I got reviewing nerves after my last posting. Having been to Cha Cha Moon and had a good pitstop lunch (review here) it became apparent that some people had had very different experiences there. Still I was sure I enjoyed my meal there wasn’t I?
So, next posting I thought I will go to what I know. I will go to a London boy’s home turf. I will do traditional British cuisine. So what is that? A fry up cooked by Italians in Pimlico of course.
Regency Cafe in Pimlico. If you like a good fry up and read websites like classiccafes you will already know about this place. Ever since I was a kid I used to go to cafes (definitely no accent on the e) with my father. I remember when he first took me to E Pellicci Bethnal Green Road about twenty years ago I loved everything about it. I loved the dirty East End surroundings, I loved the copies of the Sun and the Mirror being slowly ingested, I loved the crapness, the unpretension of the food.
Which is a shame as after not having been for a while I tried to take Jen there when she first got to London and it was full of me and Jen, wearing lumberjack shirts. God I am tired of people like us.
So Regency Cafe was a risk. Would it be full of young professionals ruining the atmosphere or locals and us sticking out as we should do? I arranged for six of us to meet there. An unholy double trinity of two lawyers, one investment banker, two tv producers and one retiree (my dad).
It is beautiful. It is 1950s formica topped wonder.
You walk in. The noise hits you. The guy behind the counter screams and cajoles you, stops you sitting down before you order, lines you up, takes your order and keeps up with his stentorian voice.
Then comes the surprise, the food is actually very good. Far better than any normal cafe. The sausages aren’t the reconstituted perfectly straight beige coloured dog turds one normally receives in a cafe. The bacon is good. The poached eggs are spot on. It is almost too above not bad to be a classic formica cafe.
The other great thing is there were no other me’s there. It was local, it was proper.
I love it. I’ll be back. Please don’t go.
Price – £5 for a full English and you can buy pints of orange juice like they used to come from the milkman
PS shuts at 12 on Saturdays
Oh no – I didn't mean to give you reviewing nerves! Yau brings out the vehement in me.
I love local caffs. When hungover there's no where else I'd rather be; none of this eggs benedict, waffles and pancakes business, gimme the full fry-up and don't hold back on the fried bread!
You can't beat the full English but where's the black pudding ?
Lizzie – it wasn't you (or Mr Noodles at all). I actually love comments where people disagree with the review as it makes you think about the meal properly and actually analyse why you did or didn't like the meal. Like restaurant pyschology : )
Mr Noodles, you are right. I also should have ordered some fried toast which I am particularly partial to!
Talking about black pudding. Ate my first in Edinburgh. It reminds me of the pig's blood that used to be quite popular back home. Wait a minute, this is pig's blood. lol.
I've digressed. Regency looks like the local cafe that I would love to pop into. It must be the red checkered curtains.
A fiver seems like a good deal!
C K
London Chow – I hope you got to try the other British blood and guts delicacy – haggis.