I have recently moved from North West London to the east in Brick Lane. While living at Dollis hill, it took me a while to realise that the life I was living here wasn’t what I’d imagined it would be. I wanted to meet people, discover secret bars and eat amazing food from markets all over this amazing city. Although I’ve only lived in East London for two weeks, I already feel more alive. Brick lane is always moving. Whether it’s skinny jean clad hipsters making there way home from a Tuesday night rave, or 3 middle aged, Indian men hauling a cow carcass through the backdoor of one of the numerous curry restaurants; there’s always SOMETHING happening. 3 days after I had moved into my new flat, my best friend Laura and I decided we would take a bike ride to explore, and what we discovered did justice to all those hipster blogs and Instagram photos.
Our bike ride took us all the way down brick lane, through Shoreditch and up to Old Street, obviously stopping off along the way for a coffee or three. While on this magical journey of discovery we found numerous little hidden away cafes, cool bistros and quirky restaurant/bars. But my favourite by far was a little cafe/restaurant called Albion. This little gem contains lovely fresh fruit and vegetables, amazing breads and delicious looking pastries, as well as organic meats and tasty cheeses. The kitchen is out in the open so you can see exactly what is going on at all times, which makes you feel like you’re part of the whole dining process. The best part was that the prices were very reasonable and, as you can imagine, every 20 something living and working in London is pretty much broke, so this was a great bargain treat.
What I loved about this place was that, even though the breads were of the highest quality, they were still 100% affordable. And what I loved even more was that the restaurant allowed me to buy a baguette from the front of the shop. They sliced it for me and allowed me to sit inside and eat it with their complimentary butter, as if I had ordered it off the menu. I would never really refer to myself as simple, but there are fewer things I love more in life than some good bread and butter and a cup of hot sweet tea. And that’s exactly what Albion delivered flawlessly.
After I finished my bread and butter and Laura her house soup (root vegetables, absolutely delicious, bowl with complimentary bread – £4) we picked up some provisions for our flat. Organic, natural lemonade, fresh tomatoes, a slice each of their fresh goats cheese and caramelised onion foccacia and a big homemade Shepherd’s pie and the left over baguette of course. The whole bill came to just over £20. Smashing. Think I’m going to like living around here…
