The Caffeine Chronicles: Tonic Coffee Review

A coffee collective might not be the exact opposite of a coffee chain, but it's getting that way. As such, when I found out that The Department of Coffee and Social Affairs had a new Soho sister, I was keen to check it out, even though its opening hours required me to go before work this morning. Next time I go for a pre-work coffee, I definitely need to build up my baseline caffeination by making myself an Aeropress to take with me.

Tonic Coffee Bar, Soho.

Anyway, the new arrival is called Tonic Coffee Bar, and is tucked away in a tiny space on Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus and just around the corner from Mele e Pere. They have room for three stools in front of the stunningly stylish white La Marzocco, and a small selection of cakes and pastries is available, but it's not really a drink-in kinda place.

What a beaut.

What they do have room for is some excellent coffee. I had my usual double skinny macchiato, of which, in my hurry to caffeinate, I forgot to take an attractive photograph. Trust me, though, it tasted great: strong and very smooth. As it turned out that I had run out of ground coffee at the office, I probably should also have taken a big artisanal filter coffee to go, but l'espirit de l'escalier is a wonderful thing, and there is always next time.

The remains of my macchiato.

Tonic's design is also great: the green-tiled walls make me think 'New York Turkish bath circa 1968,' and I do mean that as a compliment. Meanwhile, the shelves are lined with custom-designed "invigorating" Tonic Coffee Bar bottles. Oh and you can even buy the accompanying Tonic trucker cap. Because of course.

Tens of green bottles.

It's great to have another place to get great coffee in Soho. It's not as though the area is particularly deprived of good independent espresso bars, but because it was the first London area whose coffee culture I really got to know, I've been going to places like Flat White and Fernandez and Wells for years, so a bit of variety is good. My only slight disappointment is that they don't switch over to a gin-dispensing speakeasy by night. Maybe later in the year?

Oh, and as for the Coffeesmiths Collective, it also comprises a few other coffee bars, including The Liberty of Norton Folgate, which I walk past every time I go to Shoreditch or Spitalfields and which I really must visit one of these days.

Tonic Coffee Bar. 15 Sherwood Street, London, W1F 7ED (Tube: Piccadilly Circus). Website. Twitter.

The Burger Bulletin: Giant Robot Review

Update (2015): Giant Robot is no more, although a similarly New York-inspired restaurant, The Fourteenth Colonie, now occupies the same site.

Giant Robot, in Clerkenwell, is sort of on my way home from work, but is just that bit too far east along the Clerkenwell Road for me to get there and back in a lunchtime. Every time I walk past on a weekday evening, the place is rammed, with the sidewalk tables filled and a buzzy atmosphere inside. It's a quieter affair at the weekend, but that's Clerkenwell for you.

Giant Robot, Clerkenwell.

I went today for a girls' brunch and there were enough other people to give it some ambiance, but not so many that we were hurried out of the door; far from it, in fact, as we lingered for almost three hours over our food. With its casual, all-day-dining vibe, Giant Robot has a very New Yorky feel — I could easily see it in Nolita — and the menu is mainly American with dollop of Italian.

At the weekend, brunch is served from 10 until 3, and I ordered a bottomless coffee while I perused the menu. I was tempted by a dish that isn't on the online brunch menu: I think it involved scrambled eggs, as well as avocado, tomato, bacon and sourdough. That felt like the brunchier option, but then there was the burger. The Rotary burger, specifically, Rotary Bar & Diner being a sister restaurant to Giant Robot. The reason this attracted my attention was that at Disco Bistro N1C the other week, the burgerista had mentioned Disco Bistro were collaborating with Rotary. I don't know if this means that the Giant Robot burger is also a Disco Bistro burger, but decided to order it anyway.

The burger came medium rare, with cheese and grilled onions. The burger itself ("rare-breed beef") was great: juicy and flavoursome, although just on the more medium side of medium rare. The fries were a little less exciting and ever so slightly soggy. Overall, though, I'd recommend the burger, and I'm keen to try out the sliders and meatballs that are available on the main menu. My brunch companions went for the veggie brunch (with bacon), which also looked good; the portions were pretty generous.

Giant Robot is also open for drinks and nibbles (cicchetti) and the cocktail menu impressed be both with its design and its contents. Yes, a return visit is definitely in order.

Giant Robot. 45 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1M 5RS (Tube: Farringdon). Website. Twitter.

The Burger Bulletin: Elliot's Burger Bar Review

Borough Market is on both my regular weekend running route and my route home from work if I'm walking. Pretty much every time I pass through, I think, "I really must find a way to sample the burgers at Elliot's Café." You see, although the regular menu, which changes daily, is always very tempting, they only serve burgers on weekday lunchtimes, when I am at work.

Elliot's Burger Bar, Borough Market.

This summer, however, for four weeks only (well, for at least four weeks, anyway), Elliot's is putting on a pop-up burger bar, just across Stoney Street from the main café. They have a number of long trestle tables, some under the cover of the market roof. I was worried there might be a queue, but there were still a few tables left when I arrived at about seven last night. While I waited for my companions, I ordered a frozen margarita (£5), which was fruity and delicious — they also serve Kernel beer, Prosecco and a few other drinks.

Great styling of the cups and straws.

The menu is deceptively long-winded, given that there is only one option: a cheeseburger and fries for £10. It's not just any cheeseburger though; it's a "55 day aged native breed beef patty with homemade brioche and..." Well, you can read the rest on the chalkboard when you get there. The burger was really, really good. Very juicy and meaty and complemented perfectly by the cheese and the beef-fat fried onions. The Grauniad reviewer who was so critical of the Shake Shack bun will definitely approve of the seeded brioche.

Elliot's cheeseburger and fried potatoes.

The fried potatoes, however, were good rather than great. They are triple-cooked Maris Pipers, and for some reason, I've never had much luck with triple-cooked chips. Some of them taste fine, but the bigger ones tend to be a little dry. I would have preferred regular fries with salt and rosemary.

The epic menu.

£10 is also the price of a burger and fries at Disco Bistro. Maybe I've been spoiled by Bleecker St Burger and the other street-food vans, but I've got into the habit of sharing fries or having the option to order them when I want them. Somehow £10 feels more than £2 pricier than a £5 burger and £3 fries.

Burgernomics aside, Elliot's Burger Bar is a cool place to hang out on a warm summer evening. Stoney Street is right in the heart of Borough Market and there are lots of people hanging out having a pint or a nibble. The only slight negative note of the evening was when we were asked to move on after we said we weren't ordering another round because "it's getting busier," even though it wasn't busier than when we arrived and there was at least one free table and no queue. We weren't planning to stay all night, but being able to linger for a few more minutes would have been nice (to be fair, it was probably about to get busier, but still). Nonetheless, the burgers really are great, so I'd recommend you stop by sometime between 6.30 and 10 pm, Tuesday to Saturday, until 10 August.

Elliot's Burger Bar. 12 Stoney Street, London, SE1 9AD (Tube: London Bridge). Website. Twitter.

Double Skinny Macchiato

When I started this blog, over six years ago, it was an experiment. I didn't know what I was going to write about and it ended up erring on the personal side. As such, the name of the blog — Me, Myself & Moi — and my pseudonym — Bexquisite (pronounced to rhyme with the way a Frenchman would say exquisite) — fit the blog rather well. These days, however, the focus has changed and most of the posts fit into one of the following categories:

• The search for the perfect macchiato
• Lessons in hamburgerology, and other food and drink reviews
• Other fun things I've found to do in London, New York and my other travel destinations
• Movie reviews

I wanted to choose a new blog title, but finding something that encompassed all of these aspects proved tricky. I also wanted something that would make sense to international readers. Then I realised that one of the most common phrases that I utter is: "Can I have a double skinny macchiato please?" and hence Double Skinny Macchiato was born.

My new address is: http://www.doubleskinnymacchiato.com. I've created a new Twitter feed, and updated the RSS links — to follow me on Feedly you can click on the giant green button to your right (or here). The old links are being redirected, and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future. I've made a few minor tweaks to the design, and hope to do a bigger overhaul in the coming weeks and months.

Finally, in case you were wondering, the five double skinny macchiati in my new banner are (L-R): Johan Nyström, Stockholm; Salt, London; Allpress, London; Caravan, London; and Shoreditch Grind, London.

The Burger Bulletin: Disco Bistro N1C Review

Update (2015): Disco Bistro is no longer boogying on in King's Cross, but follow them on Twitter for their latest news.

Even though it was basically on my bus journey home from work, I never made it out to Disco Bistro's residency at The Rising Sun, which was a pity, given the good things I had heard about the burgers. As you can imagine, I was dead pleased to discover that Disco Bistro's latest venture is a pop-up at Skate King's Cross, a roller-skating rink that is gracing Granary Square with its presence until the beginning of September. This meant the Roller Disco Burger is now barely a five-minute stroll from my desk.

The Skate King's Cross rink.

I'm hoping to go for a spin on the rink in due course, but you can sample the food and drink without buying a skating ticket, so Friday lunchtime saw us seeking shelter from the epic sunshine on one of the shaded picnic tables next to the rink. The menu is basically: burger, veggie burger, or chicken wings, but obviously I didn't need any time to make up my mind. The Roller Disco Burger comes with cheese, bun sauce, pineapple and bacon jam, and chips. At £10 for the lot, it's a little pricier than Bleecker St Burger or Mother Flipper at the nearby KERB, but then Disco Bistro is also more of a restaurant than street food.

Disco Bistro N1C.

I always used to be quite fussy about having my burgers relatively plain, but these days, I prefer to go with the flow and enjoy them as the chef intended. They didn't ask how we wanted the burgers cooked, but I was fairly confident they would turn up medium-rate to juicy-medium, and I was right. The burger was delicious and a complete nightmare to eat, with cheese and sauce and juice oozing out from all sides. I find the best way is to keep on eating and not to put the burger down, or it will only fall apart. I wouldn't have thought to put pineapple in my burger, but the pineapple and bacon jam was the perfect foil to the meaty, flavoursome burger. Definitely go for the burger as is.

Boozy shakes are also on offer, although banana, spiced rum and raisins definitely isn't my thing. If I hadn't been so stuffed, I would have liked to try the Disco Sundae, though: raspberry ripple ice cream, strawberry sauce, fresh berries and shortbread. See? It even sounds healthy!

I'll definitely be returning to Disco Bistro before too long, hopefully with some undoubtedly hilarious skating fun too. Skating is £13 plus booking fee for a two-hour session, including skate hire. Some tickets are available on the door, and it was pretty quiet on Friday lunchtime.

Disco Bistro N1C. West Handyside Canopy (next to Central Saint Martins, behind Granary Square), London, N1C 4AA (Tube: King's Cross). Website. Twitter.

Zbogom, Dubrovnik

After we had packed up, we didn't have a lot of time on our last day in Dubrovnik. We went for breakfast at Glam Café, which was supposed to be one of the better places in the city for coffee. The macchiato was pretty good, although not exactly up to London standards. They had also ran out of croissants — a common theme — but managed to rustle up some toasted slices of baguette-ish bread and jam.

I didn't go to Dubrovnik for the shopping, but there was one shop I wanted to check out before we left: a little design boutique called Lega-Lega (lega means something like "dude" in Croatian). They sell beautifully designed notebooks, coasters and graphic-design-inspired t-shirts, which come packaged in a milk carton box, displayed in huge fridges in the shop. They've won awards for their design and it's easy to see why. I really wanted to support the shop, but the t-shirts in stock didn't have the right combination of colour and design for me — my favourite was the photosensitive tee, but lime green isn't my colour — so I bought a cute notebook and some coasters instead. It's a great shop, though, and the staff are very friendly.

As our attempted brunch at Glam Café turned out to be somewhat lacking on the food front and as it was, by then, lunchtime, we went to Kamenice, a fish restaurant with tables in the bustling market square. Although our waitress was from the dinner lady school of customer service, the food was delicious and very good value. My shrimp risotto was something like 80 kuna for a huge plate, and around 65 kuna gets you a platter full of mussels. It's also a great place for people-watching.

Then, we just had time for a last ice cream by the old port before getting the bus back to the airport. The airport buses, incidentally, depart from Gruž (the main port) two hours before each international flight, stopping outside the cable car station five minutes later. The journey only takes about 25 minutes, which, given the size of the airport, gives you plenty of time, even if you weren't able to check in online (thanks, BA).

Sleeping Dubrovnik kitty sez, "zbogom."

Five days was about the right of time to spend in Dubrovnik. We got to do a bit of culture, a bit of history, some beach and some outdoor activities. If it isn't quite lying-on-the-beach weather, you could see and do most of the city in three or four days. And hopefully at some point, someone will make a good Dubrovnik city guide. In the meantime, this Time Out list has some great ideas.

Glam Café. Palmotićeva 5, Dubrovnik (just off the Stradun, on the north side).
Lega-Lega. Dropčeva 3, Dubrovnik (just north of the Stradun).
Kamenice. Gundulićeva poljana 8, Dubrovnik.

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Climbing the Walls

By Tuesday, we realised that there wasn't going to be a cool, shady time to climb Dubrovnik's city walls, so we ended up completing the 2-km circuit around midday, when at least it wasn't too crowded. As you climb up and down, completing the circuit of the city, you get a great view over the rooftops, onto Lovrijenac Fort (as featured in Game of Thrones series two and three), the islands and the Adriatic.

Spot the blogger.

Entrance to the walls is 90 kuna, but we bought a one-day Dubrovnik Card for 130 kuna, which also includes entrance to several other sights and museums and a one-day bus pass — it's worth doing if you plan to see two or more of the included attractions, but they don't include the cable car. You can also upgrade to an audio tour of the walls, but we were happy to wander.

And leap.

After we had completed the route, we were hot and dehydrated, so we headed for a restaurant in one of the shaded side streets close to the Stradun. I had heard good things about Wanda, and walking past it on the first day, decided it looked like a good place to eat. Their lunch menu is full of fish-centric Italian dishes. I couldn't decide whether to have a salmon pasta, roast salmon with potatoes or a salmon salad with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts and raspberry dressing. In the end, the latter triumphed and was delicious — refreshing, tasty and just what I needed on such a hot afternoon.

Lunch at Wanda.

After lunch, we went for a quick stroll through the Rector's Palace and the Maritime Museum (both included on the Dubrovnik Card), before deciding to take to water again. From the window of the Maritime Museum, we had spotted a little pier at the southeast corner of the city walls, where many locals were sunbathing. From there, you can scramble over the rocks, leap into the sea and swim around the city walls to Bard or Buža. We went to drop our things off at the apartment (and so unfortunately, I have no photos) and change, before heading out to the rocks, leaving our clothes on the side and then plunging into the gloriously refreshing water. This swim may have been one of my favourite experiences of the whole trip and I would highly recommend it — just don't swim too far offshore, because there are many boats and kayak tours!

Once we had dried off, we got changed again and went back to the Lovrijenac Fort — entry is about 20 kuna, but you can get in free if you show your city walls ticket. When we were there, it was the end of the day and they appeared to be setting up for an event for the Dubrovnik summer festival. The Games of Thrones crew and cast will be arriving in about a month, we were told.

Taking the stage at Fort Lovrijenac.

We then caught a bus over to the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel for a cocktail in the sunset lounge. I had read that this was one of the best places to enjoy a drink at sunset, but although the view — and the sunset — were spectacular, the lounge itself was decidedly bland. Basically, it felt like any reasonably nice, but not exactly decadent, hotel lobby bar. The cocktails weren't outstanding either, but it was lovely to sit and watch the sun set over the islands.

Tom Collins and the sunset.

For dinner, we went down to Lapad and found a fish restaurant called Orsan in a little yacht club. A couple of dozen tables are set up right next to the boats, under some trees, and there is a lovely view of the hills and twinkling city lights (which was temporarily ruined by the huge cruise ship that pulled in). The food was excellent. I had some grilled, garlicky prawns with rice, and the fish fillet also looked great. It was also quite a different experience from our meals in the Old Town, so if you get the chance to go out to Lapad, do go there, although there are a lot of mediocre eateries and bars around for the cruise crowd.

Dinner at Orsan.

Wanda. Prijeko 8, Dubrovnik (one block north of the Stradun). Website.
Dubrovnik Palace. Masarykov put 20, Dubrovnik (we took the number 4 bus from the Pile Gate of the Old Town, which stops right outside the hotel; check out the local bus company's website for other routes). Website.
Orsan. Ivana Zajca 2, Dubrovnik (you can take the number 6 bus from Pile, which heads to Babin Kuk). Website.

Island in the Sun

Lovely as Dubrovnik is, after two sweltering days in the city, we were craving a sea breeze. Luckily, there are numerous islands just off the coast, many of which are accessible by ferry, kayak or even pirate ship. Although you can join an organised tour of one or more islands, it's often cheaper — and more flexible — to take the passenger ferry. We decided to visit the island of Lopud and just about made the 10 am ferry from Dubrovnik's main port, Gruž. The boat was packed to the rafters, so it's worth getting there early if you would like a seat. I was more relieved to discover the bar served a relatively decent macchiato.

In under an hour, we were docking on Lopud. The island is pretty small, consisting mainly of hilly forest, dotted with enough houses to home its 200 residents. Near the dock, there are plenty of restaurants and shops, but we stocked up with a picnic of sorts at Exquisite (but of course!), a bakery and pastry shop at the western end of the harbour.

We ate our pastries and yoghurt halfway up the steep climb to the beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach is only about a 15-20 minute walk, but it felt like longer in the 30-degree, noon heat. If you really wuss out, there are plenty of taxi buggies ready to ferry you over to the beach.

The beach itself is lovely, if a little over-developed. Unlike most of the rocky Croatian beaches, Sunj is sandy, and the water is warm and remains between knee- and waist-height almost as far out as the mega-yacht parking area. After too many overpriced summers in Cannes, it felt like a bargain to get a sunbed for 30 kuna (about £4); an umbrella is only another 30 kuna. We spent most of the afternoon soaking up the sun, occasionally cooling off with a quick dip. In my case, because I am a wuss, it took me longer to get in the sea than I spent swimming.

We walked back to the harbour the long way, via several tiny chapels and with some amazing views of the Adriatic. The last ferry back to Dubrovnik left just before 7 pm, which meant we arrived home just as the sun was setting.

By the time we got back to the Old Town, it was after 8.30, and it was another hour before we could get a table at Gil's — what surely must be Dubrovnik's coolest restaurant. Tucked in one of the side streets of the Stradun, Gil's Little Bistro has Russian owners, a French chef and Italian-influenced cuisine with a local flair.

The food was excellent. We started with some cocktails (a caipirinha and an old fashioned) and some wonderfully fresh local prawns, and then I went for the beef tagliata, served on a bed of rocket and four-year-aged parmesan. I was too full for a pudding, although the tirami su looked great. But the meal wasn't over yet, because we were presented with a leaving gift: a little box containing two sweet bready cakes — perfect for breakfast the following morning. If you're looking for a restaurant for a special meal in Dubrovnik and you want to prioritise food over a view, you should definitely consider Gil's.

Exquisite. Obala Iva Kuljevana 51, Lopud. Website.
Gil's Little Bistro. Petilovrijenci 4, Dubrovnik. Website. NB: Google Maps thinks it is still sited in its old location, overlooking the old port, but it's really here.

Two If By Sea

After such an early start on Saturday, we took it easy on Sunday morning. We did some exploring in the late morning, before arriving back in the Old Town for lunch at a little Italian restaurant called Segreto, which is a block away from the Stradun but infinitely calmer. 

The food was delicious — I had a pumpkin and quince ravioli — and the restaurant was very chic and stylish, even if we did have to wait nearly an hour for our food.

On Sunday evening, we went for a sea kayaking tour around the city walls, further along the Dubrovnik coast and then around the island of Lokrum. This was several kilometres, in not entirely calm seas — effectively a triple aqua-aerobics session!

We had all the Game of Thrones sights pointed out to us, as well as various other stories about the city, including some of Dubrovnik's more tragic moments in history. It was a really beautiful time of day to explore, even if my arms were killing within a couple of minutes of paddling. The snorkelling break at a secret cove helped, as did the final stretch back into the city, just as the sun was setting.

As we had already had sandwiches in the cove, we finished the evening by visiting another hole-in-the-cliff bar, which we had spotted while kayaking. We had read that there were two bars called Buža — Buža I, which we went to on Saturday, and Buža II, which was supposed to be a little further east along the southern city wall. The bar we found, though, turned out to be called Bard, and we couldn't work out if it was just known as Buža because it was a hole-in-the-wall (which is what buža means) or if it was once called Buža and had been rebranded.

Regardless, Bard is a lovely place to sit and drink, by day or night. During the daytime, you can climb down the steps from the walls into the sea and go for a swim, and at night you can sit with a cocktail and stair into the dramatic Adriatic. They also show movies, apparently.

Segreto. Ulica Cvijete Zuzorić 5 (two blocks south of the eastern end of the Stradun).
Bard. I don't think the address on this Trip Advisor review is correct, but if you go down Ulica kneza Hrvaša, and look out for a hole in the wall near Ulica Od Margarite, you should be able to find it. I wouldn't trust Google Maps too much for this, and for many other apartments, restaurants and bars in the city.