THE BREAKFAST CLUB (Liverpool Street)

Category: Budget (£)

(and there is a bar too which gets a very green light)

I went to The Breakfast Club following a Twitter recommendation when I was looking for a decent restaurant/cafe/pub to eat, drink and gossip around Liverpool Street Station. It is surprisingly difficult to find a place in close proximity to the station that is not infested by investment bankers and alike, basically people wearing stilettos and suits. They make me feel intimidated as I can’t walk in stilettos and my only suit is gathering dust in my wardrobe.

Isn’t this a lovely place?

Thank god for the Breakfast Club! Part of a small London based chain, it is a place where people with and without suits feel welcome as it’s very inviting and relaxed indeed. The design is lovely and unique and so are the waiters. It could become my new local, if it wasn’t for the food which is not great. It feels the energy and the obvious enthusiasm of the owners has focused on the interior and concept and has somehow not extended to the food. Having said that, I went to The Breakfast Club in the evening but of course it’s called Breakfast Club… so the breakfast might be the best in town, I wouldn’t know – the breakfast menu is long, detailed and certainly very intriguing, well worth a try!

But now the dinner:

For starters we had some olives and feta – bad presentation and really bad olives. The tin sort, that I am surprised is still sold and even more surprised that someone actually buys.  If I pay round 4,5 pounds for olives, I think it’s a joke to get served something like this. The humous was served with a generous helping of mediocre flat bread and was itself of the rather mediocre variant.

rubbish olives and feta @The Breakfast Club

Humous @The Breakfast Club

We had salads as mains (yes I am kind of pretending to be on a diet). Both of the salads were certainly edible and although I didn’t exactly love them, I wouldn’t mind eating them again. The Cesar Salad came with a rich dressing and a multitude of parmesan, chicken, bacon and humongous croutons. I have had better, I have had worse. More interesting was the Salad of Jerusalem Artichoke. The Jerusalem artichokes were very nicely prepared and tasted lovely. I like seeds on my salads, so I was very happy with the sunflower seeds that were generously sprinkled on top. The ‘shallots’ were enormous pieces of onions which I ignored, but apart from this not a bad salad at all.

Grilled Chicken Caesar  @The Breakfast Club

Salad of Jerusalem Artichoke @The Breakfast Club

It is rare that I send back a dessert… I would say it has thus far been unheard of. We just couldn’t eat the Apple Grumble. It tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge for too long and had therefore taken on the taste of other (mostly savoury) things that were stored in its surroundings. Not even being served warm could hide the fact that is was clearly past its sell by date..

apple grumble @The Breakfast Club

We didn’t want a dessert replacement, because now it was time to go to the S*E*C*R*E*T bar. (I shouldn’t tell you about this really…) And where else would a secret bar be hidden, but in the fridge?

Where is the secret bar? 

If you ask nicely, you might get the concierge to lead you there… It is certainly worth it, (and not only because one feels so superior being in a SECRET bar), One could call it US inspired, playing US rock and Americana and serving American style snacks as well as drinks. The atmosphere is endearing, the waiters charming and the cocktails delicious. Who would have thought that you can have such a great time in a fridge? No more words, go and see for yourself.

 

• Bar: 9/10
• Food: 5/10
• Service: 8/10
• Ambiance: 7/10
• Value for Money: 7/10
• Chances of returning: 20%
• Verdict: Lovely place, lovely people, a *whisper* secret bar, but embarrassingly crap olives!

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