While cycling through Fulham recently, I overheard a woman describing a restaurant as "a combination of my two favourite cuisines, Italian and Japanese." I knew exactly where she was talking about because I was going to the same place, Angelina in Dalston, a few days later for a belated birthday dinner with my brother.
UPDATE: Lantern Coffee has now closed permanently.
While working from home during the past year, I've sought solace in my lunch-break strolls around Bermondsey and Borough, often stopping for food or coffee. Bermondsey has an abundance of specialty coffee shops and roasters including Monmouth and Watch House are based here (Pact too, although you can't normally visit).
One of my regular lunchtime haunts was Black Swan Yard, but upsettingly, it was recently shut down by the landlord with almost no notice. I hope they'll be back but in the meantime, I found myself on Mill Street, down by the Thames, where I happened upon Lantern Coffee.
I was looking forward to reading Zakiya Dalila Harris's debut novel for many weeks, and I raced through it in a couple of evenings. In the novel, Nella is a 26-year-old editorial assistant working at a New York publishing house. She works hard, gets on well with her editor and hopes she is on track for a promotion in the not-too-distant future.
I wrote last week about my recent long weekend trip to Canterbury, with several side trips to the Kent coast. I brought my Aeropress with me, as I wasn't sure how much the bank holiday and COVID would combine to affect coffee shop opening hours, but I found several great coffee spots in Canterbury and Whitstable, all but one of which roast their own coffee. Read on to find out more and for a handy map.
Six months after my last mini-break, in Bath, I was craving R & R, and the call of the sea was particularly strong. I wasn't the only one: a quick accommodation search in various English seaside towns for the bank holiday weekend yielded few options. But I was determined to get out of London, especially given the promising weather forecast.
Finally, I booked one of the last hotel rooms left in Canterbury, seven miles from the Kent coast. With Canterbury as my base, I was able to explore the cathedral city and visit three seaside towns. Not bad for a long weekend.
The window seats at the original White Mulberries cafe may have one of the best views of all the coffee shops in London, especially when the yachts in the St Katharine Docks marina glint in the sunshine. London's specialty coffee scene has changed a lot since my 2014 write-up, but the coffee, all-day breakfast and sweet treats at White Mulberries are still great. White Mulberries' second location, in Hay's Galleria in London Bridge, is even closer to my Bermondsey home.
UPDATE (June 2023): Unfortunately, Craving has now permanently closed.
Back in the summer of 2018, which now feels like a lifetime ago, I took the Tube up to Tottenham Hale for the launch party for Daniel's 'Succulent Lover' art exhibition at a coffee shop then called Craving Coffee. It was a great night for art, tacos and cocktails, but I was too late for coffee, and have been meaning to go back ever since. I finally made it last weekend, although it's now called Craving, and has recently moved across the road in the industrial estate where it's located.
