Tag: Breakfast

Breakfast at Aqua – The Shard

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It’s the summer bank holiday. It’s raining and the only good thing about today was I got to eat a posh breakfast at Aqua Shard with Miss Posh who says this place is her “local pub”. Joker! ¬.¬” Well she’s called Miss Posh for a reason on this blog!
A table was booked for 9.30 am. I was dead on time, but I don’t think that was early enough for Miss Posh as we wouldn’t be able to get a window seat she says… We got a window seat. 😛

We caught up with gossip for a little bit, ordered our morning drinks and was deciding what to eat all at the same time.
We had placed our order for two Shard Full Breakfast’s… and it took a long time to get to our tables… quite a long time. So we ate the danish pastries, kept on talking and watching London go all grey with the lovely rain spilling over the city. It reminded me of going up the Empire State Building in the rain. ^_^
The danishes tasted ok, a bit crusty so you may experience a lot of flakes coming off… Hmmmm.

Rainy London!
Apparently they usually do re-fills for the orange juice but maybe because it was a bank holiday this didn’t happen… Don’t know…
Orange juice (tasted sour) and my sweet apple juice

Flat white coffee
Finally the breakfast arrived. 
Shard Full Breakfast… as it appeared


Miss Posh said we needed to move the items around to make the plate look a little colourful. Hahah.

Miss Posh’s plate

My plate
As I started eating I felt full after a few bites. Blimey. What do they put in the food? How can this plate of food make me so full already! Miss Posh gave me her black pudding and I gave her a piece of bacon. Swap! Black pudding was nice, better than what I’ve had before, beans looked different, they weren’t too sweet but tasted good. Sausage, mushrooms, bacon, half tomato and spinach all tasted good and was well seasoned. One of my poached eggs was slightly overcooked but I was ok with it.
Brekkie time!
Managed to eat all of it, but the bread was really dry so I left the crusty bits.
This is the bar part…
Total cost came to £65.25. Yeesh. Expensive for breakfast, but as Miss Posh and I see it, we’re paying for the view…>_<""
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Nice view
– Breakfast is good
– Service is ok… 
Bad points:
– Expensive (but worth it for the rainy view)
– Can be a long wait for the breakfast
Address: Level 31, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY
Telephone: 020 3011 1256

Brunchies Deli Bar – London Camberwell

On By Bao Bao QiuIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Lunch time (on a Friday afternoon)!! Where do you go to lunch in Camberwell?! 
Well, this place called Brunchies which is located opposite to Nando’s and almost hiding itself from Coldharbour Lane and Denmark Hill, is somewhere where I have wanted to dine for a while. I’m quite surprised not many food bloggers who live in South London have not blogged about this place. Maybe they want to keep this place a secret for non-locals. 
Brunchies is a cross between a deli, café sandwich bar and restaurant. It’s been opened for a few years, and a lot of locals seem to love this place. It was very popular at lunch time, and it seemed the waitresses were about to collapse with tiredness! The place is styled like an American diner which is what probably appeals to the customers. I believe the breakfasts are served all day hence the name Brunchies.

I went with a few colleagues Mr Bear, Ms Pâtissier and a different colleague who I will call Mr Fanatic as he becomes enthusiastic for many reasons or for no reason at all. 
I had already looked at the menu before we got there, so I already knew what I wanted. The others had to have a long glance (I think the waitress wanted us to order quickly – but she was really fun!). Mr Fanatic was laughing at the menu for a little bit as he spotted a mistake on the menu (which you can find on the website menu too). Oh well. Only Mr Fanatic would have spotted that… However on Brunchies’ website, there is another spelling mistake…
Nevermind about the menu, lets see the food!
I ordered a Cool Melon Smoothie. My impression was that it was going to be a green-whitish one (I forgot to read the ingredients), but no it was a watermelon type colour with blueberries and grape. I actually liked it.
Cool Melon Smoothie

At first I had trouble deciding what to eat as there’s a lot of choice, but in the end I chose the Brunch Tower, which consists of a chicken burger, a hash brown and salad. I couldn’t taste the mayonnaise in my burger, so it was a bit dry unfortunately. The chips were nice and hot too. 🙂

Brunch Tower

Close up of my Brunch Tower
Bun, hash brown, chicken burger, salad with minimal mayo then bun
All three of my colleagues ordered the Texan Burger. Woah! ¬,¬”” What appealed them to order the same thing? Is it because of the amount that was in the burger? Anyway, it looked massive, and I was thinking I chose the wrong item. Theirs look so big… ¬,¬”” I had a taste of Ms Pâtissier’s as she couldn’t finish it. The beef was so meaty, and the halloumi cheese tasted so good. But there were too many bacon bits. Mr Bear didn’t enjoy it as much, maybe because of the beef burger or the bun, (he likes McDonald’s more). Mr Fanatic finished his plate… he knows how to eat!!
Ms Pâtissier’s plate of her Texan Burger

Mr Fanatic’s plate… getting a close up of the Texan Burger… Look at that halloumi cheese!
I think the total price came to about £27 (it wasn’t written on the receipt, as you have to take it to the till area to pay), but Mr Fanatic said he would pay for us, so I don’t know the total of it all. Thanks Mr Fanatic!!
My geeky rating: 4/5
Good points:
– A very busy local deli bar (definitely one of the most popular places to eat in Camberwell)
– Cheap food for breakfast and lunch (there are different prices for eating in and out)
– Burgers are big (although quality wise, it is not the greatest I’ve ever tasted)
– Friendly service
Bad points:
– Just the spelling mistakes on the website and menu

Address: 1 Valmar Rd, London SE5 9NG
Telephone: 020 7738 5962
Opening Times: Monday – Friday 7 am – 4 pm; Saturday 8 am – 4 pm