea vs Middlesbrough, and this drink was so vile that I really took my time with it. So at least there was that; that it lasted me the entire match and saved me having to pay for another pint! #SilvaLinings

Cooking: a meatier adaptation of the full English breakfast.

The last time I reported on my attempts to make a full English were over three years ago! This time round, I decided to cut out the stuff I wasn't too keen on (for example, the mushrooms), and feast on the stuff I love (hash browns, potatoes). Furthermore, because I was cooking, rather than ordering at a cafe, where the bacon is cooked to a certain level, I like my bacon a lot crispier than average, and so cooked it thus.

Ta da! It was absolutely delicious, even if I do say so myself. The crispy bacon, cooked in a reservoir of oil, probably single-handedly doubled my cholesterol levels, but was heaven to taste.

Next time, however, I would recommend adding eggs. Runny egg adds a certain something to the English breakfast, that I thought this was missing.

The search for London's best breakfast: Bella Italia.

I'm gonna cut to the chase; Bella Italia's won't be winning. The sausage tasted extremely chewy and poor quality, the bacon was too hard, there weren't enough baked beans and the potatoes were flavourless. Think the photo shows the quality (or lack thereof) of all the ingredients pretty well.

Grade: E

Restaurant review: THE TABLE (Southwark)

As with The Breakfast Club just a few streets down, The Table Café boasts a no-reservation policy and as such, has a queue of people waiting outside in the freezing cold. That, already, puts it in a realm with 10 Greek Street, which irritates me because it automatically signals that the restaurant cares more about their overall revenue than they do about the dining experience of the punters.

Fish and chips watch: THE GREAT BRITISH TAKE AWAY (Ramsgate)

Mark: 8/10

Breakfast watch: Luna Café (Chiswick)

The sausages were a little burnt, but the actual ingredients used for it was very high quality. Big fan of the crispy bacon and the oily hash brown. Decent amount of baked beans, and just look at that deliciously buttered toast! 

The only real downside was that for drink, you could only have coffee or tea. I wanted orange juice! That would have washed the meal down better. And I don't really like mushrooms, so I would have rather had more of the other ingredients rather than the mushroom.

Overall though, very solid.

Grade: A-

Restaurant review: BOOPSHI'S | SCHNITZEL & SPRITZ (Goodge Street)

Grade: B