Loafing around Lauriston

Tucked away in East London is a pretty area known as Lauriston Village, although it isn’t technically a village, just a road. It’s a great location due to its proximity to Victoria Park. You can stroll through the park, and just when you begin to get peckish, you hit a lovely selection of cafes and restaurants. There is something for everyone.

One such café is ‘Loafing’, run by a delightful French lady called Susie. It is the prefect place to meet friends or just sit and read the papers. I happened to be meeting some friends for a pub quiz we are organising, so it was the prefect place for our brainstorm. Busy minds need feeding so we quickly got down to business and ordered our food. The savoury menu uses simple artisan ingredients in elegant combinations. I had a sourdough toasted sandwich with sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, with a pot of earl grey. Other options included soup, quiche, sausage rolls, pies and focaccia sandwiches all home made. You can see that they have really taken care to source the best products, including yeast free bread, award winning Monmouth coffee and Newby teas. This attention to detail has won Loafing ‘Best Cup of Coffee in the Village’ for two consecutive years. With tough competition, that’s really saying something.

 

Although my sandwich was delicious, that wasn’t why we were there. The piece de la resistance is the cake! The windowsill is filled with cake stands holding a beautiful array of home baked cakes and sweet treats. Sponges, mince pies, cookies, biscuits and tarts. It would be rude not to try something…

Between us we had a slice of victoria sponge, red velvet and lemon meringue cake. The victoria sponge was potentially a bit boring but the other slices were exquisite. The red velvet was made in the traditional way using real beetroot and the lemon meringue had a rustic meringue icing. There must be a wizard working in their kitchen as everything looked and tasted perfect.

There are some other really great restaurants in the area, including Spit Jacks, Elbows and Su Sazzagoni, where you can eat al fresco. The Ginger Pig butchers shop is also worth a visit as they sell hot sausage rolls and pies to take away. They are one of 6 butcher shops run by the same company, selling meat which triumphs animal welfare and husbandry, which they believe makes the meat taste better. Their meat is stocked in key restaurants across London, including Honest Burger in Brixton.

Overall, the best thing about the area is that the eateries are all small local businesses with character. I always think it is wonderful to actually meet the people who designed the menu and baked the goods. It makes eating a much more cultural experience and brings you closer to the food making process. There is also the added excitement of the unpredictability of what will be on offer.

Scores for Loafing:

Food: 8/10

Ambience: 10/10, the mismatched vintage tea cups and pots were a special touch. Good chairs, seating outside and inside, sometimes live music. GREAT.

Value for money: 6/10 A bit expensive, but you pay for location.

Would I go again: Yes

Website for Loafing: http://www.loafing.co.uk/

The Ginger Pig blog - http://www.thegingerpig.co.uk/blog/

Website for Su Sazzagoni Italian restaurant- http://www.susazzagoni.com/