London is going nuts for eggs. What with Bad Egg whipping up one of the best brunches in the City, Good Egg opening up in Stoke Newington, Egg Break scrambling it up in Uxbridge and an egg café setting up shop in Dalston’s Beyond Retro, I couldn’t help but bow down to the trend and get my own egg fix – in none other than the egg masters themselves, Foxcroft & Ginger, who opened the egg café in Dalston but are also very much rooted in the Whitechapel community.
Foxcroft & Ginger has a remarkable food selection – and some great brews,too. I started with an almond milk cappuccino which left me positively surprised. Without mentioning how hard it still is to find a café serving almond milk in London, their almond cappuccino has officially the picky Italian’s seal of approval – especially thanks to the chocolate and cinnamon powder on top.
While you’re there, grab a bite of Foxcroft & Ginger’s signature “Cruffin”, a hybrid croissant/muffin in different flavours: chocolate, vanilla and custard, salted caramel or my choice, the lemon curd and honeycomb Cruffin. Dusted with cinnamon sugar, the Cruffins are crunchy and flaky on the outside and wickedly soft and gooey on the inside. Fuck diet, it’s Saturday.
If you’re wondering why I’ve had my sweet meal before the savoury one, well, I’m Italian, so eggs for breakfast still look a little weird to me. However, I couldn’t say no to poached eggs on sourdough toast with kasundi (a spicy Indian tomato sauce) and aubergines. Healthy without being boring, this is the best brunch meal you can get – if you’re not weirded out by eating savoury stuff first thing in the morning.
Foxcroft & Ginger in Mile End Road looks like what you can expect from a Brooklyn café: mis-matched decor, couches and futons together with hip lights and chill-out music. The service is friendly and the atmosphere is so great I can’t wait to go back. In short: one of the best places in the East where you can enjoy a relaxed brunch by yourself, reading in silence and bingeing on great food.
Can’t eat eggs? Fear not. Being vegan in London doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a decent scramble: head to Bethnal Green’s The Gallery café and you won’t be disappointed by their The Gallery Signature (£6) brunch, made of sourdough toast topped with their special tofu scramble, spinach and pan-fried garlic mushrooms.
Vegan or not, The Gallery’s brunch is top notch and it gives you the chance to sit and chill in one of London’s cutest cafés to date, with a lovely patio and a back garden, art exhibitions and events.
I have officially been converted to eggs. Or scrambles. Or fry-ups. Or just everything, really.
Pictures: Carolina Are
