Cambridge Day Trip: Hot Numbers II and a College Reunion

I don't have too many reasons to return to Cambridge, the town in which I studied and worked for a total of seven years, these days, but a reunion lunch in my college yesterday brought a number of my friends back into town. After weeks of sunshine, the heavens opened almost as soon as the train passed under the North Circular, and as I had a little time to spare before lunch, I sought shelter in Hot Numbers' second branch on Trumpington Street.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Counter Café Review

Update: Unfortunately, Counter Café is permanently closed, as of November 2016.

It's a bit of a faff to get to Hackney from Bermondsey, and I often forget how lovely it is to amble along the canal there on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Last weekend, I went to a preview screening of The Overnight at the cinema at the Stratford Westfield, and afterwards, a quick search of the interwebs for a new café to try in the area took me to Counter Café in Hackney Wick, a quiet 20-minute walk from the mega-mall. Nice Carly Simon quote on the A-board too!

Counter is located within Stour Space, an airy art gallery and exhibition space in a red-brick, canal-side building. The weekend brunch menu looked rather epic — I'd already eaten, so I'll definitely have to visit again to try the eggs Benedict or the bacon sarnie with home-made relish, and egg and/or bacon (because why choose?).

Instead, I settled for a white chocolate and hazelnut cookie (£1.50) and a coffee. They roast their own coffee and sell bags of their Secret Stash and Sugar Daddy single-origin filter beans. There weren't any hand-brewed filter coffees on offer, so I ordered a flat white (£2.50) and went to take a seat outside. There are a number of canal-side tables on the pontoon out back and I managed to nab one by the canal, where I could watch the boats and bikes dawdle and whiz by, respectively.

The table I chose also seemed to be one of the wobbliest, and just seconds after taking a picture of my coffee, a rather energetic customer stomped by and some of the coffee spilled into the saucer. This happened again, leaving about as much coffee in the saucer, and the barista kindly offered to make me another. This time, I decided that a macchiato was safer and I was able to prevent any further spills. The coffee was very good: rich, smooth and chocolatey — I'm not sure which espresso blend they were serving, but it went perfectly with my cookie.

Counter also has some covered and indoor seating areas for those days when the weather isn't quite so summery, but wherever you sit, you will probably like the view. And you'll probably like the café; it's already on my list of favourites.

Counter Café. 7 Roach Road, London, E3 2PA (Hackney Wick Overground). Website. Twitter.

Ho! For the West

If you can imagine a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set amid the sprawling, outlaw-ridden landscapes of the American West, John Maclean's accomplished new film Slow West is not far off. A sort of hybrid of True Grit (but with better weather) and pretty much any Sergio Leone film, Slow West features gorgeous, vibrant cinematography and strong central performances from Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender.

As the film opens, Jay (Smit-McPhee), a Scottish teenager is lying on his back somewhere in the middle of the United States shooting stars — or at least pointing his pistol at them. After a bodged Mexican standoff — not the last in this film — he is rescued by Silas (Fassbender), a gruff outlaw of few words. "You need a chaperone and I'm a chaperone," Silas insists when he hears of Jay's plan to reach the west. There is, of course, a fee for such a service, and perhaps even the tempting $2,000 bounty that has been placed on Rose (Caren Pistorius), the love of Jay's life, whose flight with her father to America prompted Jay's own journey.

Jay and Silas make an unlikely double act, although perhaps not as unlikely as Mattie and Rooster in True Grit, and as they travel slowly west, they learn a little about each other, love and life. We also learn a little more about Jay's past and what brought him to this point, mainly through brief dreams and reveries of his life back in Scotland with Rose. Amid the almost-bonding, however, it becomes clear that Jay and Silas aren't the only ones interested in finding Rose, and the limits of Jay's faith and his love for her are soon put to the test.

Slow West clocks in at just 1h25, but although there are many action-packed scenes, it still feels like a slow-burner in places. But the chemistry between Fassbender and Smit-McPhee is great, as we watch them to build an understated relationship that is somewhere between father-son and friendship. By giving the audience, but not Jay, reason to mistrust Silas, Maclean is able to create an air of unease and tension. Fassbender is excellent throughout, but Smit-McPhee takes a little longer to ease into the role; he comes into his own during the final act, though.

There are some sadder, more reflective moments, some great fight scenes and a couple of scares, but there are also some good lines and more than a few laughs in Maclean's script. During the film's gruelling but immaculately choreographed finale, there are a couple of great visual metaphors, especially one involving a jar salt during a particularly tense and emotional scene. The beauty of the photography and the attention to detail in Slow West are also particularly impressive. The end sequence takes place in and around a small hut so pristine and attractively styled that it looks like it came right out of Ikea's summer catalogue. New Zealand was doubling for the US in the film, and it makes me want to visit the former even more.

"This Is California, Maybe This Is What Their Dinner Parties Are Like"

Patrick Brice's new film The Overnight is the kind of movie I might not have paid to go to see, but I got a ticket to a free preview screening of the film yesterday morning and decided it was at least worth the trip to Stratford. There are some good lines in the script, but I felt that it didn't quite strike the right comic balance: it wasn't funny enough to be a comedy or serious enough to be a drama.

In some ways, The Overnight reminded me of Roman Polanski's Carnage — two couples are brought together by their children and spend a day in each other's company. Of course, in Carnage, everything goes all Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? pretty quickly, whereas the plot takes a rather different turn in The Overnight, but both feel rather stagey, almost all of the action taking place in a single house. In Carnage, though, the fine acting performances elevated it for me, whereas two of the four central actors in Brice's film — Taylor Schilling and Jason Schwartzman — often irritate me on screen, so perhaps I was predisposed to like it less.

Emily (Schilling) and Alex (Adam Scott) have just moved to Los Angeles from Seattle, and feel that they should start to make some friends. Their young son R.J. (R.J. Hermes) is invited to a birthday party where he meets a boy called Max (Max Moritt). Max's father Kurt (Schwartzman), the self-declared mayor of the neighbourhood, takes a shine to Alex and Emily and invites them over to his house for dinner that evening. They show up clutching R.J. and a bottle of wine, which, as they pass through the gates of the beautiful mansion, is far too cheap.

Inside, they meet Kurt's beautiful French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), and as the four adults and two kids sit down to dinner, they all get on swimmingly. When the children start to grow sleepy, Alex and Emily say that it's time to go home, but Kurt suggests — insists, in fact — that they put the kids to bed upstairs and allow the adults to continue having fun downstairs. And that's when the evening takes a turn for the, er, unusual. Kurt — a rich and mysterious artist / water-filter salesman — brings out his bong, and the two couples begin to get to know each other better. "This is California, maybe this is what their dinner parties are like," Alex murmurs to his wife.

Perhaps better than Emily and Alex would have liked, as they are subjected to a rather questionable DVD of Charlotte's latest 'acting' experience and Kurt reveals his — surely rather niche — artwork. In fact, as well as getting to know the other couple better, Emily and Alex begin to learn things about each other, as secrets are revealed and insecurities and inhibitions are stripped away in a drugged-up, boozed-up haze. "I'm firing on cylinders I didn't even know I had," Alex says when Emily suggest that they make a getaway.

Brice's film is a based on an interesting premise, and it was, in places, quite amusing, although more darkly comic than rom-com. Its 1h20 length was also a blessing — I'm not sure I could have stomached more time in the company of any of them. Godrèche's performance was the most nuanced and her character the most interesting, whereas the others seemed to be playing the same characters they always play: the quirky egotist (Schwartzman), the self-absorbed whiner (Schilling) and the smart and wry but often insecure worrier (Scott). Maybe with stronger performances, The Overnight could have been more likeable, but I found it somewhat lacking in laughs and just the wrong side of uncomfortable.

A Weekend in Wales

When I was younger, we used to go on family holidays to mid-Wales two or three times per year. As teenager, I resented being taken to the middle of nowhere to hike in the rain and wander through sleepy countryside villages, where there weren't enough shops or boys. It was only when we went back for a little family getaway last weekend that I realised I hadn't been in over 15 years. Mid-Wales hasn't changed much, but I have and we had a lovely time.

A Slice of Life: Pizza Union King's Cross Review

Although the choice of lunch spots near King's Cross has increased exponentially since I started working in the area five years ago, there are still a few voids, particularly when it comes to casual pizza joints. Caravan in Granary Square does excellent pizza but is often busy at lunchtimes, and whenever I find a pizza spot at the KERB street food market that I like, they seem to end up moving on to more permanent home.

My #KingsCrossPizzaProblems are, however, no more thanks to the arrival of Pizza Union on Pentonville Road. I hadn't heard of Pizza Union, but on my bus home each day, I would see their restaurant slowly coming together and thought it looked like a fun place. When I looked then up, I read about the high-speed, low-cost, super-tasty Roman-style pizzas they served and I couldn't wait until they opened. After a busy week at work, I suggested a little lunchtime outing on Friday, and unsurprisingly, everyone liked the idea. We got there just after 12.30 and the place was heaving — not bad given that they've only been open for a few days. I knew that the turnaround would be fast, though, so I wasn't worried about having to wait for a table.

Once inside, you order at the counter. Everything is very reasonably priced, starting at just £3.95 for a margherita and working up to the princely sum of £6.50 for the carne (with beef, chicken, pepperoni and onions). I was tempted by the tropicali, but I usually stick to the margherita when I try out a new pizza place — if the ingredients are good, you don't need a lot of toppings, so it's often the best way to test the quality of the pizza. Wine, beer and prosecco are on offer, but as we had to go back to work, we stuck to the San Pellegrino soft drinks. If you want something to nibble on while you wait for your pizza, there are cups of olives (£1.80) and chilli corn (£1.80) at the till.

After ordering, you are given a buzzer and can go and find a table. The King's Cross branch is pretty big and I really liked the décor. Most of the tables are long, sharing-style benches with gorgeous, colourful tiling. Oversized pendant lamps and LED lettering add to the funky vibe. The pizzas are cooked in a huge, monochrome pizza oven and only take a couple of minutes each to cook. It was, as I mentioned, very busy when we were there, but we still only had to wait ten minutes or so.

The pizza was really good: a very thin, crispy base and very flavoursome cheese and tomato toppings. The base was so thin, in fact, that it was a little tricky to eat with my hands, but nothing a little folding couldn't solve. As we left, we saw the gelati in the freezer by the door, with flavours including peanut butter and salted caramel, which were hard to ignore. If you're craving more dough, Pizza Union also serve pudding 'pizzas', or rather a warm dough ring with toppings such as Nutella and mascarpone (£2.95).

The staff were all busy but friendly, and if you're looking for a place for a superveloce but tasty bite to eat near King's Cross station, Pizza Union is it. As you can tell, we weren't the only ones having a good time!

Pizza Union. 246–250 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JY (Tube: King's Cross). Website. Twitter.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Old Spike Roastery Review

Back in March, I spotted a new coffee shop and roastery on Peckham Rye, a few doors down from Pedler. Old Spike Roastery had only been open for a couple of weeks, but they'd already nailed the macchiato. Now that they've been open a bit longer, I decided to check back in.

They roast their own coffee in-house on a petite roaster they call 'Torberg'. I started off with a cortado (£2.50), which was brewed with a blend of Colombian coffee.

I don't often drink coffee with this much milk and my coffee-tastebuds aren't quite so sensitive to the notes, but it was smooth, rich and chocolatey. It went very well with the vanilla glazed Crosstown doughnut I tried. I like Crosstown doughnuts a lot but a lot of their flavour combos aren't my cup of tea — you can't go too far wrong with a classic vanilla, though.

I had asked earlier whether they served pourovers, which they don't (they take too long to make), but they do have a small machine for making brew-to-order coffee. Initially, I was that irritating coffee snob who rejected this idea, but, feeling guilty, I did try to order one. The machine was being used to produce a small batch of cold brew, though, so the barista made me an Aeropress-brewed coffee instead (£2.50). It was an African variety — I forget which — and had a very subtle, fruity acidity, so light and refreshing that it almost reminded me of tea.

Old Spike is only open at the weekends at the moment. There are a few seats inside, the best of which provide a great vantage point to watch the peeps of Peckham go about their weekending. If you can't make it out to Peckham, you can buy their coffee online instead.

So far, so standard. But what makes Old Spike more interesting than a lot of the other new coffee shops on the block is that they combine coffee with social enterprise. They are not-for-profit and set up to support local homeless people by providing jobs, training and housing. A pretty awesome initiative, that also makes pretty awesome coffee.

Old Spike Roastery. 54 Peckham Rye, London, SE15 4JR (Peckham Rye Overground). Website. Twitter.

"I've Been Sitting Waiting To Make a Scene for Hours"

Alex Ross Perry's new film Listen Up Philip is just the kind of film I used to enjoy catching at an earlybird screening at the Curzon: I'm not particularly excited to see the film and don't think it's worth £15, but could have been tempted for £8. Instead, I paid a tenner to catch it on Curzon Home Cinema, which I am now regretting. Not because I hated the film, but because it was just tedious enough that I started multitasking while I was watching it on Sunday night, which meant I had to watch most of it a second time on Monday. I don't think this has made me think of it more fondly.

Jason Schwartzman stars as the titular Philip, a 30-something writer on the verge of publishing his second novel, Obidant. To describe Philip as egomaniacal, arrogant and crushingly irritating is to state the obvious, and nor does it distinguish him from the film's other characters, none of whom is much more likeable. There's his girlfriend Ashley (Elisabeth Moss), a successful photographer with whom we start to sympathise after Philip swans off to spend the summer at the home of a Philip Roth-like writing god, Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce). Zimmerman himself is a cad of epic proportions, isolated from his seething daughter (Krysten Ritter).

The poster bills Listen Up Philip as Woody Allen meets Wes Anderson, and yes, the font on the poster is there, the music is there and even the vintage-inspired cinematography is there, but the film has too little heart and too much discomfort to be as enjoyable as anything by the two WAs. That isn't to say that I disliked everything about it — there are some great zingy lines in the script, especially the putdowns ("what's the problem?" / "She didn't like your book") and the self-aware self-centredness ("I've been sitting waiting to make a scene for hours"). Moss's performance is another of the film's strong points: her character is often overshadowed by Philip, of course, but Moss's Ashley is nuanced, complex and much more interesting.

I couldn't warm to Schwartzman's Philip, though; not even a little bit. The opening scene, where Philip meets with an ex-girlfriend to give her a copy of Obediant and to explain to her, at length, how successful he is, is up there with The Social Network in the awkward-scenes-at-the-bar stakes. The characters walk around the city, irritating and screwing over one another. Nothing really happens, and that is part of the problem: Listen Up Philip was at least 30 minutes too long, and the final act really dragged. Meanwhile, doleful trumpet solos only servs to remind you that you would much rather be watching Chinatown. Or something fun.

Back on the Rails: Dishoom King's Cross Review

When the latest branch of Dishoom opened last autumn near Granary Square in King's Cross, only a few minutes' walk from my office, I couldn't wait to dally over some daal or to taste a bit of tikka. I had hoped to take advantage of the half-price food during the soft launch but I was not the only one to have this idea and the queues were insane. I finally got the chance to go with a couple of work chums in February, but there was a queue even at 6 o'clock on a freezing Thursday evening — even just to drink at the gorgeous, teal-accented basement cocktail bar.

Fortunately, it was much easier for my friend and I to get a table on Thursday evening. Perhaps the fuss has died down a bit now or maybe everyone else wanted to sit outside on one of the first truly warm and sunny evenings of the summer. The front-of-house system doesn't seem perfectly set up quite yet — on both visits, there was some confusion (this time, I gave my name and my friend's but when she arrived five minutes later, they claimed ignorance and sent her to the bar instead of our table) — but you can't fault the staff for friendliness. I was given a surprisingly refreshing salty lemon drink to sip while waiting to find out the wait situation, but was shown to my table in under five minutes.

Dishoom's King's Cross site is huge, occupying a multi-floor building that has retained some of the features of its previous incarnation as a warehouse (and before that a transit shed). Dishoom's restaurants pay homage to the Irani cafes of Bombay and the King's Cross branch in particular is influenced by a café near Bombay's Victoria Terminus. There's a big clock, ceilings that look like they are designed to hold a few suitcases, skylights and winding staircases. The 20th century industrial chic aesthetic is stylish, cool and apt.

While I waited for my friend to arrive, I perused the cocktail menu, which takes classic cocktails and quite literally spices them up. When I came before, I tried the 1948 Sour (a fruity syrupy concoction made with an Indian whisky) and my favourite, the beautiful Edwina's Affair (gin, rose, cardamom and mint). This time, I decided to order something quite different, the Chilli Martini (Portobello Road gin with pomegranate, lemon and chilli; £7.50), which had enough fruity sweetness to balance the fiery kick.

Then came the hard part: deciding what to eat. We shared some vegetable samosas (£3.20) to start. There only two of them, but they were also quite big, and nicely spiced. For my main course, I went for the chicken berry Britannia (£8.50), which came in a generously sized pot with rice on top. I didn't realise that it came with rice, so I was glad I had just ordered a garlic naan (£2.20) on the side and not more rice. My biryani was really good: the chicken was juicy and flavoursome, and the cranberry-dotted sauce was warm, rich and just spicy enough to keep it interesting. I also tried some of my friend's chicken ruby (£8.20), which was zingy and citrusy.

I've never been to Mumbai, but the atmosphere in Dishoom on Thursday night was certainly bustling. The wait staff were friendly and we weren't hurried out after we had finished our food — this did, however, mean that I kept on grazing long after I grew full, but it was all just so tasty! Dishoom is open all day — their breakfast bacon naans are also ace — and the food is delicious and good value. And if you go at night, don't forget to check out the dancing fountains in Granary Square; there's even an app that lets you control them!

Dishoom. 5 Stable Street, London, N1C 4AB (Tube: King's Cross). Website. Twitter.

A Rainy Day Brunch in Brixton

I was supposed to be playing cricket, of all things, on Sunday but rain stopped play before it even started and so I decided to seek shelter in the colourful arcades of Brixton Market, where delicious aromas from around the globe compete for attention. If you're looking for brunch, there is, to say the least, a huge number options. Last time I was there, I sampled Okan's tasty Japanese okonomiyaki, and this time, the prospect of authentic Mexican brunch won me over. My recent trip to Mexico has meant that I'm constantly on the look out for great Mexican food in London, and Casa Morita looked pretty good.

Casa Morita has just launched a weekend brunch menu, which, as you might expect is pretty heavy on the huevos. Unfortunately, I'd had eggs on toast for breakfast and so couldn't really order the huevos a la Mexicana. Instead, I chose the molletes with chorizo (£5.10), half a toasted bun, served with refried beans, cheese, pico de gallo and avo. The food was very tasty — comparable to some of my breakfasts in Mexico — and just spicy enough. Next time, I would like to try the chilaquiles, which I discovered in Oaxaca, although the all-day menu, with tacos, other street-food dishes and cocktails galore, also looks great.

With a homemade limeade, the meal cost me all of £7.50: pricier than DF, but not bad for Brixton. The restaurant itself is colourful and funky, with a few tables inside and a couple more outside under the arcade. Qué bonito!

After brunch, I walked over to the other side of the market, across Atlantic Road, and went for coffee at Federation Coffee, which I've wanted to try for a long time. I saw on their website that they would soon be introducing a brew bar and had hoped to be able to have a pourover, but the brew bar hasn't arrived yet and the espresso machine was broken, so it was batch-brewed filter coffee or nothing.

I always feel like a terrible person when I ask about hand-brewed filter coffee, but it does usually taste much nicer; however, Federation's brew with Campbell & Syme coffee, was rich, fresh and very flavoursome. I also tried a tasty, fruity, almondy cake called a friand, which worked well with my cup o' joe. Plus, the window seats are excellent for people-watching. Federation is a great little place for a coffee stop in the Brixton area. Perhaps when I return, the brew bar will be installed or, at least, the espresso machine will be working again so that I can sample the macchiato.

Casa Morita. 9 Market Row,  Brixton Village Market, London, SW9 8LB (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter.
Federation Coffee. Unit 77-78, Brixton Village Market, London, SW9 8PS (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: The Black Penny Review

While I was on holiday, I got an email from The Nudge about The Black Penny, a new coffee shop in Covent Garden, which was offering lunch or a coffee for a penny to celebrate its soft launch. Sadly, I missed the soft launch, but I did stop by on Saturday afternoon to, er, spend a few pennies.

The cafe, with its chic, dark exterior and handful of tables on the pavement under the awning, seemed familiar, and I soon realised that The Black Penny is occupying the site where another coffee bar —  Salt — used to be based. It was a sunny afternoon and all of the outdoor tables were occupied, so I took a seat in the window instead and decided what to order. The breakfast and brunch menu sounded pretty great, especially the crispy duck hash, but I had already brunched so I studied the sweet treats instead and picked out a raspberry and coconut brownie.

The coffee menu is quite extensive, but only lists one hand-brewed filter coffee option — siphon — but although I could see the siphon, it wasn't available. Instead, I ordered a flat white with almond milk (£3.30, I think). The coffee is from Ozone and there were a couple of varieties on offer. The barista made my drink using the Opus blend, which I've tried before and which I like a lot: it's chocolatey and nutty — even if you don't add almond milk!

Both the coffee and the brownie tasted great, and the window seats and pavement tables are great for people-watching as Covent Garden passes by. The cafe itself has an industrial-chic vibe with dark brushed-metal tables, exposed-brick walls and cool pendant light bulbs. Like the coffee shops of yore (which were known as 'penny universities' because for the princely sum of one penny, you could gain admission, a cup of coffee and access to a range of political and academic debates and discussions), The Black Penny hopes to be a place of discourse and debate as well as caffeination and they will, in due course, be hosting events, lectures and seminars in the basement Seminar Pit.

If the penny hasn't already dropped, I really like The Black Penny, and it makes a nice addition to the calmer end of Covent Garden.

The Black Penny. 34 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5AA (Tube: Covent Garden or Holborn). Website. Twitter.