Tagged: cafe

Jun 30

Meze fun from Istanbul to Leytonstone

Well apologies again for the lengthy silence (but also many thanks to the 30 odd daily visitors checking out Sajarina even without any new posts – you rock my tiny webstat counting world!) As you might have guessed I have been further East than usual, to Istanbul. It rocked, in a big old buildings, iznik tiles, sunshine and baklava kind of a way, which is one of my favourite ways, truth be told.

Topkapi palace in Istanbul

One of the many things I love about London (and any ethnically diverse city I guess) is that you can go away on holiday, eat and drink tasty things and then find somewhere to buy them when you get home. So today I had lunch with a friend in the Meze Cafe on Church Lane in Leytonstone. I’ve been there a few times before and I like it a lot, from the prettily painted but distractingly phallic gourds hanging from the ceiling to the incredible tat-encrusted mirrors – it really is worth getting up close to these, the one I was next to today had a glow-in-the-dark star gluegunned onto it!

Though I’ve liked all the other stuff I’ve had there, I haven’t tried their meze platter yet. Today I was warned off it because it was too much for one person, and given the size of the house special salad they brought me instead I think they may have saved my life. I could have eaten myself into sweet auberginey oblivion, but instead I just pushed myself to the brink with broccoli, cauliflower, peas and almonds. Mmm. I had a satisfyingly dark and sludgy Turkish coffee as well, which with my friend’s latte and two gargantuan salads came to £10.90. They also do sandwiches, jacket potatoes and that sort of thing, as well as some hot dishes like moussaka for about £6. And it’s another of those wondrous unlicensed places, so you can bring your own alcohol, with no corkage.

This sort of thing makes me really happy. Although the rent in Leytonstone seems to be generally cheaper than in Stratford, I’ve moved from a shared house to solo living, and my disposable income has taken a knock. So far though, I’ve still been able to eat out pretty regularly because there are a few good, cheap options available, the Meze Cafe being one of them. Long may it live, and bring meze to the people!

PS Will be posting about Ichiban at some later date, and have already had a recommendation for the Singburi Thai. I’d love to hear any other suggestions!

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Posted in Drinking, Eating, Leytonstone

May 30

But why is he so frothy?

Wow. Keeping a blog going is much harder without regular internet access – guess I should have seen that one coming. It’s not just not having free time online to write, it’s also the fact that, frankly, I haven’t been getting out much lately.

So, I was planning to just let my current obsession spill over and stick up some pictures of my new flat (here, and here, since you ask!) But then I happened to visit the bizarre and rather awesome website of Stratford’s Mr Coffee, who, it turns out, is a bit of an East London institution, (aside from a rogue vehicle in Paddington).

For those not in the know, Mr Coffee (Strapline: He’s so frothy!) is a chain of mobile cafes each operating out of the back of a ‘cute little Piaggio’. I am big fan of the one in Stratford at least, because the people are friendly and the coffee is cheap and really tasty. Also he’s SO frothy! How could you resist?

Anyway, on the website all your burning questions will be answered:

‘Who is Mr Coffee?’

‘Why is he so frothy?!’

and my personal favourite:

‘Where can I find him? I must have him now!‘

There is a video of interviews with Mr Coffee regulars from around London (not Stratford, sadly!) Also don’t miss the animated site intro which demonstrates I don’t know what exactly. The problem of over-crowding in London? The futility of our efforts to make change in the face of universal indifference? And is that Mr Coffee swerving onto the pavement to avoid a bus? Hm.

Apologies for continuing disruptions to Sajarina service. I’m hopefully off to the East London Craft Guerrilla market in Walthamstow tomorrow, so I’ll have something to write about. And internet in the next week or so so I will be able to share it with you all. Until then – ciao!

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Posted in Random, Stratford

Mar 03

Banana latte lady

Click. Click… Click? Ah, the sweet sound of another power cut. Whenever this happens, and I get interweb withdrawal shakes, I head over to Roman Road market and to Chicchi internet cafe. I’m not sure exactly what their internet policy is now – it used to be if you bought anything over £1 then you could use the internet free for an hour. But when I was there last weekend I had been online for a good hour and a half before I noticed I’d overrun and nobody came to pester me.

This easygoing approach to internet time is just one thing among many that I love about Chicchi (pronounced ‘kikki’ apparently, the Italian for ‘beans’) As well as excellent, tasty and reasonably priced pasta and salads, you can buy intriguing teas with exciting names. Clear favourites in the name stakes are Gunpowder Qing and China White Jade Butterfly. Who wouldn’t want a cup of tea that sounds like part of a kickass crime-fighting team?

Chicchi also takes milkshakes to a whole new level. Strawberry, chocolate, banana? Sure, they’re there, for your casual milkshake drinker. For the ever-so-slightly-more-adventurous there is delicious coconut or dashing hazelnut. But the milkshake drinking pro you can wet their whistle with peach & vanilla, pistachio & hazelnut, or chocolate & cinnamon. Even sick milkshake obsessives are catered for with a strange mutant creation: chocolate & strawberry. That’s right. In the SAME GLASS. If you think that sounds exciting, you should see their waffle menu. Take a moment to let that sink in. Waffle. Menu. I’m just going to link right to it.

The lovely Chicchi people (and they are lovely – smiley and friendly) take a similar approach to their coffee. It is damn fine coffee, needless to say, but I like strange flavours in mine. And rather than pedestrian hazelnut, cinnamon, vanilla etc… I can walk right into this little cafe and order a banana latte, without shame, without needing to explain myself, or meet the confused and pitying gaze of some hapless barista. Not here. It’s up on the board, on their list of syrups, as is coconut. Is there a greater joy than feeling accepted, and loved like this?

Also a brief little shoutout to AMT Coffee (they have a stand in Liverpool Street station, so it counts as east endy) I heart you! You make similar strange concoctions such as banana lattes, hot apple with cinnamon, cherry flavoured yogushakes and the adorable froffee. And, at the request of your customers, you went completely fairtrade years ago, way before it was cool. If there is one thing that would improve Chicchi for me it would be fairtrade coffee. Happy fairtrade fortnight!

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Posted in Bow, Drinking, Eating, London, Tea