Sunday Sessions: Going Slow in Portobello

I am back in London and it is cold. I hate to conform to the Erasmus cliché and bang on about how much better the weather was in Mexico and Spain but, it was and I miss it. I get daily pangs of missing Malaga which I know, boo hoo, but I swear it was never this rainy before I left. It's not just the weather either; another thing which gave London a run for it's money was the brunch, especially in Malaga. Before you shout blasphemy, I have to say I did miss a full English breakfast. Hash browns are a gift from the gods, as are full fat baked beans (none of that no-sugar nonsense please). However, Spain had a magic option called a formula where you could get eggs, croissant, coffee and freshly pressed orange juice (fresh fresh) for under 10 euros. The atmosphere was so relaxed, you didn't feel like the owners were trying to cram as many people in as possible. You could sit leisurely with your laptop or a book without feeling daggers from people standing in the cold outside waiting for a table. I set myself a mission for when I was back in London and that was to try and find cafés like that, here. Don't get me wrong, I do love places like The Breakfast Club (they do the best American pancakes) but it is definitely more of an in-out attitude. That's fine if all you want to do is eat but if you want to take a book and be that annoying person you definitely need to find somewhere slower paced.

I decided to venture to West London, namely Portobello Road as I don't usually head out of East London. This is bad because there is so much more to London than East (another mission I set: explore more). I found a place (not by chance, much research was conducted beforehand) called Bluebells of Portobello. It's quite an unassuming place from the outside, all I could see through the steamy windows was a cosy orange glow. Inside, it's quite a small café width wise but it extends backwards quite far so there's quite a lot of room. There was no queue (probably because I was brunching solo) and even though it's small, it doesn't feel like you're a sardine. I ordered the 'eggs your way' and I'm not kidding when I say they were the fluffiest eggs I've eaten in a long time. They also used about five of them, they did not scrimp. The best thing was that just after I'd sat down at the table I was asked to move so the manager said he'd give me something on the house, so I got a free scone. It was yummy (as you can probably tell from the photo). They give you large amounts of both jam and clotted cream and no matter what anyone says, the jam goes on before the cream. There was also a Mess French Toast that the table next to me had which looked delicious and Eggs Royale which I want to go back and try. It's also quite affordable with most things on the menu coming in under £10.

If you're looking to make a day of it come out of the café and turn left down towards the market. I walked past a couple more cafés that looked great for a mid-afternoon coffee-cake break; Fabrique, Maison Puget (the pastries in the window looked incredible) and Gail's. Portobello Road is also great for charity shops; I would especially recommend the Oxfam book store, British Red Cross and Cancer Research. If you didn't want to go for brunch there is also a very large food market. If you're interested in fabrics there's a textile shop called The Cloth Shop which has beautiful fabrics and a really cute whippet dog. I then made my way towards Notting Hill Gate and turned down the road heading to Hyde Park. The park is so beautiful at the moment as the trees aren't completely bare and the leaves that are hanging on are a glorious, copper orange. I walked straight across and ended up right in front of the Royal Albert Hall. You can then walk through the Museum-y area towards Harrods (but take the back streets to wonder at all the Kensington terraces). Away from the road it doesn't feel like you're even in London anymore. Everywhere is super quiet and leafy. You'll eventually end up near Sloane Square which is a super pretty courtyard with more cafés and brunch places. I would suggest going to Bread Ahead which have delicious doughnuts stuffed to the brim with jam, chocolate ganache, butterscotch etc. If you're not totally exhausted after this, the Saatchi Gallery is just around the corner which is free entry.

A peculiar aspect of the day was I kept unwittingly stumbling across couples having quite intense lover's tiffs. The people I was sitting next in the brunch place (apparently he was selfish), people sitting on the bench in the park (studiously ignoring each other) and people on the tube (very intense muttering). Sunday is a time for brunching and apparently fighting with your significant other. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's Sundays, but something was definitely in the air.

Itinerary:
Portobello Road --> Walk down through the market --> Notting Hill --> Hyde Park across to --> Royal Albert Hall --> Walk through Kensington to --> Sloane Square (Round trip: 3.5 hours)

Sunday Soundtrack
- Brockhampton: all albums on shuffle
- Ninho: Destino (french rapper, probably trash but I don't understand what he's saying most of the time)